My girlfriend, Anna, and I at our friend’s wedding.

A little over seven years ago today I graduated from Saint John’s University. With my liberal arts degree in hand, I was ready to… be liberal and enjoy the arts? If only the world were so kind.

Realizing that my amateur disc-golf skills weren’t going to earn me the cheddar needed to move out of my parents’ basement and to start paying back Sallie Mae, I began looking for viable sources of income. Not long after, I landed a job in the printing industry, bought a new car, and moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Uptown. I was living the dream. Right?

After less than two years submersed in commercial print, driving my Jetta and frequenting various Lyn-Lake establishments, I decided to hit the reset button and settle in Spain. I received my CELTA certification in Sevilla, and moved to Madrid with nothing but my backpack and some vague advice. I began teaching various courses in English, with an emphasis in the professional sector. After three months I may or may not have overstayed my tourist visa to continue sipping sangria, frequent Parque del Retiro and teach for another nine months. [Ed.: Badass.]

Upon my return to the States, I continued to teach. I gave in-home lessons to struggling students of low-income families, committed a year of service to the City of Lakes AmeriCorps tutoring a caseload of ESL students at a South Minneapolis middle school, and eventually began pursuing my masters in English education at the University of Minnesota. Just as the foundations were being firmly set for a daily “Good morning, Mr. Stahlmann!” I received a compelling offer to join a start-up company on the ground floor.

Unlimited Gravity: a The Beat MPLS hosted event.

Over the past two years I have donned my manager of operations hat, but also started my own company called The Beat MPLS. The Beat is a music blog that was meant to satiate a creative itch and perhaps procure press credentials to the massive amount of concerts I was attending. It indeed serves those purposes, but has also offered the opportunity to involve the talents of several friends and various members of the Twin Cities’ music community. With great humility, The Beat MPLS continues to grow its readership while publishing stories and interviews with artists from both the local and global scene.

Since I wanted to foster my love for content creation alongside my rapidly growing interest in the world of advertising and marketing, I applied for the intern position at Fast Horse. It is an opportunity I am most excited for, and have already begun to enjoy immensely. After just two weeks, it already feels like home.

Even though I couldn’t be more excited to be launching my career as an adman, you’ll still find me huntin’ for chains on the disc golf course. When I’m not out discin’ I’m generally hanging around Nordeast, checkin’ out a show downtown, or lookin’ for new records. Now that it’s a bit warmer outside, my kitchen extends into the back yard; I love grilling season. I also might be doing something a bit nerdier, like reading comic books, blogging or listening to podcasts.

Huntin’ for chains.