#11 Pam Matthews: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

On episode 11 of The Golden Rules, Executive Director of the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) Pam Matthews shares her story and her golden rules for life and business.
- How she got into the music business
- What it takes to last 30 years in the music industry
- Her golden rules for success in life and business
#QOTD "Actions Speak Louder Than Words"
#Knowledge
- You can always tell what people value most by where they spend
their time and money
- You can pretend to care, but you can't pretend to show up
- Living well is the best revenge
- Don't be scared of money or math
- You need a hard skill
- Bloom where you're planted
- Eliminate unhealthy fears
- You can’t be 23 when your 53, and you can’t be 53 when your
23...everyone has their own value
- Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast"
Pam Matthews is a 30 plus year music industry veteran that got her start at 15 years old in Memphis TN working with legendary concert promoter Bob Kelly, with Mid-South Concerts. She loves live music and is a true road warrior that began as a runner working her way up to touring accountant for artists like KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, and Judas Priest.
Pam moved to Nashville in 1985 to help veteran concert promoter, and later the CEO of the Country Music Association, Steve Moore build the 17,000 capacity Starwood Amphitheatre in Nashville from scratch under PACE Concerts and Louis Messina.
From there she served as the Vice President and Treasurer for three of the Judds’ corporations before transitioning to General Manager of the Ryman Auditorium.
The Ryman Auditorium, aka The Mother Church, the historic music venue in downtown Nashville had sat empty for almost 20 years before Pam became involved. The once grand theater had been shuttered with holes in its roof from 1974-1994 before renovations and when Pam came onboard the theater was only hosting about 12 concerts a year. When Pam left, utilization of the venue was about 220 events a year.
Over her time serving as GM of The Ryman she promoted incredible concerts and hosted legendary artists. She was able to win Pollstar's theater of the year and have the historic venue listed as a National landmark.
The stories and shows she oversaw and promoted are legendary. A few of the artists she mentioned working with include Robert Plant, Johnny Cash, Harry Connick Jr, Merle Haggard, Annie Lennox, Kenny Rogers, WIllie Nelson, Vince Gill, Al Green, Etta James, Carole King, George Carlin, Erykah Badu, Keith Urban, Coldplay, Jason Mraz, R.E.M. and hundreds more.
Her depth of experience in the industry also made her an ideal candidate for her current position as the Executive Director of IEBA. IEBA is the International Entertainment Buyers Association with over 1400 active members including 850 buyers and promoters and 300 booking agents.
She has been named to Billboard Magazine's “Twenty Top Women in Music.”, Nashville Business Journals - "Women in music city Award' and countless other industry publications.
She has been there, seen that and got the shirt. She is a straight shooter that has built her incredible career by doing it the right way and holds others accountable for following her example. The wealth of knowledge and relationships Pam has in the music industry is incomparable and we unfortunately barely scratched the surface in this interview.