Tell me a fun fact about yourself.
A few years back, I finished second place in a Piggly Wiggly theme song contest. I won $500 and gift cards to Piggly Wiggly. They gave us the tagline to use, of course, and a different person won first place.
They later came back and asked to use the song in some of their materials. I said, “Well, give me what the first prize winner won.” And they wouldn’t. I respect their stance on it. It’s still floating around YouTube. You can have a listen.
Can you tell us a little bit about your singing career?
I’ve been a professional singer/songwriter of original Indie folk music for well over a decade. I’ve released five albums and performed all over the Midwest and a bit on the East Coast.
The sound is a mix of Johnny Cash, a little Tom petty in there, and maybe a dusting of U2—that’s the Irishness. Currently, I’m about to release another album at some point this summer.
I’m from Chicago originally and just moved up here to Madison for this position. I’ve been playing shows here and there through the Madison area over the years, and the area just west of here.
I did a few shows in the Driftless, which is absolutely beautiful. I just fell in love with Madison and the area. The people are wonderful, the city is wonderful, the nature around is just gorgeous. Wonderful art scene, music scene, restaurant scene—you name it.
Best decision I ever made coming up here. I love it and am really excited on the music front for this next chapter up here. It’s just an exciting time.
Listen to Brian’s songs on Spotify.
Can you tell us about your position and what you do professionally here at the School of Nursing?
As an accountant and part of the finance team at the business office, which falls under the bigger umbrella of administrative affairs, my role is to help out with all different kinds of financial processes and functions within the School of Nursing. That can be purchasing, billing, travel reimbursement, research, and participant payments. Over my year and a half here, I’ve really tried to become a bit of a policy guru.
It’s a lot of the behind the scenes work that helps both the teaching and the research being done here get accomplished. I try to do it efficiently, with warmth, and a bit of personality. I try to bring a bit of warmth and humanity to this position because numbers can be neither of those things.
It’s been wonderful so far. We’ve got a great team of people.
What do you enjoy about working at the School and about living in Madison?
The thing that I’m both encouraged by every day and what I feel very, very lucky about is the people here—both at the School and elsewhere. There’s a warmth and camaraderie that extends far beyond just the job itself. People are friendly. They want to know how you’re doing. They are always good for some gentle, kind-hearted ribbing. I have felt welcomed since the first day I’ve been here. I have people always available to help me.
We’re also in this beautiful building—Cooper Hall is absolutely gorgeous. And we’re in such a wonderful spot on campus close to so much nature. I mean, it’s just nothing short of a dream come true, grand slam, however you want to qualify it. I couldn’t ask for more.
What is your insider tip?
If you need some time to yourself, walk straight out of the building. Head north along beautiful University Bay, walk the trail up to Picnic Point, and you can be in the middle of nowhere very quickly. I find that does wonders for my mind when I’ve had too much Excel for one day.
When I first started here, I would sit in the beautiful atrium in Cooper Hall sometimes at lunchtime. I was always surprised by how many people I would have casual conversations with. Again, I felt very welcomed right away.
Our greatest value is that connection to the people here, the students, and the energy in the building. Just put yourself in the middle of it, be part of it, and good things happen.
I leaned on everyone around me for tips about the Madison area and places to get good barbecue. Kevin Check should be running his own tours with all the tips I have. I still haven’t even made a dent in that list.
What was your career path and ultimately, what led you here to UW–Madison and the School of Nursing?
I’ve had a lot of winding turns in my career. I went to school in Chicago, graduated from DePaul University, and initially out of college, I worked in higher ed.
I’ve always loved music, played it my whole life. I grew up in a family of where Irish music was a very important part of family gatherings. I was young and I thought, “Let’s try this out.” I was very, very lucky. I’ve been blessed by the fact that I could perform, write my own music, record it, and release it.
I had been in Chicago my whole life, and it was just time for something new. I had been through Madison so many times and loved the energy of the place. The musician in me loved the vibe, and I knew I wanted to work in a university. I walked around the campus, loved it, and started looking for a position here.
I love that in some way the work I do here in my role as accountant uses a completely different part of my brain than all the music does. The part that surprised me is there is an overlap to the things I’ve learned as a musician over the years: an approach and process of recognizing patterns and being articulate, clear, and accurate. And the importance of relationships. The importance of communication with each other.
Both this and music work so well together. I leave work every day feeling energized. I don’t feel drained, and, boy, that’s a lucky spot to be in. I love my role here. I love this organization. I love the university.
What would you say or who has helped you to grow and develop your career here? Either individual trainings, opportunities to engage in professional development, or programs.
The finance team in the business office—Dundee McNair and Lisa Sisulak. I have leaned on them quite a bit since starting this position. They are both incredibly warm people. They’ve always been available to me and the million questions I have. Because if I’m nothing if not long winded.
They’ve taught not only the functions and the processes themselves, but the greater idea of what’s behind them—a greater concept of what we’re trying to accomplish with these tasks.
And the team at central campus feel like friends at this point. I reach out to them a few times a day with different questions.
There’s this feeling of ‘we want to help you move forward. We want to help you be the best you can be in this position.’ That’s not always present in a lot of places you work. I intend to do that for somebody else. That’s part of this grander view of being in service to both the School, the University, and the community.
You’ve hinted at this a little bit, but how would you say your role contributes to the Wisconsin idea? That idea of being in service to the community around you, to the people around you, to the state, to the city of Madison, and beyond?
The research being done here, educating the next generation of nurses, all of the behind-the-scenes financial and administrative functions run through positions like mine.
Something I’ve always tried to do is personalize those numbers, to think about the story behind them. What am I really doing outside of just processing a purchase requisition? What is this for? What will be the positive effect of this? I always try to make sure I connect myself to the overall good work we’re doing here.
We’re all a team and we’re all pulling in the same direction. We all have our little area of it, but we’re all moving forward. It’s important work.