Students sacrificed their hour of leisure time last Thursday, to hear Ann Marie Wilkins, founder of Wilkins Management, Inc. (WMI) speak about her experience in the music industry.

Born to a Chinese father and a Jewish and black mother, Wilkins spent her formative years living in the back of a grocery store in her native land, Kingston, Jamaica. After leaving the island, she attended Cornell University where she obtained both her undergraduate and Masters degree in business. Upon completion of her career at Cornell, she became a Certified Public Account (CPA) and worked as an accountant in Houston, Texas.

Once she became bored with that career, she decided to go back to school yet again. This time the place was Harvard Law School. Wilkins graduated from Harvard with a Juris Doctor and went on to work in corporate transactions.

Working as a lawyer, she met renowned jazz musician Branford Marsalis, a Grammy award winner for his jazz saxophone work as well as the member of a highly distinguished musical family. Marsalis saw the talent that Wilkins possessed and realized that he wanted her to represent him.

“I was completely enthralled with the artistic personality with that family in particular, their commitment to excellence,” said Wilkins of the Marsalis family.

Without hesitation Wilkins left law behind to join her new family. She said she got “bored with” her career in corporate transactions.

Then in her thirties and on her third career, Wilkins took control of her destiny. Without much education in business management, Wilkins took on the task of representing a prestigious name and she started her own company, WMI.

In the beginning, the company was solely operated by Wilkins out of her apartment in Cambridge. It then moved into the attic of her Cambridge home with a few employees. Presently, the business is based in an office in Cambridge with 20 employees who work with her to make sure jazz is preserved.

“I found something I was passionate about,” Wilkins said.

Once things started to get off the ground, Wilkins invited longtime friend Marilynn Davis to join her at WMI. The two became instant friends when they met at a party at Harvard. When Wilkins tried to recruit Davis she was already a staple in the corporate world. Her resume