Jon Wasleske and Owen Jones met in high school and formed the band Windsor Drive while studying business at the University of Houston. They enrolled in UW-Platteville Online's business program to finish their degrees while touring with the band. Wasleske and Jones graduated in 2012 and now work in real estate while continuing to record and perform with Windsor Drive. Their business degrees provide useful skills for running the band as a business, with tasks like negotiating contracts, marketing, and budgeting. While based in Nashville recording a new album, Wasleske and Jones hope to continue balancing careers in both music and real estate.

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14 GoUWP.com I Your Best Career Move
Distance alumnus Owen Jones on drums
TWO SHOW
Jon Wasleske and Owen Jones have followed
a similar path since they first met as juniors
in high school—with successful ventures into
both the music and business world. As half
of the band Windsor Drive and full-time real
estate agents, their shared trajectory has taken
them across the United States, as far as Asia,
and home to northern Wisconsin.
Wasleske and Jones began playing music
in high school with a group of friends and
continued to play while studying business
at the University of Houston. Along with
two other members, they eventually formed
the band Windsor Drive in 2007. Named
for the street in their hometown of Wausau,
Wisconsin, where they wrote their first songs,
the band is made up of Kipp Wilde on vocals
and keyboard, Daniel Sukow on guitar, Jones
on drums, and Wasleske on bass.
As the band gained attention, they released
a few EPs and began to tour nationally and,
eventually, internationally. In November 2014,
they toured in Japan.
Even with the mounting success of their
band, graduating was still a priority for
Wasleske and Jones. They both enrolled in
UW-Platteville Online’s Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration program so they
could finish their degrees while on tour.
“We were all over while we were touring full
time,” Jones said. “I remember taking an exam
in a pizza place in Orlando because they had
WiFi. Everybody was hanging out after the
concert, and I had to say, ‘Hey guys, I’ll be
back in an hour and a half, I’ve got to go take
this exam.’”
“It worked out really well, though. There
were a few times, like when we were in
Vegas and we had to stay in the hotel while
everybody else was going out. But, we’re
pretty responsible. We were able to have fun,
experience everything, and still be able to
finish our degrees,” Jones said.
Wasleske and Jones both graduated in 2012.
When not playing, they work in real estate.
Jones is part owner of the agency where they
work.
Their degrees have been as useful in music as
they have been in real estate. “We’re musicians
and our band is a business. There’s marketing
involved, and there’s budgeting and
accounting and strategy. There’s competing
priorities that come up, and you have to work
in a team environment not only with your
own band but also with other bands, so it’s
very similar in a lot of ways to a traditional
business,” Jones said.
BSAD alumni find success in business and music

2. University of Wisconsin-Platteville Online 15
Windsor Drive performed at UW-Platteville’s Late Night at the Markee event in May
Want more Windsor Drive?
Watch the band’s UW-Platteville show at
www.GoUWP.com/WD or visit their website
at www.windsordrivemusic.com.
“We’ve been kind of running our band, and
there’s so many aspects like negotiating
contracts for shows, negotiating publishing
deals, and deciding where to put marketing
and advertising dollars. It’s so much more,
I think, than people who don’t work in the
music business realize,” Wasleske said. “And
the further we got into it, the more we realized
that what we were learning was applicable to
what we were doing with the band.”
The band is currently in Nashville, Tennessee,
recording their next album, and although
their music has taken them across the country,
they’re content with sticking close to home.
“A lot of times bands move to big cities.
There’s definitely more opportunities and it’s
better for networking, but I don’t think it’s a
necessity. Especially where we’re at, we’ve
kind of made those connections already,”
Wasleske said.
They play many local and regional shows, and
have played at several of the UW campuses. In
May, they played their first show at
UW-Platteville at an end-of-year event.
“We enjoy what we’re doing right now,”
Jones said. “We were talking about eventually
expanding into other regions of the country
with real estate. But we love music. Obviously,
that’s our passion. And we’ll probably be
doing it as long as we can. As long as it’s
sustainable and we’re enjoying it, we’ll
probably keep doing it.”
“I think we’ll keep our real estate licenses,
because it’s something you can practice
anywhere,” Wasleske said. “But I’d like to keep
doing music with these guys and potentially
do something on the production side of music.
I think my dream job would be to be a music
supervisor for movies. In some aspect, I’d like
to stay working in music.”
–Cheryl Lange
Bassist and distance alumnus Jon Wasleske