Hey, everybody. Welcome back to ProIVe today. I am your host, Ben Thomas. One of the absolute honors that I get, as a member of the industry is to meet people who have found their way through one avenue or another into our industry. And I love to ask them questions. I love to talk to them. Learn about their perspective, not only about ways that they found their way into the industry, but also their perspective on on some of the ways that maybe we could do some things different. And then chatting just about things like trade shows in sales cycles and all sorts of different applications within our industry because a lot of that new blood that exists, not only in the ProAV community, but in really the workforce as a whole, is influencing buying patterns and marketing techniques and trends. So I always love to be able to to ask a lot of those questions, and I get the honor to do that, today on Pro EV today as well. Without further ado, wanted to introduce my guess who's one of the newest members to the industry, and that is Reagan Thompson, currently with American Music and sound Reagan. It's so wonderful to have you on the show. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. Well, Reagan, you and I had a chance to meet out of the show, here pretty recently. And and we got to talk a little bit, and I loved hearing kind of your back story and a little bit more of your why and understanding kind of the motivations and what drew you to specific aspects, whether it's a specifically the ProIV into or the music industry or wherever, but you you kinda come from that marketing world and and, you know, I love to hear those stories, but before we get into all that, I wanna learn a little bit more about you. Right? Tell me about yourself kinda who you are and how you found your way into this, wonderful industry of ours. Sure. Okay. Well, I'm just a simple gal. I'm from a small town, not too far from LA, like an hour out. So I moved down to the big city because of college, and I wasn't quite sure where my journey in life was gonna take me, but I ended up meeting someone who was a part of a band and we became really close friends. So, I started helping them out with marketing. And then in, my last semester of college, I was really into my, minor in public relations, and I started to think, like, oh, wow. I really like using my creative writing abilities, but more in a journalistic sense and using that to kind of, market certain brands and, like, people. So I use the skills for the band, and then I got a marketing internship at my college So that kind of sparked my marketing interest and also my music industry interest. No. That that's great. And I I even love to hear that you you kind of found some opportunities through college. And I wanna spotlight a few folks real quick. I know that you have done some work with the folks over at Waiveit. Know that they've kinda given you some opportunities and I think made some connections as well. How did you initially kinda come in contact with those folks? After I graduated in May of twenty twenty three, I was scrambling to find a job, and I found the, the WAVid and American Music Sound, job application. When I was searching. And I noticed that, WAVIT was at the very top of the application, like, oh, join the team. We're partnering up with WAVIT and organization focused on bringing diversity to, the AV IT industry. And, I wasn't too quite sure what that was all about, but I really was inspired by the fact that this company is not only something when in my interest, but they seem to care about, you know, bringing people like me into an industry that typically is more, men would wanna get into it. So that kind of inspired to get going there. Yeah. You you luckily found your way into two of my favorite, organization partnering together American Music. It sound obviously representing some of the biggest brands, on the music side of the world and pro audio side and wave it. Know those gals well. Do some fantastic work just from a conversation standpoint, an education standpoint about, you know, grouping together as as females in the industry and really, making an impact even far beyond what they were able to do before. And I I love to have conversations with folks, whether that's, you know, Brandy, or Gina over there, and I know Corey, and Tammy are are doing lots of great work with the the wave of folks as well. And you know, it was cool. You and I had an opportunity to sit with a lot of those folks at Nam, which is the trade show that we met at. I gotta ask, how was it being at your first enterprise trade show. It's not always for the faint of heart. It's a little scary and intimidating, but but how was it for you? Well, another interesting fact about me is that I studied film in college, which I didn't mention because that's not really where my mind is geared toward going right now. So I would do a lot of production assistant work and the trade show and working on a film set to me was a very similar vibe, like you're everyone's rushing around, you're building stuff, you're really focused on your task, Like, everyone's kind of well, I wouldn't say, like, yelling at each other, but it's really high energy, high focus, to complete a goal, some to make something huge, just like a huge production, basically, or at least the setup for the trade show. So yeah, to me, it was very similar to that, and it's like I had that, background. So I wasn't too, like, overwhelmed. I mean, I will admit at the end of the day, I was exhausted. But That's a given. So bad. But, yeah, everyone had prepared me for it. They're like, oh, it's gonna be so busy. Bring shoes, this and that. They hydrated. So I'm like, oh, wow. These people they go through a lot. So I got there. We set up, the trade the Nam happened. And, it's pretty much what I expected, but at the same time, it was, like, it was a lot of fun. It was it felt crazy to be in one central location that focused on, one subject, because I'm not really one to go to, like, Comiccon or anything like that. So just being around so much music equipment all at once was like, whoa. I felt like really fully introduced into the music industry, I released the, AV side of it. Well, it was fantastic just to to kinda get to see you out there. And and you really look, honestly, you're holding your own. You were doing a great job at having conversations with people basically pitching and selling and marketing all at the same time. It was it was impressive. And and look, you mentioned that film set lifestyle. Right? So many different folks find their way into the industry, whether it's through music, whether it's through film, whether it's through hobbyist or volunteering at church. And, you know, that experience that you kinda come into the industry with is incredibly value And and one of the things that you mentioned is having a little bit of a tinge towards the marketing side of things. And especially in the pro audio community, the pro audio Pro Audio community has done such a good job in the past of, reaching all sorts of different folks and trying new things on the marketing side. What are some of the techniques really that you were able kinda bring in from kinda going into the college role to the professional world. What were some of the techniques that kinda translated for you, or were there any? So on the film side, I studied screenwriting because I'm super into creative writing. And I definitely see creative writing translating into the marketing. Side of things because I feel like in marketing and public relations writing, you have to be pretty creative with how you say things. So a lot of it now is kind of practicing those skills and learning from, like, amazing professionals who have been doing it for years and getting their feedback and kind of is very eye opening and it's like college all over again in a sense that they're teaching me things that I never have been through before. And refining those skills. So the main thing is my writing skills, I would say, and my creative skills. Well, you're you're absolutely right. Those things translate so well into our industry, especially that's dominated by a lot of technical specifications and a lot of very specific applications and use cases being able to bring in that world of creativity and even storytelling is so important, especially as we kinda step into these next generations of of of buyers coming in, but You know, you you mentioned kinda learning from folks. Right? And I'll even step outside of Nam. You know, I know that you have a great relationship with some folks over on the wave at team and and have a mentor mentee type relationship. How important for you has that been? It's been great so far. Like, I've met with Brandy a handful of times now, whether it be over text or over a Zoom call. And she kinda guides me in a lot of, professional ways that I might not have have experienced in my life around me. Like, she went over some LinkedIn tips and tricks just to name one. She really guided me through what to expect at Nam. And then, of course, she met up with me so that at Nam, so that felt really nice to, like, meet her for the first time and also have someone there who really is there to support me and, like, be there for me and even comfort me. So that was awesome. And yeah, just overall, just knowing that I have these, really powerful women in my corner is, like, a really good experience, and feels really good. Well, look, you you mentioned something early. You talked about kind of our industry being male dominated and and it is. Right? I wanna ask just from your perspective because we don't we don't often get to talk to folks kind of who have found their way into the industry, especially you know, females who are coming in for the first time, right? You have such a different unique perspective. You know, what are some of the challenges that you've seen so far just from being a female in the industry. Is it have you seen a little bit more inclusive inclusivity? Have you seen kind of some pushback is or maybe, you know, have you seen any of that at all? Well, I will say that a lot of the times when I'm in meetings, for the job, not that it's a problem, but I do notice there's a lot of just men in the in the meeting, which is fine because there's also a lot of, other women on the team like, one of the marketing managers that is the closest to my age in American Music and Sound. She's a woman who started off kinda like me not knowing much about the industry she worked her way up. So that's an inspiring, part of it right there. And also I spoke yesterday to one of the sales manager of one of the companies under American Music and Sound, and she was kinda saying, like, as long as you know your stuff and you show up and you don't let anyone treat you any different, then you'll be fine. Just kinda go in with confidence. And, even as a woman, you'll be okay. And, so far I haven't really faced any sort of, like, any negativity being a woman in the industry. One thing I did notice though at Nam, like, I felt a little underestimated. Maybe, like, they saw this girl coming up to them and they're like, oh, what does she know about this big mixing console? And at the same time, I didn't blame them because I really didn't know a lot about the mixing console because I was like, okay. I didn't feel too bad there. But then I noticed when, like, one of the, men would go up to them, they were more, like, inclined to just all of a sudden, like, ask questions and, get into it. So that's probably one of the things I would say is being maybe judged by your cover, but, so far I haven't really ran into anything crazy. Well, yeah, quick spotlight on American Music and Sound. I know that even partnering with organizations like Wave it, they've done some fantastic work just for for advocacy. For bringing all sorts of different folks in the into the industry in different ways, whether that's sales roles, marketing roles. I think even some, installed technology roles as well. So big shout out to the folks over there I know that that that that's been something that they've been working on forever, for for very recently. You know, I wanna ask to, you know, What are some of the things maybe that you you kinda want to see more of in the industry? Right? We obviously talked about inclusivity, things like that, but you know, as somebody who for the first time is kind of finding their footing in the the pro AV pro audio world, what are some of the things whether it's maybe marketing best practices or even just, you know, sales tactics. What are some of the things that you see that you said, man? I don't think people realize that this is inconvenient or or maybe we should we should look at changing sir. Is there anything that jumps out to you? It's only been a month since I started the the job, and I'm barely getting the hang of, all the brands that I work with and, just how things are working. So a lot of it is still kind of sitting back and observing for now. So I'm not sure that anything has really stuck out to me, but my answer might definitely change five months from now. So keep you updated on that. Hey, I love to hear that you are willing to learn, though. Right? I I think a lot of times people come in just, firing away saying, I hate this. Don't do this. We need to change that. And I love your willingness to listen, which is one of the the reasons that that I think we connected out at the show is because you were just absorbing all sorts of different information, best practices, and things like that. And, you know, it's it was just transparently, it was super cool to meet you because, you know, your your experience was is so valuable. And some of your insights even bringing you to the industry, there are things that I'm already learning from you. So I could tell you that I appreciate that. But, you know, Reagan kinda wanna land the plane with the last question here. I mean, obviously, you're doing some fantastic work with American Music and Sound and, you know, bringing in all sorts of different, different ideas and and and best practices. You know, what are some of the things you might wanna hope to accomplish in the industry? Is it you wanna say specifically kind of on the marketing side, or would you like to get into the sales or or other side of the world or or Do you have any idea yet? I guess so far, I'm really kind of, loving marketing I mean, I still I know I have a lot to learn. This is one of my most, professional jobs. Even my college internship in the marketing department, I felt like hand was being held the whole time, but now I'm, like, kinda thrown to the wolves. Like, my boss will be like, okay, do this. And I'm like, okay. I just have to figure out how to do this. And there I'm very lucky that the team is super supportive. Everyone's nice. There's that whole family vibe. So if I go over to someone and ask them a question, they're always, they always feel free to kinda answer the questions very warmly. Kindly, no one really brushes me off. Like, oh, do this and that's it. So I feel very lucky in that sense. Yeah, I just hope to stick with marketing. Yeah. I really like the music industry. I'm still kind of testing the waters on the pro audio side of things. So Yeah. We'll see where that goes, but it's really interesting so far in how people kinda use pro audio in their lives and behind the scenes of like how we use mixing consoles in, like, churches or even concert venues. Like, the things you don't really think about We kinda work on that. And music is so important in our lives. So, yeah, I see a big benefit to this industry and great people so far. So Well, Reagan, look, we appreciate your perspective, and and I know that it might even change the next time that we have a conversation. And I'll say this. If you see Reagan at a show, give her a big Chris pie five because the work that she's doing is fantastic. And look, this is someone that you wanna meet in our I'll tell you. She's one of the fastest rising stars. You said you said about a month, a month and a half, I think, already, but I'm telling you, if if, you stick around for a long time, you'll be one of the faces that that we continue to recognize and and support. So, next up, forty under forty. For sure, big shout out to, the folks at commercial integrator over there. Well, I'm sure we'll be seeing seeing you on that list soon. Cool. I hope so. Thank you, Ben. Well, Reagan, thanks so much for coming on, and thank you the audience for tuning in. Be sure to like and subscribe. Check us out next time on pro a v today.
