Member Spotlight #38: Sarah Stam

On the music industry, representation, cancer recovery and The k*tkanker Book Project

Sarah Stam is an Amsterdam based music enthusiast who launched her own boutique artist management company set the tone . over five years ago. With a background in marketing, branding, PR and project management for international record labels and music brands, Sarah worked with companies like Spotify UK, Armada Music, Armin van Buurenand labels like UKF, NCS and TheSoundYouNeed amongst others. With a focus on developing young, independent talent, set the tone’s roster includes electronic producer Ellis, jazz fusion artist Hemai and R&B/soul vocalist Laura Roy amongst others.

Sarah was working as a freelancer in the music industry during the pandemic , when in November 2020, she was diagnosed with metastatic ovarian cancer.

Sarah says: “During my recovery process, I tried to find hope and inspiration in other women’s stories who had been through a similar diagnosis, because I had no idea how I was supposed to handle everything that I was faced with. As it turns out, there is so much medical information about cancer, but very few resources to help women through the day to day process, both in terms of practical and emotional sources.”

So she decided to create that resource herself, resulting in the k*tkanker book project.

The book touches upon more than just the medical trajectory. Sarah says: “We explore experiences of life with and after cancer. How do you deal with the mental issues that you face after your medical journey? What does the disease do with your sense of feminity and sexuality? This project is here to explore all different types of perspectives to such questions and offer a safe place or recognition for all types of women. A project with 50 different portraits of women between the ages of 20 and 100 years old with cancer from all walks of life.”

Read on for our Member Spotlight with Sarah.

shesaid.so: Can you tell us a bit more about your career journey to date and what you’ve most enjoyed?

It’s interesting as I always knew I wanted to work in music from the age of like 12 years old, but being from a small hometown in the north of the Netherlands I never thought I would be able to. I didn’t know anyone in music growing up so it seemed always like a bit of a dreamworld to me in all honesty. I had no idea which jobs were even out there. When I was 15 years old I visited my first festival in the Netherlands, watched Justice and guys like the Arctic Monkeys perform, and I thought to myself: This is the coolest thing ever. I know I don’t have enough talent to be on the stage, but those guys hanging on the side of the stage, maybe I can be like them. I studied general arts and management, and ended up doing my master thesis about streaming platforms. Bluffed my way into Spotify London at the time, when there were like 4 people working there, and that kinda kickstarted it. I definitely learned the most during my time at Dutch record label Armada Music, grew an international network, worked directly with artists and their managers, and got to know everything about the creation and marketing of music. After that I decided to start my own boutique artist management company set the tone. and it’s now exactly 5 years ago I signed my first artist and producer Ellis in London. There is honestly no place I’d rather be in the world right now then what I am doing right now, I can hardly believe I get to do what I get to do half of the time. To witness music being created, setting up the studio sessions, hearing the first session bounce, to then releasing music, putting it out into the world and seeing your artists perform: there is honestly no greater joy in life for me personally.

shesaid.so: What are your biggest learnings or top tips for artists/labels wanting to nail their marketing and branding?

Well that is a great question, with no timeless answer obviously. It’s hard to answer this without going into cliches, and throwing in words like authenticity or real connection with fans. I think my own biggest takeaway from the past few years is everyone is always following trends. but only a few are setting the trends. Do what feels authentic and natural to you, don’t look at others too much. Definitely always invest in growing those channels you control yourself, like soundcloud and youtube or your own Artist Spotify Playlist, so many people often only focus on those things out of their control. And honestly, if you plan timely you can achieve so much. I’be had the pleasure of working with and consulting for some fairly big artists and labels out there, and where it often goes wrong is bad communication and last minute planning. That’s an easy takeaway.

shesaid.so: You have been heavily involved in shesaid.so and she.grows, heading up shesaid.so Ams. What was your motivation to be involved, and what have you been most proud to work on or achieve?

Heading up the Amsterdam chapter of shesaid.so was an absolute pleasure. After meeting founder Andreea at a music conference in Norway and learning about the amazing mission and vision she had for the community, I couldn’t not fall in love with the community and it was an honor that she asked me to start the Amsterdam chapter at the time. We’ve had the pleasure to do some amazing real life events, but the she.grows mentorship program during ADE and Eurosonic were definite highlights, it is just amazing to connect women from all walks of life and see them help each other move forward.

shesaid.so: Throughout your career, what kind of progress have you seen in the industry in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion?

SS: Honestly, not as much as I would have hoped for. It’s shocking to realise it is 2022 and still 80% of the artist managers or music lawyers I deal with are white men. But it is on the other hand hopeful to see more and more companies trying to make an actual change by including more women in their boards as well as appointing diversity managers within their team.

shesaid.so: Can you tell us more about The k*tkanker Book Project and your journey behind it?

SS: Unfortunately I got diagnosed with metastatic ovarian cancer in November 2020, and instantly had so many questions, which started quite plastic (how is my scar going to look, how do you deal with hair loss from chemo) to later more mental focussed questions like: how do I live my life with cancer and how do I go about the insecurity of it all? Although there is a lot of medical information about cancer, I couldn’t find sufficient information about life with cancer. Evenmore so, most medical websites and information flyers are filled with stories from 65+ year old white women. I knew that if I was struggling to find any inspiring role models to gain courage from, this would be even more challenging for women of color. Hence I thought to myself: if I survive this treatment period, I will have to do something that ads to a more divers and inclusive information source about women with cancer. hence I started the k*tkanker project with an amazing team of friends and professionals. K*tkanker is a book and photo exhibition authored by 50 women between the ages of 20 and 100 years old who are battling breastcancer of a form of gynecological cancer. Fifty powerful, inspiring portraits and short stories that includes an additional section with over 100 tips of useful websites, smart insights and practical tips for women with cancer. You can support our project by donating to our crowdfund (https://www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/13688-ktkanker ), we need to hit 80% to make this special project a reality. First copies are in Dutch, but you can opt in on an English version of the book through our website: www.kutkanker.com

K*tkanker book project

shesaid.so: How has it been for you to work on the project? What have you learnt about yourself or otherwise?

SS: It’s been such an interesting journey honestly. I feel blessed to have connected with so many likeminded women, to hear so many different stories and learn that I am not alone. And the team of professionals working on this, dedicating their time and energy, and asking little to nothing in return, has been a very humbling experience. They are all such amazing professionals, and together we were able to capture 50 completely individual, different and divers stories. The days when we did the photoshoots for this project have been absolutely magical and special. To have 50 women who all are transformed by this horrible disease, open up and share their most beautiful and vulnerable self has been a unique experience I will carry with me forever.

All these women struggle with their cancer diagnosis on a day to day basis, and so many wished they had a book like this during their process, as it is so important to recognize yourself in someone else. Furthermore, I’ve mainly learned that making a book is way more work than I anticipated and that unfortunately the medical world is still very much behind when it comes to diversity and inclusivity.

shesaid.so: What do you hope it will provide for others?

SS: Speaking to over 100 women, I learned everyone missed something. Myself, I missed a powerful photo of someone who had a temporary stoma (colostamy bag) like myself but who would still go out, work out, travel, go to festivals and date for example. One of the black women in the book shared a very personal insight, saying she “never saw a black person on TV with cancer, thought all her life it was a disease for white people”, showcasing the lack of diveristy in imagery around women with cancer. Or someone else sharing she couldn’t find one photo example of how her scar would look on her pigmented skin after her mastectomy, being a Surinamese Hindustani (not sure this is the right ENGLISH translation) woman. I hope we can make a real change by telling these 50 real life stories and showing 50 powerful portraits of 50 incredible women, who happen to have cancer.

shesaid.so: How can people support the project? (Internationally too)

SS: People can donate to our crowdfund (https://www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/13688-ktkanker ) to help bring this book to life. We need a lot of money, due to the fact that we worked over a year on this book with a team of 12 people doing research, interviews and shooting 50 portraits, combined with relatively high paper prices due to COVID and wanting to create a high-quality full-color photobook for a reasonably low price so it’s accesible for all people at €29,99. You can pre-order a dutch copy of the book through the crowdfund, but also simply donate money without purchasing a book. Internationally, people can opt in on an English translated version of the book through our website (www.kutkanker.com), if we hit 100 opt ins, we’ll get the book translated and shipped internationally.

shesaid.so: One piece of advice that has impacted you?

SS: Fake it till you make it. To an extent. I once heard this said by someone who explained it as: of course don’t lie or get in over your head, but honestly the majority of people don’t know what they are doing, so be confident and know you can probably figure it out along the way. This has really resonated with me, especially when I started for myself as an artist manager, having only a record label background. The older I now get, the bigger the boardrooms I find myself in, the more I realize that indeed a lot of people don’t know what they are doing and you can figure it out along the way. Be informed, be on point and do your best, and you can basically do anything you set your mind to.

shesaid.so: Any music you currently have in heavy rotation that you’d like to share with others?

SS: I just went to Governors Ball in NYC where Tove Lo absolutely blew me away, what an artist, a proper rockstar of our time. Same for Ashniko, amazing performer. And a nice summer song to have on repeat is “Nobody” by Quentyn and KEV!

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Here are those links again to support the k*ktanker book project:

You can support our project by donating to our crowdfund (https://www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/13688-ktkanker ), we need to hit 80% to make this special project a reality. First copies are in Dutch, but you can opt in on an English version of the book through our website: www.kutkanker.com

Member Spotlight #37: Mahaneela

For this month’s Member Spotlight, we had the pleasure of catching up with the co-founder of Cozy Global, Mahaneela. As a multidisciplinary artist, her work explores the intersections of the global Black experience with a focus on depicting Black and Brown joy. As a creative director, filmmaker, photographer and so much more, Mahaneela is providing a new perspective on what representation looks like in mainstream media. Apart from her artistry, Mahaneela also works as a creative strategist and consultant with artists’ labels, and brands to take their activations and events to new heights. Get to know Mahaneela and tap into her tips below.

shesaidso: Tell us a little more about yourself, and your career journey to date.

“My name is Mahaneela. I am an artist. I’ve been a photographer for almost 10 years now, and a director for 5. My work is centered around Black and Brown joy, documenting the African and South Asian diaspora through music videos, photography, creative direction, music management, DJing and so much more. I’d say my career to date is driven by my community. I’ve been privileged to grow with my peers as we collectively create a new canon of imagery and art that celebrates our joy, and our beauty. For a long time, this work has been necessary but underrepresented and appreciated, but now, I think there’s been a shift — and it’s beautiful to see so many Black and Brown artists flourishing.”

shesaidso: In a Creative Lives in Progress Pep talk, you talk about leaving a philosophy course to pursue the career that you love, what advice would you give to someone who wants to take the risk and pivot to a new career?

“I would say to anyone looking to go down a new path career-wise, if you are able, to take your time with your decisions. It might feel like you just want to quit right now, but thinking long-term about your goals and finding a new opportunity that allows you to get by financially as well as learn transferable skills you can bring to your own projects down the line is key. We can’t all drop out of uni / quit our jobs and immediately thrive. It’s taken me 10 years from when I made the decision to leave until now, when I feel like I’ve only recently started to reap the rewards of all that work. I spent years working full-time in different jobs that allowed me to pick up the skill set needed that I could apply to my own business and projects. I am so grateful for those experiences, even if the job wasn’t my end goal, because it helped me to get here.” [Mahaneela’s Pep talk here]

shesaidso: You have worked on so many cool projects, working with clients such as MAC, FKA Twigs, Adidas, and many more what has been your favorite project to date?

“Ooooh I would say my favorite project to date would be the show I created with Nike, “Come Thru”. It was just such a different experience not only directing a show format but also it being of my own creation. I had so much fun on that project and built so many authentic relationships with the women who made it with me. It was a beautiful sisterhood.”

shesaidso: Cozy Global started as a magazine and is now a full-service creative studio, can you tell us about that journey and some of the biggest lessons you have learned along the way?

“Yes! It’s so crazy to think back in 2014 we were a magazine and now we’re here. It really just evolved as me and Sadé (my business partner) did. Initially, we expanded from the magazine to events, because Sade worked in events. We both were managing artists too, then we started putting on live shows and then would DJ at our parties in London, New York, LA… We always wanted it to feel international. We both were working at labels, and started to get involved in production and directing videos, so it followed naturally for us to use “COZY” when we worked together as it was our thing. There have been so many lessons along the way. I think we’ve learned how to advocate for ourselves the most. And found our own way of how we do business, we’ve learned a lot about what not to do (there are definitely some horror stories) so I think we really try to be mindful of that and the artists we work with because we are artists too.”

shesaidso: As a multi-hyphenate artist, how do you make time to explore your creativity outside of work?

“Through conversations with friends, I feel super inspired. I think we explore our creativity together as we are constantly sharing ideas and art with each other.”

shesaidso: One piece of advice that has impacted you?

“Work smart.”

shesaidso: What songs are in heavy rotation for you right now?

“At the moment I can’t stop playing:

Tamera — Wickedest

Juls ft. Kadiata, Sam Wise & Knucks — Wicked

Sainté — Champagne Shots

Ragz Originale — Brush U

shesaidso: Lastly, how can people reach you if they want to connect?

Instagram! My DMs are open :) Find me @MAHANEELA.JPG

Member Spotlight #37: Maria Gironas

Senior Media Partnerships Manager, Creators and Artists at Reddit

Maria Gironas

For Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re spotlighting inspiring latinx and hispanic people making waves in the music industry. Maria Gironas is a Senior Media Partnerships Manager for Creators and Artists at Reddit, where she works with creators to onboard them onto the Reddit platform. Maria spoke with shesaid.so about her past life as a touring musician, her experience living with anxiety and depression, and her vision for latinx representation in the music industry.

shesaid.so: Can you tell us a little more about yourself, and your music career journey to date?

Maria: I started my career as an artist signed to a small label, and it changed my life. I got to play shows, tour, produce, and learn the nitty gritty on what it meant to be an artist. The crazy thing was, I was 11 when that all started. I was a kid being told what to wear, to write about honest feelings, to balance school and social life, and couple that with both the weight and honor it is to be a child of two Bolivian immigrants. It was a lot. I fell out of love with the idea of a musician, and fell in love with the idea that I could work with artists and creators to protect and honor their visions. My career since has been about two things: 1. Empowering creators and artists through embracing technology and data and 2. Elevating marginalized communities through all the work I do. Those north stars have brought me to companies like Reybee as a publicist, Fender in social media, YouTube in artist and creator development, Q&A/Human Resources on platform partnerships, Wide Eyed Entertainment in marketing, Downtown Records in DSP strategy, and now, Reddit heading up talent partnership efforts.

shesaid.so: What do you consider some of your greatest career achievements, and why?

Maria: Honestly, in my wildest dreams, I would have never thought to be in the place I am in my career. This might sound silly to someone reading this, but I am in a constant state of gratitude for my life, and I think I’d be lying if I wrote out what my greatest career achievement was, because just living right now, in the moment, feels like the biggest win of all. Young, little Maria would think this current Maria was pretty awesome.

shesaid.so: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced, and how have they shaped you and your career?

Maria: I’ve had a winding mental health journey my whole life. Through therapy, medication, and support from my friends and family, I’ve been able to manage my anxiety and depression. I’m grateful to say I’ve had some incredible bosses who were very open to letting me share my struggles and allowing the space to take a step back when I needed to. But, there were many, MANY, moments where I just didn’t take care of myself and it manifested into panic attacks, obsession, intrusive thoughts, and distancing myself from the people that cared about me. I think because I went through all of this, I can see when others might need space to feel heard and seen. Sometimes, gentle conversations on mental health could be allowing the space and time to properly ask, “how are you doing?” Within the Latino community, there is an unfortunate stigma surrounding mental health that is slowly being corrected, but still has a long way to go. All we can do sometimes is create space and give space, and I have known those simple actions to change the course of my life and career.

shesaid.so: Who in the music industry are you inspired by, and why?

Maria: My parents, Carla and Ramiro Gironas, are the people that inspire me the most in all aspects of my life, hands down. Within the music industry, I am the luckiest human on earth to admit that I have been truly blessed to have friends and mentors like Jenna LoMonaco, Rachel Stoewer Poston, Beka Tischker, Irene Richter, Jessica Rivera, Brooke Rascoff, Julie Nguyen, Sam Juneman, Rebeca Leon, Chelsea Dankner, Jordan Federman, Vatana Shaw, Erika Montes, Danielle Jimenez, Doris Munoz, Ana Maldonado, Ranya Khoury, Daniela Sala, Livia Piomelli, Tayla Ridley, Emily Garibaldi, Madilyn Bailey, Evange Livanos, Brynn Elliott, Kristin Gregory, Jensen McRae, Grace Adeyemo, Noreen Prunier, Kat MacLean-Daley, Ritz McCain, Blair Miller, Jordana Golub, Jamie Hart, Caroline Trujillo, Tenille Arts, Michele Stephens, Satasha Torres, Jillian Newman, Julie Gurovitsch, Brittany Crawford, Phylicia Fant, Erin Hanson, Lauren McKinney, Nicole Barsalona, Grace Segundo, Cecille Crisostomo, Sara Dempsey, Jackie Yaegar, Grace Roslovic, Shaun Alexander, Evangeline Elder, Whitney-Gayle, Benta, Niki Pittelli, Chelsi Zollner, Cecilia Winter, Julie Ciccarelli, Melanie McClain, and so so so many more. Remember these names!

shesaid.so: What do you hope to see more of in the music industry in regards to latinx/hispanic representation?

Maria: I want to see our community represented in all genres of music on all sides of the business. Latinx and love metal? Manage a metal band. Latinx and love pop music? Start a pop label. Latinx and love pop punk music? Start a pop punk band. Let’s spread our culture far and wide!

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