Sound Connections

The Sound Connections podcast is back, and this time we sit down with our very own Steven Harger. Steven is a Business Development Manager with us at Mainline Marketing, offering his experience and deep product knowledge to our customers. In this episode, we discuss Steven's journey, which led him to Mainline, his background in theater, and we even hear his favorite Dad joke!

Unlike many who get into this business, Steven never considered himself to be a musician. He enjoys singing and has been known to partake in karaoke every once in a while, but that's it. He wasn't even particularly into the AV gear until college. Steven's first job in the industry happened right around that time when he went to a concert. After the show, he started talking to the grip and asked if he could help break the equipment down.

It turns out, if you can wrap a cable, then you can get a job in this industry!

Steven soon started to pursue his Bachelor of Arts in Theater, which allowed him to experience a little bit of everything, from the creative performance side to the AV tech behind the scenes. Steven also began working with his church, setting up their AV services. It's this perspective as an end user that gives Steven an edge in helping our clients and customers here at Mainline Marketing.

Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

Shereen Kassam is back for another episode of the Sound Connections podcast. Shereen is an award-winning podcast host, and is getting ready to perform her first Ted Talk!

In a previous episode, we spoke with Shereen about her stand-up comedy career. Now, we get to focus on other elements of her career, including her podcast Creative Breakthrough. On her podcast, Shereen speaks with successful creative entrepreneurs to help people turn their creative passion into their full-time careers. Her work on the podcast earned her an International Women’s Podcast Award last year, sponsored by Shure.

Shereen also talks about her upcoming Ted Talk, and how she made sure that opportunity came to be.

Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

We have our first stand-up comedian appearing on the Sound Connections podcast! Shereen Kassam (aka Funny Brown Girl) is an internationally touring comedian who has worked with some of the biggest names in comedy and was named Florida’s Funniest Female.

In this episode, Shereen spoke with us about how she got her start in comedy after her new roommate drank all of her liquor and dragged her to a comedy show in Boston. Shereen hated the show so much she asked for her money back. The venue instead challenged her to go on stage herself to see how hard it was, and the rest was history!

In addition to her standup career, she also is a manager for a Fortune 100 company, an award-winning podcast host, and is getting ready to perform her first Ted Talk. We’ll talk more with Shereen about her podcast and Ted Talk in an upcoming episode!

Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

This week on the Sound Connections podcast, we interview Shure’s Bill Ostry!

Bill has been with Shure for nearly 12 years now and is a Regional Sales Manager for the Pro Group. It was a long and winding path that led Bill to Shure, starting with his time at college. Bill bounced around between 6 different majors before he settled on studying acoustics at Columbia College Chicago. He’s worked throughout the country designing AV systems. He did briefly consider a career at In-N-Out, which would have allowed him to party on the beach in California. Instead of pursuing that, however, he helped his brother start a new business back in Chicago that was unrelated to the AV industry. After a few years, he reentered the industry when he joined the team at Radio Design Labs and soon was hired to work at Shure.

Besides Bill’s professional career, we learn about his musical family, his career in music, and how much he depended on Wendy’s chili while in college.

Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

We’re thrilled and honored to welcome Emmy Award Winning Director Nick Nanton to the Sound Connections Podcast!

Nick has produced numerous award-winning documentaries featuring visionaries, such as Larry King and Rudy Ruettiger. In addition to his documentary work, Nick has been writing songs for over 2 decades and has had his songs recorded by top artists like Lee Brice, Joe Bryson, and Morgan Myles. His songs have also appeared on TV shows like Glee, New Girl, Hell’s Kitchen, and The Ghost Whisperer, and he’s been awarded multiple Gold records.

Somehow, in addition to all of that, Nick finds the time to host his own podcast. Now to Next with Nick Nanton is available wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts and gives Nick the opportunity to sit down with specialists from a wide variety of industries to discuss what’s happening and what the future holds.

For more information on Nick, check out his website NickNanton.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

Our conversation with Mark Johnson continues! If you haven't had a chance to listen to the first part of our interview, make sure to stop what you're doing and go back and listen to hear about Mark's experiences getting into the AV industry. This episode picks up right where the previous one ended with Mark's time working with Meyer Sound.

Mark talks to us about his career working in Marketing with Meyer Sound, and his time as an editor and freelance writer for industry magazines like Primedia and Production Media. Mark also dives into his time spent with Full Sail University as the Program Director for Show Production, mentoring the next generation of students who are ready to push the AV industry to all-new levels.

Listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Mark Johnson for an interview at our Experience Center. Mark is currently the Program Director for Show Production at Full Sail University, but that’s just the latest stop on his long career in the AV industry which has spanned over four decades!

We had such a great conversation with Mark that we’re releasing two episodes with him. This first part of the conversation deals with Mark’s early days in the business, including his days at Clark University, 10 years at Opryland, a career marketing Meyer Sound, and his time working with some great performers like Platinum-selling artists and Grammy award-winning singer Anita Baker.

Listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

The holidays are a time to catch up with old friends and family, which is exactly what we did with the latest episode of the Sound Connections podcast. Pat has hosted several of our episodes this year, and when he isn't hosting our show he is co-hosting his own podcast, The Junk Drawer Show, with his pal Josh Delgado.

Pat and Josh got together in our Sound Connections Podcast Studio to reminisce on their podcasting journey together and discuss building a podcast from scratch. They talk about what inspired them to make a podcast together, how they had to learn on the fly about finding the right podcasting mic, and how they improvised to get the most out of their largely nonexistent budget! The two also discussed what they like most about podcasts, and where they see their podcast heading in the future.

Listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

A guest so nice we wanted to feature him twice. Joe Atanacio makes history as our first returning guest here on the Sound Connections podcast!

Joe of course joined us on our special Veteran's Day 2021 episode a few weeks ago, talking about his experiences as a member of the U.S. Air Force. Now, Joe is back to talk more about his time after the service working for large productions like Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil, the early days of the pandemic, and why he feels like he wasted those first several weeks during the shutdown. But despite those challenges, Joe is still working as a freelancer and even had the opportunity to work at the Super Bowl in Tampa last year!

Listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

This week on Sound Connections, we caught up with Jason Waufle, Senior Specialist in Market Development at Shure! Before joining Shure, Jason had a long career in broadcast entertainment. He sat with us to talk about how he broke into the industry, what he loved about it, and why he left.

Managing RF can feel like a form of mystical art, especially if you don't have a ton of experience working with it. But then there are people like Jason, who are masters of RF. Jason told us about how answering a Craig's List ad got him his first job in the industry, where he was able to learn all about RF. Those skills led to a career where he worked for major productions like Showtime Boxing, Super Bowls, Country Music Awards, Grammy's, Billboard Music Awards, and more!

Now as a member of the Shure Pro Audio team, Jason cultivates industry relations, research, insights, and market development for the pro audio line of Shure products related to broadcast, touring, houses of worship, live events, and everything high tier wireless.

Listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!