Meet Megan, a junior who loves all things music. Get her insight on the hottest bands, her music blog and Black Squirrel Radio!
Major: Public relations
Minors: World music and marketing
Age: 20
Hometown: North Ridgeville, Ohio
Her Campus: So you work for Black Squirrel Radio (BSR), what exactly is your job there?
Megan Hermensky: I am the promotions director, I work with different Cleveland venues to set up ticket giveaways that Black Squirrel Radio (BSR) radio DJs can give away on their shows. I get a lot of promotional opportunities, such as working with the marketing street team and individual parts of station, like mobile DJ to plan different internal and external events. I am currently planning the end of the semester banquet, where there will be food and different awards given out. I also recently planned a CD sale. We have a lot of CDs that are sent to BSR by people who want to get their music played on the radio, and we did a sale of some of the CDs we have already went through. We also just re-launched the BSR website, so I planned a launch lunch with free pizza, flyers and much more.
HC: What is your favorite part about being involved in BSR?
MH: My favorite part is that it is what I make it. If I come up with an idea or someone comes to me with an idea, it is up to me to make it work. It’s rewarding in the end to see it all work and come together to make the station as successful as it can be.
HC: How did you become involved with BSR?
MH: It was during my freshman year, I sitting in the Music as World Phenomenon class, and the friend sitting next to me was a DJ at BSR. She was telling me how she was involved with BSR, which made me very interested. I always knew I wanted to get into the music industry, so I showed up to a Music Advisory board meeting, and from there on I started getting more and more involved with station and haven’t stopped since.
HC: You have recently started a music blog; tell us a little about that. Why did you start it? What was your inspiration?
MH: I was taking a Public Relations Tactics class, and part of class is to create a blog and monitor the tools used to make it successful. It could be about anything you wanted, but was suggested to be something were interested in, to help build your personal profile and be part of a portfolio. Since I want to work in the music industry, I thought why not make it about the industry to establish myself as an industry leader and network within my field.
HC: What is your dream job?
MH: My dream job would be to do promotions for a band or music venue, ideally in Chicago.
HC: Why Chicago?
MH: I visited last summer and have always been drawn to big cities, because I love all the excitement of always having something to do or see. I love how it’s a big city on the water. I feel like it has its own unique personality, and I really like it.
HC: How did you know that you wanted to work in music?
MH: It goes back to where my interest in music began. I had piano lessons in first grade, that’s where my interest truly started. At first I was really into Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, even though they have some good classics, my music taste has clearly evolved since then. I had always been into music growing up. In high school I started going to more concerts. Going to concerts just give me a happy feeling, after the show it just gives me a feeling like nothing else. I was thinking about what I wanted to do in the future, and I realized that I want to do something that is going to make me happy everyday.
HC: Who are some of you favorite artists or bands?
MH: Right now, I am into the BORNS. I am also really into Grouplove, which is probably one of my all time favorite artists. Also, Matt and Kim, The Strokes and Marina and the Diamonds. But, I also really like eclectic music like Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Mammas and the Papas. A wide range of music taste.
HC: Working at BSR, do you know who the next big artist is going to be?
MH: I like to think I do, when I was music coordinator I listened to more local bands, like more up and coming bands and artists. But now that I’m in promotions, the way I find artists is partly through the station still, but mostly on my own.
HC: Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to pursue a career in music?
MH: I would say be nice to everybody, because I think you can make connections in the most random of places. I think that being kind or nice to somebody can help them have a positive perception of you, which makes them more willing to work with you in the future or think of you if an opportunity comes up.
When Megan isn’t working for Black Squirrel Radio or looking for the next hot band, she also loves to travel and spend time with her Chi Omega sisters!
Keep up with Megan and all things music on social media:
Instagram: @meganhermensky1
Twitter: @meganhermensky @missindiemusic
Megan’s Blog