International Womens Day: Jessica McCarrick
This months Liberty Music PR podcast is a special edition centred around International Womens Day on March 8th.
Ahead of the podcast recording, we caught up with a few of the panel members.
Jessica McCarrick is sitting on the panel and is our Head of Playlisting.
What is your role at liberty?
Playlisting manager. I oversee clients campaigns covering editorial, algorithmic and user based playlists, Focusing on long term organic listening growth and streaming optimisation. My background is music journalism and artist management.
What motivates you and gets you ready for a day of working?
Making sure that I have a clear headspace as soon as I wake up. Usually reading a book is a good way to settle everything down and bit and have some time to centre myself. Small consistent aspects of a morning routine are great to get you in the mood to knock it out of the park at work.
Why is it important that more women hold leadership roles?
I think you hear a lot about hiring based on the ‘best person for the job’ but who decided the traits that. It is time to redefine what we consider to be the attributes of a good leader. They are certainly not what they used to be. Developing what we consider to be a good leader will be done by bringing in traits from women and other minorities. It is important for everyone to see themselves in leadership roles so you can feel inspired and able to as well.
Who are some women that inspire you?
Amber Bain (The Japanese House), there was lots of speculation when she first made music that she was a man. It is important to focus on supporting things we love based on its attributes. Not wanting to be defined by gender. I am inspired by someone who is androgynous and plays with the idea of generally accepted gender norms. When we begin to challenge these things it helps improve the overall cause of feminism greatly.
What women-related myths or taboos need to be broken?
That women cannot do certain things or have certain careers. We shouldn’t be telling girls that they have to be hyper feminine. Typically masculine traits are not exclusive with boyhood. Over emotional, we need to stop demonising feeling emotion in general, it is not a negative thing. In the same way men are seen as aggressive or cut throat – is this a positive way to describe someone in a workforce. We shouldn’t assign value to any emotions. How you feel is independent to how well you can deliver on the job at hand. You cannot be ‘too’ anything, you can only be you – that is enough.
Are you a part of any industry networks or groups for women?
Pink Matters is a Facebook group intent on promoting women and de-stigmatising certain taboo topics that women sometimes feel they cannot discuss. It’s time to prioritise building women up and not pitting them against each other.
Take a listen to the podcast here