As graduation draws near, many students will find themselves wondering what’s next after their time here comes to a close. Even though your dream job may not fall into your lap right away, it’s possible to land the position you never thought you could.
University alumnus Jacob Matthews is the marketing director for the Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival, a great example of achieving dreams that may have once seemed impossible.
Originally from Pineville, Louisiana, Matthews came to the University in 2002, declaring a major in business with a marketing focus. He looks back on his time here with a multitude of fond memories, from Saturday nights in Death Valley to the long lasting friendships he made.
Matthews credits the University with laying a foundation of fundamentals for his career. He praised the business and marketing classes he took, and said the University taught him skills he has used throughout his work.
Matthews said he knew, after attending the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other fests during college, that he wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. Even though he had never been to Nashville, Matthews packed up and moved north to the Music City after graduation, knowing this was the start of making his dreams a reality.
“Like every young grad, I thought the world was my oyster,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone in Nashville, but thought to myself ‘Let’s just do this.’ I moved blindly and naively, looking for anything to get my foot in the door.”
He quickly realized, however, that to make it in Nashville, he needed to know people. Matthews’s first job after graduation was, believe it or not, a managerial position at Hollister.
“It was actually a good position because it taught me a lot about presentation and attention to detail, as well as managing lots of people,” he said.
A theme of Matthews’ life is the importance of relationships with others — building on them and creating new ones.
“It’s crazy how things happen,” he said. “I got into the music industry through a friend of a friend [who] asked me to come work at this artist management company. I was hired on the spot. Sometimes it really is about how random people end up thinking of you.”
He spent two years in artist management, which was essentially a crash course in the music industry composed of touring, production and publicity at the record label.
Matthews was then able to begin his own endeavors, partnering up and to perform marketing, public relations and sponsorship tasks for festivals across the country.
One day, a friend told him about his crazy idea to start a music festival in Canada, prompting Matthews to eagerly sign on.
Boots & Hearts Music Festival went on to become the second largest camping country festival in North America. “It was nuts,” Matthews said, who oversaw the marketing and branding.
Later, Matthews met with AC Entertainment, one of the founders of Bonnaroo. Through networking and collaboration, Bonnaroo’s sister festival was born, WayHome Music & Arts Festival, also located in Canada. Matthews oversaw brand creation and marketing strategies.
Both festivals went on to win a couple of awards. Boots & Hearts won the Canadian Country Music Association’s “Festival of the Year” award two years in a row and WayHome received the “Best New Festival” award from Canadian Music Week in 2016.
“It was so cool and such an honor,” Matthews said. “Although it was challenging leading a team from Nashville, it was still an awesome experience. It was truly a rollercoaster.”
Fast forward a few years and Matthews was looking for a change. He still had a great working relationship with AC Entertainment and they eventually asked him to lead the charge for Bonnaroo marketing.
“It was one of those moments when I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy. It’s Bonnaroo. Hell yeah, where do I sign?’” Matthews said. “I felt like [this] was a moment in my life where I needed to take a risk and if there’s anybody I want to bet on, I want to bet on myself. Shoot for the stars and no regrets, right?”
His day-to-day workload contains a mix of meetings, phone calls, emails, brainstorm sessions and meetings with designers.
“My favorite aspect of the job is that no day is the same, and that it changes depending on time of year. I’m constantly challenged to be creative,” Matthews said.
The best advice Matthews has for University graduates is to invest in internships and relationships.
“If I were to do it all again, I would do the exact same thing,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s the relationships and people that matter. There are so many things you can say yes to, and you should know what to say no to and what you don’t stand for.”
This year being the sixth Bonnaroo he’s attended, Matthews said his favorite aspect of the festival is the people, adding that the vibe of the community is something he’s never seen at any other fest.
“A lot of these festivals have the same artists and the challenge is to build a deeper connection with your community,” he said. “Something about camping together with thousands of people binds you together, and for my job as a marketer, the challenge has been how do we empower our community to embrace it and tell their story so that people continue to make these festivals their own.”
Out of this year’s lineup, Matthews said he is most excited for U2’s performance, which will be an unforgettable moment, seeing as it’s the 30th anniversary of “The Joshua Tree” album.
Matthews encourages the University community to spend four days on the farm for the festival this June.
“We’re from Louisiana, which means we always look for a reason to throw a party,” he said. “Bonnaroo has a personality all its own. The people that you meet and the community aspect is something you have to experience at least once in your life.”
University alumnus Jacob Matthews is the marketing director for the Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival, which is held in Tennessee.
