We recently connected with Lauren Kashuk and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
When you decide to go for it, truly, it means putting yourself and all that you stand for on the line. I took a huge risk in creating RETROSPEKT, initially as a virtual festival during the pandemic. It was the first time I bet on myself, and my company, and the team I assembled, without a larger client hiring me/us. It was also financially one of the scariest decisions I could have made. I invested every dollar in my savings, on every credit card, and then some.
When you take a risk of this magnitude, many people don’t get it. Many people call you crazy. But you have to see it, and believe in it, before others. I believed so strongly that there was (and still remains) an opportunity to truly shine a light on those who are represented in the creative event and music space. It was such a dark time when this was conceptualized in 2020. There were riots in the streets, political unrest, and general uneasiness. A lot of people were unemployed. But my conviction to take a stand is what pulled me through.
And what turned out, was nothing short of a miracle.
Retrospekt had over 45+ nationally touring artists across genres. In its first installment, it generated 2.5 Million Unique Viewers Worldwide. It secured the front page of Twitch, was the most-watched Twitch music stream (as shown through viewers), secured 3X more viewership than Insomniac, and garnered press coverage from Billboard to iheartradio to Ministry of Sound to EDM.com to LAist. It was composed of 4 immersive stages (inclusive of one that was in mixed reality on Wave XR) with illustrious artists who created large scale installations (previously featured in fine art museums).
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
More about me:
From my start 14 years ago on Saatchi & Saatchi New York’s MillerCoors Team as the only female on a MillerCoor’s heritage brand collection— I have been hooked on finding the intersection between creativity/art and business. I grew into creative strategy and copywriting/concepting roles and bounced around creative shops before moving back to my hometown of Denver with Ogilvy West, headquartered in LA. I then worked remotely on an internal creative team at Google directly with entrepreneurs and small business owners to build the Google Small business brand from the ground up. Then I felt a calling to LA and moved in 2019.
I love creating and designing memorable experiences and have been producing live events and marketing them since 2014 where I parlayed my creative marketing skills at SOCO, an independent live music promoter in Denver, Colorado to run 6+ music venues while serving as a VP for Ogilvy Denver in my last full-time role. The opportunity of producing one of the first cannabis-sponsored music festivals led me to create Ideaison (pronounced eye-dee-ay-zon), my company. Ideaison is a portmanteau of two words- ideas and liaisons. We do live event production & marketing and have a goal of producing the most innovative experiences in the world while including all people.
Ideaison, on my behalf has worked with or as a part of entities including Superfly (the producers of Bonnaroo and Outside Lands), AEG, Live Nation, CID Presents (a Division of On Location which is now called Playa Luna Presents), and Cloud 9 Adventures, in addition to creating, producing, and funding independent events and activations that have brought in more than 2 million fans across the world.
How I got into the industry: Initially I was managing my little sister who has a DJ and Producer. But I learned fast I might not be the best Artist Manager and I prefer to work next to the managers and artists. From there I was exposed to live events and live event production and was totally enamored.
What types of products/services I provide:
Live event Production: Every single aspect of the experiences/events that are produced are intrinsically virtual/digital. Both with promotion/marketing and design within the experience itself. The goal is to carve a new path in the event/experiential and tech industries (XR/AR/VR, etc), while standing up for diversity and inclusion, and owning the space and intersection between the physical world and the metaverse.
Inclusive of: Event planning, execution & post production
Marketing: At the core we are authentic and believe in the power of immersive experiences off the web and the nurturing of the communities who seek to be a part of these experiences. We are human-centric and employ design thinking and non-conventional storytelling. We work with brands and for brands, in their terms, leading with innovation and original thinking. Similar to how a soup needs a thickener to reach maximum flavor, we are an ally and advocate for inspired brands. We push for relevance and resonance in today’s constantly changing and fragmented media landscape.
This includes: Research + Strategy, Branding, Logo Design & Variations, Color Pallets, Fonts, Tone, Deck Design, Website Design, & Merchandise Design, Custom Social Content, Social Media Management & Content Performance Analysis, Campaign Creation & Execution, Content Strategy, Tactical Planning, & Cross-Channel Implementation, Influencer Marketing
What problems I solve: Most people wear so many hats that they don’t have a core competency that they’re really stellar at. I don’t try to do everything, but what I do do (yes I said I do do) I do well.
What sets me apart from others: My diverse background, hunger to learn more and grow and my following of trends.
What are the main things I want others to know about me: I have lost and failed SO many times. I’ve gone broke, I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’m still here. It takes a really hard fall sometimes to know where you stand. And I’m still here, living through it all. I might not have the answers but I have no regrets.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, it’s all about empowering others, especially those who are underrepresented. I feel very strongly that this combined with innovating events is my purpose in music.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That I wasn’t good enough. We always have this little voice that tells us that our work, and who we are isn’t enough. There’s never going to be enough money, enough connections, and do it anyways. Go for your dreams, you will only learn from whatever happens. And that knowledge is everything. You got this.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ideaison.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ideaison/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kashuk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenkashuk/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LCKashuk
- Other: RETROSPEKT has now morphed in a live event series in DTLA. See more: https://retrospekt.live/
Image Credits
Daniela Beccera Michael Melwani Edith Claudio