BY Elissa Sanci & Samantha Mathewson

Yvette Noel-Schure, a former senior Vice President of Media at Columbia Records/Sony Music and founder of Schure Media Group, spoke at the University of New Haven Wed. March 11 at the German Club.

Schure was the first of the Music Department’s Master Speaker Lecture Series for the 2015 spring semester.  Schure worked for Columbia Records for 17 years as a publicist, representing artists including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Adelle and John Legend.

Schure has a love both for words and music; this is what led her to Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1975, from her home in Grenada, an island in the Caribbean. Schure first worked for Gannett Westchester Newspapers as a crime beat reporter.

However, she disliked the grisly nature of crime coverage, which led her to take a job as a music reporter for Black Beat magazine, where spent eight years interviewing various artists.

“It wasn’t about the money,” Schure said after explaining that the paycheck she received with Black Beat was far less than she expected. “It was about the music. The atmosphere was intoxicating.

After eight years, Schure left for Columbia Records/Sony Music, where she started as a “very wet-behind-the-ears” publicist, as she said. Schure represented many different artists, including Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, and eventually Beyoncé, when she went broke away from Destiny’s Child to pursue a solo career.

A publicist is the go between between a product (in Schure’s case, the product being a band or artist) and the media. However, Schure defines a publicist as a person with patience, persistence and passion. “Nothing happens in one phone call,” she said. “And passion isn’t something you put on a resume; it’s something you need to show.”

“You will cut your own path, but you must listen to your own heart,” Schure told the students at UNH. “[Do what’s] best for you, what you’re good at.”

She explained that when you are happy doing something you love, it is then that the money will come.

“If you do the hard work and everything it takes, it will come,” said Schure. “If you’re not passionate about something, you would be a very unhappy individual, believe that. If you are happy, you’re doing ok.”

“I wake up feeling like I am living a purposeful life,” said Schure, who explained that while she can’t cash that at a bank, it matters much more. “Everything you dream and work hard for, you can achieve.”

Schure said that she is happiest when she is in front of students. It is then that she is able to share her experiences and knowledge. “Publicity has opened up a road that has led me to many young people,” she said.

“It was interesting to hear how successful Yvette has been, especially since she wasn’t even from the U.S.,” said Nicole Pierce, a music industry major. “It shows that hard work does pay off.”

When asked why she presented at UNH, she said she not only wanted to speak to students, but that she wanted to learn from them as well. She said she wanted to know how they view the world and how they view adults. She was excited to have an open dialogue with “incredible students.”