My career pivots<\/a> have been unexpected and I tend to fall into my line of work, but they have felt natural because my dreams keep changing.<\/a> While my job titles have changed<\/a>, one thing hasn’t: a belief in getting my head down and doing the hard work. In my experience, nine times out of ten, that’s what pays off.<\/p>\n \n Every time Joshua publishes a story, you\u2019ll get an alert straight to your inbox!\n <\/p>\n \n Stay connected to Joshua and get more of their work as it publishes.\n <\/p>\n Have you made an unconventional career move? If you’re comfortable discussing it with a reporter, please fill out this quick form<\/a>. We want to hear from people who have stepped out of or into corporate life in nontraditional ways.<\/p>\n Band life was fun, but hard<\/p>\n As a kid, I dreamed of being a footballer \u2014 then I got into music. My dad loves Motown and he wanted me to become a saxophonist. I started learning the clarinet and the sax, and then the drums, because I thought it might get me more girls.<\/p>\n I planned to study jazz at music school, but that never happened. Soon after I finished my high-school exams, the band I was the drummer of was signed by an indie label while gigging locally. When I heard the words “record deal<\/a>,” I got goosebumps.<\/p>\n From 2006, we were suddenly getting studio time and supporting major acts on tour. Looking back, touring for a year and a half was probably a better life experience than going to university: I became a better musician and learned how to drink.<\/p>\n Ryan Edwards was a drummer for The Lines.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Ryan Edwards<\/p>\n Band life was fun, but it wasn’t always easy. I remember renting budget hotel rooms and flipping a coin to see who would sleep on the floor. Eventually, it became clear that the label would prioritize better-selling and more well-behaved bands.<\/p>\n Panic set in when I left the band. I didn’t know what to do with my life, but I knew I needed an income. I got a job as an assistant store manager at a cell phone retailer chain in 2008, where I ended up working for four years in increasingly senior roles.<\/p>\n Working in retail<\/a> was an excellent education: you’re trading day in, day out. There were similarities to life in the band, where I’d sell T-shirts and stickers after shows. In both lines of work, I managed stock and convinced people to part with their hard-earned cash.<\/p>\n I was made redundant in 2012, and after a stint as a business development manager at an app development business \u2014 whose founder I met at a friend’s wedding \u2014 I was offered a job at Visa Europe as a senior manager in late 2013.<\/p>\n I learned to always be open to exploring new opportunities.<\/a> You never know where they might take you.<\/p>\n Visa was my first corporate job<\/p>\n It was my first job in a corporate environment. Suddenly, I was sitting in a three-piece suit at a quiet desk, worrying it would be stale, but I ended up being given permission to shake things up.<\/p>\n I hadn’t planned to leave Visa \u2014 the pay was great and I felt comfortable in my job. But in 2016, after three years, I joined a fintech start-up in sales, after two brilliant guys tried to poach me. They knew of me from working on Visa data feeds, and needed contacts in retail.<\/p>\n The risk of pivoting<\/a> felt worth it because the idea for the business was amazing.<\/p>\n Ryan Edwards has pivoted between different careers and industries.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Ryan Edwards<\/p>\n Then the idea for Audoo hit me. In 2018, I was in a department store in London when one of my band’s singles started playing, and my wife joked about the royalties I’d earn. I said they were more likely to buy her a coffee than the designer bag she was eyeing up.<\/p>\n Weeks later, I got my royalty statement. It listed what I’d been paid but offered no data about how those payments were calculated or the flow of how plays become payment. I became fascinated by how the royalties process worked \u2014 and realized the system was a mess.<\/p>\n Inspired by Amazon’s Alexa and Shazam, I wanted to build a technology that would identify the music played in public and ensure artists get paid fairly for it. I built the first prototype for Audoo on my kitchen table with a Raspberry Pi. It worked \u2014 it recognized songs \u2014but, looking back, it was embarrassing. We use barely any of that code anymore.<\/p>\n Now, our Audoo Audio Meter uses a plug-in device to track the music played in commercial premises, like stores and bars, and sends the data to royalty-collection organizations.<\/p>\n I incorporated Audoo in August 2018 at the age of 33. We’d just gotten a puppy and my wife was pregnant, so I needed it to work. I used LinkedIn <\/a>to reach out to industry leaders and set up coffee dates, which quickly confirmed there was demand to build and scale the product.<\/p>\n In 2020, Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus of ABBA saw me on TV promoting Audoo and later invested. He put out a statement that exceeded my expectations: “Audoo is a solution I believe will change the music industry forever,” he said.<\/p>\n I reset my goals every few years<\/p>\n Through word of mouth, others in the music industry started to hear about the company and invest, including Elton John.<\/p>\n The team and the mission we’re delivering are incredibly rewarding \u2014 but I’m always open to new challenges.<\/p>\n Ryan Edwards outside Abbey Road Studios, where The Beatles recorded music.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Ryan Edwards<\/p>\n![\"Joshua](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6556328c36d588dc55d1765d.jpeg\")
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