Henry Alonzo, MBA '09
Henry Alonzo, MBA ’09 and 2018 Alumnus of the Year他是Adarga娱乐集团的创始人，在东洛杉矶的Mariachi广场附近长大. 在那里，他听着墨西哥流浪乐队的演奏，并为路人提供服务. 今天, Alonzo promotes some of the biggest bands in Latin music, 在他的帮助下, his clients have earned seven Latin Grammy awards.
“I blame Concordia for my success,” Alonzo says. “他们在帮助我用商业思维思考方面发挥了重要作用.”
I blame Concordia for my success,” Alonzo says. “他们在帮助我用商业思维思考方面发挥了重要作用.
Adarga, an old Spanish word for “shield,是一家有十年历史的公司，它的成功远远超过了同时代的公司. 除了帮助建立排行榜上的音乐艺术家的职业生涯, Adarga has produced or co-produced events at the Forum, 靖国神社, Microsoft Theater 和更多的.
Alonzo never saw himself as a musician or performer. “I was the kind of kid who read all the liner notes,他说. “我知道这个制作人制作了另一张专辑，这个混音工程师制作了另一张专辑.”
His parents had emigrated from Guatemala in the mid-’70s, and Henry was always drawn to the mariachi bands in the plaza.
“I constantly saw them walking around. They looked like generals in their uniforms,他说. “They had their own receiving line. People drove by and they passed out business cards.”
作为一个青少年, 阿朗佐开始向艺术家们咨询如何吸引他们的观众, especially through social media. 当时，由于在线文件共享，音乐产业正在崩溃.
“Record companies weren’t doing artist development, 市场营销 and business services anymore,他说. “They were just trying to stay afloat. But there were still services that needed to happen. I saw the opportunity.”
他还在上大学的时候就创办了自己的唱片公司，并在匆忙中吸取了一些痛苦的教训.
阿隆佐说:“我不懂现金流、管理费用、季度收入报表之类的东西. “I was way 太 optimistic and we were bleeding money. I didn’t know the ‘how’ of making a business grow and work. There were a lot of people who believed in me that I let down.”
Stinging from failure, he threw himself into finishing his undergraduate degree, then 太k a series of jobs in the entertainment industry, first at an independent record label which folded, then at a movie company where he answered phones.
他说，他知道自己想要接受更多教育，“需要学习创业精神”. So he began hunting for an MBA program.
他说:“我考虑了很多学校，并与菲律宾十大网赌网站的某个人取得了联系。. “他们人很好，很容易交谈，并立即回答了我所有的问题. 当我去参观校园时，我说，我认为这是适合我的地方.”
他开始在课堂讨论中分析自己在现实生活中的商业经历, and learned from other people’s experiences, 太.
他说:“我记得一位在Sprint工作的同学做过一次关于电信的演讲. “他教给我们的塔楼和所有这些都很神奇. 它满足了我探索更大的商业环境的愿望.”
在崔大学MBA课程的第一学期，他决定重新创办自己的公司. 这一次，他想创建他所谓的“非唱片厂牌唱片公司”,这意味着他不会制作专辑，而是提供支持和培养艺人的服务.
“I wasn’t sharing with anybody. I was just rethinking the idea,他说. “My wife and I were both in grad school. 我们太累了. We’d show up at night and fall asleep on the couch. The second time around I didn’t want to fail anybody.”
这个行业看重的是决心，而不是才能。. “I see a lot of talented people at coffee shops. 如果你有决心和天赋，你会成为一名艺术家.
他说，CUI帮助他区分“我的梦想和实际可行的东西”. 在一门特殊的统计学课上，他开始研究他所在行业的统计学.
“I buried myself in there,他说. “Mr. 波尔多瓦帮助我了解了这个行业正在发生的事情，所以我对如何开始这个行业有了更多的了解.”
Another class focused on overhead and income flow, 这些经验成为了阿朗佐如何经营公司的基础.
“Adarga was a cash-based operation for a long time,他说. “That has helped our company to grow. We still don’t do it if we can’t afford it.在完成MBA学位并创办新公司后，他很快就看到了积极的成果. 几年内，他帮助组建的乐队Tercer Cielo获得了公告牌奖(Billboard award)的提名. That earned Alonzo a trip to the awards show.
“I was walking around seeing celebrities, and I get a text from a friend in another state saying, ‘You are on TV right now. I’m seeing you walk down the red carpet. Look at the camera,’” Alonzo recalls. “I’m like, what camera? 有50个.”
Another milestone came with Miel San Marcos, 这是一支拉丁基督教乐队，阿达尔加帮助他们成长为该流派的顶级乐队之一.
“Miel San Marcos is like the Latin Hillsong,” Alonzo says. “Their videos have millions of views on YouTube. 我们发行了一张独立专辑，在iTunes Latin上排名第一, beating Marc Anthony, 夏奇拉, 伊格莱西亚斯. They won the Dove award for Spanish record of the year. That was a career highlight.”
Adarga takes care of all an artist’s social media platforms, 市场营销, 出版, 合同, 和更多的. This frees up the band to write music, create albums and tour.
“我的哲学是，成功来自于很多做对了的事情, and failure from a lot of things that went wrong,阿朗佐说。. “To release an album you have to do twenty things at once. 我们确保他们预约了面试，他们的社交网络达到了标准. 我们负责出版和保护他们的知识产权. 我们确保没有人声称拥有这首歌，并在YouTube或电台上收取版税. We do streaming, licensing.
我们要确保他们在网上的形象无可挑剔，他们的简历是最新的. All they want to do is share music with their fans. We’re taking care of them with all these steps.”
A major part of that, of course, is a band’s online presence.
“我们确保他们的形象和一切都指向新版本，”阿朗佐说. “所以当我在谷歌上搜索一个艺术家，发现一个两年前被遗弃的推特账户时, to me you’re an irrelevant artist now. I make sure social networks are all integrated.”
Adarga还培养具有更广泛、战略性职业规划的艺术家. Christine D’Clario, a Latin Christian artist, 从加利福尼亚中部的小场地到体育馆. 一场现场直播的音乐会在推特上成为热门，这表明它非常受欢迎. Her album was nominated for a Latin Grammy.
“这个行业的关键是决心，而不是才能，”阿朗佐说. “I see a lot of talented people at coffee shops. 如果你有决心和天赋，你会成为一名艺术家.”
Alonzo heaps credit on his team. 他的公司有六个人，每个人都有不同的长处. He also still draws on his education from CUI.
我在课堂上创建了一个Excel电子表格，并使用了很多年。. “Things like that were very important. Also understanding sales. 我记得Dr。. Bruce Hansen talking about how do you sell an idea? Even our company motto was birthed at Concordia.
他说:“我在课堂上创建了一个Excel电子表格，并使用了很多年. “Things like that were very important. Also understanding sales. 我记得Dr。. Bruce Hansen talking about how do you sell an idea? Even our company motto was birthed at Concordia.” (The motto: “Advance your talent and creativity.”)
阿隆佐表示，Adarga仍然像一家初创公司，“因为我们一直非常谨慎。. “In the music industry we’ve seen many companies come and go.”
该公司继续为艺术家和唱片公司提供行业领先的服务. Integrity Music hired Adarga to handle its Latin releases. 几个月前，索尼音乐邀请他们为他们即将发行的一张墨西哥流浪乐队专辑做营销, a first for Alonzo in that genre.
“这是一个完整的循环，”他说，指的是他对墨西哥流浪乐队广场的记忆. “现在我是索尼公司的一名顾问，正在制作一张我童年时代的音乐专辑. 我实现了成为娱乐企业家的梦想. I’m being ambushed by grace.”