For Kabir Sehgal, there’s no such thing as a one-track profession. He writes books. He owns a record label and plays several instruments. He dispenses career advice. He wins lots of awards, including Grammys and Emmys. The Atlanta-based Sehgal’s eclectic résumé also includes politics, investment banking, and intelligence work for the U.S. government.

“I think of my life in four pods: finance and business, music, writing, and the military,” says Sehgal. “Increasingly, it’s mostly about music, because music is my bliss. Joseph Campbell (class of 1925) says follow your bliss, and every time I do something in music, it not only makes me happy, but it also seems to work.” He’s currently producing a series of meditation albums with rap icon Lil Jon and setting Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school lessons to music. But he’s also written a new children’s book about counting, and he still offers investment advice.

“He is one of only two former students whom I thought could be a genius,” says music professor emeritus Bill Summers, who first encountered Sehgal in his classroom. “He also was a published author at an alarmingly early age.”

Sehgal’s first book—he’s written 19—was an outgrowth of his senior thesis, which examined the relationship between jazz music and American democracy. That unusual mix typifies his own post-graduation track, a peripatetic, wide-ranging set of pursuits that he calls his “portfolio career.” It all started when he put his extracurricular activities—as a bass player in the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble and writer for The Dartmouth—on hold to tour with jazz legend Wynton Marsalis and work on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.

“I was doing a lot of things at Dartmouth, but that’s not unlike a lot of students involved in a lot of activities,” says Sehgal, a music major who chose the College in large part for its natural setting. “What makes my journey my journey is that I just kept on doing that. I sort of pretended that Dartmouth wasn’t over.”

After graduation he worked for J.P. Morgan in its emerging markets division. He also spent a 2016 stint with the U.S. Naval Reserves in the Middle East, where he countered cyber threats to finance systems. (“I understand cash flow and balance sheets, flows of money. That’s how I’ve helped the military,” he says.) However, when Latin jazz pianist and bandleader Arturo O’Farrill called, Sehgal moved into music production. The pair had met for lunch when O’Farrill held a weeklong residency with the Coast in February 2005, and now he wanted help with a music recording. “That became The Offense of the Drum [2014], the first album we did together, and it won a Grammy Award [for best Latin jazz album],” says Sehgal. “I thought, ‘Wow, maybe this could be a career.’ ”

Their partnership led to seven more albums, including the Grammy-winning soundtrack to their 2018 film, Fandango at the Wall, which explores U.S.-Mexico relations through “son jarocho” music from Veracruz. 

Four years ago, Sehgal cofounded a record label, Tiger Turn, which has churned out nearly 500 releases. “I think 125,000 songs get uploaded to Spotify every day, but there are millions of songs that have zero streams on Spotify,” he says. “Music production tools have been heavily democratized. The question becomes, how do you break through the noise?” He believes the backing of a label known for quality entices streaming platforms to pay attention. “That’s the hope, at least,” he says.

His belief in the accessibility of artistry is borne out by Sehgal’s recordings on classical guitar, a second instrument he pursued during the early days of the pandemic. That hobby eventually yielded an album earlier this year, Guitar Spring: Music for a New Season. “I think everyone can be creative,” he says.

Since 2014, Sehgal has written nine children’s books with his mother, Surishtha, a former psychology professor at Georgia State University. The latest, Seven Samosas, out in October, continues a decade of work that’s added a new dimension to their relationship. “She always wanted to write children’s books,” he says. “It’s been a real joy seeing her establish a new career. We’ve created this interesting niche as a mother-and-son team writing books about Indian culture.”

Sehgal has also written for adults. He completed his 2015 history of money, Coined: The Rich Life of Money and How Its History Has Shaped Us, when he worked for J.P. Morgan. For now, he’s avoiding longer-form book projects. “I don’t want to be a hermit,” he explains. “Writing can be an exercise in solitude, and I’ve done that. Music is kind of the opposite—it’s very collaborative.” His 2024 album with Lil Jon, Total Meditation, is the first in a series they hope will deliver a new audience for the practice of meditation. Sehgal has explored the topic in his past work with New Age guru Deepak Chopra, with whom he has released five albums since 2017. 

Not surprisingly, Sehgal remains a proponent of multiple vocations. A few years ago, Sehgal wrote a popular article for Harvard Business Review titled “Why You Should Have (at Least) Two Careers.” He also sends out a weekly digital newsletter, 7 Ideas on Sundays, which encourages others to explore new avenues and discover their own portfolio careers. He has 11,000 subscribers. “I try to provide resources, tools, and techniques that you can use to create your own career and monetize it,” he says. “I don’t think the barrier is that high to get started living the life you imagine, if the life you imagine is to live on your own terms. When you work for yourself and create on your own, it’s really rewarding.”                                                                       

Elliot Olshansky wrote about college basketball coach Courtney Banghart ’00 in the May/June 2024 issue of DAM.