We had the good fortune of connecting with Evan Hesse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Evan, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned so far in business and career is something I heard Mark Cuban say, “Always Keep Learning” and my personal variation, “Learn To Be Good At Learning.” With technology, it will never stop evolving and I’ve seen that most people don’t want to take the time to keep up with it. So, if you’re willing to get out of your comfort zone and embrace the constant evolution of tech, it will give you a competitive advantage. There are more times than I can count, when I’m exhausted from reading about new software and hardware and all the tools available, but I press forward and make it a point to learn and master as much as possible.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Success comes when it’s meant to. One of my biggest frustrations in business is why don’t I have success now? People measure success in different ways, and that’s fine. I’ve measured mine in money earned. I used to think, “I’ve worked hard, beaten my competition, yet still my bank account is empty.” I started my career off as an artist, guitarist turned composer to be exact. I opened for Kenny Loggins, wrote scores for Lions Gate and Fox Reality, but never got “in” as they say here in Hollywood. I put my guitars and composing gear in the closet at 30 and broadened my creative skills into video, learning every piece of hardware and software I could get my hands on. What I realize looking back, is that my path was never meant to go down the road of music, at least not then. My path was meant to learn as many tools in tech as possible, from audio, to visual, to writing code, etc… With two and a half decades of studying, learning AND MOST IMPORTANTLY applying, I get to use all these tools creatively in marketing and e-commerce, which is showing great success! The other lesson in all this, is the path you start off on isn’t always the path you end up with. Looking back, judging my financial gain against others at that time was wrong. That success I was looking for would take longer to achieve in my life. It will come, but it’s different times for different people. For me, the classic saying, “knowledge is power” holds true and I believe for entrepreneurs, that will be your biggest advantage.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I would take them to the Getty Center off the 405, LACMA and all the great museums here in Los Angeles. See a show at the Hollywood Bowl, venture around Griffith Park and go check out the Griffith Observatory. There are so many amazing restaurants to chose from, we would hit up Main Street in Santa Monica and go to the 3rd Street Promenade as well. Also see a Dodgers Game and take them to Downtown LA. We would explore up into Malibu and do some wine tasting, drive up the coast and show them how beautiful So Cal is. We can’t leave out Palm Springs either!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Shoutout goes to my Dad. He told me growing up, “never work for anyone else.” His passion for entrepreneurship rubbed off on me from childhood and has never left.

Website: evanhesse.com

Instagram: @hollywoodhesse

Linkedin: Evan Hesse

Twitter: @hollywoodhesse

Facebook: Evan Hesse Digital Media

Youtube: Evan Hesse

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