RKease Reflections: Lessons of 2025

"Reflection is of the most underused yet powerful tools for success" - Richard Carlson

"The Year of 2025 was such a great year, built on my career and had no fear" - RKease Company

This year was one of the greatest years of my life, and it was a serious year in terms of business progression, persistence, and determination. I was able to learn so many things, which separated me as a music creator and these lessons helped me gain more wisdom for my legal and business acumen. Being a student music entrepreneur, has taught me that investing in yourself pays the best dividends and when you invest in yourself you become more efficient at making an impact in a variety of different ways, since you have a broader skill set.

Fanshawe College

First of all, being a human resources student at Fanshawe College helped me learn that policies, legislation, and having sound business practices are what separate you as a musical business owner. I took nearly seven classes this semester, such as Organisational Behaviour, Employment Law, Training & Development, Recruitment & Selection, etc. but my favourite courses were Employment Law and Organisational Behaviour.

Your Guide to Canadian Law

Employment Law was an important class for me to take because I was able to learn the nuances of the Canadian legal system and it's origins. For example, the Canadian Charter Rights of Freedom is a by-product of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights that was created due to World War 2. It enabled me to learn of the Human Rights Code, statute law, common law, etc. These laws are important to grasp because as a musical business owner it teaches you how to create and sustain sound business practices. As a musician, expression and creativity are at the forefront, so the fact that there are laws protecting that is a plus.

Canadian Organisational Behaviour (9th Edition)

Organisational behaviour taught me a myriad of topics from team dynamics, conflict resolution, workplace stress, emotional intelligence, but the biggest topic which caught my eye was the topic concerning intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Understanding and grasping motivation was a key indicator as to why you do the things that you do, and what are the factors which stimulate the activities that you do as well.

RKease Company Values

For a quick overview, according to an article by VeryWell Mind (https://www.verywellmind.com/differences-between-extrinsic-and-intrinsic-motivation-2795384), "extrinsic motivation are motivations to gain a reward or avoid punishment...intrinsic motivation are motivations to perform an activity for its own sake and personal rewards." These concepts are important because starting a business has a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, which makes me want to keep pursuing this venture. Below in the table are some of my motivations to pursue my music venture.

LeapIN Summer Business Accelerator

Intrinsic Motivations	Extrinsic Motivations
Ability to express my ideas	Gaining music industry experience
Fulfilment in creative expression	Building a brand and digital real-estate through my music catalogue
Enjoying the songwriting process and attaining mastery	Networking with like-minded individuals and business owners alike
Stress reliever for the trials and adversities of life	Accumulating passive income with my music streams

From July 2022, to the time that I started my business, to where I am at today, has been a wonderful journey and it has enabled me to learn skills that I can use for the rest of my professional and personal life. Motivation coupled with legal and business acumen are recipes for success and I hope everyone enjoys their 2026, and can't wait to see what I bring forward in the new year!! Peace!!