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Ken Schlager, MA '77

Describe your place of employment and what you do.
Billboard magazine is the international newsweekly of the music industry. We also publish daily news for the trade on our billboard.biz Web site and for music fans at billboard.com. Our charts of U.S. sales and airplay define success for current artists. As Executive Editor, I oversee the work of some 30 fulltime editorial staffers in six offices worldwide. I've been with Billboard for 18 years, previously serving as Managing Editor and as Vice President of Business Development.

What makes you good at your job?
I maintain high journalistic standards and a positive approach to the workplace.

Best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
You should approach every story with equal vigor, no matter the apparent importance of the topic.

What is your favorite J-School memory?
My first page 1 byline in the Missourian. (A story about a local nurse who gained an audience with then-President Gerald Ford.)

Best advice to current students.
Develop diversified skills. You never know what opportunities might arise.

What did you always want to be as a kid?
I always wanted to be centerfielder for the New York Yankees. (I grew up under the spell of Mickey Mantle.)

What is one thing you wish you had done?
Learned more about my parents' lives, especially my father's combat experiences in World War II. It's amazing how little we know about the people we are closest to. When they are gone, the memories of a lifetime go with them. Turn on those tape recorders now!

What do you consider to be your greatest professional achievement?
Staying in a senior role with one company for more than 18 years!

What are you working on currently?
We're trying to create new products like newsletters to serve niche interests in the music community.

What's your secret to success?
Don't sweat the small stuff.

What are your next career steps?
I'd love to find the time to write a book.