We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Cawein a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth , appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve always been a bit of a “leap and the net will appear” kind of gal. I moved across the ocean for graduate school knowing no one, I moved to New York City with no job – eventually I made lifelong friends in London but never did manage to find a (real) job in NYC. At the time I think I interpreted that as a missing net situation – now I know the net just looked a whole lot different than I thought it would. I never imagined that I would live in Memphis, the city where I was born and raised, as an adult. But not only did I end up back here, I fell head over heels for a city that I had never tried to get to know as a young person, and a city that had done a lot of growing and changing of its own since then. I was working in the music scene – first for a nonprofit, then for myself, doing PR and marketing for musicians, record labels, and music tourism attractions. I started to see the city through the eyes of the people who’ve defined it for generations: its musicians. In 2016 I developed an idea that I thought had the potential to create true mutual benefit for both of these newfound loves – the city of Memphis and its incredible musicians. It was called Music Export Memphis, and it was an export office for Memphis music. It would produce showcases promoting Memphis at international festivals. It would mobilize our artists as paid Ambassadors for our city. It would revolutionize how we think about talent and business attraction by centering our culture. We threw a pretty fantastic party at AmericanaFest in 2016 and I quickly committed this nascent initiative to a SXSW showcase the following spring. What happened next, well – maybe you could say the net didn’t appear. Or perhaps more accurately, I didn’t know I was leaping at all – so when I realized there was no net was about the time I realized I was falling from midair. If you’ve ever produced an event at that level, you know it’s not cheap – and about 60 days out I learned the money I believed was set to cover our costs didn’t exist. It wasn’t coming. No net. Not even a soft place to land from 20,000 feet. I had to make a decision – going forward with the event was going to cost me something, because contracts had been signed and I’d be out at least a few zeros. But not going through with the event felt like it would cost me everything.

On the drive to Austin I read my personal credit card number over the phone to my SXSW account manager, maxing it out and ensuring that our balance was paid so the doors could open for our event. I’d already hustled enough to get $5,000 in cash, which allowed me to provide each of the bands the $1,000 travel stipend I’d promised them.

The party was incredible – it was what has come to be known as a classic Music Export Memphis event – we had the music, but we also had Memphis food – Gus’s Fried Chicken being fried fresh right there on the spot – and Memphis trivia, a Memphis photo booth, and just Memphis, Memphis, Memphis, Memphis. The beautiful land in the world. (Google it, please.) I struggled to enjoy what I’d put together because I was sick thinking about the debt I’d put myself in just so a national journalist might have a piece of dark meat and some white bread and discover Marcella & Her Lovers or Southern Avenue. Honestly – what had I done?

Thankfully – though it took a few months – I came to an important realization. The money? It’d been spent. It was there, on my credit card statement, right next to the minimum payment amount and the due date. I was going to have to pay it off, no matter what else I did with Music Export Memphis. So, I could pay it off and hang it up. I could be defeated. It could all be for nothing. Or, I could pay it off and see it as an investment. I could keep going. I could talk about what an unreal event we had – more than 1,000 people from 60+ cities and more than 15 countries came and experienced a taste of Memphis right there in Brush Square Park.

And so, that’s what I did. It took me three years to pay off my credit card bills. And a few months after I sent in that final payment, my little idea, Music Export Memphis, mounted a COVID relief fund that provided more than $300,000 in direct relief to Memphis musicians whose livelihoods were stolen by the pandemic. Because I decided it was an investment. It was (brace yourself) a learning experience. And it was worth it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I describe myself first and foremost as a music advocate. I’m also a recovered music publicist – I founded Signal Flow Public Relations, a boutique media firm dedicated to serving the Memphis music industry, in 2011. In 2015, I started the work on what would become Music Export Memphis, which leverages public and private support to function as an export office for Memphis music, creating opportunities for musicians and driving economic development through music and culture. In 2019 after years of collaborating I joined strategic consultancy Sound Diplomacy to continue my work in music strategy and advocacy, this time directly with cities. I teach a course called music urbanism at Rhodes College, where I’m also a faculty adviser to the Curb Institute for Music. I’ve moderated and spoken on panels and presented showcases at Folk Alliance International, SXSW, A3C, AmericanaFest, Canadian Music Week and Music Cities Convention, and in 2019 had the opportunity to keynote the inaugural Texas Sounds and Cities conference. I’m especially proud to be an Adviser on the Recording Academy Memphis Chapter Board, and I also DJ – my show, Straight from the Source, a weekly all-Memphis-music program, airs on WYXR 91.7FM. I’ve dedicated my life to the belief that smart cities are music cities – my TED Talk on the subject has 1 million views and climbing.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

See my “taking a risk” story! Resilience is exhausting and I also recognize that a certain amount of privilege was required for me to be able to go thousands of dollars into debt on this dream, as wild as it is to say that out loud – but I’ve also always been fairly indefatigable. I don’t like to be told I can’t make something work. I’ll just keep going, keep iterating and refining, until I get there. One of the silliest examples of this from my youth is that I once made a playhouse out of a refrigerator box with just a pair of kids’ safety scissors. I think my parents at the time already knew better than to tell me it couldn’t be done, but they sure advised that it might be hard. I wanted that playhouse, though. So I did it anyway.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Transparency is critical. When I started Music Export Memphis it was important to me that our application process was incredibly transparent – that artists understood the criteria, that the process to apply was simple and straightforward. We won’t always get
everything right, especially as we grow, but ultimately I want our artists to know that we have their backs. That we have their very best interests not only in mind, but guiding us as a north star. I think they know that we do – and that trust is at the core
of our reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://musicexportmemphis.org
• Instagram: @musicexportmem
• Facebook: @musicexportmem
• Twitter: @musicexportmem
• Other: http://elizabethcawein.com

Image Credits
Group photo is by Craig Thompson / Disciple Photography