John Schmidt, famously known as composer and member of the 2010 musical group The Piano Guys, was this week’s guest for Utah State University's entrepreneur leadership class.
Utah State offers this one-credit class for aspiring students interested in creating, developing and growing new business ventures.
Schmidt started off the discussion with his original piece “All of Me,” which on Youtube has over 45 million views.
At the beginning of Schmidt’s career, the Utah Symphony put on a summer concert series and wanted local artists to perform. Schmidt emphasized when they reached out to him, he was shocked.
“And they picked me! I was just like, Are you kidding? It’s crazy how easily you can fool people,” Schmidt said.
The discussion turned into a Q&A and audience members asked questions like, “What is the hardest aspect of entertaining?”
Schmidt answered, “Just acting confident. I was an introvert and I was not a charismatic person and my wife at one point, she's like, you gotta get some confidence."
Another piece of advice Schmidt shared was that if an artist loves what they do, it is worth it to share.
“A lot of love goes into creating music. to go back and listen to it back again. I loved it. I just always felt like it was a little miracle,” Schmidt said.
Performing for big crowds is nothing new to Schmidt, but the setting of performing for college students is something Schmidt said he loves to do because of how appreciative they are.
“This was a throwback tonight to the old days. It just makes my freaking life. You know, and to hear so many people say that they kind of grew up with my music, it's just amazing. It's a dream, really,” Schmidt said.
