Meet Alicia Mathews | Artist Manager, Director of Label Operations, Outdoor Enthusiast, Animal Lover

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

Hi Alicia, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My work-life balance has changed significantly over the past two years. Our company has transitioned into an extremely flexible work from wherever policy that allows our team to work where they are most comfortable. For me, this means a couple of different things. 1. I am able to toss in a load of laundry between calls or meetings, complete an at home workout without factoring in commute time. I can make myself a healthy breakfast or lunch at home. I can take a walk with my dog on a lunch break. 2. This gives me the opportunity to travel to different cities and explore / hike on the weekends while working remotely during the week. Overall, it has become a work life blend for me, and it’s been refreshing to get back some time for my personal life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started my career in entertainment in high school – I directed and played the lead character in multiple plays and musicals – I thought I wanted to be an actress. I soon found out that my true place was behind the scenes making things happen. I opted for a school that allowed students to intern as early as the summer of their freshman year. I landed an internship that summer and drove 2 hours from my hometown twice a week to work at the studio. The summer after graduation, I went down music row and knocked on the door of a record label looking for an internship (and somehow they didn’t find that totally creepy). They hired me, and I spent that summer and fall soaking up as much as I could, interning 3-4 days a week while working as a part time retail manager until I was offered a full time position in the A&R department. Over the next 4 years, I went on to work in business affairs (spoiler alert: I don’t want to be a lawyer.), influencer marketing, and with an independent artist management team.

Over that period of time, I helped launch new companies while start ups I was employed at shut down. I had freelance clients who owed me a combined 10k for about 4 months straight – and there was a time I couldn’t pay my rent. This career journey has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I set a lot of things in my personal life aside for almost 10 years, but I am so proud of the years that I’ve spent building. I have more building to do, but being more settled in my career as allowed me to refocus my attention on my personal life and explore my passions outside of music. In some ways, I feel like I missed out on some fun times in my 20s, but I am thriving in my 30’s because of the work I put in early on.

Looking ahed in my career — It’s a really exciting time in the digital landscape of the music industry. And by exciting, I mean it’s totally the wild west. A lot of the traditional ways of doing things in the business are no longer the norm, and quite frankly, no longer impactful With the introduction of short form content platforms such as TikTok, Reels and Shorts, the barrier between the artist and their audience is completely broken down…if you can break through the algorithm with exceptional content. Today, artist’s and their teams allocate a generous amount of time and resources to short form content, whereas in the past the marketing efforts were more tailored to beautifully curated official videos and supporting assets. While those elements are still important and can be valuable marketing tools, the fans want to see inside an artist’s life. The curtain has been pulled back, and the audience wants to go backstage. And in our business, the fans are the most important element to what we do. If they aren’t buying tickets and merch and streaming the music, our clients aren’t able to build a viable business. Everything we do now is in an effort to connect authentically with them. I’m excited for the possibilities this brings to independent artists and teams, and am enthusiastically educating myself so that I can add value to our clients businesses in new ways.

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?
I have to give a shout out to my best friend and first mentor in the music industry, Laurel Kittleson. She took a chance on me as a very young intern. Following a summer of internships, we shared an office for 3 years where she taught me so much about the music business, and even more about life. She’s one of the most kind and authentic people I’ve ever met, and consider myself very lucky to be in her life. To be someone that she saw something in is an honor.

The next person I’d like to thank is Chris Kappy, Chief Navigation Officer at MakeWake Artists. I started working with MWA about three years ago. He is the most incredible leader I’ve ever experience. He believes in our artists, our team and in me in a way I’ve never experienced. He trusts us, gives us room to run, but a supportive place to learn and grow. I owe so much to him and the incredible culture he’s built at MakeWake.

Last but not least, I am grateful to my clients for trusting me and our team with their art and creative vision. Without them, and the fans who listen to their music we have nothing. It’s an honor to work with each of them.

Website: www.aliciamathews.com

Instagram: @alicianmathews

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