Harlan is an entrepreneur in online publishing, having created, developed, and ultimately sold one of the most popular websites for personal finance over the past decade, and he is now a consultant for companies wishing to grow their communities online. He is regularly sought-after to speak at conferences, is a mentor to other entrepreneurs in online publishing and team leadership, and is seen as a leader in the financial niche of online publishing. Harlan is in the process of launching a nonprofit organization with several partners whose mission is to support the development of young people into financially capable human beings.
Harlan studied music education at the University of Delaware and holds a bachelor’s degree in music from that institution. His minor concentration was “music management,” which was designed at the university to include aspects of nonprofit management. He has taught music and directed a variety of ensembles, including marching bands, at the middle school, high school, and college level. His performance experience focuses on clarinet, but he also has experience performing upper brass and percussion. He has been an instructor at the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy. From an administration perspective, while involved with Youth Education in the Arts, Harlan was the Associate Director of the US Scholastic Band Association (USSBA, now USBANDS), organizing over one hundred high school marching band competitions each fall and managing communication with hundreds of high school marching band directors.
He has assisted with the production and coordination of the Cadets’ home drum corps shows, spent one summer touring with the Crossmen to learn more about the management of a corps on the road, and volunteered as “floor crew” for an Independent indoor guard (Visual Arts Production Company, now Delazure). This past summer, Harlan served as the Operations manager for the Bushwackers Drum & Bugle Corps.