Female Disruptors: Bayleigh Bogan of Collectiv Presents On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t give up. So many people have told me that in general, people don’t make it in the entertainment industry because things get difficult one day and you want to stop. There might be days that you make a or mistake or feel you’ll never recover from, but you will! Keep persevering and don’t listen to negativity.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry,I had the pleasure of interviewing Bayleigh Bogan.

Bayleigh Bogan is a rising power player in the music industry. She has been working in the live music space, helping book various electronic shows and large scale festivals. Bayleigh is also currently pursing her Masters of Music Business at New York University.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Ever since I was a child I was surrounded by music. My mom played instruments with me and got me into piano at a young age. I took piano lessons for 15 years. When I was in elementary school I was obsessed with my iPod and downloading music videos, I couldn’t get enough. When I got to middle school / early high school I would beg my mom to drive me to a concert downtown. I would play the music for her to get her just as excited. When I would finally convince my mom to take me to the concert, I was overjoyed. I always felt like I transported to a new place and was so happy inside the venue. That feeling of suspended reality and pure joy with strangers stuck with me.

In my undergraduate studies at Smith College in Massachusetts I was a film major (class of 2019). I always told everyone that I wanted to focus on music for film. In college I interned at the Cannes Film Festival with a film finance firm, and then with The Hollywood Reporter at the Sundance Film Festival. However, my senior year I was connected to a music agent who explained the business to me. She told me to try it out, as I loved music, so I did. I interned at Paradigm Talent Agency (now Wasserman) through senior year of college and then immediately started full time with them upon graduation. I knew that the music industry was for me, and alongside working I am completing my master’s degree in Music Business at New York University (class of 2023)!

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Inherently, the music industry is a male dominated space. I am a young female professional who is working on making a name for myself and not letting the patriarchy get in my way of success. There are still some people I have run into I the industry who will try to delegate tasks to me differently because I am a woman, so this is something I have dealt with the past few years. However, the current teams I am working for are extremely supportive, as it is about 90% males that I interact with on a daily basis. Additionally, I am working on the team for Baja Beach Fest Music Festival, a Latin and Reggaeton festival, which I believe is breaking barriers for the Latin community.

In my everyday work, when on various calls, I aim to connect with people in a genuine way. My goal is to always cultivate real connections with the people I am working with, and not look to make everything purely transactional. This is something that might catch some people off guard who are not used to a friendly approach to business, but I hope I can change that slowly but surely.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Early on in my career I accidentally sent the a report to the wrong management team. I was thoroughly impressed by the genuine acceptance of what had happened, and how it was turned into a learning experience. I was upfront about my mistake and took ownership, and I was respected for that. I learned that the age old saying from elementary school holds true in every work situation: honestly is the best policy.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Being disruptive in the way that it strengthens the voices of others is positive while disrupting in a way that instead takes that voice away, is negative. Because the industry is built around inclusion and art and acceptance which are all voiced in different ways that should be protected.

I think that disrupting is necessary in today’s climate. It is a positive thing to create change and break old habits. Of course, there are good and bad ways to go about this. Being disruptive in the way that it strengthens the voices of others is positive while disrupting in a way that instead takes that voice away, is negative. Because the industry is built around inclusion and art and acceptance which are all voiced in different ways that should be protected.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?

Don’t give up. So many people have told me that in general, people don’t make it in the entertainment industry because things get difficult one day and you want to stop. There might be days that you make a or mistake or feel you’ll never recover from, but you will! Keep persevering and don’t listen to negativity.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

My goals for 2022 are to take everything I’m doing to the next step. I want to establish myself as an even stronger female figure in the industry and start working with some smaller artists on their big dreams. Working with the Baja Beach Fest team, I’m excited to see how we can surprise our fans next. However, upon graduation of NYU, I hope to use the skills I learned in my masters program to start a new event and put into practice the high level business structures I learned from NYU’s schools, Stern and Steinhardt.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Comparison is the thief of joy”. This has always reminded me that you need to keep your head down and work hard in your own lane. There is no point in comparing yourself to others journeys because everyone takes different steps to get to their greatest accomplishments. The entertainment industry is crazy, there is not one road map you have to follow, so take the opportunities presented to you at the time and run as far as you can with them.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram: @bayyleigh

Linked Inn: Bayleigh Bogan

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!