Established in September 2014, shesaid.so has grown to over 1,200 members worldwide – all women in the music business keen to make a difference.
The network aims to create an environment that supports collaboration, creativity and positive values.
Its key objectives include breaking down gender stereotypes in the music business and raising awareness of the gender pay gap in the industry.
The Independent Echo caught up with some of the key figures managing the network to find out more…
Georgia Taglietti – Advisory Board Member, shesaid.so & Communications Director, Sonar Festival
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at shesaid.so?
The coolest thing was …realizing there are so many women in the world with the same wave length… receiving encouraging emails about hiring, sharing contacts, meeting and networking in a very natural way.
Also finding out that some of the people I knew through the years were gradually signing up and participating in the conversation on who we are, what we do, which are our needs and professional challenges. It’s comforting, it’s engaging and it’s definitively needed. And it’s all about female talent.
* What does shesaid.so mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
Being part of shesaid.so came as a very natural step for me, and this is why I always supported Andreea from the moment I joined. The importance of being in something together, regrouping under a name and an umbrella which encompasses not only principles, but also future debates and open conversations created and “broadcast” by an incredible amount of professional women involved in the creative and music business. We are women, we are professionals and we are proud of building this platform together. I think this is the spirit!
* What do you hope to achieve at shesaid.so in the future?
Being able to transfer the online/messaging contribution into real life, with physical events, actions and more happening everywhere in the world. Once #shesaidso will materialize I think it will be unstoppable.
Andreea Magdalina – Co-founder, iamjt.us & Founder, shesaid.so
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at shesaid so?
Incredible things happen because of shesaid.so on a daily basis. From receiving messages from women in Turkey and India thanking us for bringing them closer to the industry at large and making them feel empowered as women in their different cultural paradigms, through to being invited to speak at conferences or attend events alongside some of the most inspiring people I’ve admired from afar; this is the coolest thing about shesaid.so :)
* What does shesaid.so mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
shesaid.so was founded in a time when female empowerment was perhaps not covered by press at large as much as it should have been or as much as it is today. I hope that its existence helped change the conversation, even if only by one degree.
Bringing people together and enabling them to support each other and be the best they can be is the most rewarding feeling of all. It never feels like work because everyone who is contributing does that out of passion and commitment to our mission.
* What do you hope to achieve at shesaid.so in the future?
shesaid.so is all about connecting women who work in the music industry at the moment. In the future we hope to create mentorship programs aimed at young girls and pair them with our fantastic community; we hope to create more programs that speak about “inclusivity” and ultimately develop partnerships with educational institutions that will tackle the equality issue at an early stage; we hope to reach more women worldwide and inspire their career ambitions across borders and cultural fences; and, finally, we hope to one day be able to fully shift the conversation and start it with “we said so”.
Sarah Klearman – Creative Director, shesaid.so & Product Designer, Pandora Media
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at shesaid.so?
Shesaid.so is a network of incredibly driven women in music all over the world. As a member, I’m connected to these individuals wherever I go.
I traveled to New York recently and met a couple of shesaid.so ladies: Hayley, a music campaign strategist at Kickstarter; and Cherie, a music tech writer at Forbes who was working on some compelling articles at the time. I felt energized after having connected with them in person — sharing our ideas, experiences, and obstacles we’ve faced along the way. For me, connecting with motivated women who share similar values has been really cool.
What does shesaid.so mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
Shesaid.so exists to enable conversations — motivated by the need to share a story, ask for advice, ignite a collaboration, or discuss a sensitive topic. I believe these dialogues are essential to moving the music industry forward. It’s cool to know that the organization has begun to establish a safe space for women in music to voice their experiences and ideas.
I admire the work Andreea has done in creating a finely woven community. Mostly, I’m grateful that I get the opportunity to contribute to shesaid.so’s efforts because I believe it’s playing a vital role in our society’s movement towards a more collaborative and inclusive environment for women.
What do you hope to achieve at shesaid.so in the future?
As a resident of San Francisco, I’m hoping to establish a shesaid.so presence here and kickoff a speaker series. The Bay Area, famously known for its thriving tech industry, is also home to women who encounter unique challenges in the workplace. I think our mission will resonate with many women here. Additionally, I have a lot of fun building on shesaid.so’s brand identity, so I’m also excited for what new design challenges lie ahead as the organization grows.
Harriet Moss – Global Creative Manager, Manners McDade & Director, London, SheSaid.so
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at shesaid.so?
Having been able to meet up with amazing women from shesaid.so in every single city I’ve visited for my work at Manners McDade. Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, Amsterdam, LA, New York… The global network of women (nearly 1300 right now) makes you feel so at home wherever you are, with great women to inspire you, support you and befriend you right across the world.
* What does Shesaid.so mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
I feel so honoured to be part of the shesaid.so team here in London: it’s the greatest feeling in the world to bring fantastic human beings together for all our events, meetings and through all the email chains. The casual, everyday sexism that exists in the music industry and society in general can be tackled by everyone, if we just work on it together – there’s no need for men vs. women in any part of this, moving on from it can only be beneficial to everyone in the long run.
I’m really proud to be part of an organisation that is so inclusive, the network can help people by sharing job opportunities, articles and opinion pieces, invitations to events as well as personal strifes and stories – there has been some fantastic discussions and debates via email over the last few years, these conversations are so important to have!
* What do you hope to achieve at Shesaid.so in the future?
We have some really special plans in the pipeline for our expansion, not just here in London but globally too. I’m personally really excited to work more closely with younger women and men, letting them know about the career possibilities in the music industry and changing diversity across the industry from the roots up!