Join the next generation of female music professionals with She.Grows

ADE x She.Grows is the self-contained mentoring program created by shesaidso’s newly founded Amsterdam division. The purpose? To inspire the next generation of female music professionals. Over the course of ADE, a team of 13 noteworthy women - each of whom has achieved success and influence within diverse sectors of the music industry - will mentor young hopefuls, giving the benefit of their hard earned wisdom and equipping them not just to succeed in their own right but to help rebuild the industry to be more equitable and pleasurable for future generations in turn.


She.Grows aims to broaden aspirations beyond the traditional roles, and to provide a safe and confidential space to help others make positive, informed choices about their careers. It will raise and broaden participants’ career aspirations, negotiate barriers to career progression and the workplace, and equip them with the skills to navigate challenging ideologies and issues of identity and belonging in the working world. But none of this is just about dry ideology or stern warnings: quite the opposite, in fact. All the mentors in the program live in and love the world of dance music, and the advice and connections they can offer are real, pragmatic, rooted in experience, and come with a dose of the humour and sense of fun that you often need to make your way in life. This isn’t just a lecture theatre experience or friendly chat either - they’ll be using the living breathing organism that is ADE for networking practice, and the mentors will be making “IRL” introductions to colleagues too.

Representing everything from the commercial and globe-straddling of dance styles to the specialist and arty, and the sectors from publishing to artist management to event booking, our mentors are demonstrations of how much is achievable for women in the industry. And shesaidso, too, is a beacon of what can be achieved with enough will and mutual support. A gobal network of women (and men) who work in the wider music industry, it currently has more than 4000 female members worldwide, and is active in over 13 territories around the world. Collectively the amount of intelligence, connections, experience and passion that this allows our mentees to tap into is large - we are proud to be providing this boost to the next generation of female music business movers and shakers.

The program will start with a Meet & Greet in the form of an introduction breakfast where mentor and mentee can get to know each other over an informal breakfast. This is an opportunity for the mentee to ask questions about the job, journey and challenges the mentor has faced within her career. This will be followed by Network it Up! aspect, where the mentor accompanies the mentee to an industry network event. Finally, the mentor will introduce her mentee to a fellow industry professional, possibly one who might be in a position to help with obtaining a first job in the industry or offer tips and contacts. All of this takes place in a relaxed but focused setting, which is ultimately all about inspiring, encouraging and empowering young women.

Below you can find an overview of the mentors participating in the ADE x She.Grows program. Do you want to be one of the lucky mentees yourselve? Please sign up before October 10th by noon here.

The mentor program is in collaboration with ADE Beats and ADE University.

Photo credit header image: Lizzy Ann