PPC, SOLUTIONS 8
Jasper Payne: Client Manager by Day, Musician by… Well, Also Day. And Night. He Loves Biking, Too.
Every Friday afternoon, the entire Solutions 8 team meets to discuss things like sales, business goals, client progress, key accomplishments, and other typical weekly meeting stuff.
And while, sure, all of those things are important, the best part of the meeting comes at the very end, when a different team member each week gets the chance to steal the spotlight and talk about something they’re passionate about.
Or, in the case of Client Manager Jasper Payne, to take the stage (so to speak) and perform a song for his teammates.
And that's how I realized Jasper's got mad skills.
Of course, having grown up around music—his dad was a touring musician and his mom worked as a venue manager in Germany—it’s really no wonder Jasper loves it as much as he does.
“Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by musicians and exposed to various genres of music. Music has always been my preferred means of self-expression. Whether it’s dancing, singing, or playing the guitar, whenever I need to release my emotions, I instinctively turn to my guitar—it’s like therapy.”
The artists who have inspired Jasper the most are The Stills (a Montreal alt rock band he’s loved since he was a kid), Johnny Flyn (an acoustic folk artist from Britain, and brother of GoT actor Jerome Flynn), and The National, another alt rock band.
“I like melancholic serious music and I just adore these guys,” he told me.
And if you’re ever in the Toronto area and want to hear him play, Jasper says he plays shows a couple times a year and you can find him at open mics a couple times a month.
How did he find Solutions 8?
Prior to joining the Solutions 8 team, Jasper worked at an agency based out of Edmonton—and one of his coworkers was none other than our incredible Director of Operations, Leandra.
After Leandra left the agency to work for us, she encouraged Jasper to interview for the client management role; he says taking the job was the best decision he ever made.
When I asked what surprised him most about the position, he told me it was the chance to learn so much about so many different businesses.
“It’s genuinely fascinating to have this opportunity to peer into such a wide range of industries and delve into niches that I might never have encountered otherwise,” Jasper shared. “I have clients from all over the world as well. It’s so great to have so much exposure to new ideas and cultures.”
That made perfect sense when I learned that his alternate career would be a professor or an academic. “I would love to work in the sciences. I am incredibly interested in genetics, sociology and anthropology,” he told me.
His go-to productivity trick is definitely a winner: Jasper heads to one of his favorite local coffee shops and treats himself to a large cappuccino paired with a slice of his favorite dessert, cheesecake. He also loves to start the day with a morning bike ride into the Don Valley in Toronto.
Jasper was born in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
But he says his family moved to Toronto (his dad’s childhood home) when he was three years old, and he has been there ever since.
“I love Toronto, and assuming rent prices don’t make me leave, I’d love to stay here,” he shared. “It has great nature trails and a great music scene.”
Jasper lives in a downtown neighborhood with his fiancée, whom he says is also very musical. One of their favorite activities is biking together in a nearby conservation park.
And speaking of biking…
He loves biking.
Road biking, trail biking, commuting—you name it.
“I grew up in downtown Toronto in a car-free household, so biking has always been my main method of transportation. I also love building bikes and have built most of my bikes myself.”
In fact, this is a photo of a bike Jasper recently built to ride trails in Toronto:
Like most of us, Jasper has a bucket list.
And, not surprisingly, it includes going on a bike tour along the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado. He says it looks like an amazing trail, and he’d really love to experience it.
He would also love to explore Scotland and connect with his heritage, since his grandfather was Scottish and his fiancée’s mother is also Scottish. Although he used to travel to Germany every other summer to visit family, he says he looks forward to experiencing more of the world when he has the chance.
Finally, Jasper would love to start a band.
“Despite having played music most of my life, I’ve never actually played in a band,” he shared. “It’s a dream of mine to be the lead singer in an alt rock band and perform at some of the larger venues in Toronto.”
Sounds good to me, as long as we all get backstage passes to your first show!
Author
Pamela Sapio
Pamela is the Senior Content Writer at Solutions 8. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking in the woods with her dogs. She is currently on a quest to visit every national park in the United States.
