Lauren O'Connor

I was 11 years old when I decided working in music was my calling.

My late-stepfather, a music industry executive, helped me consider my love for music as a career path. He would bring me demo CDs from artists that he was trying to promote and would ask me to give any notes or critiques. One particular day, he brought me a new demo and I told him that the artist sounded similar to another very popular artist at the time.

I also suggested that the intro on track #5 was too long and distracting from the rest of the song. After bringing my notes to his next meeting, he was happy to report that most of his colleagues agreed with my thoughts. He said to me, “You’ll make a great A&R or marketing rep someday,” and I knew I was sold.

I am passionate about what I do.

Knowing what I wanted to do at a young age allowed me to prepare myself for this career path. I attended Belmont University to earn my Bachelor of Business Administration focused in Music Business. I mark this as my entrance into the industry because I held an internship for every semester of college; totaling seven internships.

My friends would argue that all work and no play would be stressful, but doing what I love never felt like work. Whether it was running events for a local radio station, helping talent buyers come up with acts to book, or creating playlists to increase a label's streaming market share, there was never a dull moment.

I have felt the same with my work since graduating. Between my current position at TikTok helping artists with TikTok strategy and music distribution, my time at Universal Music Enterprises supporting the marketing team on dozens of releases and franchise moments, pitching music for sync opportunities at Songtradr, and the time I spent at Maverick Management working directly with artists to optimize their social media accounts, I have always been drawn to the creativity involved in this industry.

With 10 years of experience, I have learned to become a jack of all trades and adjust to any and every opportunity that comes my way. I am ambitious, highly self-motivated, and work hard to perform above and beyond what is expected of me. I love discussing new ideas and enjoy collaborating with and learning from those around me.