What 10 Years as a Professional Drummer Taught Me About Running a Business
I was 21, sitting behind a drum kit in a smoky jazz club in Johannesburg, absolutely butchering a Miles Davis number. Our guitarist was brilliant. Our bassist was locked in. Our saxophonist was magic.
And I was rushing the tempo. Just slightly. Enough that the whole thing felt... off.
After the set, our band leader—a 60-year-old keyboard player (Werner Krupski) who'd forgotten more about music than I'd ever know—pulled me aside. "Frank," he said quietly, "you're playing for yourself, not for the band. And when you're out of sync, it doesn't matter how good everyone else is. The whole thing sounds wrong."
That conversation changed everything. Not just about drumming, but about how I've approached business for the past 25 years.
I spent a decade playing drums—jazz mostly, some funk and rock, a bit of country when rent was due.
I learned more about leadership, teamwork, and performance in those smoke-filled venues than I ever l...
