Roanne Mesirow is the founder and creator of Mezz Entertainment, a female-led music management company in the male-dominated world of music management. Mezz Entertainment is a brand consulting and artist management company that helps to develop the careers of artists and companies in the music, fashion, and hospitality industries through creative direction, promotion, management, and event production.
Roanne’s story can inspire aspiring entrepreneurs and showcases the potential for success in the music business world. In this article, we will delve into Roanne’s journey, exploring her professional accomplishments, her entrepreneurial spirit, and the lessons she has learned along the way. By understanding the challenges she faced and the strategies she employed, readers can gain valuable insights that can be applied to their own ventures.
Read the article as we unravel the remarkable story of Roanne Mesirow and discover how she carved a path to success.
Table of Contents
What is your business about?
Roanne Mesirow: Mezz Entertainment is a female-owned and operated management and consulting company that primarily works with musicians, DJs, producers and visual artists. We are based out of New York City and work with clients in surrounding areas and in other cities such as LA and Miami.
At Mezz, our main goal is to assist with making our clients’ creative vision come to fruition. We support developing, mid-career, and established talent with their demands through creative direction, brand building, social media management, promotion, and event production. We have signed deals with Grammy Award-Winning music producers, formed brand relationships with a diverse range of high-end businesses, booked artists for performances around the United States, and coordinated interviews with radio shows, podcasts, magazines, and blogs.
What inspired you to start this business? How and why did you start this business?
Roanne Mesirow: Once finishing college, I had multiple jobs that ranged from working at a high-end jewelry store, to William Morris, to corporate sales, to event planning. I felt like those jobs were truly just jobs, and I wanted to be enjoying what I was doing. While doing event planning, a co-worker of mine suggested I go into artist management because of how on top of my work I was. I sat with the idea for a while and decided to go for it.
I started Mezz Entertainment in 2017, and eventually, when I met my first client, it clicked because helping her with her career didn’t feel like work to me. Someone told me a long time ago that if your job doesn’t feel like work, then you’ve won. 74% of Americans hate their job and I wanted to make sure that I was never a part of that statistic.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in starting your business?
Roanne Mesirow: One of the biggest challenges that I faced when starting Mezz was building my team and finding clients. However, once I helped my first client with their first deal and made my first connection, things slowly started evolving and have been ever since.
Aside from this, it was also challenging to be working in a male-dominated industry. I felt like I had to really prove myself, but this made me work even harder to help get opportunities for my clients.
How are you marketing your business?
Roanne Mesirow: Mezz does social media marketing on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn, and has playlists on SoundCloud, Spotify and YouTube. The playlists are updated weekly with music from up and coming artists that submit their tracks, which has been a great way to build a community of musicians and music lovers.
With social media, we frequently do advertisements to promote our clients’ events and/or releases, and our services. Our team is constantly focusing on how to market Mezz and we are regularly updating our platforms with new content.
Mezz also does email marketing where we send out newsletters that keep people up to date with what is happening at the company and with our clients.
How are you balancing your business with your personal life?
Roanne Mesirow: I really try to utilize as much of the day as I can during the week. I love getting up early and walking my dog and getting outside to start my day before I focus on my work.
Sometimes in this industry, it can feel like your personal and business lives get mixed together because you’re constantly going to events at night and communicating with people 24/7. Because of this, I have tried to balance work and my personal life somewhat.
What is it like running a female-owned business in a male-dominated industry?
Roanne Mesirow: I frequently put up with sexist comments at events or when meeting new people, and it is unfortunate that this is something that women still have to put up with. Running a
female-owned business in a male-dominated industry makes me want to work even harder every day. I think it’s so important for more females to be in higher-up positions in the industry and for those that work in entertainment to get recognition in the first place.
What lessons have you learned so far about being an entrepreneur?
Roanne Mesirow: Some things that I have learned so far in my journey as an entrepreneur is that consistency and communication are key. It is much easier to handle tasks that come up if you have clear communication with your clients and team.
Also, being passionate about the work that you’re doing is necessary, especially since most jobs in entertainment are not your typical 9-5. Studies repeatedly show that more people in the US hate their jobs rather than enjoy them, which is something that I always wanted to avoid. Having that drive for what you do really makes all the difference when working in business.
How do you see the business five years from now?
Roanne Mesirow: Five years from now, I want the team at Mezz to expand and for our roster to keep growing. Right now, we mainly operate out of NYC, but I would love for us to eventually open offices in cities like LA, Miami, Atlanta, and Nashville. Along with expanding, I would love for our current clients to be touring with more artists across the country and globally, and for them to be landing bigger brand partnerships.
What tips can you share for other entrepreneurs thinking of starting their businesses?
Roanne Mesirow: Find a mentor or someone that is doing what you want to do so that you can ask them questions. In the beginning of my career, I made a connection with a man who works in radio and he gave me advice whenever I needed it. People in the industry are truly just a call or email away, so you should never be afraid to reach out and gain that insight.
Also, I recommend surrounding yourself with a solid group of people that you can collaborate with and build a team with. Roadblocks are inevitably going to come up when starting a business, but if you have people you can rely on, you can get through those challenges.
