Life & Work with Salvatore Guagliardo of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Salvatore Guagliardo.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up deeply rooted in Italian-American family culture. Food, restaurants, and gathering around the table were central to my childhood my family owned restaurants in Chicago, so early on I thought cooking might be my path.

In 1997, most of my core family moved with us to Atlanta, and that relocation completely shifted my world. The South ,and especially the Georgia woods, awakened a sense of adventure in me that never went away. I eventually went to Berry College, a Christian private school surrounded by forests, and that environment made me fall even more in love with nature and the freedom that came with exploring it. Around that same time, I started going to events and concerts during weekend breaks from classes, not realizing then that this was quietly steering me toward the entertainment industry.

Back then, I just knew I wanted to work with people or help people somehow. I explored everything under my interests including medicine, hospitality, even chiropractic before landing on a double major in management and marketing. Before stepping into what I do now, I lived a pretty typical post-college life. I loved ultimate frisbee, kayaking on the Chattahoochee, and adventuring with my dog Jack, who went everywhere with me. Professionally, I used my degree to start in B2B door-to-door sales, first selling paper products for Staples and then T-Mobile business tele products ,before eventually moving into telesales for Vonage Business. It was straightforward corporate life: reliable, structured, but not quite “me.”

The turning point everything shifted ,was in 2018. Summer was coming, and I had been saving all of my PTO for Burning Man. For a while, I’d been using spare time to work side gigs with Incendia, an Atlanta-based flame-effects and event company. I had worked Hulaween the year before and a handful of other festivals with them, they saw my potential and invited me to help build and camp with them at Burning Man !

I submitted my PTO request early, confident I’d earned it, but management denied it despite the time I had fairly saved. That single decision from corporate management snapped something into focus for me. I realized how fragile my freedom was inside a rigid 9-to-5 structure and how much control I’d surrendered over my most valuable asset: my time on Earth. Realizing this I had to make the hard choice, I left the corporate life and accepted the offer to join Incendia at Burning Man in 2018. That Burn and the next year of festival work solidified my desire to work in entertainment and bring live events to people and to help create the type of events and experiences that had shaped me. That was the moment I stopped treating this path like a side passion and fully stepped into it.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every journey has its struggles, and mine was no exception. When I shifted into the entertainment industry, I had to start from square one. Financially, it was a major reset. I went from six years in marketing with two degrees to a new kid on the block earning significantly less while rebuilding my skill set. Still, I stayed confident. By 2020, I had already mastered two mobile Stageline stage deployments for a production house in marietta. I was working on my rigging certifications and felt the momentum returning. I was learning fast, growing fast, and finally finding my rhythm.

And then 2020 hit.

One of the biggest hurdles of my early career was the pandemic shutting down the music and live events industry for an entire year right when I was gaining real traction. The timing was almost comical as I started to dig into my savings. But it forced me to adapt, and that disruption ended up teaching me one of the most important lessons I’ve learned: keep your portfolio diverse and don’t rely on only one skill or sector to sustain you.

During that downtime, I shifted some investments around, and a friend reached out knowing I had experience in entertainment and hands-on work. He needed help driving his crew around neighborhoods and painting houses ,one of the few types of outdoor work still allowed at the social distancing time. It wasn’t glamorous, but it kept me afloat, taught me hands on construction skills, and it reinforced something I now live by: always keep your network wide and your opportunities varied.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work centers around bringing people together around stages in one way or another, I will start with a brief background and expand into what I do today.
I was drawn to the stage-building world and to event design and management because it was the first place I ever felt truly free. Growing up in a strict christian household, my exposure to events and music was limited to church, worship music in the car, musicals ,and theatre. My earliest taste of production came from helping the audio-visual team at church, running projectors and occasionally the sound board. I didn’t realize it then, but that was the spark and motivator.

When I finally had the freedom to explore music in my teens concerts, festivals, all kinds of events it changed me. Those were the moments I felt most alive: seeing friends from across the country, experiencing creativity on a massive scale, watching communities form around sound and light. That feeling planted a seed that eventually became my career. When I hit a crossroads professionally, I knew I wanted to bring that same sense of connection and wonder to others. This upbringing i think set me apart because i came into the industry wanting to mirror my feelings and make spaces where people can gather, feel joy, and experience something unforgettable.

Even before I knew how it would unfold, I had a mission: to build art through lighting, staging, and immersive environments. I remember writing a five-year plan that said I wanted to work for three different companies in the industry and make a living solely from concerts. It felt bold at the time, but it became my reality.

Today, I work as a Technical Director / Project Manager specializing in rigging, live event management, stage design, and lighting design. My work ranges from mobile stages to large-scale festival builds to flame effects and pyro-adjacent projects. I serve promoters, production houses, touring crews, and creative teams who want their event to feel intentional, safe, and unforgettable.

At the core of everything I do is a simple mantra: keep it safe and keep it sexy.
Safety for the crew, and that elevated, electrifying feeling for the audience. If the build team goes home unharmed and the patrons feel incredible walking into the space, then the job was done right.

What Sets Me Apart

What sets me apart is the mix of my background and the unconventional way my career is structured. I juggle three part-time gigs that together form my full-time path, giving me a wide range of experience—from pyro and burner-style builds to high-polish corporate production. I was sheltered in my strict household until college so ,I wasn’t a “baby raver” growing up. I came into this culture later , more mature , with fresh eyes. I have not become jaded yet like some workers in this industry; I still get excited, still get inspired, and still feel that creative spark every time I’m on site. I truly embody the phrase ,child like wonder.

I am known for being a Burner and Pyrohead with Incendia, operating flame effects for large concerts and festivals, fabricating geo-domes and flame throwers. My love of music helps me keep tempo and know when to launch the effects to the “Drop” ! Working with pyro keeps me on my toes and taps into a wild, imaginative side of me. “Burning” and becoming a creator in the Burner space taught me to radically rely on my self to get jobs done with the tools i have at my disposal.

I am also known for being a Lead Rigger with Music Matters Productions, training under James Morris, is where I honed my professionalism in this industry and deepened my rigging knowledge. That foundation gives me both the discipline and the freedom to create safely, creatively, and authentically. These two foundations helped launch my success with DEF, what I am most known for recently.

Define Everything Future, working with this crew has DEF set me apart with a unique skill set . Learning and building on the fly with whatever tools , labor , budget is available ! Sometimes we build spaces inside abandoned warehouses with not many tools or machinery and only a small budget for lighting. Sometimes we transform venues like the Eastern and build the first 360 event in a space never meant for that style of show. I am most proud of my work with DEF because I align with their Ethos : crafting intentional spaces that are welcoming, immersive and electrifying all at once. When people feel free to show up as their unapologetic selves the connection and magic that unfolds is exactly like the events I grew up loving .

DEF truly is what most sets me apart from others in my field. The events we create are always changing from the artists , genre, stage designs, lighting , venues, art installations . We always give our patrons a new immersive experience along side the concert they paid to see. Recently we have been recognized as industry leaders by EDM.com and named Best Event Organizers 2025 and runner up Best Event Organizers 2024 ! This truly makes me proud working with DEF, the Independent owned woman led company, that gave me a chance to bring their visions to life back in 2020.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Outside of my work, I’m someone who loves staying active, creative, and connected to the outdoors. Snowboarding, cooking, traveling, and spending time in nature are some of my biggest passions. I love crafting thoughtful, fun date experiences, and I take any chance I can to escape into the woods for quiet resets. I enjoy full moon nights at home with some candles and reading up on pagan roots and some of those older earth based regions. I love to kayak still and going out camping in the north ga mountains in November when the weather is perfect.

These passions keep me balanced. My career is rooted in nightlife, high energy, and constant movement, so getting out into nature or into the kitchen helps ground me. Cooking is still something I love deeply, even if it never became my profession. And when I have longer breaks, I’ll head to places like Colorado or Tahoe to snowboard and recharge. That balance between the hustle of entertainment and the calm of the outdoors is a huge part of who I am and the energy I bring into my work.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sva.tore/#
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/deftv

Image Credits
Music Matters Productions

Fabian Fernandez

Define Everything Future

Jordan Landwehr

Incendia