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

Raelynn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

Throughout my life I’ve definitely been drawn to hobbies and jobs that tend to be more male dominated. The amount of magic the gathering I’ve played and my extensive Lego collection are prime examples, haha. It was only natural I ended up in a male dominated career.

I feel insanely grateful to be part of a company that hires based on skill and skill alone. This is the ONLY way a company can thrive and succeed! Infrasonic doesn’t care about my race, gender, politics, or anything that would prevent inclusivity. Our goal is to hire engineers that kick ass, that’s it.

Being a woman in audio, a place like Infrasonic can be pretty hard to find. I have had my fair share of experiences with men in the industry that negate my skill by hitting on me (mine story is peanuts compared to what some other women in this field have experienced). To be honest, it just makes me want to work harder so my abilities aren’t even a thought.

I love how many groups there are in the audio community to bring more women into the mix. It also gives us a platform to share our stories of mistreatment so that others can hopefully learn and grow. ALL of that to say, I never want to be hired as the “token female engineer.” If I get brought on for a project, I want it to be because I am the best person for the job, not because of my gender. Sometimes, I might not be the right person for the project and that is okay. That’s one of the most important parts of this industry is knowing when you’re not right for a certain project.

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.

I work as both a mastering engineer and the studio manager for Infrasonic Sound. We have locations in both Los Angeles and Nashville. I have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and Audio Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Music Technology Minor. In 2017, I began as an assistant for Tommy Wiggins, a Nashville based mastering engineer. in 2019 I joined the Infrasonic Roster. We offer services such as archival, transfers, stereo and immersive mixing and mastering, vinyl lacquer cutting and more!

My favorite part of working for Infrasonic is the fact that we are all musicians that do this job because we love making music and working with other musicians. We’re more concerned with helping our peers than anything else, and I feel like that is so rare to find these days. We’re all just old punk rock kids that get to work with music every day and not a day goes by that we don’t look at each other and go “what is our life” haha.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my reputation comes from the work I do and the fact that I do this because I love music and helping people. Nobody is going to have success if they’re rude and nobody wants to work with them. We’re all so lucky that we get to do this and I think remembering that every single day is what keeps me grounded!

Any advice for managing a team?

I manage our Nashville and LA locations, which is about 10 people including myself. The one big thing I’ve learned is that everyone’s brain fires differently. Just because something works for me doesn’t mean it works for everyone else. That looks like being open to suggestions, not forcing MY WAY on other engineers and a lot of patience. When everyone is respected and heard, morale stays high and everyone is happy!

Contact Info:

• Website: infrasonicsound.com/raelynn_jae
• Instagram: @raelynn_jae

Image Credits
Watershed Media