6 Inspiring Women in Fandom
Scroll through TikTok and you’ll find fans designing, sewing and creating whole outfits for concerts, log in to Instagram and you’ll find them running full-blown marketing campaigns for their favourite TV shows. Fangirls are many things, passionate, creative, welcoming, and above all incredibly inspiring!
Whether it’s creative projects, community spaces, journalism, or the coveted careers in the industry getting the music we love so much to us, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of these inspiring fangirls on and offline and they have very kindly answered a few questions offering their advice for fellow fangirls.
Issy – Web and Socials Manager at That Fangirl Life & Freelance Journalist
meet issy
WEb and socials manager, that fangirl life
Freelance journalist
Issy is part of something truly one of a kind – a platform promoting fandom and all things pop culture whilst providing up-and-coming writers with a place to share their work and others to feel seen. I couldn’t start this list and not include the phenomenal Issy who is the very reason I am writing this now.
Issy graduated from BIMM Institute in Brighton, England in 2020, where she wrote her dissertation, ‘What a Feeling: Music Fandom as a Vehicle for Enrichment and Personal Development’ (incredible!) and, as a graduate, joined TFGL founder Laurel Melsom that same year, helping to create the platform it is today!
An Indie/Rock fangirl at heart she is enjoying newer releases from Nothing But Thieves, Boygenius and The 1975! But Harry Styles and the Harries fandom will always have her heart.
” Say yes to going to shows. Start a conversation with a stranger in the queue – you never know where it might lead! “
Ellie – Label Analyst at Columbia Records & Musician / Producer
meet ellie
Label analyst, Columbia records
musician/producer
Not only is Ellie a Label Analyst for Sony Music’s Columbia Records (home to Harry Styles and Rosalia), where she works with Marketing and A&R teams on “all things data-related”, when she’s not doing that, she somehow finds time to produce and perform music too!
Her advice and I have to quote this word for word because it’s fantastic, is “It’s all pure audacity and delusion. Care a lot and try earnestly and you’ll figure out the rest.“
Stay true to your why, your reason for your interest in the industry of your choice and always sprinkle a little delusion that things will work out.
Ellie has been obsessed with The 1975 since she was a teenager and would probably cry if she met Mitski.
” It’s all pure audacity and delusion. Care a lot and try earnestly and you’ll figure out the rest .”
Steff – Assistant TV Producer
meet steff
Assistant tv producer
We’re switching up industries but staying true to the fangirls with proud pop lover and documentary producer, Steff.
Steff studied History at University and it’s this love of research that led her to her current role. An avid gig goer she dreamt of working in the entertainment industry, with music, and through working in TV has managed to do just that!
To fellow fangirls hoping to turn their love into careers, Steff says you should “never let anyone shame you for being a fangirl”, and encourages you to create content online as practice for future roles and also to meet like-minded people online.
Steff grew up a Directioner and is a ‘hardcore Harrie’ and K-Pop stan now. ‘Fangirling is in [her] DNA’ and she credits this to growing up on 90’s Boy bands and Tumblr!
“Never let anyone shame you for being a fangirl of something. Also, everyone knows that online friends are the best ones.”
Francesca – International Streaming & Platform Manager at Warner Music
meet francesca
international streaming & platform manager, warner music
Longing to work in music ever since she was a teenager in Italy, Fran came to London to study a Masters in Media Management, because she was “too bored to keep studying Economics and Management in Italy”. She has been living out her dream of working in music ever since.
In her current role, she works with International teams across Warner to market some of your favourite artists, providing them with data analysis.
Fran’s advice is to persevere, “You will get there, there’s always a way”. She never thought that being good with numbers and data would land her a job in the music industry and here she is!
Her all-time favourite band is Twenty-One Pilots, and right now she’s loving Lizzo and Dua Lipa, aka the Queens of Pop!
“Persevere and one day you will get there. There is always a way.”
Marta – Marketing Executive at AEG Presents
meet marta
marketing executive, aEG presents
Portugal-born, London-based pop music lover turned Live Music exec, Marta has been a fan as long as she can remember with multiple fan accounts and a room full of posters when she was younger.
She studied Journalism, before working in Radio where her music journey began. She started work at an artist label service in Lisbon before moving to London to study for a master’s in Marketing.
Since then she has interned at Sony Music before moving on to her current role at AEG Presents where she’s worked on shows for the likes of McFly, Rex Orange County and ENNY!.
Like Steff, Marta has met a lot of her best friends through being a fan, attending One Direction-themed nightclub events and at the airport welcoming their favourite artists.
A pop girlie through and through, Marta has been a fan of Conor Maynard forever and loves Casey Lowry, Harry Styles, One Direction and Taylor Swift.
“Don’t ever be ashamed of your fangirl status – shout it and shout it loud! Your passion for the music and understanding of audiences makes you an incredibly valuable asset to the industry.”
Jenni – Team Assistant at INSANITY
meet jenni
team assistant, insanity
With a background in piano playing, a music-loving grandfather, and musical influences from dance, Jenni’s love for music started at a young age and has culminated with a career in the industry.
She studied Commercial Music at University, writing her dissertation on the growth of Korean Hip-Hop in London (another dissertation I need to read), before going on to intern at Hospital Records and Sony Music’s 4th Floor Creative Brand Partnerships Team and starting on her current role at Insanity.
Her advice is to “apply for all the opportunities and talk to everyone” and to ask all the questions. Take up space, celebrate what makes you unique and utilise your creativity – ‘always be you!’
A K-pop fan since she was a teen, Jenni remains a fan of 2NE1 (her all-time bias is still CL!), BIGBANG, Sistar and BTS (despite their disbandment/hiatus), and is excited to see more ESEA artists such as Thuy, Keshi and Nikki making their way into mainstream music.
“Apply for all the opportunities and make sure to talk to everyone – the industry is first and foremost a people business”
To summarise
1. Be proud of being a Fangirl and see it as the asset that it is – remember, add it on your resume!
2. Create in your spare time and reach out to people to collaborate
3. Find your way into the industry playing to your strengths and interest
4. Be a little bit delusional!
No matter what you love, or what aspiration you’re chasing I hope you know we all have your back. There is no better community to cheer you on and to be inspired by, than the fangirls.
