The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Taylor Lindsey is the SVP, A&R at Sony Music Nashville, where she oversees the label’s dynamic new A&R team as well as signs and develops a diverse roster that includes recorded music icons, breakthrough acts and newcomers.

Prior to taking on her current expanded role, Lindsey was directly involved with the development of artists such as Old Dominion, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Ryan Hurd and Mitchell Tenpenny, among others. Before joining Sony Music Nashville, she was at BMG where she signed and developed the careers of songwriters and artists as well as pitched the catalogs of 13 chart-topping songwriters, including her award-winning sister, Hillary Lindsey.

A respected industry executive, Lindsey has been included in a number of industry power lists including Billboard’s 40 Under 40 (2018), Billboard’s Women In Music (2018, 2019, 2023), Billboard’s Country Power Players (2022, 2023), Variety’s Hitmakers Impact (2020), Variety’s Young Leaders In Music (2019) and more. She is also a graduate of the Leadership Music Class of 2019. She currently resides in Nashville with her husband, Grammy-nominated songwriter Derrick Southerland, and their daughter, Lyle, and son, Ryder.

Lindsey will be honored as part of the current class of MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row on March 19. For more details about the class and the event, click here.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a small town called Washington, Georgia, which is about 45 minutes east of Athens and 45 minutes west of Augusta.

What did you like to do as a kid?

Washington is really small town, so there really wasn’t very much to do. I was in the church choir growing up and I cheered. But even though it was small, it was a great upbringing. We didn’t lock our doors at night. We didn’t lock our cars. We walked to the local pharmacy to get snacks after school and just signed a little sheet of paper instead of paying, because it just went on our parents’ credit. I don’t think I learned how to pump gas until I was a freshman in college because all of the gas stations were full service. It was just a really sweet, idealistic way to grow up, and I really appreciate it now that I’m older.

Were you musical?

I wouldn’t consider myself that musical, but music was always a part of my DNA and my childhood. My parents used to throw dinner parties with all of their friends quite often, and some of my earliest memories are of dancing in the kitchen to Motown with them and their friends as a little girl. I don’t have a ton of core memories where music isn’t a part of them; my dad dashboard drumming to the latest country song while driving me to school in the morning or my mom humming along to a Carly Simon or Bonnie Raitt song, watching my sisters both sing in talent shows (and win most of them)—music was just always a constant in our household.

Where did you go to college?

I went to the University of Georgia. I met my husband [Grammy-nominated songwriter Derrick Southerland] there when we were in school. We were both in the music business program there. It was Bruce Burch who stopped me on campus one day and convinced me to join the program. I needed an elective class and thought it’d be easy to study organic chemistry in the back of the class, but I was wrong.. and I really fell in love with the prospect of working in music then.

I take it you liked the music business classes.

Yeah, I did. [Laughs] Fun fact—though my dad doesn’t think it’s so fun—I didn’t graduate. I have one three-hour class requirement to actually graduate. Essentially, in my junior year, I really realized this was something that I could do. Because my sister Hillary [Lindsey] was already here, I had already been meeting so many people. So I started pitching her songs first.

One summer [before I moved to Nashville full time] I came here and I had my very first pitch meeting as a song plugger with Renee Bell, who used to be the head of A&R at Sony. I sat on her little white couch and played her some of Hillary’s songs.

What happened when you moved here full-time?

Hillary was independent at the time and she had a little company called Raylene Music. I moved to Nashville and became her full-time everything. I was pitching songs and booking co-writes, but because she didn’t have any kind of a big company behind her, I was also helping negotiate soundtrack fees for songs she had written for movies and all sorts of things. I really cut my teeth by trial and error, just having to figure it out by leaning on her and the people that I met along the way, and Hill and I had so much fun back then doing it together.

After about a year of that, BMG acquired Hillary’s catalog and hired me as a song plugger. When I was at BMG, I had 13 artist-writers, including Hillary.

Tell me about moving over to Sony Music Nashville.

In 2013, Jim Catino called me and said there was an open A&R job at Sony and someone that he really respected and loved—Jesse Frasure—brought my name up. Jim said that he thought about it and that he didn’t have anybody else in mind for the job.

He said, “Think about it. Pray about it. Talk to Derrick about it. If you want it, call me on Monday and you can have it.” The ironic thing is that Derrick had just been offered a publishing deal with Still Working Music, who had a joint venture with BMG, so I was about to have the opportunity to work with him when this opportunity came up.

After a lot of consideration, I took the job. I never thought I would fall in love with A&R or the label system. It was never on my radar or a goal of mine from a career standpoint. But it was a two-year contract and I just thought I could do anything for two years, and if I hated it, I would just tough it out and be a better publisher in the long run. I obviously fell in love with it.

What are some of the first projects you worked on in A&R at Sony?

I would say the first pillar of establishing myself as an A&R person was signing Maren Morris in 2015. She had already released some songs on Spotify, and she and Janet Weir were creating their own little nucleus of independent artistry, but her partnering with Sony and really being a part of that was pretty incredible.

Were there any learning curves transitioning from being a publisher to a label exec?

The label system is a lot different than the publishing system. What publishing gave me was an understanding of the impact of the creative—and the art—and how you always have to have the creative right; how the music should always come first, but what I had to learn was really the scope and detail of what it takes to market a song or an artist—the promotional aspect of that down to the A&R admin side and the release-planning side. How a million chips have to fall into place to get a song from when I hear it as a work tape to the release and what it takes to make it successful.

What would you say is the most fulfilling part of your job now?

My role has evolved so much over the years, going from a pure A&R person to now, a department head and having an A&R team around me. On the one hand, I’m not in the weeds as much as I used to be on the true creative. I don’t have as many artists that I am properly point on for A&R because my responsibilities are so much wider and dedicated to the label system as a whole, but there is something really special about hearing a demo or a work tape from the publishing community and going, “Man, I’ve got to play that for so and so.” Those creative wins are still really important to me.

On the other side of that coin, it’s fulfilling to sit in a room with this A&R team every day, hear their ideas, see what they’re signing and be a part of that. I help where I can, but I really attribute so much of our recent success as an A&R team and label to them.

What would your younger self think about you now?

My younger self would be really proud of the fact that I’ve made it this far in my career by being honest, trying to hold integrity and not forgetting that everyone around me is a human just like I am. I try to actually look people in the eye everyday and just be real and thoughtful.

With Derrick being a successful songwriter and also being in the business—we can both get caught up in how crazy the business is. We try so hard to stay grounded for our two kids. That’s something I’m really proud of.

Who have been some of your mentors?

Jim Catino. What I didn’t know about what a major label system was how to navigate the political side of it. Jim always did such an amazing job of navigating that. He taught me so much even if he wasn’t trying to.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?

That’s a great question. Someone once told me, “If you were given a seat at the table, you’re meant to be there.” I feel like a lot of times, especially when you’re starting out in your career, you sit in rooms and sometimes you’re scared to speak up. You could have the best idea, but you don’t know if it’s appropriate or you don’t want to step on other people’s toes, so you never say it even though you should.

You will be honored at next week’s Rising Women on the Row ceremony. What would you tell a young woman who wants to be where you are one day?

To be real. Don’t forget where you came from. Try not to sell out. You don’t have to kiss ass to get to the next phase in your career. It’s cliche, but if you want something, just go after it and be okay with pivoting if you have to. Don’t beat yourself up over it, show yourself grace instead. You’ll end up exactly where you’re supposed to.

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Melissa Spillman is VP of A&R at Concord Music Publishing. In her role, Spillman is responsible for signing and developing new and established songwriters and artists as well as placing songs with major recording artists.

She started her career at Dreamcatcher Entertainment, which led to a seven-year stint in A&R at Capitol Records. After that she headed up renowned producer Jay Joyce’s Neon Cross Music as Head of Publishing & Production. From there, she started her own company, Freetown Music, where she oversaw the creative development and management of artists, producers and songwriters until she was tapped by Concord Music Publishing to become their VP of A&R in 2021. Beyond her work in music, Spillman proudly started a nonprofit organization called Wan Fambul Foundation, which strives to support children and their families in Sierra Leone, West Africa, the birthplace of three of her sons.

She resides in Franklin with her songwriter/producer/author husband Jeremy, four sons and their dog Canyon. You can find her cheering on her sons who play football for the University of Tennessee and Franklin High School this fall.

Spillman will be honored as part of the current class of MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row on March 19. For more details about the class and the event, click here.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Texas. I was born in Dallas and spent most of my childhood in Waco, but went to high school in El Paso.

Were you into music?

I was. Texas was a special place to grow up because we had our own genre, Texas country. Especially when I was in high school and college, that was something that we were all very proud of. We embraced that and lived that lifestyle with artists like Pat Green, Cory Morrow and Roger Krieger. Going to University of Texas in Austin, it was like Nashville in that you could go see a live show every night if you wanted to.

I always loved music. When I was growing up, my family would have to drive from Waco to New Mexico every summer. It was like a 12 hour drive. My dad had this collection of cassette tapes that had the top 60 of every week from 1955 through 1965, so 10 years of some of the biggest hits of all different genres. He would make us listen to that the whole drive and, looking back, it was such a musical education. I didn’t know that there was a music business, though, until I got into college.

How did you figure that out?

My roommate saw a listing for an internship at a record label in the school newspaper. Pharrell Williams had an imprint at Arista Records for punk ska music. I did that internship and it was enough for me to know I wanted to do this.

I came up to Nashville after my junior year to intern at Dualtone Records and Universal South Records. I got to see the mainstream, commercial, big-money side of music and the blood, sweat and tears side of music. I loved and appreciated both. I came back to Austin and finished school with my BBA in marketing and a minor in finance. About two months after I graduated, I moved to Nashville.

What happened when you got here?

I took a job at J. Alexander’s and started interviewing. Being a business school graduate at the University of Texas, you’re schooled on how to do interviews, how to dress, how to behave and how to do your resume, so I came to Music Row in a suit with printed out copies of my resume, eye contact and a firm handshake. I think I scared people. [Laughs] I didn’t get a job for about three months, which felt like an eternity.

One day, I got a call from Kenny Rogers‘ management company called Dreamcatcher. I had interviewed with them and they had gone in another direction, but then they called me about two weeks later and said, “Do you still want the job?” I said, “Sure!” After I’d worked there for a little while, I asked why they didn’t pick me first. My boss said, “We just thought you were overqualified. You rolled in wearing a suit and had your resume printed. We were like, ‘This chick is gonna be miserable here.'” [Laughs]

What was working at Dreamcatcher like?

It was a really great experience, getting to see all facets of the business. Kenny was a top notch human. He took care of his people. I started as a receptionist making $21,000 a year. I answered phones, collected the mail and would run errands. Probably two or three months in, they moved me to the back to sit with the managers and I became an assistant manager, which was so much fun. I was pitching songs to Kenny and the managers, going on photo shoots, helping pick out clothes for the artists and going to shows. It was a blast.

What was next?

Kenny was signed to Capitol Records at the time, so that’s how I met the team at Capitol. They had a position open up in marketing, so after about a year and a half at the management company, I moved over to marketing under Fletcher Foster. I was there for about six months before I begged my way into an A&R role. I was in A&R at Capitol for almost seven years.

What was transitioning into that kind of job like?

I think I was doing A&R before I knew what A&R was, which is a theme among people who end up working in that field. I just knew I wanted to be closer to the songs. Their A&R Coordinator ended up leaving just a few months after I started, and I got along with everybody in the A&R department, so they allowed me to move over. It was just a dream job. I got to listen to songs all day long. I got to do pitch meetings and meetings with artists.

We had Eric Church, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Lady A, Little Big Town, Jon Pardi, Trace Adkins and Brothers Osborne. We only had 30 to 35 employees, so we were doing so well with such a small team. It was so much fun.

What are some songs that you worked on during that time that stick out in your memory?

I remember the night I heard “Downtown.” Natalie Hemby performed it as part of a Creative Nation show, and I sent it to Lady A. They ended up cutting it and it was a big hit. I heard “Drink A Beer” by Chris Stapleton, and it was right around the time that Luke [Bryan] had lost his brother. I was not at Capitol by the time he recorded it, but I remember sending it to him and his team.

How did you transition out of that job?

That door was closed for me, which is always hard. I was let go when Capitol merged with Universal. Because it was such a tight-knit team and because it was kind of my first “big girl job” that I really spent a lot of time at, it was tough, but it was also right when we were trying to adopt three kids from Sierra Leone.

I now know I was never going to close that door myself. I firmly believe God had to close that door for me. Otherwise, I never would’ve been able to effectively adopt three children and then be the kind of parent that they needed me to be. That launched me into both motherhood and entrepreneurialism.

Those are two huge journeys to embark on at the same time. What was next for you?

About 15 months after I was let go, I started working with Jay Joyce and started a publishing company with him, Neon Cross Music. That was awesome. He gave me the flexibility to work from home quite a bit and be there for family stuff while being a part of a career like his that was just massive. He was in the studio with Carrie Underwood one week, Halestorm the next week and then Kelly Clarkson and Zac Brown Band. That was a really fun place to be.

We did the publishing company as a joint venture with Warner Chappell, so I got to know Ben Vaughn, Phil May and a lot of people on that team. Ben and Phil in particular were so instrumental in teaching me about publishing.

Jay worked out of a big studio church in East Nashville. That’s where he recorded all the music. At the time, we had anywhere from four to five writers. My husband, Jeremy Spillman, was writing over there. We had Brandon Lancaster and Devin Dawson—there were so many different kinds of music going on in that building. It was a special time.

What was the next step?

Jay got tired of being in business. He just wanted to be able to do music and not have to worry about stuff, so we parted ways. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I was meeting writers and artists that were so talented and didn’t have anybody to work with them, so I ended up having some producers that I managed, some writers that I did a joint venture publishing deal with and then I had a couple of artists that I managed.

I did my own thing for about two or three years when Brad Kennard, who I’d known for years, called me one day and said, “Hey, we’re growing the team. You want to consider coming to Concord?” I said “Yes!”

What do you love about your job now?

I’ve been given a really unique opportunity to combine a lot of my experience into this role, which is a lot of mainstream country music and then a lot of non-country stuff. Suddenly, we find Texas country is so popular. It’s all this beautiful amalgamation of what I’m doing now.

Personally, I cannot get over the development bug. From the very beginning, I’ve been drawn to the baby writers and baby artists. I just have a love for them and a patience with them. Not that they’re extra demanding, I just feel like I have a skill to give them time and space that they need and help be a partner to them. The most fulfilling thing that I do, and that I’ve always done, is being a part of the discovery and then being that partner to help them achieve success. Being able to work with a human being and see them blown away by what they get to do and be positive and grateful for that—it just inspires me to be so positive and grateful for this career.

Who have been some of your mentors?

I always say Autumn House-Tallant raised me. For the last two or three years at Capitol, it was just her and I in A&R. We were as thick as thieves. She was always so supportive of me and encouraging. We also bonded over relationships and eventually kids—she was like a big sister to me.

Ben Vaughn and Phil May were mentors too. I would ask them pretty elementary questions in the beginning, and they had so much patience in sitting me down and explaining things to me.

Brad Kennard is the best. He’s the best boss. He’s so positive, and he’s a team guy. He’s all about encouraging us to do what we’re passionate about, which may be way different than the next person on our team, but he celebrates that diversity in taste and music.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?

Stop taking it so personally. Along those lines, Autumn used to say, “You think way more about yourself than anybody else thinks about you. That person who you’re concerned with how they feel about you, they’re way too busy thinking about themselves to be spending that much time on you.” That was a great perspective.

You will be honored at next week’s Rising Women on the Row ceremony. What advice would you give young women who want to be where you are one day?

There’s been a handful of young women who have asked me, “How do you balance it all with kids, family and work?” I always tell them, “I don’t. When you think someone is, they’re just having a really good day.”

I want people to know that on the days they don’t have it together: welcome to club. For me, I’ve had a smoother path the past year or so, but it has been a rocky road. It was hard juggling it all. It was very rare that I felt like I was crushing it at work and crushing it at home on the same day. It usually was one or the other. I feel like sharing that with young women gives them permission to not put that expectation on themselves.

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Halie Hampton Mosley joined Why&How in October 2021 as Vice President of Roster Operations, and has helped define and oversee the goals and initiatives of the Why&How roster and staff. Since joining, Hampton Mosley has been instrumental in streamlining and expanding roster operations, and establishing internal practices such as Why&How’s parental leave policies. She also remains closely involved in Why&How artist strategy for such acts as Chase Rice, Danielle Bradbery, Breland and Kelleigh Bannen, among others.

Prior to joining Why&How, Hampton Mosley spent seven years in Artist Management at Maverick Nashville led by long-time Manager Clarence Spalding. She most recently served as the Day-to-Day Artist Manager for Diamond-selling duo Florida Georgia Line at Hit Farm Management in partnership with Full Stop Management led by Irving and Jeffrey Azoff.

Hampton Mosley will be honored as part of the current class of MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row on March 19. For more details about the class and the event, click here.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in and around Nashville. All my family is originally from Ashland City, and my grandparents are still there. My mom and dad met there and we moved to Murfreesboro when I was in third or fourth grade, so I did middle school, high school and college in Murfreesboro. I studied business at MTSU.

What were your dreams then?

At one point I thought I might be an attorney. I didn’t really know. I did this thing called DECA in high school where we would formulate business plans and compete with them. I actually ended up getting a marketing scholarship to MTSU because of that program. I thought I could explore a million things with a business degree, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.

How did you find out about the music business?

I was getting to the point where I was going to have to start interning for my business credits and a family friend told me about this internship in Nashville. It was at Taillight TV.

I came in, met with their team and ended up doing a production assistant type of internship. One of the first videos I ever remember being on set for was Eric Church‘s “Smoke A Little Smoke.” It was probably that same day that I realized this is a really cool business, but I don’t want anything to do with production. [Laughs]

I met a really great group of people at Taillight. At the end of that semester, the producers put together an intern barbecue. At the time, Lesly Tyson—now Lesly Simon—was married to one of the producers and they held the barbecue at their home. So I met Lesly and I ended up spending an hour in their kitchen asking questions about what she did. I just loved her—I thought she was so smart. She was like, “Why don’t you come intern for me?” So my senior year I went to intern at Sony Music Nashville.

What was that like?

At the time, she had already stepped into the VP role in radio promotion at Arista, so I was assisting all of the imprints. I was packing CDs, sending out promo items and helping with listener and winner stuff for things that they were doing.

When I graduated, they didn’t have any jobs open. I had met people through various events that they would let interns come to, so I had met Pete O’Heeron and he had Cold River Records at the time with Katie Armiger. He knew that all my experience in internships had been in promo, and so he was like, “Why don’t you come try to be a regional?” So I did that.

I was only there for probably a year, but what I did get to do was take a territory and go meet radio and learn what it meant to work a record.

What was next?

It was probably just shy of a year that Sony ended up creating a job for secondary radio promo, so I ended up coming back for that job. I was working smaller markets on behalf of all three of the imprints. I did that for maybe six months before Lesly brought me in and gave me the southeast for Arista.

We had some really great success and fun together. She taught me so much. Carrie Underwood‘s “Good Girl” was my first No. 1, and Brad Paisley‘s “Southern Comfort Zone” was my second. Those were my first two major tours that I was a part of. We went on to do a couple No. 1s with Carrie, which was really sweet.

How did you move out of radio and into management?

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were both still on Arista and working to release music individually, but still both managed by Clarence Spalding. I was on the road with Kix, and I remember him asking me if this was what I wanted to do. I told him I really loved what I was doing and was learning so much, but I knew that I didn’t want to be on the road that heavily for my entire career. He was like, “Have you ever thought about management? Why don’t you go meet with my manager?”

I went to have breakfast with Clarence. I was so nervous. [Laughs] After our breakfast, I just stayed in touch with him and a couple months later, his assistant Marne McLyman was moving into more of a day-to-day role. So Clarence called me and said, “I have an assistant job open.” I took it and that would kick off seven years with Clarence.

I remember pretty early on thinking that it was something that I could do longer term, because for the first time I felt like I was getting to see from the second an artist is in a writer room to the moment that they’re singing the song in the stadium.

I sat at a desk outside Clarence’s office and that is how I learned 70% of what it even meant to be a manager. I would listen to the way he talked to his clients, the way he navigated situations when their careers were in certain seasons or the way he interacted with our partners. I just had so much to learn. I would do the same thing with our internal marketing department which was run by Amanda Cates at the time.

How did you transition into more?

Randy Goodman came in and began to oversee Rascal Flatts. The good thing about sitting in that seat was that if people needed an extra set of hands, that was me. As Randy got busier, I just started filling in for things. I just slowly started being present and then that would move into being on the road for show coverage. When I started working with Flatts, then I just started looking for holes internally to be able to do that for the whole roster. I would ask Chris Parr if there was an opportunity where Jason Aldean needs coverage or Jason Houser with Darius Rucker. I just started being the person who could be there. Ultimately what that did for me was let me learn how different the inner workings of the different artist camps operated.

Eventually I started handling my first client on my own within Maverick, which was Rachel Wammack. She and I worked together for a couple of years through the development stage.

How did you start working with Florida Georgia Line?

Lou Taylor was also Reba McEntire‘s business manager, so I had gotten to know her in my EA role with Clarence. I had a sit down with her and she asked me what my goals and dreams were. Maybe a couple months after that conversation, she came to me and she said, “I want to chat with you about Florida Georgia Line. There may be an opportunity for someone to be the lead in Nashville as a part of a new Management structure. Would you be open to that?” I think I almost passed out. I thought, “There’s no way I get this job.”

I met with her a couple times and eventually ended up meeting with the guys. They were entering into a partnership with Irving Azoff out of LA, so they had formed their own management entity which I would end up working under in partnership with Full Stop. They needed someone here just to be boots on the ground. They spent a lot of time in LA at that time because we had a lot of promo periods, but they were both still living here and that wasn’t going to change, so it was important to them to have somebody here. That person became me, and it was pretty wild. I give Lou a lot of credit because again, it was another female like Lesly who looked at me and said, “You may not be a hundred percent ready, but I think you are.”

Tell me about your years with FGL.

They were challenging for me, in a good way, because it was the first time I was jumping in with an act at the height of their fame. Obviously I wasn’t on my own—having people like Irving and Jeffrey Azoff forced me to grow up and do a lot of faking it until I made it. I was thrust into new territory because the guys were just involved in so much.

It was a whirlwind. I remember not really having much time to get my feet underneath me. What was really great though was that even from here, I became integrated into the Full Stop system. I was all of a sudden sitting in meetings where Harry Styles was on screen. Learning through the pop processes and how they handled music rollouts and programming that they were doing with partners and stuff like that was really helpful for me.

What was next?

After a couple years with the guys, they were entering into spaces creatively where they were considering taking time to pursue solo endeavors. They had 10 years of an amazing run. I had had a couple conversations with them each individually, so I started thinking about what would be next for me.

We were shooting the “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” video out at Chase Rice‘s farm, and that was the first time I had formally met Chase, as well as his manager Bruce Kalmick. I spent some time talking to Bruce and he asked me what my next steps were. I wasn’t really sure but one thing that I did know at that time was that I really didn’t want to continue on in a day-to-day capacity. I wanted to get away from the monotony. I loved being able to work on multiple things at one time, because I think it made me better having exposure. I wasn’t so siloed in one project or one process. I said, “I’m looking for a role where I can step in and help on multiple things. I don’t exactly know what that looks like yet or if that job even exists.” He said, “I started this new company and I need to round out my exec team. We’ll create a role and you can come in and help lead our team and multiple accounts.” So that’s what happened.

Now you’re Chief Operating Officer at Why&How. What’s your favorite part about your job?

Over the last couple years, I have watched some of our staff grow and evolve into new roles. We’ve worked really hard to identify their individual strengths and make changes accordingly. The same thing for our clients—I felt really lucky that I came in at a time where Chase was going through a really pivotal moment in his career. Watching him evolve personally and professionally, to go on and have this first ever critically acclaimed album… those are my favorite things. Getting to watch our clients grow, change and evolve musically and personally—and the same with our staff.

Who would you say are your mentors?

Definitely Lesly. I call a couple times a year just to walk through my decisions. Even when I was going through my infertility, I called her. She’s probably the only person that I could say has mentored me in life and work. In terms of management, Clarence obviously is the top—I just don’t think it gets any better. Randy Goodman is also a mentor.

You will be honored at our Rising Women on the Row event next month. What would you tell women who are looking at you and want to get where you are one day?

Don’t be afraid to be the youngest or the least experienced person in the room. As my career has evolved, I look back and can pinpoint so many opportunities being presented to me because I wasn’t afraid to raise my hand, even if I may not have been ready. Raise your hand whenever and wherever you can to help out and to be present and to be someone that people can depend on. Oftentimes inexperience and humility with a strong desire to learn can beat out experience and entitlement.