Jan Hellriegel
The confidence she gained from performing in bands while studying, is part of the drive behind Otago alumna Jan Hellriegel (BA, Postgrad Dip in English) being the only female owner of a music publishing business in Australasia (Songbroker).
Jan doubts she would have gone to Otago if it wasn’t for the bursaries and low-fee studies that tertiary students received in New Zealand in the ‘80s.
During her final year at West Auckland’s Henderson High School, she travelled to Dunedin for a week to visit her brother Robert Hellriegel (also BA, Postgrad Dip English), who was flatting in Dunedin.
Jan spent her first year at University College, which she says was fairly new and “was so cool, so much fun”.
Her passion for music drove her towards Radio One, where she worked as the Advertising Manager, following on from fellow musician Shayne Carter of Straitjacket Fits fame.
She says in those days it was common for the major advertising agencies such as Colenso to syndicate their adverts through all the student radio stations.
“Otago just seemed to be this magical, artistic, exciting environment, and I didn't know what I wanted to do after I left school, so I thought, oh, I'll go there. That looks amazing.
“I was never a high achiever at varsity, but I loved studying. I loved the library and I went to every lecture and tutorial, never missing one.
“The experience we had at Otago helped us learn all these transferable skills. I do not believe that I would have been able to start a music publishing company without the experiences I had at Otago.”
Jan working at Radio One in 1987.
Her favourite lecturers included Professor Patrick Little and she was in the same class as Dr Graeme Downes, formerly of The Verlaines, from the Department of Music.
“There was just always something going on that was very artistic. It was a very good place for someone like me to be. I felt very much at home there. Very good time to be a creative person.”
She says she loved studying English, with Chaucer and T.S Elliott standing out.
“It’s ideas that drive the world. Without my Arts degree I wouldn’t have had the confidence to start a business in one of the most cutthroat industries around. The music business.”
She learned accounting and finance from her father while working at the family’s West Auckland panel beating business.
Jan decided to set up a publishing business to provide an alternative to traditional music publishing models and to support local songwriters.
In 2019 she released a project called Sportsman of the Year, which includes a book, album and podcast.
Jan has recently completed touring a new show called “If Not Now, When?”, which featured piano tunes, comedy and stories and says she’s thrilled that her children (Germain and Seth) are studying at Otago and she also has a nephew (Ben Hellriegel) studying Commerce there as well as another (George) who graduated in Law and Arts in 2018.
“I was so lucky to be there. And that's why I was really glad to hear my kids were going to go there. Because it's a wonderful place to be young and a wonderful place for discovery and meeting friends and finding people that love doing that same things that you do. After all not everyone wants to be a musician, right? So, I found my music tribe and inspiration at Otago and have been inspired ever since.”