hey there.
Hi, I'm Cat! I have a background in hospitality & event management, marketing, music and graphic design, and studied at the University of Miami. I’m currently the Associate Director of National Programming for Grammy U at the Recording Academy. That’s right, the Grammys! I handle nearly 120 events annually, both nationally and in local markets across the country. Events include: the annual Grammy U Masterclasses at Grammy Week, launching the first-ever Grammy U SoundStage festival, annual Fall Summit, SXSW Festival initiatives, annual Grammy U Unwrapped and the annual Grammy U Conference. I’ve worked with artists (from talent booking through talent advancing) like Tate McRae, Offset, YUNGBLUD, Halle Bailey, Lainey Wilson, WILLOW, Jacob Collier, Laufey, CoCo Jones, Maren Morris, Samara Joy, Mariah the Scientist and more, and handle end-to-end event planning for programs with 200-1,500 attendees across cities like NY, LA, Nashville, TX, Atlanta and Miami.
In the past four years, Grammy U has worked heavily with the Partnerships team on its first ever set of tentpole (annual) sponsors - Nike, Mastercard, Amazon Music, Vaseline and Sony Pro Audio. During this process, I developed pitches and sellable assets that fit with our brand and capabilities to create deliverables and concessions that support the growth of the program. During the planning of each national program, I also worked directly with partners to ensure all deliverables were met all the way through event execution.
In 2023, we launched our Grammy U membership expansion, removing the college credit requirement for our program and allowing aspiring professionals and creatives pursuing a career in music to join. But what did that include? Integrated marketing elements included updating overall key messaging, full website redesign, creation of 2 applications, production shoots, all marketing communications (digital, print, editorial, comms), branding/creative components, and interdepartmental trainings. Read about it on Billboard HERE.
This past year, I also led the OEP Campaign - which offered the ability for Grammy U members to submit music for Grammy consideration for the very first time in Academy history - read about THAT on Billboard HERE!
Alongside events, I also lead all Grammy U marketing initiatives year-round including creating campaigns for all Grammy U social platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Discord), growing 70K+ in IG followers organically in the last 4 years. Marketing includes all Grammy U press, interviews, production shoots, 100+ national email communications annually, bi-weekly newsletters, Grammy.com editorial writing and more.
What makes all of this so rewarding? Getting to manage, train and hire 15 Student Representatives annually nationwide and provide a comprehensive and robust mentorship experience for them, including their Grammy Week Experience.
BEFORE GRAMMY U:
With eight years of luxury hotel event management experience, handling high-profile clients hosting large-scale events, I am familiar with accommodating guest experiences while keeping brand standards and expectations accurate. My UX design experience has guided me through keeping the “user’s” experience at the forefront of all actions, while working at Clementine Hall as a venue manager has allowed me to understand a facilities point of view and all that it takes to maintain a space and elevate a guest experience. Throughout my UX design certification, I particularly enjoyed noticing problems or areas for improvement and creating functional, innovative and memorable solutions that make as many people happy as possible! In the past, I’ve worked on both the group/conference services side, as well as the social events and catering sales side, in large hotel event spaces (100,000 sq. ft) and can handle a high volume of programs and high guest counts. I have hired, trained and managed large rotating teams, from my time with Thierry Isambert Culinary to my current role at the Grammys.
In early 2020, I joined the Grand Hyatt Nashville pre-opening team as the Catering Sales Manager and worked heavily with helping create all wedding materials from scratch. During my time in the pre-opening team, I was able to establish foundations for the wedding portion of the Catering team, including vendor lists, designing a wedding overview lookbook, and working with chefs, banquets, rooms and spa to begin creating wedding menus and packages. As we moved out of the pandemic years, I handled larger events, from galas with 600-1,200 attendees, to three-day cultural weddings, to week-long conferences. I also began executing weddings at a second property (Union Station Hotel), spearheaded the first-ever Grand Hyatt Nashville winter popup bar, Winter Solstice, and handled all rooftop reservations and buyouts at the popular Lou/Na rooftop. As the sole catering manager at both Grand Hyatt Nashville and Union Station Hotel for more than 3 months, I contracted and executed events for more than 100,000 sq. ft of event space, average 15 events a week.