Meet Jace Allen | Musician and Criminal Justice Reform Advocate (a.k.a. Jason Mendelson)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jace Allen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jace, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My musical career started as a teenager when it was easy, fun, and lucrative. I don’t think I appreciated it enough back then. Then I got injured and that was the end. Over the next 30 years, I was a software engineer, lawyer, startup founder, venture capitalist, and author.

Music. continued to be part of my life and I would occasionally play in bands or even cut an album. But on the side, I began to write and produce my own music and found that the storytelling gave me immense satisfaction. I decided to go back to my first love of music as a decidedly middle-aged man. I even created a stage name: Jace Allen! For some reason, I feel like I can be more honest with a thinly-veiled alter ego.

I also use my music to highlight charitable organizations and movements that I believe deeply in. I hope that people who connect with me artistically may also join me in those endeavors as well.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My career has been a series of random events stitched into an incredible experience. Coming out of undergrad, I hadn’t had any job other than as a musician. It was hard to convince employers that I could be anything but a creative, but I ran into a random person who worked for Accenture, and almost immediately I had a job. From there I went to law school to be an entertainment lawyer and somehow ended up in Silicon Valley right before the dot com gold rush. From there I was given an opportunity to go into venture capital and then took a slight detour to start a startup.

Unexpectedly, I got the opportunity to co-write a book on venture capital which turned into a best seller. People always ask me what my plan was and honestly, I never had one. I just saw some opportunities and took them. Was it easy? No. I’ve certainly experienced negative health effects from the sheer hours of trying to learn and execute and not suffer from imposter syndrome. I feel both 20 years old and 80 years old mentally sometimes.

What I find so fascinating is that my new world of music and criminal justice reform are deliberate paths that I’ve taken. It’s scary sometimes, as I haven’t really done this before. I’m going to rely on what I’ve learned every step of the way. Failure is okay, so long as I learn from it and don’t let it stop me. Resiliency is crucial. Be nice to people and surround myself with folks who are like-minded in core areas like maturity, ethos, accountabillity and ethics, but diverse elsewhere. And always try to give first.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Unfortunately, anyone who visits me will probably be worse for wear when they leave as they’ll eat too much and hike too much and need a vacation afterward.

Eating in Boulder: High-end – Corrida, Frasca, and Steakhouse316. Medium: Arcana, Pizzeria Locale and Santo.

But where I really like to look are some off-the-beaten or overlooked places that some think are too “low brow.” My favorites include: The Attic, Rincon Argentino, Ruthies Boardwalk Social, T/Aco, and Tierra y Fuego Taqueria

Hikes in Boulder in the Flatirons are great, or just slightly next door at Green Mountain. For those not acclimated to the altitude, I’ll usually do Lions Lair.

Nederland is always a fun day trip and if we were to get out of town for a few days, it’s almost impossible to beat the beauty of Aspen.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Without my wife’s encouragement and support, I’d never have taken the leap to music and would have never thought that I could have an impact on large issues like criminal justice reform. It’s clear that she has more confidence in what I do than I do. 🙂 But I trust her as my best friend and she’s never steered me wrong, so when I feel lost or insecure, she usually gives me the wisdom or kick in the butt that I need.

Website: www.jaceallenmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaceallen_music/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmendelson/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonmendelson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaceallenmusic

Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jace-allen/1365882791 https://open.spotify.com/artist/6PbQjHVCUrghNLctvGturu?si=k1CAx5u9QieC8X2wf0y6gw

Image Credits
Ivan Hundric