We were lucky to catch up with Rhaelee Gronholz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rhaelee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?
During Covid I built a 900 hour program for an audio production school. We had to switch everything from campus classes to distance learning. It was a way for students to learn when everything in the world stopped. I found that during this time it seemed production schools were more focused on how many enrollments could be made, vs how many students successfully passed. I spent a lot of time after building the program with each of my students finding out where they were located so we could find jobs in their area. By doing this, I was able to place over 70% of my students in industry jobs before they even graduated. Internships in our industry are also very rarely paid, these students need some kind of compensation for their time and for coming out to your studio or production company. Many students told me they were handed a broom and did a lot of cleaning, but didn’t get much time to learn or help with the gear. We can’t continue to not allow students those opportunities and expect them to love being there. I think as a whole we need to show them why we love what we do and teach them the ropes. So often there are trade secrets that shouldn’t be secrets, information is free and all the top leaders in our industry were once in these students position. It’s important that we have passionate teachers that are also aware of the industry as it currently stands. Many teachers I knew hadn’t worked professionally in their industry for many years. To me, that puts a disconnect between students actually getting the knowledge needed of our ever changing industry. I think it’s paramount for instructors to still be actively working in their fields while they teach so we can bring real world knowledge into the classroom.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Rhaelee Gronholz and I started in the music industry in Minneapolis MN in 2014. I double majored in studio production and live sound and show production. The reason I went to school for music was because my mom had her own studio setup at home since I was a little girl. We were in a very small town in the middle of the Midwest and she was the only person in town with a PA and analog consoles. She taught me so much about sound before I learned the technical side of the industry. We would sing together any chance we got and that also gave me a new love for writing music and song structure. While I was in college I recorded many other bands and up and coming artists, but finally decided to write my first album. Since then my discography has tremendously grown which you can find on any streaming platforms under Rhaelee.
Shortly after receiving my degrees I invested in hydraulic staging from a company based in Canada called Stageline. I grew up working on the farm with my dad so driving big machinery has always been my thing. Not only did I start my business now called Androgynous Audio, but I now have two units I rent to clients throughout the state of Florida. This I usually pair with event coordination helping bring in other vendors as well such as backline. video walls, lighting, and audio. Often clients want me to sub rent certain gear that artists have on their riders and run the show if the artist or band is traveling without a FOH.
When I’m not coordinating events with my stages, or in the studio recording, I also do system teching for many production companies around the globe. I either set up audio, map out fly point coordinates, delay towers, trussing configurations, etc. I also tour the globe professionally as FOH/Tour Manager with the likes of, Evan GIIA, MEMBA, Krewella, Matt Bennett, Sugarhill Gang and more. I like traveling for work and I love studying the new technologies we have each year in our industry.
I think it’s really important to never stop learning. Since I was little I felt like a sponge when it came to anything music related. I just knew deep in my soul that this was meant for me. The entire combination of life’s events were meant to lead me to where I am today. I love working with artists or clients to put on massive productions. My goal is to push the envelope and try new things that haven’t been done in the industry before. Whether that’s bringing augmented mixing to reality, 7.1 mixing live, Dante configurations, or using Avolites for AI visuals. If the technology doesn’t exist yet, I like to figure out a way to make prototypes of what can be possible.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I went up to Canada in 2017 when purchasing my first stageline unit and to do so I brought two techs with me. All three of us did a two day training to get certified and I drove my dually all the way up from Minneapolis to pull the unit back with.
The day we were driving back from Canada my techs were sleeping while I drove. Within the next hour, a large boom occurred in the engine area of the cab. My speed went from 65mph down to 25 mph. We were in upstate New York during rush hour and we were going extremely slow with a long line of cars behind us.
Once we made it to the technician, it was an easy fix the engine exhaust lines had popped off the engine making us lose power. He put them back on, but me and my tech noticed that the silicone slips weren’t tight like they were before. We got back on the road and some miles later the same thing happens. This time it’s now late and we have to get ourselves to the next technician 25 miles away. We arrive around midnight and they’re closed. So we lay back and get some rest until they opened at 7am. They were able to fix the issue quickly as I stated the slips hadn’t been connected all the way. We got back on the road and not another issue happened the entire drive.
Once we made it to the Minneapolis city limits, I had to rush to the MPLS airport with the stage in tow. One of my techs had a previously scheduled flight and because we were 2 days late getting home he barely made it.
The next day I had my first stage rental. My very first client of the year, I was so excited to finally get going on something I invested in. I did the show, setup was flawless and tare down even better. I even hired some students from my old college to come help and see everything in action. Little did I know, that day I was going to be stiffed.
His name was John Scott and I’ll never forget it because it was my very first job and the only time I had never been paid for my service. I tried over and over to get the funds, even offered a payment plan. Come to find out later that the company had paid him enough for my portion, but still he decided not to pay me. Maybe because he thought a young woman like myself wouldn’t be able to fight it. Ultimately he was right, I didn’t have enough money after investing almost $200,000 into a new stage, truck, and training course to be able to hire a lawyer for small claims court.
I went home and cried the hardest I ever have. I felt like the world was out to get me. Similarly I almost sold my units and gave up on the industry during Covid too, but every time I’ve been met with a challenge, a voice inside my head says “it’s not about what knocks you down in life, it’s about how you get back up”. My dad used to say that to me as a kid and that phrase has given me so much strength when I’ve felt my weakest. Owning a business will always have its ups and downs, but it’s how you flow through them that matters and if you really love what you do, then it’s worth fighting for.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
My clients and artists that I work with are like my family. I love the people I’ve surrounded myself with. Loyalty stems from your word. If you say you’re going to be somewhere then you need to show up, and if you say you’re going to get something done, then you need to do it. The second your word doesn’t align with your actions is the second you can kiss your business goodbye.
People over time gain a good perspective of your character and it’s important to show up for those who show up for you. Of course things happen and like you would do for others, it’s all about grace. Give yourself grace and give those you work with grace because it’s a lot easier to find solutions in those trying times with that kind of attitude. It’s about working as a team.
Sometimes there are two production companies working at one festival, even three or more depending on the scale and magnitude of the event. In those instances it’s not about “stealing clients” or stepping on toes to make others look or feel bad. It’s about working together, pitching in to make the client happy, and if it’s for a cause, to allow the cause to shine through. Seeing the joy and love that it brings should be enough. There’s plenty of wealth to go around so I feel being a team player is important when fostering loyalty with clients and business partners.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/AndrogynousAudio?fbclid=PAAaZdpnwJyNJ6fljLWVUZA4UMMGBYYlD5aIwOLd5bVHomprPWTf-rP5MA4U4_aem_AXQqCStoG-b-JTXwJ8wqsX4RoUZuQEpnzzLHaTq1CXRx-z-gjzMIoAXC7MRZnRFmd7U
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/rhaeleegronholz?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhaelee.gronholz?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhaelee-gronholz?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rhaelee?si=0V6QOBHtMNl7BC2g
Image Credits
Aaron Belford Tim Owens