Today we’d like to introduce you to Natacha McLeod.
Natacha, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always loved music and planning events. I graduated from Georgia State with a BA in Journalism/Public Relations and a minor in music management. I wanted to figure out a way to combine my strengths and the things I loved the most, but wasn’t sure what career path to pursue. After a few unfulfilling jobs out of undergrad, I went back to school and got a Master’s degree in Arts Administration from SCAD Atlanta. In this program, I had several graduate internships that helped me get on the road to where I am now. One internship was at Live Nation Atlanta, where I was a marketing assistant and assistant to the general manager of a concert venue. I fell in love with the industry and how it combined my strengths and passions. I was fortunate to work directly for someone (the great Akeasha Branch) who saw promise in me and she took me under her wing and taught me all of the ins and outs of the concert promotion business and how to be a successful marketer.
From there, I moved to Florida, where I was the Marketing and Community Relations Manager for two venues – The St. Augustine Amphitheatre and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. I learned so much there and expanded my skills by managing a team of employees, and entered new territories managing rental events and creating partnerships to generate new revenue streams. I was part of a great team who executed a three day music festival which generated over $4.5M in economic impact. My next move was back to Atlanta to work as Marketing Manager for then ASO Presents which managed concerts at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta (now Ameris Bank Amphitheatre), Chastain Park Amphitheatre and Atlanta Symphony Hall. I was presented an amazing opportunity to move into the world of sports, and so I took it – leaving Atlanta for Tampa/St. Pete, Florida, where I worked at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) as the Partnerships Manager. Tennis is my favorite sport, and the WTA is a groundbreaking organization in advancing women’s rights, equal pay and excellence in athletics.
In my role there, I worked on the business development team and researched, created and sold sponsorship and partnership opportunities to corporations. A lot of my past music marketing experience was extremely helpful in this role. But my first love remained music. After a year and a half at WTA, I came back to Atlanta for my current role at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. My role over the past 3 1/2 year has evolved from Senior Marketing Manager of Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE (formerly ASO Presents), to Director of Marketing for LIVE and Delta Classical, to Senior Director of Marketing and Communications organization wide. I have quickly learned a lot about classical music and applied experiences from promoting events in popular music and business development in sports to help grow the ASO’s market share. I work on all types of projects – from digital content planning, media buying, education initiatives, branding campaigns, and during this time of the COVID global pandemic, finding ways to innovate and keep the music alive.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road by any means, but the struggles have made me stronger. I think right out of undergrad, I expected (as a millenial) to have my dream job right away. When that didn’t happen, I went back to school, really got focused and now am in the place I always dreamed of. Finding my voice and the confidence to stand up for myself has been a challenge but it has grown with experience. And being a black woman in the workplace, especially in this day and age, has been a challenge as we must work twice as hard, yet still face erasure of our accomplishments. Luckily, I work in an environment that has fostered growth and promoted me accordingly. There have been many difficult days, but I have never given up, thanks to the support of a loving family, strong mentors and close friends.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
My primary job is Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. I am in charge of selling tickets for events, both classical (with the orchestra) and LIVE (non-classical performances that may be with or without orchestra). I work with artists, agents and managers, radio stations, other media outlets like TV, newspapers, and online sites in order to get the word out about our performances, special initiatives and the general mission of the ASO. I lead our digital content team – internally dubbed “The Stream Team” which is a consortium of colleagues from various departments (marketing, operations, artistic, technology) to evolve our digital strategy in this COVID environment and beyond. I also work on forming partnerships with other venues, groups and companies. I was recently promoted to the senior leadership team of the ASO and as my role expands, am becoming more involved in all facets of the organization. I am proud of our organization for serving the community through music, which is supposed to be the great equalizer. In this period of social awakening, I am honored to be part of the team that is working to help change the way the ASO serves our community through DEI initiatives. We have done a few great things, but we have many, many more to do and I am honored to be part of the change that we are seeking to bring to Atlanta and to the orchestral world in general.
My other great love, which has morphed into a baby side hustle is traveling. I have recently started a travel Instagram page, “Where’s Tat At” www.instagram.com/wherestatat and would like to use images to share beautiful places in the world I have visited. Travel is a window to the world, and once we reach a post-COVID world, I am excited to evolve this account and share cultures, people and places that are not often shared as destinations. Additionally, I have created a small business marketing consulting company, and am working with my first client on a social strategy to help grow his business – Dr. Suitt at Midtown Dental Center.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
In 2013, in St. Augustine, Florida, we were one of four cities globally selected for Mumford and Sons’ “Gentleman of the Road” festival. As Marketing and Community Relations Manager, I was in charge of the local publicity for the festival. We put out a full-page teaser ad in the St. Augustine Record local newspaper, set up a website with FAQs and hosted a press conference with the theme of the festival. The end result of our efforts was a sold-out festival with all 30,000 tickets sold in the first 72 hours. It was a team effort but I am endlessly proud to have been part of it. The process to create a major festival in a small town, without the infrastructure to host such a large event, was a labor of love – fully exhausting, many lessons learned, many tears shed and it was at times overwhelming, but we made magic happen.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/wherestatat
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