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Ali Harnell

President and Chief Strategy Officer, Women Nation

Ali Harnell, the originating President of Live Nation’s Women Nation, has a concert-promoting pedigree that would make anyone envious. The two-time IEBA Promoter of the Year got her start in New York City working as a talent buyer for the legendary Ron Delsener.

In 1996, she moved to Nashville as the Vice President of Pace Concerts Southeast, where she revived concert activity at the iconic Ryman Auditorium, co-created Nashville’s River Stages Festival and booked the Starwood Amphitheatre.

A visionary, she spent 15 years at AEG, overseeing national tours, running their Southeast regional division, and in 2013, co-founding the wildly successful international C2C: Country To Country Music Festival, which has expanded from the UK to Europe to Australia.

The SVP made a mark on the business, earning Pollstar Talent Buyer of the Year and Bill Graham Promoter of the Year honors, being a five-time Billboard Women in Music and Nashville Power Player honoree, making the Nashville Business Journal’s Women in Music City list six times as well as earning multiple nominations for the CMA and ACM promoter of the year.

For all the accolades and success, the MusiCares, IEBA, ACM, MAKERS, Music Artist Coalition (MAC) and Lifebeat board member has spent her entire career building to this moment.

As the world changes and women are stepping up to demand more, Women Nation stands as Harnell’s opportunity to level the playing field, open doors and help shatter the glass ceiling for women in the industry.

Kicking things off with Oprah’s tour, the woman charged by Michael Rapino with finding a way to gender parity and opportunity has committed to studying, listening and seeking new ways. At the end of her first true year, she pauses to assess where she is, what she’s learned and how far we as an industry still have to go.  (Q&A begins after video)

A lot of people have had ideas of what it should be, what I should be doing … I’ve listened to all of them, tried to understand their perspectives. But mostly I’ve tried to be really intentional about how to approach the mission.

How has it evolved?

I think about it through these lenses: how do I help advance women internally at Live Nation; how I do help advocate for women in the industry (and life in general) through partnerships, funding, contribution, and participation; and how do I amplify what women are doing that empowers and inspires other women.

What lessons did you learn in your previous incarnations that really

helped?

Hmmmmmm, I need to go sit on a beach with a therapist and a writer for a year to unpack all my thoughts and feelings around what I’ve learned and what I need to unlearn. I love what Taylor Swift said in “Miss Americana” about having to “deprogram the misogyny in her own brain.”

(Photo by Alex Ferrari) –
Ali Harnell of Women Nation on the cover of Pollstar’s 2020 Women of Live issue.

What was the first “OMG” moment?

Too soon! Or maybe there’ve been so many, they don’t register the same

way.

You said when you started there was a huge amount you wanted to learn/take in. What did you find out? Any surprises?

I say this a lot: I’ve been a woman in the world for 52 years now, and I’ve been a woman in the live entertainment business for over 30 years, and I’m still utterly shocked at how little we have moved the needle towards true equality. The stats are alarming.

How femme forward are your initiatives?

Exclusively!

How do you create? Define your goals?

I look at my three priorities – and let them inform if I should be doing something. It’s some pretty straightforward calculus: It starts with the idea of internal/external/core, as well as asking do the actions advance/advocate/amplify? How am I helping shift the company culture to a more equal/diverse/inclusive place for women?

How am I creating connective tissue to other people, companies, organizations doing work in this space because we are stronger together?

How am I developing and/or producing projects that are female-led? Either artist/speaker/influencer-wise or how are we giving the female executive in charge more access and opportunity?

It sounds simple, but with so many layers, priorities and alliances, it gets complicated. But now is the time and it must be done.

– The Color Purpleish:
Oprah Winfrey whose “2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus Tour” hit the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., Feb. 28. She’s pictured with Ali Harnell, who promoted and produced the show.