She.Grows benefits for both sides

It is a simple idea, and really just a small gesture, but one that ADE and shesaidso created from the belief that such things can have an impact on the next generation of professionals. Based on the original She.Grows mentor program founded by shesaidso London department, this principle also resonated with the values Absolut stands for, and therefore we were delighted that the brand partnered with She.Grows and ADE University on the initiative.

German student and music fan Laila Friege was partnered with Madeleine van Geuns, artist manager of Sam Feldt at MusicAllStars Management/Spinnin’ Records. Comments Friege: “I hoped to gain some insights about the music industry and get a closer view of Madeleine’s work as an artist manager for Sam Feldt, and it was inspiring to watch her in action during artist events. I learned about everything she is responsible for and how she interacts with the business contacts she introduced me to. It was definitely a highlight of my year and I learned more than I could have hoped for.”

For van Geuns it was also an interesting opportunity: “I entered the mentoring program because I am always keen to meet new people with the same passion, plus when I started in music people helped me and shared their knowledge. So having been in the scene for some years now, it’s time for me to do the same. Meeting Laila was great and she being from Germany and me from Holland already was very cool because we could exchange stories about the differences in the landscape of music. What I got out of it is that it’s not a one way street. I learned some things from Laila as well, which I thought was really nice! I took Laila to an event featuring one of my artists so I could introduce her to a lot of different people, but in doing so I noticed it’s hard to give your full attention when you constantly have to do things and therefore can’t fully focus on the conversation.”

Friege thoroughly enjoyed the experience: “Madeleine is a strong, inspirational woman who knows how to maneuver her way through the predominately male music scene, and the only thing I would have changed was to have had more time to prepare for the session. But it's excellent that Madeleine stayed in contact with me since and answered my remaining questions.”

She.Grows is an initiative by shesaidso and offers future women executives the chance to learn from, get inspired by and get to know established female professionals. Mentors were Kimberly Tanikromo, label manager at Bitbird, Malena Wolfer senior marketing and international manager at Believe Music, Tamar Tieleman, marketing manager at Melkweg, Madeleine van Geuns, artist manager of Sam Feldt at MusicAllStars Management/Spinnin’ Records, and Jessica Ibgui, senior marketing, sync & licensing manager at Buddemusic France.

ADE and shesaidso are immensely grateful to our five mentors who generously agreed to give up their precious time during and after ADE to help make the industry more representative of the world we live in. Subscribe for ADE program updates to find out more about the she.grows program as part of ADE University.

ADE University is kindly supported by Fontys Academy for Creative Industries and Born4Jobs.