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Musically Gifted Alumni

By Veronica Richardson

While most graduates of the Chico State Department of Journalism and Public Relations tend to seek conventional journalism careers, two alums have chosen a different career path.

Ann Goodman and Robin Bacior both graduated from the J&PR program's news option in 2009 and are seeking success in the music industry.

Goodman is working on publishing her first album and Bacior is currently working on her second full-length album. Both artists may share the same love of music, but they have different routes on the pathway to musical success.

Ann Goodman

Goodman was always interested in songwriting but loved playing soccer in high school.

"I wanted to be the next Mia Hamm," Goodman said. "But songwriting has always been my passion."

Goodman knew she wanted to have a career in music and thinks Chico State's J&PR program helped her with that goal.

"The most helpful class for me was online journalism," Goodman said. "We learned how to create websites on WordPress and it really helped when I started promoting myself as a business."

After a year of job hunting, Goodman landed a sales job in San Francisco, where she saved enough money to buy the equipment needed to create a home studio and began recording her own music.

To promote her music, Goodman created several social media accounts, which have helped immensely in her fledgling career.

"I connected with someone on LinkedIn who was looking for a singer," Goodman said. "I wasn't sure I would be the right fit, but I took the chance anyways."

Goodman ended up being the right fit and was invited to New York to record an album with Dave Saronson, a producer who worked with Madonna, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson.

Today, Goodman performs as Ann G Lau'ren and has big dreams for her music career. She is confident that her dedication to her work will help her succeed.

"When you care about what you do, it shows up in your work," Goodman said. "I'm going for the stars."

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Hear Goodman's song, "Can't Sleep"

Follow Ann G Lau'ren and hear more of her music on Reverbnation.

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Robin Bacior

Bacior's journey through music began a little differently from Goodman's. She knew she wanted to work as a music journalist but not necessarily as an artist herself.

"I didn't know I would end up being a performer," Bacior said. "I'm a little shy about my own music."

Her interest in pursuing a career in music journalism led her to the J&PR program at Chico State. While at the university, she wrote for The Orion, the Chico News & Review and the Synthesis, where she had her own column.

Chico State's J&PR program helped Bacior distinguish her skill set.

"One of the professors sat me down and told me she had read and enjoyed my column in The Synthesis," Bacior explained. "I learned that my true talent was in feature writing and that I had a strong voice."

Bacior's writing skills helped her get a freelance position at Blender Magazine in New York.

"I moved to New York the week after graduation and started going to open mic nights and meeting musicians," Bacior said. "The people I met pushed me to start creating and performing my own music, and that’s where my focus is at now."

Bacior's sixth album will be released in the late spring or early summer of 2014. She hopes she will be able to tour through Europe to promote it.

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Hear Bacior's song, "Women Speak"

Follow Robin Bacior and hear more of her music on her website, RobinBacior.com.