The Offstage Mic

If your days as an arts leader are consumed by never-ending to-do lists, last-minute fires, and reactive work—this episode is your call to break the cycle. In this Season 5 finale, we dig into a leadership struggle that nearly every arts executive, administrator, and manager faces: the battle between the urgent and the important. Through honest reflection, personal experience, and practical tools, we unpack why time management in arts leadership isn't just about productivity—it's about reclaiming your role as a strategic visionary. You'll learn how to identify the 20% of your work that drives real impact, why busyness can be a form of avoidance, and how to shift your focus toward building a thriving future for your organization. If you're ready to trade burnout for clarity and momentum, this episode offers both the mindset shift and tactical tools to help you get there.The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

One of the biggest mistakes arts organizations make is over relying on major donors. In this penultimate episode of the season, Aubrey Bergauer talks with Dana Snyder—author of The Monthly Giving Mastermind—about why major gifts alone won't save your organization's financial future. Together, they explore how a strong monthly giving program isn't just smart strategy; it's sustainable, reliable, and rooted in digital marketing best practices.Learn how moving just 2% more charitable donations to monthly giving could unlock $9 billion in recurring revenue. Discover why recurring donors give 42% more per year, and how to build a donor pipeline that leads to more major gifts—not fewer. If you're tired of chasing one-time checks and ready to grow real stability, this episode is a must-listen.What You'll Learn:Why over-relying on major donors puts your organization at riskThe $9 billion opportunity in recurring givingHow to launch and grow a thriving monthly giving programWhy digital marketing skills are key to donor retentionHow to move monthly donors into major givingThe Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Does managing operations at your arts organization feel tedious or unwieldy? Maybe you know your internal processes need a boost, but don't you know where to begin. Good news: It's actually more simple than you think. This episode, Aubrey talks about the Kaizen Method of sustained, incremental change. If it feels like you're trying to turn a big ship, instead of letting perfect be the enemy of good, start by testing out small changes to see what yields the biggest results. This episode tells you how. The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

For arts organizations, the vast majority of your audience is not subscribers and donors; over 90% of your patrons are the ones who come and go, never to engage with another performance again. How can arts administrators capture that large segment of their audience base and stop the churn? Redesign the user experience. This episode, Aubrey talks with UX and product designer, Linda Hsieh Logston. She shares five steps to applying UX design to arts management. The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Women in arts administration make up over half of the workforce. Yet arts leadership roles — on stage and off — are still male dominated. This episode, Aubrey shares some shocking statistics from the field and explains why this paradox is so common in arts organizations (Hint: it's not just about getting more women in the C-suite; the problem starts earlier than you might think). And most important, how arts administrators can change their systems to address gender bias in their own institutions. The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Marketing has changed so much for arts administrators in recent years that you might not know how to maximize your marketing budget these days. What percentage should you allocate? What marketing channels are the most effective this year? How much should you spend? This episode, Aubrey explains how to think strategically about reaching the audience you want—and how to budget for it. The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Understanding patron data can be daunting, confusing, or even cringeworthy for arts administrators. But your data is an asset, and arts organizations are leaving thousands of dollars on the table when you don't fully harness it. The good news is understanding and utilizing your data is not hard when done right. It's all about creating systems to make your data work for you. This episode, Aubrey talks with arts administrator and Changing the Narrative Program Director Stephanie Stallings about working smarter not harder, so you can use data to track and grow your patron retention. The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

For arts administrators, donor development often means soliciting as many patrons as possible, as soon as possible, without accounting for their unique needs. This may glean some revenue in the short term, but what about next season? Someone coming to a show once to check it off their bucket list is not the same as the season subscriber or donor who's bought-in because they have a tried and true relationship with your organization. This episode, Aubrey talks about how tailoring your messaging to build audience relationships is the fruitful key that transforms first-time patrons into loyal donors. The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they've built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Advancing in arts leadership can be tricky, because what got you to where you are now likely won't get you to where you want to be. In the final part of this bonus series, Aubrey gives you real-world examples of the seven researched-backed steps to advancing your career in arts management. Then, she guides you through a visioning exercise to identify the conditions and behaviors needed to become the arts leader you want to be.

Imagine negotiating the salary and benefits you know you deserve as an arts leader. Or going to the bargaining table for union negotiations, and all parties come out satisfied. In Part 2 of this bonus series, Aubrey dives deep into an important skill necessary to growing your leadership: the art of negotiation. Spoiler alert: it's not all about the money. Then she builds upon the visioning in Part 1, helping you understand the difference between the work you're good at vs. the work that will let your true genius shine.

There's a lot about arts leadership most of us were never taught. And you can't win a game if you don't know the rules. So we're bringing you three bonus episodes from our recent training series, “They Never Taught You That: How to Grow Your Career in Arts Management.” This is Part 1, where Aubrey shares the seven research-backed steps to growing your leadership in arts management. She also offers some reflection prompts, so you can tailor the research to your specific work in the arts.

Working your way up in arts admin can feel like an uphill battle, but it doesn't have to be a fight! In the final episode of the season, arts administrator Chelsea Chambers at the Peninsula Symphony talks about working her way up to executive director. Hear how realizing that “I don't have all the answers” helped her climb the ladder to ED and create a kickass company culture along the way. Guest: Chelsea Chambers, Executive Director of the Peninsula Symphony

Ever heard the saying, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take?” What if we told you that when it comes to jobs they're not 100 percent qualified for, white men are more likely than women and people of color to apply anyway? This was the statistic that made today's guest decide to take her shot. Hear how an early version of the Uplevel professional development program – and the community of people within it – helped her find confidence, overcome imposter syndrome, and land the job she wanted.

Ever feel like you're not quite giving off the confidence you know you should be as a leader in the arts? Social psychologist Amy Cuddy says it may have something to do with your “presence” – a sort of “self-assured enthusiasm.” Today, we get into her research on presence as an incredible indicator of leadership success, from how you come off to your colleagues to whether people you meet trust you. Hear how to tap into your personal power and harness it to lead. Hint: it can start with something as simple as changing your physical posture.

What is your unique purpose as an arts administrator? How do you find the courage to lead with purpose once you know? Carlos Cordero is a conductor, new choral music advocate, singer and self-proclaimed “great hug-giver.” But he started off with a broad, more generic vision that wasn't connecting with audiences the way he wanted to. As a gay Latinx immigrant artist, Carlos did some soul searching and clarified his mission: to advocate for the LGBTQ+ and immigrant community through his brand, The Happy Choir, and his professional Tenor-Bass choir, Un/heard. Hear how Carlos learned that you can't be everything to everyone. By going from generic to specific, he took ownership of his brand and unlocked community connection for himself and his ensembles.

“Closed mouths don't get fed.” This is the mantra that Paula Wilson has led with, basically since day one of her arts administration journey. Like many of us in this field, she started off as a musician and realized that wasn't for her. But when she transitioned into administration, she couldn't seem to land the right internship. This episode, Paula shares how resourcefulness, mentorship, and finding her niche helped her end up with multiple job offers to do the work she loves.

“Convince me to stay.” This is what Allison Lambacher told Aubrey after years in arts administration and being totally burnt out. If you've been in the industry long enough, you've probably been ready to throw in the towel at least once. "But you are not alone and the narrative is changing". Hear how Allison – now Associate Director of Digital Engagement with the St. Louis Symphony – used arts management tools from Uplevel to go from being ready to quit the industry to advocating for herself and landing her dream job.

Innovative, inclusive, collaborative – these are some of the top traits of a healthy company culture. Last episode, we identified the toxic traits you may be dealing with at your arts organization. This episode, we talk about how you can renovate your company culture, based on the book “Culture Renovation” by Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp. And guess what: you don't have to burn it all down and start over; here's how to identify what's working and build on that. For more insights on this, check out this past episode with Kevin Oakes himself.

Bureaucratic, disrespectful, chaotic, complacent. Sound familiar? If you would use these words to describe the culture at your organization, you and your colleagues may be working in a toxic environment. This episode is part one of two: First, we get into the top nine traits causing toxicity in company culture, based on the book “Culture Renovation” by Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp. In the next episode, we get into the blueprint for building a healthier culture at your organization. For more insights on this, check out this past episode with Kevin Oakes himself.

Data is one of the most powerful tools you can use in arts management to increase patron retention. But how do you know which metrics to track? How do you find the time to stay on top of key performance indicators? Over several years of experience, from my first job at the Seattle Symphony to becoming an executive director and developing the 'Long Haul Model', I can now identify the main, underlying problem most arts organizations run into when thinking about their data. And I brought in some folks to help me talk about it. In this bonus episode, I interview special guests Sune Hjerrild and Jan Pilgaard Carlsen, co-founders of Artelize, a company that eats, sleeps, and breathes using data in the arts. We talk about how to harness your data to retain more patrons, what key metrics are important to monitor to know if your retention efforts are working, and why most CRMs make patron retention challenging, either because extracting the data and reports you need is tricky, or because it just takes too much time — and what to do about it to make it a million times faster.Tracking and understanding your data doesn't have to be a pitfall for your organization. Enjoy this special bonus episode to carry you through until the podcast starts again this fall.Resources:The Long Haul Model articleRethinking Audience Engagement Panel Hosted by Artelize

We wrap up season 3 with one of my most requested topics of all time: the topic of how to lead change. If you ever find yourself asking questions like ‘How do I get buy-in from my board?' or ‘Where do I even begin when it comes to implementing new ways of doing business in my arts organization?', this episode is for you. We talk about what the experts say about fear of change, resistance to change, and other barriers to change; debunk three big myths about change; and share five things that actually work to drive change effectively at your arts organization.No matter what role you fill within arts management, leading the change is one of the most important skills you can build. This episode unpacks the research every arts manager and leader needs to know.

Every episode this season has focused on business strategies that apply to arts management, such as patron retention, leveraging the subscription and membership economy, ecommerce, and digital content (to name a few!).And in this episode, we look at how these strategies apply to my own business, Changing the Narrative—and how those same strategies have guided the evolution of my business over the last year or so as we've scaled up. We walk through my personal experience with growing Changing the Narrative, including the areas I needed to step away from, as well as the areas I decided to lean into further and build out. I also highlight some of the key lessons I've learned in hiring and building an effective team, using data and analytics for direction, and how important of a tool digital content is. My hope is you will find these lessons to be both relatable and applicable to your own arts organization.The article mentioned several times: Scarcity Mindset Is Killing Your Arts OrganizationMentioned in this episode:FREE Audience Growth MasterclassHey Offstagers, what would it be like if you didn't have to worry about making your revenue goals? Or what if you could go to the next board meeting being able to report good news? What if you were able to balance your budget at the end of the year? And what if you didn't have to program only blockbusters just to sell enough tickets? That's why I am teaching a FREE masterclass, where I share my top four strategies to grow your audiences and donor base. Things you can do to start seeing results immediately. Things that don't require a huge team, mega resources, or a giant budget. Reserve your free seat:RILABA24 Webinar Registration

Copywriting is one of the most important tools you can use to boost ticket sales, donations, and revenue across various platforms. And the best part is—it costs $0 to update the words you use.In this episode, learn five actionable tips on how creating small, emotional connections through specific language creates a big and lasting impact on your revenue. Hone your copywriting skills as a no cost tool to grab your patrons' attention, fill those seats, and bring in more donations.

For anyone who asks, “What's the one thing I can do to increase revenue, ticket sales, audiences and donations,” this episode has your answer: copywriting.For almost every arts organization, writing better, stronger copy is the free solution to upgrade every public facing channel you have, from website to program book, social media to fundraising appeals, subscription brochures to press releases.The words you use are so powerful, and harnessing better copywriting is key to making every word work harder for you.This episode covers four tips for you to implement right away to immediately start seeing more revenue—all at absolutely zero cost to your bottom line.Example content referenced in episode:On my first day as CEO of an orchestra, the board chair told me they had just considered shutting down... Can't play Beethoven faster and save money...This is why planned giving is one of the most important things fundraising teams should be working on

Major gifts are critical for every arts organization. This episode features board member and major gift philanthropist Susan Bay Nimoy, wife of the late actor Leonard Nimoy (most known for his role as Spock on Star Trek, and yes, we talk about it!). We cover all things major gifts, including relationship building, how that takes time, and what the process is that compels her as a major donor to give generously.Susan Bay Nimoy has served on the board of many arts organizations, including the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Symphony Space in New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Griffith Observatory. She recently endowed The Nimoy Theatre in LA, which is part of UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance.Want to know what to say when building major donor relationships in the arts and ultimately soliciting a major gift? Download your free resource, the Major Donor Fast Track Guide.

The need for diversity in our audience and for the audience to reflect the community is a hot topic in the arts these days. And rightfully so. There is a moral imperative to do this work at arts organizations, but I am also a fan of the business case for diversity. And in this episode, we are talking about what the numbers look like if and when the audience actually does look like the community — and wow, is there money on the table when the audience becomes more diverse.This episode looks at just how many more tickets would be sold in a year if your audience makeup mirrored that of your community, or at least came close. We talk through the numbers, and I have a free download that does the math for you so you don't have to. Get your free Demographic Revenue Calculator and see the potential for sales growth in three easy steps.

How arts and culture organizations can use advocacy to drive awareness for your cause and brand, even when you're not a global, visitor-based institution.The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is known as an international nonprofit conservation organization with an annual budget over $400 million and thousands of staff and employees. They have two local front doors — the San Diego Zoo and the Safari Park — in addition several eco-regional “hubs” around the world.The global work of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is helping the entire ecosystem, and this conversation with immediate past Board Chair Javade Chaudhri exemplifies that having a business mindset does not fly in the face of the mission driven work.In fact, the data show that nonprofits of all sizes that advocate outperform their peers, and you do not have to be a $400M+ organization to engage in advocacy — it can happen small and locally. Chaudhri is candid about what separates organizations doing that well—having a business mindset being able to execute on that—versus those in his mind who aren't.We also talk about a few topics that have become near and dear to my heart in recent years, including company culture and staff compensation (as well as the need to pay staff competitively).I am so grateful for Javade Chaudhri and him generously sharing his time, wisdom, and expertise. Enjoy his take on how the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and all kinds of arts and culture organizations can run it like a business, and get your free resource to help you start or uplevel your own advocacy work: the Advocacy Cheat Sheet.

The subscription model is thriving everywhere else besides the arts—to the tune of 20% of all consumer credit card transactions now go to subscriptions and memberships. So why then, are subscriptions and donations on the decline in the arts?It turns out, there are three big things these successful brands are doing differently than arts organizations. This episode breaks it down, as well as offers ways to implement these ideas.Get your free resource for this episode: 3 Reasons Your Subscriptions are Declining & 11 Ways to Combat It. 00:00 Introduction to Season Three of The Offstage Mike00:34 The Theme of Season Three: Running it Like a Business01:43 The Importance of Subscriptions in the Cultural Sector02:03 The Current State of the Subscription Economy02:58 The Decline of Subscriptions in the Arts03:05 The Discrepancy Between the Arts and Other Industries06:58 The Three Big Differences in Subscription Models07:50 The Importance of First Year Subscription Renewals14:00 The Impact of Price Increases on Subscription Renewals20:26 The Three Steps to Combat the First Year Cliff29:13 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This season on The Offstage Mic we are talking about strategies to combat the challenges in the cultural sector borrowed from the business world that have proven successful across patron retention, subscriptions, ecommerce, raising money, and digital content (to name a few).And throughout the season, I'm occasionally bringing in some people who know the business world quite well to help me break it down: board members of our orchestras, operas, ballets, theaters, museums, zoos, and more.These are the people governing our cultural institutions, who also have incredible professional experience outside the arts, and who are also among the most connected to and engaged with our mission-driven work.All so that we can Run It Like a Business — without sacrificing the art we produce. Season 3 of the Offstage Mic is coming up right here. Hit “follow” or “subscribe” right now.

Yesterday was publication day for my new book, Run It Like A Business: Strategies for Arts Organizations to Increase Audiences, Remain Relevant, and Multiply Money—Without Losing the Art.To celebrate, we put together something special for you: a live show we recorded just last night at the book launch party here in San Francisco. It's a conversation with myself and Kelly Harris, Executive Director of Haight Street Art Center.The book and our conversation is for people and arts organizations who want to:Grow audiences and keep them coming back againMake our organizations more inclusiveGet younger attendees in the seats and on the donor rollsAnd generate millions more dollars in revenue, in order toContinue to create the art we love—without the stress of figuring out how to afford itBook details and how to get your copy: https://www.aubreybergauer.com/book

Musicians and management: we know in this field these relationships can be challenging and can be adversarial. But the narrative is changing here, and Season 2 closes with two people who have proven that labor relations can be positive and successful.Cellist Ted Nelson served as chair of the players committee at the Cincinnati Symphony, and Jessica Phillips served as players committee chair at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Both worked toward collaborative and create agreements, and in this final episode of the season, they share first-hand about their experience—what works and what doesn't at the bargaining table, what needs to happen before negotiations ever begin, how training musicians serving in these important roles is critical, and their thoughts on streaming contracts going forward so together we can make the pie bigger for all of us.See you again this fall for Season 3!

We know the state of the workforce in arts and culture is shifting. More Baby Boomers are nearing retirement, more Gen-Z workers are entering the labor force, and Millennials and Gen-Xers are changing their relationship with work and their thoughts around remote or flexible work options.And through all of that, we know the top driver of employee satisfaction in the arts is no longer reputation for artistic excellence—but what is the top thing arts employees want?A national survey from Advisory Board for the Arts puts data to this topic, and Karen Freeman, who has a background as a player, as well as degrees from Harvard and MIT, and later at McKinsey as global head of digital & analytics learning for generalist consultants, joins Aubrey to share the findings of this research.Whether you're at an organization who's hiring right now, on the job hunt yourself, or just generally interested in this topic, this episode brings important and actionable field-wide research to the forefront on attracting and retaining staff talent.And as mentioned at the top of the episode, if you want some ideas for your summer reading list, here are Aubrey's book reviews: business books as seen through the lens of an arts manager. This is the penultimate episode in season two—enjoy!

In the past, traditionally only the biggest orchestras released recordings, and historically only via labels like Sony Classical or Deutsche Grammophon, but this is a big area where the narrative has changed. Now, ensembles of any size can release recordings across a multitude of platforms.In this episode, Aubrey is joined by two experts — Mike Warner, Head of Editorial Marketing Partnerships North America at Believe, and Jamie Freedman, Head of Classical Programming at Pandora — to talk us through the play by play (stream by stream) on how any ensemble can take advantage of the way recording and distribution has changed.They cover topics including how an ensemble can self-release, how an organization can be empowered to do yourself things a label historically or traditionally would have done and have more control because of it, how the artistic, production, and marketing teams will need to work together, and the nuts and bolts of releasing music directly vs going with a distributor.And if you don't know what all that means or looks like, that's ok too — the whole point of this episode is to learn so you walk away educated and informed. And therefore confident and ready to tackle your next recording project knowing exactly how you'll get maximum ears to listen to it.

The producing force behind blockbuster animated films like Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, or PAW Patrol: The Movie is Marcia Gwendolyn Jones, and this episode brings you a conversation on storytelling with this incredible expert.Aubrey and Marcia cover what bringing a script to the screen has in common with bringing performances to the stage, expert storytelling tips to apply to your own stories at arts organizations, and the highs and lows of storytelling: what are the best things about storytelling? What's the biggest challenge?Pretty much any brand that's thriving and growing its customer base is good at storytelling, and this episode shares from one of the best storytellers around, so that we can feel empowered to bring our organization's own stories to life.

A big, macro changing narrative is how consumers trust people more than brands these days. The influencer industry alone is expected to reach $21.1 Billion this year (2023). And arts organizations have a built-in influencer army at our fingertips — our artists — if we know how to active them.In this episode, Aubrey brings in David Taylor, who worked with the Philharmonia in London to do just this.We'll hear the case study of what they did, what worked and what didn't, and some unexpected results they saw as well.Get David's book, The Future of Classical Music - Part 1: A collection of articles, talks, and ideasSlover Linett research on classical music radio listenership discussed in the opening remarks here.

All the episodes this season have covered so many ways the narrative is changing for classical music and the arts—company culture, fundraising, and subscriptions to name a few areas—and this week explores the best organizational structure to execute this changing work going forward.Hear from Julian Chender, an expert in org design through his work at Accenture as well as his own company he recently founded, 11A Collaborative. Together, Aubrey and Julian look at the current challenges with the existing structure most organizations have had for the last 40+ years, how to design the organization for goals that affect everyone going forward, as well as what not to do when rethinking roles and the org chart.Links· Organization design article Julian and Aubrey co-authored on Medium.· Aubrey and Julian's original conversation if you want to see Julian's slides on YouTube.

Are any organizations still streaming performances? Is any organization able to effectively monetize their streaming?The answer is a big yes at Dallas Black Dance Theatre, an organization still streaming and making lots of money from it—and growing their in-person audience in addition to their revenue lines.Aubrey brings DBDT's Executive Director Zenetta Drew, and they discuss what Aubrey calls “a case study to behold.” Learn how the organization is successfully using online content as a strategy for access, education, touring, and to drive in person attendance.If you like making money, want to figure out the role of digital and streaming content post-pandemic, or want to hear about an arts organization doing a lot of things right, this episode is for you. Get ready to take notes based on a real organizational case study with a brilliant leader.Learn more about Dallas Black Dance Theatre: https://dbdt.com/Drew's article for the Wallace Foundation: Can Pandemic Be Catalyst for New Global Arts Ecology?

Households down, dollar goals up. That's what more and more organizations are facing when it comes to fundraising these days. In other words, we rely on more money from fewer people.In some ways, this changing narrative sounds very doom and gloom – but the flip side is how many organizations are now saying wonderful things like “we need a plan for younger donors” instead of thinking younger people just don't give.This episode explores all this with Louis Diez, who is not only a fundraising thought leader, but someone who has the results to back it up across both higher ed and classical music. Diez shares what we can do at our organizations to ensure a changing narrative for the better.Learn more about the Donor Participation Project Louis founded: JoinDPP.orgFollow Louis on LinkedIn for great fundraising thought leadership and ideas.

Why is the subscription model thriving in just about every consumer-facing sector yet in the arts is on the decline? Aubrey takes this question to Robbie Kellman Baxter, the world's leading expert on subscription models. Baxter coined the term “membership economy,” and has worked with all kinds of subscription brands we all know and use ourselves (Netflix, Wall Street Journal, Strava, and even the NBA)What can we do to make subscriptions more effective like these other brands? Aubrey and Robbie explore four areas where the arts are doing it differently, and what we can do to update our own practices to maximize the important revenue streams we need: subscriptions, memberships, and donations.Special thanks to CourseStorm for their support of this podcast.Resources:The Forever TransactionThe Membership Economy

If we think consumers are looking at arts organizations just to experience great art, we've got it all wrong. Instead, customers are “hiring” organizations to solve a problem, meet a need, or do a job they need done in their life. That's the premise of Jobs to Be Done Theory, developed by Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen.In this episode, Clayton Christensen Institute Chief of Staff Ruth Hartt, who's a former opera singer, joins Aubrey to talk about the Jobs to Be Done framework through an arts lens to better market to new audiences.Ruth also shares examples from the wild — real classical music ads done right and wrong — as she unpacks Jobs to Be Done Theory. If you want to see the visuals Ruth talks about, you can watch that part of the conversation here.Visit Ruth's website and subscribe to her arts marketing hall of fame at https://www.cultureforhire.com/.

Up until a few years ago, I had never (and I mean never) heard anyone at an arts organization talk about company culture. It's hard to believe because now it's part of regular conversation — a way the narrative is changing even if we don't always get it right.To kick off season two, Aubrey brings in company culture expert and best-selling author Kevin Oakes. Oakes is the CEO and founder of the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), the leading human capital research company in the world, and in this conversation, he draws on data from one of the largest studies ever conducted on corporate culture.His book Culture Renovation details how high-performance organizations we've all heard of such as Microsoft, T-Mobile, 3M, Mastercard and many more have successfully changed organizational culture. And if these massive corporations can do it, arts organizations absolutely can too, which is encouragement for all of us. We don't have to be giant behemoth orgs or flush with cash to make inroads on culture, a point Kevin emphasizes with actionable advice on how we can keep pushing forward to make our workplace culture better for all of us.

Season two is here! You all were so fantastic during the pilot season, so now we're back for season two — this time with a team of awesome women audio engineers and musicians working behind the scenes to make this come together for you. And that's extra fitting because this whole season is about how the narrative is changing in the arts. We are at an inflection point for arts organizations: audiences are down from pre-pandemic levels, subscriptions on the decline, still confronting systemic discrimination and working to diversify, trying to attract and retain talent, and ultimately reclaim relevance in a complex world. The good news is all of these topics are advancing, even if slowly.Season two includes 11 new episodes, released every other week, as we bring you interviews from some of my favorite experts on these subjects and others to help us build the vibrant future we know is possible.The arts can be a tough business, but the narrative is changing, and I'm so glad you're here to be a part of it.

This question came in late in the game as we were wrapping up season one — and Aubrey's answer may be a little controversial. Enjoy this bonus episode as many new seasons are starting this month.

How to handle company turnover during this period of Great Reshuffle? What are the indicators of toxic workplace culture? How do you show up as your authentic self back in the office when there is such a narrow view of what “professionalism” looks like? What to do when a man interrupts you speaking? These questions are all addressed in this final episode of season one. It's raw, it's vulnerable, and all of that feels like a good note to close out this pilot project season. Thanks to everyone who's listened. We'd love to hear from you if you enjoyed it or learned something. And wishing you all the best of luck as you prep for your own seasons starting this fall, from wherever you're listening. Resources mentioned: Adam Grant's https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife/the-4-deadly-sins-of-work-culture-transcript (Four Deadly Sins of Toxic Culture) Harvard Professor Amy Cuddy's https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who_you_are?language=en (TED Talk on Power Poses) Sponsors who made this possible: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (Descript) https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (Lume Cube)

“Baseball has so much history and tradition.” — Moneyball This episode covers questions that were asked in a recent interview with https://www.sfcv.org/articles/feature/how-performing-arts-world-uses-cyber-analytics-build-audiences (San Francisco Classical Voice) all about how arts organizations could use data like Billy Bean and the Oakland A's did in Moneyball. How can arts orgs use analytics to build audiences? Are we too subjective in our artistic decision-making? Is there a go-to program or company to use for data analysis? Does a small organization have access to data or just the big institutions? All of these questions were asked by Jim Farber, the writer conducting the interview you'll hear. We covered a lot in our conversation, including the parts that didn't make the final story. Read the SFCV article: https://www.sfcv.org/articles/feature/how-performing-arts-world-uses-cyber-analytics-build-audiences (https://www.sfcv.org/articles/feature/how-performing-arts-world-uses-cyber-analytics-build-audiences) Special thanks to San Francisco Classical Voice for covering this topic and for graciously allowing this conversation to be shared with you here. Sponsors who made this possible: Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey)

How do you balance risk taking with sustainability? Strategic planning with strategic goals? Aubrey unpacks these questions that so many of us are asking right now, plus offers a scenario where a new idea is not really that risky after all. Then, Aubrey covers a question on finding common ground in negotiations, sharing lessons we can learn from big organizations like the Met Opera, smaller organizations like the California Symphony, and a Harvard Business School professor. To submit a question for a future episode (only two more episodes this pilot season): Send a voice recording including your first name and where you're from to hello@aubreybergauer.com If you like the podcast: Will you rate, review, and share? It really does make a big difference in helping others discover this podcast and the work we do to build healthier cultural institutions. Sponsors who made this season possible: Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey)

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning “continual improvement” — so how do we build organizations that embrace this concept when we all feel so much pressure to make everything we do a success with no room for failure? And conversely, when do we need to hold our teams to a higher standard? Later in the episode, Aubrey addresses a job seeker's question about what to do when there's something about their work history they don't want to come up or aren't sure how to address in the interview. Now a question for YOU: Would you all like an episode dedicated to job questions (job hunting, great reshuffle, interviewing, hiring, personal branding, standing out)? Recording this week made me think we could do a full episode on these types of questions as so many orgs are hiring right now. Send your question as a voice memo to hello@aubreybergauer.com and we'll try to do this for one of the last episodes this season. Sponsors who made this possible: Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey) Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) To submit a question for a future episode: Send a voice recording including your first name and where you're from to hello@aubreybergauer.com We have five more episodes left in this pilot season, so if you have something on your mind, now's the chance to send your question in as we're currently selecting topics for the last few episodes now. If you like the podcast: Will you rate, review, and share? I've learned it really does make a big difference in helping others discover this podcast and the work we do to build healthier cultural institutions.

In this episode, Aubrey takes on what are perhaps THE questions of the moment: are the trends we're seeing now with our audiences temporary, or are they a reflection of what we were already heading towards pre-pandemic? And either way, what do we do to get our audiences back? For any person or organization wanting a roadmap, Aubrey outlines a five-part business plan to spin up a flywheel of revenue and relevance. This episode marks the halfway point in this pilot test season. If you are liking it, please share it and rate it; it makes a big difference in getting more eyes and ears on it, which makes it more likely we can keep it going. Resources mentioned: Video of graph and what it would look like if attendance trends pre-pandemic were accelerated 10 years: https://youtu.be/SqeHrHTEN-s (https://youtu.be/SqeHrHTEN-s) Post-Pandemic Business Plan: https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/the-flywheel-a-post-pandemic-business-plan-for-orchestras-4d27c53bc4d2 (https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/the-flywheel-a-post-pandemic-business-plan-for-orchestras-4d27c53bc4d2) Long Haul Model for Patron Retention: https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/audience-development-the-long-haul-model-3c381a8c0072 (https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/audience-development-the-long-haul-model-3c381a8c0072) Orchestra X User Experience Research: https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/orchestra-x-the-results-ec12e48f28fb (https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/orchestra-x-the-results-ec12e48f28fb ) Sponsors who will make your work easier: Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey) Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) To submit a question for a future episode: Send a voice recording including your first name and where you're from to hello@aubreybergauer.com We have four more episodes left in this pilot season, so if you have something on your mind, now's the chance to send your question in as we're currently selecting topics for the last few episodes now. Lastly, if you like the podcast: Will you rate, review, and share? I've learned it really does make a big difference in helping others discover this podcast and spread the word about the work we do to build healthier cultural institutions.

How do you grow high performing teams? I subscribe to the Spider-Man principle of management: with great power comes great responsibility. People want autonomy, but that also must come with accountability, so how does that play out? In this episode, I also answer a question on the balance between our digital engagement and in person offerings. In a world where streaming is often prohibitively expensive, what are many organizations doing wrong, and what's the right strategy forward instead? Resources mentioned: Talent Development: Why Most Organizations Don't Invest Much in It, And How the Investment Pays Off: https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/talent-development-d362ad50fc5c (https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/talent-development-d362ad50fc5c) Register for Aubrey's summer course and coaching: Summer Uplevel: https://www.aubreybergauer.com/events/summer-uplevel (https://www.aubreybergauer.com/events/summer-uplevel) Sponsors who will make your work easier: Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey) Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) To submit a question for a future episode: Send a voice recording including your first name and where you're from to hello@aubreybergauer.com We have five more episodes left in this pilot season, so if you have something on your mind, now's the chance to send your question in as we're currently selecting topics for the last few episodes now. And if you like what you hear today: Please rate, review, and share. I've learned it really does make a big difference in helping others discover this podcast and the work we do to build healthier cultural institutions.

You know which department at an arts organization shouldn't be solely responsible for community engagement? Education. And you know which department usually isn't revenue-generating but could be? Education. And you know how we can do that? Aubrey shares three ways this important team can become more lucrative for the institution, as well as gives examples of artists and organizations doing it already. Get ready to get educated. Articles mentioned Designing a Modern Org Structure: https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/designing-a-modern-performing-arts-organization-63693c8fc3ed (https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/designing-a-modern-performing-arts-organization-63693c8fc3ed) Musicians Monetizing Education Nathan Cole (LA Phil): https://www.natesviolin.com/ (https://www.natesviolin.com/) Elizabeth Rowe (Boston Symphony): https://iamelizabethrowe.com/ (https://iamelizabethrowe.com/) Christopher Still (LA Phil): https://honestypill.com/ (https://honestypill.com/) Rob Knopper (Met Opera): https://www.robknopper.com/ (https://www.robknopper.com/) Organizations Monetizing Education Richmond Symphony School of Music: https://richmondsymphonysom.com/ (https://richmondsymphonysom.com/) Beth Morrison Projects Producer Academy: https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/bmp-producer-academy/ (https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/bmp-producer-academy/) California Symphony Fresh Look: https://www.californiasymphony.org/fresh-look/ (https://www.californiasymphony.org/fresh-look/) Business Coach on Monetizing Online Ed Jennifer Rosenfeld: https://www.jenniferrosenfeld.com/ (https://www.jenniferrosenfeld.com/) Thank you to the sponsors who are making this podcast possible (and who will make your life easier too): Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey) Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) Learn more and register for Aubrey's Summer Uplevel: https://www.aubreybergauer.com/events/summer-uplevel (https://www.aubreybergauer.com/events/summer-uplevel) To submit a question for a future episode, send a voice recording including your first name and where you're from to hello@aubreybergauer.com. And if you like what you hear, please please please rate, review, and share. I've learned it really does make a big difference in helping others discover this podcast and the work we do to build healthier cultural institutions.

In this debut episode, three questions you all sent are all about fire: how to fire bullets before cannonballs at our organizations (don't worry, I'll explain it), how to tackle company culture post-covid so we are on fire to come work each day, and how to fire a board member who isn't performing or contributing in the way we need. I'm so excited to be launching this journey with you — it's about to get lit. Thank you to the sponsors who are making this podcast possible (and who will make your life easier too): Lume Cube: https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey (https://glnk.io/nn4/aubrey) Descript: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg (https://www.descript.com/?lmref=X0WQBg) Learn more and register for my summer course and coaching: https://www.aubreybergauer.com/events/summer-uplevel (https://www.aubreybergauer.com/events/summer-uplevel) To submit a question for a future episode, send a voice recording including your first name and where you're from to hello@aubreybergauer.com. And if you like what you hear, please rate, review, and share. I've learned it really does make a big difference in helping others learn about this podcast and the work we do to build healthier cultural institutions.