International Women’s Day is upon us. So — if you haven’t already — take some time today to reach out to the women in your life. And, after you’ve done that, take just a little more time to read about what some of the most badass ladies in our local music scene have to say about their experiences in the industry.  

While each of these women contributed guidance initially directed towards those seeking careers in music, their advice rings true for nearly any type of ambition: Create your own opportunities, align yourself with strong leaders, carry yourself with confidence — even if you have to fake it.

These are just a few of the thousands of women making their mark and paving the way in the music scene for generations to come. Some women have faced trauma while others have been lucky to avoid it. Many have fought their way to the top while others have forged their own path. As women, it is important to listen to each other’s stories — despite our varying experiences — to find the common themes that we can rally behind and use to support one another. From singers and songwriters to radio hosts and business owners, these women were gracious enough to share their stories with 303 Magazine.

“The powers that be want nothing more than for us to play their game instead of reimagining our own.” – Kalyn Heffernan

Leah Concialdi

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Kroll on Facebook

303 Magazine: What’s your background in the music industry here in Denver?

Stephanie Kroll: A long time ago I started as an intern at AEG, my senior year of college. I ended up working for Hulu in Santa Monica and did the television thing for a while. Then I moved back to Denver and really wanted to work in music again. It just so happened, I worked in the same building as EDM.com and Moody Recordings. It was a perfect networking opportunity. I got to meet a bunch of people in the Denver scene which is how I met Brennan Bryerly who’s our Talent Buyer here [at Soco Nightlife]. I had lunch with Brennan one day and [told him] I’m really trying to get into working in dance music. And he [said], “well I have this job opening up, it’s a music marketing job.” So I applied and went through a bunch of interviews and, for whatever reason, they picked me. I’ve been here for almost three years.

303: Have you ever felt held back or like you’ve had more obstacles to overcome because of your gender?

SK: I think that SoCo is a little bit of the anomaly. We’ve always hired females in the office, which is really cool because that doesn’t happen very often. I would say it depends on the situation because gender specific stuff isn’t as much of an issue in certain scenarios, but in other scenarios, it is — especially on the agency side. I think dance music, in particular, is a very male-dominated industry. It’s weird networking at bigger events because it’s mostly men, it’s kind of a boys club.

303: Do you have any advice for women trying to break into the music industry?

SK: Be very bold and very ambitious. When it comes to networking, don’t hold back and go for what you want. If there’s someone you know you need to meet in order to get somewhere, do everything in your power to meet that person. It’s just about being yourself. You have to just go for it.

303: Who is a woman (or women) in the local music industry that you admire?

SK: I have to pick two. I would say Lulu Simone is definitely the woman I admire most locally in our industry. She created and ran Souls in Action for such a long time and made such an impact on the community and is now the Events Director for Two Parts. I have mad respect for her. I also love and respect Ru Johnson for her major hustle as another female entrepreneur in the music space, she has completely changed the hip hop game in this city for the better.

Emily Satterlee

Photo courtesy of Nicole Cacciavillano

303 Magazine: What’s your background in the music industry here in Denver?

Nicole Cacciavillano: I was a teacher for a really long time and I was [also] a promoter booking dubstep artists from London. I couldn’t go to London all the time so we would bring them to Denver. I promoted shows for a while and that led to starting a talent agency [Sub.Mission]. Around 2013 I realized that I wanted to open my own venue. And in 2016, I opened The Black Box. So for The Black Box, I do the basic operations and I’m also the talent buyer.

303: Have you ever felt held back or like you’ve had more obstacles to overcome because of your gender?

NC: Because I was one of the first promoters in America to bring dubstep, I never really ran into any issues like that. Which is really great. Very recently a specific agency and a specific manager made some threats. But the funny part is, with those threats, I still get hit up by the agency. I think he was trying to intimidate me because I am a woman. But he doesn’t realize that I have bigger balls than most men in this industry. I’m not afraid to speak my mind and I’m not afraid to fight for what’s right.

303: Do you have any advice for women trying to break into the music industry?

NC: Don’t be intimated because you’re a woman in this industry. I think that we bring a level of understanding that maybe a lot of men don’t [have]. We have this special touch and thoroughness that is much needed. From throwing events to running an agency to running a venue — it takes a woman to do these jobs. As long as you’re doing something that you truly believe in and you’re doing it with the right motives and intention, that will shine through. It’s a learning experience though so you have to be flexible, the music industry changes so much that it’s very easy to sway to the dark side. Stay true to the reasons you started.

303: Who is a woman (or women) in the local music industry that you admire?

NC: LuLu Simone, she works for Two Parts now, she carved her own way. Recently I’ve been working with Christine Sweredoski from Red Bull Music. She has to fight the bigger the battle of the corporations but still understands keeping it real and the power of production. Sometimes with bigger companies, they want the bigger names but the bigger names aren’t what always makes sense in certain markets. So she has to fight for each market individually which I think is good.

Kenzi Everitt

Photo by Lisa Siciliano of Dog Daze Photo

303 Magazine: What’s your background in the music industry here in Denver?

Britt Margit: I’m the chapter leader for an organization called Women Crush Music. The Denver/Boulder combined chapter was launched in October of last year. Since then, I’ve been working to go beyond the showcases to add more entrepreneurship and business based events to give women a learning tool. I was very fortunate going to a Music Business program for school to already have a lot of that at my disposal with music publishing, marketing, etc. I realized that’s not something that a lot of songwriters have that same access to.

I started writing songs when I was about 11 years old. I just had this idea in my head that you got assigned to a label and you got big and you just had to let somebody else do the work for you. I ended up going to school for a Vocal Performance program at CU-Boulder for a couple of years and finding that label — or at least thinking that I found that label who would support that career for me.

303: Have you ever felt held back or like you’ve had more obstacles to overcome because of your gender?

BM:  The first time I really experienced that was with [that label]. I was very much more of a folk songwriter but what ended up being recorded fell more in the pop vein because I was a younger woman and, therefore, that’s the kind of music I needed to create to be able to sell. Beyond that, I was told that I wasn’t allowed to wear the glasses that I needed because I wouldn’t be seen as being sexy.

I was made to feel like an object and not a person. It was interesting to see the way that I was written off because any decision that I made, they immediately said, “you’re just thinking with your emotions.” That excuse was used a lot. As I’ve gone into business, and this isn’t true of my current job, but you feel that you can be written off very easily if somebody doesn’t like what you’re saying.

303: Do you have any advice for women trying to break into the music industry?

BM: I think the biggest thing is to find any and every resource you can to educate yourself. From the music business books to places that you can be heard and be seen and mentors that will help you through it. Don’t let anybody make your decisions for you — this goes for anybody in the music industry, not just women. Just because somebody says that they know more or they’ve been in something for longer doesn’t mean they know what’s best for you

303: Who is a woman (or women) in the local music industry that you admire?

BM: I would have to say Kenzi Everitt. Seeing the kind of community that she’s cultivated and created for songwriters in Denver is incredible. What she’s doing with Lady Cactus media, both with the live sessions as well as the monthly songwriter showcases, is something that’s incredible to watch. Part of that is because of how hard she works. I don’t think I’ve met anybody who has so much on their plate and manages to get it all done.

Lela Roy

Photo by Meg O’Neill

303 Magazine: What’s your background in the music industry here in Denver?

Bridget Law: Brief history is that I went to the Waldorf school and started playing the violin. When choosing my major in college, I didn’t think I had what it would take to become a performer so I went to school at Colorado University of Denver in the Music Industry Studies program and studied as a Music Business major. Soon into that, I got called out by my peers that they thought I wanted to be a performer — so I began focusing more on performance. I was the only fiddle player in the program and I wasn’t a violin performance major so it allowed me a lot of freedom as far as how I studied the instrument. 

Then Elephant Revival started and I played with [them] for 11 years. When I noticed that I didn’t want to be on the road forever, I started gently transitioning out of touring. I always intended that, after my performance career, I would go back into the music industry — and I wasn’t sure how, but I knew I’d figure it out. So I’ve been an agent, I’ve been a manager, [but] what I’m especially good at is event coordination and production. Currently, my main job is working for WinterWonderGrass and Campout for the Cause. I like to say that my name is also a verb and I “bridge-it,” I build bridges — I have a way of helping make things happen.

303: Have you ever felt held back or like you’ve had more obstacles to overcome because of your gender?

BL: I often feel like I’ve been pretty lucky as far as the oppression of women has gone.  Although [the music industry] is considered a male-dominated industry, it’s also a far more progressive industry compared to others and I’ve witnessed the welcoming of women performers. That transformation has happened really fast and with really wide open arms.

The music industry is a great example of an industry that has benefited from welcoming feminine energy into it because meeting people’s needs is a very feminine energetic. When you’re a band tirelessly on the road going from city to city, you need to be taken care of — and that’s where I feel like females who are managers are a lot more tapped into what those needs are. And, therefore, it’s helping the industry.

303: Do you have any advice for women trying to break into the music industry?

BL: I think being articulate is really helpful. What I’ve found is that all issues can be resolved through clear communication — present, solid, conscious communication goes a long way. Secondly, choose the people that you work with wisely. Don’t give the assholes the time of day. Your energy and what you’re ready to contribute to something is a beautiful gift. Don’t give that to the people who mistreat you. Trust the people that have the fundamentals going — maybe they don’t have the biggest festival or they don’t pay as well — but, in the long run, being treated with respect has monetary value by far.

303: Who is a woman (or women) in the local music industry that you admire?

BL: Amy Kimberly — talk about somebody who has really watched it change. She currently produces the Carbondale Mountain Fair, which is a free festival in Carbondale. She raises money to keep arts alive in Carbondale and, thanks to her and the events that she’s put together and the vibrations that she’s curated, there’s just an amazing community there [of] really elevated, loving, creative humans. I really admire her. And I just love how much she loves music and how much she loves art and how much she loves teaching people and just curating absolute magic in her community — and I hope to do the same in mine.

Erin Roberts

Photo courtesy of Jessi Whitten

303 Magazine: What’s your background in the music industry here in Denver?

Jessie Whitten: I got my start in radio the way a lot of people did — in college radio. I went to the University of Colorado Boulder and they have a really amazing legacy radio station that’s still on the air every day, Radio1190. I fell in love with radio before I even fell in love with music. This merged my two passions and I realized it wasn’t just something I wanted to do in college.

Luckily, while I was at Radio1190, my general manager ended up talking to Colorado Public Radio at the time that I was his music director. I became a really helpful partner to him while I was there — so much so that when he worked out a deal with Colorado Public Radio to build a new radio station out of their AM dial, he brought the president down to the little basement radio station to meet me. He agreed that I had a place in radio and they took me on as music director of Open Air at Colorado Public Radio. So I’ve been with Open Air from the start, about seven and a half years ago.

303: Have you ever felt held back or like you’ve had more obstacles to overcome because of your gender?

JW: Absolutely. Radio isn’t unique from other industries in that it’s rare that the higher you look up the leadership chain, the fewer women you’ll see. And it’s not for a shortage of female talent in the industry at all. Oftentimes, if there’s a white male in a position of power, they’ll reach down to the person they see themselves in who is also a white male.

It’s difficult because, as you are looking for people to fill leadership positions, if you are not coming at it with the perspective of understanding diversity of voices as a priority and a value in itself, you’re going to continue to hire the same talent pool of people, which historically is white males. It really is going to take an active and explicit acknowledgment that there’s value in diversity.

The thing that I really have hope for is this idea that for years women have been struggling to find room at the table and, more and more, you’re seeing female talent say, “I’m going to build my own table, I’m going to start making my own thing.” Organizations are going to have to acknowledge the value of female leadership when they see it proved as something that, not only is valuable and interesting but also a fiscally smart decision.

303: Do you have any advice for women trying to break into the music industry?

JW: You have to find the thing that you want to do and then you have to make yourself invaluable in any way that you can. And either make that clear to your organization that they won’t function without you or trust yourself to make your own thing. You don’t need to know all the answers before you jump into something. The only way you really have a new opportunity is if you take a leap and you learn while you’re doing it.

303: Who is a woman (or women) in the local music industry that you admire?

JW: I’ll start with the other women on my team, Alisha Sweeney and Bruce Trujillo. They’re both incredibly talented and driven and they’ve faced a lot of the same obstacles I have in this industry and they continue to discover themselves. It’s amazing to watch these women grow themselves and their careers over the time I’ve known them so intimately.

Beyond that, folks like Bree Davies — she’s one of those perfect examples of people who won’t take no for an answer. She’s always been a champion of the local music scene for years and now she’s got her own podcast talking about Denver issues. She’s one of those people who constantly fight for her values and to lift up her voice. There’s also Heather Dalton from Colorado Public Television — she’s amazing. She’s been a voice of music advocacy in Denver for years and has done so much to try to elevate the independent music voice here in Colorado.

Kalyn Heffernan

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