If you haven’t realized by now, my name is Courtney Kessler. I’m sure at this point you’re wondering “What’s this girl’s story?” Well I’ll tell you, I was born and raised in California. I spent most of my years growing up in the Coachella Valley, home of the notorious Coachella music festival and its country counterpart Stagecoach. Each summer I escaped to the New York Catskills and attended Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp where every three weeks we would make 14 full scale productions come to life. This is the place that really nurtured my love for entertaining and the arts, it also helped me learn to be independent and a go getter.
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So, when the California sun got old for me, I decided I needed to go out of state for college and see what the rest of the country had to offer. I didn’t apply to a single in-state school, which would be most parent’s worst nightmare, but mine knew it would be the best thing for me.
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For college I decided to attend Michigan State University, where I recently graduated virtually (Zoom Class of 2020 if you will). I majored in Media and Information with a concentration in Film and Media Production, I also graduated with two minors: Arts & Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. I’ve known from a very young age that I have always wanted to work somewhere within the entertainment industry, so I wanted to shape my coursework to prepare me for wherever I land.
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Between my copious amounts of coursework and plentitude of group projects, I found some spare time and joined the MSU Women’s Club Water Polo team. Through this I met some of my best friends who would become roommates and frankly more like sisters. I played water polo for three years in high school but was never the best on the team, the same was true at a collegiate level so I felt the need to find a way to help contribute to the team in another way. After a victory on the road, I had a pringles can and started interviewing my coach and teammates about the win putting their responses on my Snapchat story. People loved it! I brought up the idea of live tweeting the games for friends and family who were not able to attend the games and the team let me run with it. I grew our audience, started live streaming games on Instagram, and brought my own pizzazz to the team’s twitter interacting with fans and providing live updates. Doing this for the team helped me develop something I was really proud of and made me feel like I was making a difference (even though I never scored a single goal). I learned that just because I was sitting on the bench, I could still be doing something, and now I apply this to everything I do.
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During my college summers the grind did not stop. After my freshman year, I interned in Los Angeles working on season 2 of CNN’s History of Comedy, I learned how to hustle and work on a set. The next summer I wanted to go back to my theater roots, so I travelled to London and interned with a non-profit organization called Theatre Delicatessen, where I helped develop marketing material and begun a new love for working events. I realized I enjoyed working on my feet much more than sitting at a desk. So, the next year I got exactly what I wanted working with Live Nation at the Five Point Amphitheater where I was always on my feet working as a guest service representative. My new biggest grind has been moving to New York City in the middle of a pandemic.
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After I graduated from my father’s living room, I kept thinking what my next move would be. When an old friend contacted me asking if I wanted to move to New York City I jumped at the opportunity. I was already working remotely and was sick of letting my life just pass me by. So, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of moving to the city that never sleeps.
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Right now, my goal is to get a job within the entertainment industry. I want to find something that will get me back on my feet and hustling to assist in the entertainment of others. I also know that just because I graduated college my learning is not done so I hope to continue learning in the arts and gain a wider range of knowledge. Most importantly, I want to make personal connections with other successful professionals in the entertainment industry.
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Now you know who I am and what I've done! And I look forward to getting to know you!
