We recently connected with Sammi Luxa and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sammi, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I’m a huge fan of country music. It’s music that speaks to my soul but I’m not a performer and don’t play a musical instrument. I feel a deep connection with music, it helps me process my thoughts and feelings. I got into country music on a holiday to Florida in 2011 and then started posting about it on my social media. At the time, country music wasn’t very big in the UK but it was a growing genre. I started attending country music festivals in the UK and following and supporting the artists. I got to know people in the UK country music scene and seeing as my main career is marketing and communications, i started writing a blog and doing PR and interviews for up and coming artists.

My mission is to support the UK country music scene, including country artists from the USA, Canada, Australia and beyond that would like to tour the UK.

Sammi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Sammi and my business is called Follow Your Arrow UK. It’s a UK blog and PR service for country and Americana musicians. I promote their music on social media and on my website.

This is a side project for me, I am a marketing and communications manager full time, employed in the charity and tourism sector. My experience in my career has meant that I can use my skills of organisation, writing, marketing and PR knowledge to help promote music artists.

I strive for a friendly and comfortable working environment and I want to encourage new and upcoming artists with their music. It’s so difficult to get noticed in the industry, so I’m keen to support them with promotions. Another music PR business owner and I have created a songwriters music event in Cardiff to showcase the talent of both new and established singers and support live music.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started my business because of social media. I had good interactions with musicians and fans of country music on my personal Instagram. I was often sharing content about the music I liked and I started getting really good interactions. I created my blog and then business social accounts from this so I could talk about music for those that we’re engaged. Finding a niche subject in the market is important as you will have an authentic voice.

The UK country music scene wasn’t as popular as it is now. I was searching the internet for American country radio stations to listen to new music and listening to BBC Radio 2 on a Thursday evening to hear Bob Harris’ (broadcast legend) country music show which was on once a week.

My advice is to be authentic on social media and to be kind. Give your opinion but try to do it with kindness and remain grounded. I’ve had positive interactions on social media but there are a lot of trolls out there. My advice is to not engage with the trolls just block and remove. If something is mismanaged and you need to give a statement, do so but don’t engage in repeated negative conversation.

Posting regularly about subjects you’re generally interested in is good. Link through to a website or use something like Linktree to link through to various content so people can really get to know you and find out more, including a way to contact you. Introduce yourself regularly so new followers know what to expect. The most important thing is to have a social tone of voice and remember that this is a social channel so it was be fun and reflect your personality.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Management is one of the hardest elements of a job. It’s a tricky balance between striving to complete deadlines and realising that people are human and there’s only so much they can give.

It’s good to remember that people’s personal lives can’t always happen outside of 9-5, the two will inevitably blur and that’s when I think your personal values need to come through. Empathy is an important part of managing a hard working team. Having a relaxed working atmosphere and good humour is productive. I think open communication is critical, the team being able to have my time is a priority and helps boost morale. I try (and don’t always succeed) to set aside monthly formal one to ones but then also have mini catch ups with each team member where I can.

We set aside time for celebration, whether it’s a birthday lunch, Christmas or achieving a goal. A former manager of mine was brilliant at doing this, after a busy week, each Friday we would finish work an hour early and have a drink together before setting off for the weekend. It’s social elements like this that make the workplace enjoyable and where I think make the team work harder to achieve things together.

The final piece of advice I would give is to defend your team where needed and give credit where credit is due. The team achieves the result, not just you as their manager, it’s important that the person is named for playing their part in a wider achievement.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.followyourarrowuk.com
• Instagram: followyourarrowuk
• Facebook: @followyourarrowuk
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammi-luxa-0683314a/
• Twitter: @followarrowuk
• Other: @_thehiddenlyrics songwriters event in Cardiff, UK.

Image Credits
Sammi Luxa Amy Alsop David Wilkinson