In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Jonathan Bright, a Director of Finance at Spectra Venue Management and author. Jonathan shares a pivotal career story about being denied an internal promotion, which led him to a director role in Georgia, emphasizing patience and faith in future opportunities. He highlights communication as the cornerstone of venue management, explaining how coordination among sales, marketing, finance, food & beverage, and box office is essential for successful events. Jonathan offers broader business advice, asserting that hard work consistently outweighs innate genius, and reflects on personal growth lessons such as patience and focusing on the bigger picture. He discusses his perspective on happiness, linking it to self‑acceptance, gratitude, and living authentically. The conversation turns to his favorite book, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, from which he draws the lesson of enjoying life’s wonders while staying focused on one’s true purpose. He shares a favorite quote about finding the world within oneself to avoid societal illusion. Finally, Jonathan provides his online presence details—LinkedIn, an Instagram writing page (@thatguywhowrote), and his author website (brightbooks.com)—and mentions his own published book.
Chapters
Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and today I have Jonathan Bright with us. He is a director of finance and a former Gamecock, which I also am a Gamecock. So happy to have you on, brother, and welcome to the show.
Happy to be here, man.
Awesome. Happy to, uh, have you on, as I previously said, and we will dive in The first question I have for you, Jonathan, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Best story from my life, I don't know if this is the best story, but this definitely taught me a lot. Basically, you know, the company I work for is called Spectra Venue Management. And so when I was at Carolina, I was an accounting intern at the Colonial Life Arena. And you know, at that time we were, our contract was basically up with the university. This was like 2015, around April. And so, you know, I was about to be out for a job. And so basically those positions that they were going to fill, you know, they were, I guess the offices were like, you know, they put online, you know, for people to apply for. And so, you know, one of the positions was a staff accountant. And, you know, I was like, oh, okay, you know, I could do this. You know, I've been, you know, I've been working here for like, you know, a few years. I can handle that. So I'm applying for this position, but I'm not getting, you know, the feedback that I wanted. And I'm like, yo, what's going on? I know I'm qualified for this. So I actually go to the people from the offices, you know, schedule a meeting. You know, I'm talking to them. I'm like, yo, why am I not, you know, qualified for this position? And so I applied once before, and then I applied a second time. You know, my director basically, you know, gave me pointers on my resume and how to change it and all that good stuff. And so after doing all that, You know, the person I was interviewing with, the person I was talking to was basically like, she got real apprehensive. She was like, you changed your resume, you shouldn't be doing that, blah blah blah, this, that, and the third. And I felt really bad about it, but basically being denied that opportunity allowed me to accept another job offer in Tallahassee, Florida, which basically resulted in me getting this director of finance position. In Georgia. So basically, the message taught me just to stay patient and to have faith in what's to come because you never know what can happen in the future.
Yes. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise, excuse me, or industry?
This may sound a little cliché, but in this industry of venue management, you have to know how to communicate. Communication is key. You know, our buildings have like, they have multiple departments, you know, ranging from sales to marketing, finance, food and beverage, you know, box office and ticketing. And basically all those departments have to work together in a, you know, a certain synergy, you know, in order to create and provide those memorable events and experiences to their clients. You know, if, you know, if food and beverage has like a promotion that they want to do, you know, basically, you know, pertaining to box office, like if you get this many tickets then you get like, you know, a free drink. They don't communicate that properly with box office, nobody's gonna, you know, they're not gonna know what's going on. And then on top of that, box office has to communicate with finance, but they know how to account for all of that. It's like a big triangle. So basically, you know, the biggest part of our industry is basically communication.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Best piece of overall business advice, I would say, you know, hard work trumps genius every time, I guess. You know, I've always been described as a hard worker. You know, even when I was a kid, and I remember my first grade teacher, you know, he put on my report card, you know, Jonathan is a very hard worker, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, my mom was like, he's just a hard worker. You know, what does he mean by that? You know, it's not, you know, just to downplay, you my smarts and all because I feel like I'm a pretty intelligent dude, but what I'm trying to say is, you know, you can know everything about something, but if you aren't applying yourself or pushing yourself as hard as you can, you know, it doesn't really matter at the end of the day.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I would say just be patient. Don't worry so much about the little things, you know, because those little things won't even matter that much later down the line. You know, everything is gonna come together in due time. You know, when it does, you know, it'll be beautiful, especially if you truly believe that it will turn out that way.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I feel like the key to happiness is just being happy with yourself. And by being happy with yourself, I mean knowing yourself, what you truly embody as a person. You know, you got to go with your gut and how you feel. You know, I feel a lot of people tend to ignore those feelings and, you know, they end up living unfulfilling lives, and that's why they end up unhappy at the end of the day. I feel like happiness is also dependent on being thankful for the life that you live and, you know, cherishing every moment of it. You know, just doing your best to find the good out of every experience, whether it's good or bad. You know, I feel like if you do that, then happiness will have no choice but to knock at your front door. Yeah.
And what is the best book that you've read? And what's the number one thing you learned from that?
Best book that I've read. I just read this book recently. I thought it was pretty awesome. It's called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I don't know if I said that right, but basically like brief synopsis, like a young shepherd, you know, he sets out on this journey that he's predestined to have. You know, he's basically in search of his treasure, which is basically his purpose. And, you know, along his journey, he meets a lot of different people and experiences a lot of different things. Basically, you know, teach him to trust in the universe and basically pay attention to the symbols and omens around him that will lead him to where he ultimately needs to go. You know, the most valuable thing I took out of this book was a quote. Basically, it was like along the lines of, you know, you enjoy the wonders of the world, but also make sure you keep, you know, basically enjoy the wonders of the world, but also make sure to keep sight of the oil in your spoon. Basically meaning during your lifetime, you know, enjoy the places, people and things that you experience during your journey, but also make sure that you don't become so entrenched in those experiences that you lose sight of your true purpose, i.e., the oil in the spoon. So I feel like that was pretty, pretty awesome book.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Favorite quote? You know, I have this, you know, plastered on my wall. It's basically like an ancient quote. It says, find the world within yourself. Don't look for yourself within the world, for that would be to project your own illusion. And basically that means, you know, in this world we live in, you know, I feel like it's a product of a lot of groupthink. You know, society thinks that we should all, you know, go to Kalamazoo and jump off a bridge, then 95% of society will think that it's okay and expected for all of us to go to Kalamazoo and jump off a bridge. You know, society's projecting the illusion of what it thinks you should do. You know, if you know the world within yourself, then you can make the conscious decision on your own on whether or not you feel like it's beneficial to jump off that bridge, you know what I mean? Yeah. So I enjoy that quote because I feel like it's definitely important to know the world within yourself so that you stay true to yourself and what you believe in.
Yes, man. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
People, you know, you can find me online on LinkedIn, you know, Jonathan Bright Jr. You know, I also write, you know, that I feel like that's, you know, my true purpose. You know, I got a writing Instagram page. It's @thatguywhowrote, T-H-A-T-G-U-Y-H-W-H-O-W-R-O-T-E. You know, I also wrote a book, you know, you can get it on www.brightbooks.com. That's B-R-I-G-H-T-S. B-O-O-K-S.com. You know, like Tupac said, I ain't hard to find, man.
Yeah, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it.
And I thank you for having me, Tyler. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast. That's anchor.fm/podcast.
