Rebeca Leon, CEO, Lionfish Entertainment

– Rebeca Leon

Rebeca Leon

CEO, Lionfish Entertainment

“When you’re trying to do something new, like breaking Latin music in the U.S., there’s always a lot of people who don’t believe in what you’re doing,” Rebeca Leon says. “To me, nothing gets me going and inspires me to work harder than that.” 

Leon is one of the women leading the worldwide boom in Latin music, with artists like Rosalía, Ozuna and the up-and-comer Pedro on her team. 

She helped guide the career of some of the world’s largest Latin superstars but made the decision in 2019 to “pull a Jerry Maguire,” and reduce the number of clients she was working with, ending long-standing relationships with several clients whom she still loves and adores. Leon previously worked for AEG and thus has a deep knowledge of the music business as a former promoter and current manager for a new generation of Latin stars. 

She says hard work and relationships are at the core of her success, and her advice to young women trying to make it is: “Know your business. The numbers side of it, marketing side of it, production side of it – everything. Be as knowledgeable as you can be about the business you’re in. Don’t be a passive person. Be assertive and be someone who is out there looking for opportunities to use the knowledge that they have.” 

She names Jerry Weintraub as a role model, saying she also wants to straddle the worlds of music and film, and predicts exponential growth of the Latin market – meaning more stadiums and arenas.

Hot Takes:
Your first show and favorite show of all time?
 My first show ever was Menudo. My older cousin took me. My most memorable show of all time was seeing The Police play in Staples Center when they did their reunion tour. They were my favorite band growing up and I never thought that I would get to see them together.

Who would you nominate for this list and why?
I would nominate Lesley Olenik who is crushing it over at Live Nation.  I would also nominate Susan Rosenbluth at Goldenvoice who is one of my mentors. She is one of the most well rounded and versatile promoters I’ve ever come in contact with.

New technology you use the most?
I use MyMedia a lot. It’s an app where I get to store all of my unreleased songs and it plays for me continuously, as opposed to other apps where you have to stop and play each file/song.

 Where can you be found during a show?
 During a show, I tend to walk around the whole time. I usually start at the front of house and I kind of move around and spend some time backstage, but usually when I’m watching the show, it’s at the front of house.