Nekich arrived to Penn State in 2017 from Allentown to main in musical overall performance with a focus on opera, but as the demanding nature of the program confined her capability to go after other pursuits, she realized it was time for a modify.
“At the time, I was also mastering about the audio industry and the business enterprise side of matters, which led me to modify my significant and concentrate more on doing the job guiding the scenes on the tech part and admirer part of it all,” Nekich said.
The shift was a organic a single for Nekich, who freelanced in higher college as a social media supervisor for many bands and artists, which includes the Aces and Hayley Kiyoko. Her knowledge inside amusement promoting continued at Penn Point out, but in 2019 she knew she needed to increase to her skill established to make it in the new music market.
“That’s when I took the internship opportunity in the College or university of Arts and Architecture,” Nekich reported. “It permitted me to continue to be within the school and keep linked to my tunes roots, but it also permitted me to run social media accounts for the School of Theatre and the School of Tunes, which produced me see it by way of a various lens.”
The internship also offered her with the option to literally see the arts via a distinct lens by exploring her enjoy of images. Attending songs and theatrical performances honed her competencies as an arts photographer and in May possibly, Nekich photographed a New York concert by Phoebe Bridgers, who retweeted her perform.
“I was blown absent,” Nekich mentioned. “The shoot was at a stadium and due to the fact of my education I was in a position to function in that setting and it did not seem far too big for me.”
During her internship, the COVID-19 pandemic constrained in-man or woman activities. To preserve a imaginative outlet, Nekich and her friends designed a podcast in the College of Theatre that ran for one particular semester and targeted on how pupils in the arts were being navigating the pandemic.
“It was a best blend, and the internship was what I was searching for the overall time,” Nekich stated. “The techniques I figured out I use nearly each and every day and it was a job-changing practical experience.”
In 2019, Nekich also joined SPA, a college student-operate club that brings massive- and little-scale entertainment to the University and collaborates on the Movin’ On Competition just about every spring. There, Nekich claimed she discovered “her people today.”
“I located not only my greatest mates, but a way to study palms-on about the field,” Nekich said. “Whether it was doing work social media, having photos, picking out the artists and doing work with them working day of exhibit, even creating the stage, it was amazing and it was a little something that not a ton of individuals in the new music sector bought to knowledge in university.”
Armed with awareness, a skill set and dedication, Nekich flew to London, England, after graduation in 2021 to work with the singer Child Queen, but since she did not obtain a whole-time job offer from the artist, she moved again to Allentown to regroup.
“I hit the pavement and I just believed, ‘I’m likely to come across a occupation and move to New York and do every little thing I can to make it come about,’” Nekich stated.
Via networking on a “Women in the Industry” Facebook group, Nekich was contacted by Aimee Berger, Penn State alumna and founder of Aimsley Management, a complete-assistance expertise management business. The two created a relationship and Nekich was hired as the firm’s imaginative supervisor.
Nekich also applied to Principal Wave and by Berger, she was linked with Rob Dippold, main electronic technique officer and Penn Condition alumnus. Nekich landed the task and strike the ground functioning.
“None of this would have been probable devoid of my internship encounter and time with SPA,” Nekich stated. “At Penn State there are so a lot of chances, but you have to go on the lookout for them. Be a part of a club, go and test something that you are passionate about, and you are going to uncover that Penn Point out is what you make of it.”