By: Emily P.
Last week, our Founder and CEO, Roanne Mesirow, was featured on The Brand Called You’s
podcast to speak with Ashutosh Garg, founder of The Brand Called You, about the Mezz Effect!
The Brand Called You is a media and tech global platform that provides its listeners with lessons
of leadership from, and the knowledge, experiences, and wisdom of, some of the brightest minds
from the worlds of business, technology, professionalism, and the social sector as a whole. The
editors of The Brand Called You host talks with a diverse panel of leaders and high achievers
from around the world, and broadcast those talks for their global audience base to listen to and
learn from.
The podcast begins with Roanne giving a little background information about herself; since
founding Mezz Entertainment in 2017, she has been expanding and developing the careers of
various talented individuals, utilizing her vast background of work experience to advance her
clients’ exposure and branding through various services such as creative direction, promotion,
management, and event production. Roanne then goes on to talk about her story before founding
Mezz, and her journey into the music industry. Roanne had grown up in Chicago, which fueled
her love of music, and had ended up working at the ACE Hotel after college as an event planner.
It was actually one of her coworkers at ACE, who was a student at the NYU Clive Davis
Institute for Recorded Music, that suggested she go into artist management. And just like that,
Roanne began her career as an artist manager, and founded Mezz Entertainment!
The company name comes from the stage name of a distant relative of Roanne’s: Milton
Mesirow, professionally known as Mezz Mezzrow. Mezzrow was a professional jazz clarinetist,
who, personally, was very ahead of his time, went against the grain, and refused to follow any
societal rules forced upon him. His individualistic and resolute nature is what inspired Roanne to
coin the term “Mezz Effect.” Put simply, it is to be “unf***withable.” It is that, “you are a leader,
not a follower; that you know what you’re bringing to the table and bring it every single day,”
according to Roanne. This notion of always having something to bring to the table is one of the
core principles that everyone here at Mezz Entertainment, from intern to artist, lives by.
Everyone here has a specific and unique role to fill, and stepping up to the plate to bring one’s
skills, talents, and knowledge to the table to fill that role is something that is not only extremely
important, but expected, encouraged, and celebrated here at Mezz Entertainment.
Throughout the rest of the podcast, Roanne and Ashutosh delve into the multitude of different
aspects and responsibilities of her career. They discuss the multiple facets of artist management:
taking on clients, what to look for in clients, career development, branding, promotions and
social media presence building, event booking, website and press kit building, and anything else
the client would need assistance with career-wise. They discuss Mezz’s internship program,
which helps a great number of young aspiring industry professionals gain hands-on experience
and mentorship. Finally, Roanne lets the younger TBCY audience in on three lessons for starting
out their careers, and discusses ways she deals with the highs and lows of artist careers. Anyone
looking to know more about artist management, the music industry, or hear professional advice
would greatly benefit from listening in to this talk!
Listen to the full podcast here!