As Olivia Management grows, I have been looking for the perfect person to join our small team. It's so important to us to maintain a family vibe of folks that are passionate about music and passionate about helping artists to grow.
Two years ago, I met Meghan. She was a student in my Entrepreneurship class at Belmont University. She went on to intern for me, tour manage one of our artists, and now we are so happy she's one of our first employees.
Erin: What brought you to Nashville?
Meghan: School brought me. I knew in high school I wanted to be an "artist manager" but obviously at 17 I had no idea what that really meant. I ended up going to University of Delaware as an undecided major--but knowing they had a "music management" degree. After talking to the music department and business department I realized it wasn't the major I was looking for (you had to audition and perform which I was NOT good at), so one day in the middle of my sophomore year I googled "music business schools." Belmont came up, I applied, visited, and the next semester I moved to Nashville.
Erin: What is your experience in the music business so far?
Meghan: I've done a mixture of things thus far in the biz. My first internship was with a small company back home in Pittsburgh called Opus One Productions, which is mostly a concert promotion company, but they also manage a couple bands. I ended up doing a bit of Street Team for them, marketing, ticketing, and a production runner for shows. So I would set up dressing rooms, fulfill the rider, get food for the band, drive crew/band members around. Grunt work, but a lot of fun. Then I interned with Olivia Management my senior year of college and obviously, it is an artist management company. There I worked more directly with social media and the artists. Researching ways to connect with fans and how to keep up an artist's presence and engagement in this era of over saturation. Then I was a tour manager for an artist Jill Andrews (with Olivia Management). We were on the road for a month for a house show tour and went all over the Southeast, recorded a music video, and recorded a session at Daytrotter during that time. Now I am an assistant and Day-to-Day manager at Olivia Management, making sure the details are accounted for that lets our CEO look toward the big picture.
Erin: What do you do for fun?
Meghan: Funnnnn. Ummmmm. Well I've recently gotten back into hiking (after visiting the Appalachian Trail during the house show tour with Jill), so I hike when I can. I love going to the movies, I usually go alone, I miss going to the theaters (can't wait for Belcourt to open up again!). Food I LOVE food. So does that count for fun? Going hand-in-hand with my career, going to see live shows is always something fun, and also inspiring. I love seeing artists perform live and how the musician and audience interacts. Also, Netflix and daydreaming about moving to Ireland and Scotland is a daily activity.
Erin: What is your ultimate career goal?
Meghan: This is a hard question for me because I'm 23 and a year out of college and so much has changed. As cliche as it sounds, I just want to have a job where I don't look forward to the weekend, or don't dread a Monday. One reason I decided to go into music is because I knew a "9-5" cubicle job wouldn't suit me. I want to continue to be inspired by music and musicians, so continuing to help artists reach their goals and become successful would make me happy. I think goals are really important, but I am also someone who knows that setting too narrow of a path closes the door to many other opportunities that can fall in your lap. Basically, I want to work in music forever, and enjoy the music and people I work with.
Erin: What's your favorite part of working at Olivia Management?
Meghan: I think it's something I mentioned above, not dreading a Monday (did I steal that from you?). I like the fact that we work hard but also your personal life doesn't disappear. I like that we can do work for 4 hours straight, then spend a few minutes watching Adele rap Nicki Minaj and clips from Jimmy Fallon. I like that when someone makes a mistake, we move past it and continue moving forward, knowing that mistakes happen and it is never the end of the world. So I guess that's more like 4 favorite parts of working at Olivia Management, but oh well.
Erin: If someone was going to listen to ONE song from one of the artists we manage, what song would you suggest and why?
Meghan: Jill Andrews I'm Not Okay. When I first started working at Olivia Management I listened to this album and this was the first song that caught my ear. I have this things with songs that when I really connect with one, I get a feeling of my chest caving in (sounds scary but its cool) and I got that with this one. Jill writes incredibly heart wrenching songs (despite her happy demeanor) and they just make you feel all the feels.
