From show business to college classroom, musician teaches budding entrepreneurs

After more than 20 years in theater management, Frank Wood made the leap from show business to business academia right here in Key West.

As executive director of the Tennessee Williams Theatre, located at Florida Keys Community College's Key West campus, Wood has been surrounded by collegiate life for the past seven years.

Eventually, his regular interactions with college students and faculty sparked a new career endeavor -- on just the other side of the campus.

"I just had this desire: I want to teach," said Wood, who joined the FKCC faculty in 2010 and now oversees the business program, which includes an Associate in Applied Science degree in business administration and a certificate in entrepreneurship.

It's been a marriage made in heaven, according to Wood, who still runs the theater from a convenient distance.

"Both my jobs are things that I really like doing," he said. "I get to feed both sides of my brain."

Wood holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA in marketing from Mercer University and is in the final stages of a doctoral program in marketing at Nova Southeastern University.

Wood's educational background, combined with his creativity and business experience, including the development and management of Keystix.com, enable him to teach business in a way that is stimulating and relevant.

"I want my students to see that there are many different ways to get to the top other than just getting an Ivy League MBA and immediately running a company," said Wood. "That's not always going to be the case for our students, and I want them to see there are different beginnings that lead to great successes."

Wood is looking forward to teaching entrepreneurship for the first time next semester.

The course is the capstone of the college's new 12-credit entrepreneurship certificate, which Wood helped to develop with valuable insight and expertise from local business leaders who comprise the program's advisory council.

"The students learn these wonderful skills -- like how to dive or maintain a boat -- but may not have the business acumen to turn it into a business," said Wood. "We teach them how to take their passion and turn it into something that can be a livelihood."

Wood and his partner, Terry Lienhardt, live on Sugarloaf Key, where they have three Rhodesian ridgeback dogs.

Wood is also an accomplished pianist and has performed regularly in some of Key West's finest restaurants, bars, and at the Metropolitan Community Church.

Source: http://keysnews.com/node/36841

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