Brian Lawley

Brian Lawley (@brianlawley) writes fun, meaningful songs that make a difference. In 2019 he sold his company and cashed out of Silicon Valley and a 30 year career as a CEO and Author to pursue songwriting and music full-time.

An acoustic rock songwriter, vocalist and guitar player who lives in Los Gatos, CA, he started playing guitar and writing songs when he was fifteen years old, and now runs Mountain Charlie recording Studio. His first CD, DREAM BIG, will be released in early 2021.

I’m so excited for you to connect with Brian, check out his work and music, and follow along as he continues to pursue his first love, music.

I'd love it if you'd introduce yourself, what you do, and what you're working on.

I’m Brian Lawley, an acoustic rock singer and songwriter. I’ve been playing and writing music for forty years on the side while I built a successful company named 280 Group in Silicon Valley and was a CEO and Author. The company is the world’s leading Product Management consulting and training firm, and was included in the Inc. magazine 5000 fastest growing companies list three years in a row. In 2017 I took a trip to Nepal for a six day meditation retreat with my meditation teacher, Yonge Mingyur Rinpoche, at his monastery in Kathmandu. During the trip I realized that it was time for me to change paths in life and to pursue my biggest passion, which is songwriting and singing. Shortly after this I received a call from an entrepreneur looking to buy a great company and invest strategically while keeping and taking care of all of the existing employees. As fate would have it, it was the perfect chance for me so I sold my company and cashed out to pursue music full-time.

After assisting the new owner to make sure the company was completely on track I officially full retired in August of 2019, 20 years to the date of starting the company. I immersed myself in voice, piano and guitar lessons along with songwriting, music production and music business courses. I also built out the recording studio at my house (named Mountain Charlie studios after a local legendary character who lived in the Santa Cruz mountains where I reside). When Covid hit I decided to double down on songwriting and to put out my first CD, so I began writing and working with Basement 3 Productions and Kenny Schick, a fantastic producer and recording engineer in Nashville. Over the past year we recorded my upcoming CD, Dream Big, with Kenny doing much of the work in Nashville and then me recording the vocals remotely in my studio. The result is a ten song CD released in early April 2021 named Dream Big.

How did you get started?

I’ve been a musician since I was 10, playing piano, viola and then guitar. I was lucky enough to have guitar class every day after lunch in High School, and my teacher taught us all of the chords and basic strumming patterns using all Beatles songs. From there I took lessons and in college at UC San Diego I did a minor in music technology and learned all about recording studios and digital recording. This led to my first job out of college, which was at Digidesign, the company that came out with Pro Tools recording software and hardware and completely changed the recording industry. For several decades from there on I focused on starting and building my business and being a Father to my kids, but I always knew I would be taking music off the back burner at some point.

What inspired the work that you're doing?

I love to bring joy and happiness to people, and music is the fastest way I have found to make it happen.

What is your biggest passion? Do you feel like you're living your passion and purpose?

My biggest passion is writing and playing fun, meaningful songs that make a difference in people’s lives. When I can connect with someone and enhance their life through music it brings me tremendous joy. I feel like I’m incredibly lucky to be able to pursue this passion and purpose now at this stage in my life full time.

What is your joy blueprint? What lights you up, brings you joy, and makes you feel the most alive?

I am a big believe in the concept that I can and should be happy no matter what. If I use this filter when things happen on a daily basis I find the good. Combine this with playing music and being in nature and I can become full of joy pretty quickly.

How do you live intentionally? Are there tools/resources/practices that you rely on to help you stay mindful and grounded?

I meditate every day, do yoga, ride my bike and journal. I also use a checklist for every day to stay on track – it includes things like eating healthy, exercise, reaching out to connect to other people, etc. For me it really helps to check in at night and in the morning and check things off to make sure I’m doing everything that makes me feel good.

What would your younger self think about what you're doing now?

My younger self would be proud of the path I’m on. It’s always been my dream to be able to focus on writing, recording and performing and now I have the time and money to be able to.

Do you have a go-to mantra or affirmation?

Happy no matter what. It’s also the name of a new song I’m working on.

What is your biggest dream?

My dream is to bring massive joy and meaning to people’s lives through music.

To learn more and connect with Brian visit his website www.brianlawley.com Instagram @brianlawleymusic Twitter @BrianLawley Facebook @BrianLawleyMusic and on Spotify here

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Brian Lawley - Acoustic Rock Singer & Songwriter