Ladies Who Launch: Nicole and Dina of shesaid.so Sweden

Since forming in London in 2014, the shesaid.so network has grown to 18 global chapters, consisting of over 12,000 members, with the mission to connect and empower women and gender minorities towards a more equitable and intersectional music business for all.

To activate the mission, shesaid.so curates educational and inspirational events, both online and offline, at global industry conferences and within local chapter communities. The network provides mentorship, network, job resources, and collaborates on diversity and inclusion campaigns with brands like Patreon, Tik Tok, YouTube Music, Sonos, Native Instruments, Airbnb, Red Bull, Kickstarter, and Soho House.

In 2021, shesaid.so launched a local chapter in Sweden during Malmö Music Conference. So, why Sweden?

We asked Swedish chapter co-chairs Nicole Palacio and Dina Liberg to interview each other to earn more about the evolution and plans for shesaid.so Sweden:

Left: Dina Liberg; Right: Nicole Palacio

Nicole:

After studying Music and Business at the USC in Los Angeles, I landed my first full-time job at a boutique talent agency, soon after venturing out to launch my own agency Muisca, which manages the global touring efforts of techno music producers and DJs.

I partnered with celebrated Swedish label Studio Barnhus to develop their in-house agency. While running
the agencies, I also have a consultancy practice to connect global brands to local community events and music and culture platforms.

I’ve dedicated myself to entrepreneurship in the music industry for nearly 20 years now, operating the businesses from Stockholm, Sweden, where I’ve been based since 2020 with my Swedish husband and daughter.

Dina:

My music career started when I relocated from Sweden to London. I was extremely lucky that Warner Chappell was looking for a Nordic-speaking music consultant and that was my foot in the door to the music business.

After that, I landed my second music job at Universal Production Music, also in London, stayed there for seven years. Last year I decided to move back home to Sweden, so I packed by bags and went to Stockholm in January.

I had also decided to set up my own company: the sync agency Lionberg Music. That’s what I’m working on now.

Nicole:

As a woman from an immigrant family [Nicole’s family is from Colombia] and as an independent business owner, equal opportunity is deeply important to me.

I know very well that access to opportunity takes work. I’m so happy to contribute to the communal effort, both locally and globally, provided by the shesaid.so platform and its actionable solutions.

I first learned about shesaid.so in L.A. in 2015. I was impressed with the programs in education and career resources, like financial planning and goal mapping, and with the caliber of brands and allies supporting the cause.

Once I moved to Stockholm in 2020, I reached out to shesaid.so to learn about local resources, recognizing the need here for a similar platform dedicated to women and gender-minorities in the Swedish music industry. So I was happy to learn about the opportunity to lead the effort with Dina.

Dina:

I was a member of shesaid.so in the UK and know what great community it is. Even though Sweden has much better gender equality practices compared with other countries; for example the paternity leave for both men and women, we can still see that women are underrepresented in several positions within the music industry.

I’m hoping that by bringing shesaid.so to Sweden, we can inspire more women to apply for a higher positions, or become producers, for example. There are already some really good network groups in Sweden, which is great!

What’s different with shesaid.so is the global community that you get access to. We are a part of a wider network. You can learn so much about the industry, and yourself, by listening to other peoples stories from around the world.

Nicole:

The music scene in Sweden is world-class. The network of producers and performers that have achieved pop recognition is remarkable, from ABBA to Ace of Base to Avicii. The independent spirit also thrives, from house music to metal reaching global influence.

Sweden’s contribution towards music technology is quite influential. Spotify was founded in Sweden, and the seeds of Soundcloud, Amuse, and Beats Music were all planted here. High design music hardware companies thrive, liked Teenage Engineering and Urban Ears. So Sweden has very much become a leader in music innovation, and is now growing in diversity and in opportunity.

This provides us with a unique platform on which to activate the mission. We hope to capitalize on these characteristics to create meaningful programs that entertain, inspire, and educate our members, with the support of local allies.

Stay tuned to our social channels for these events, including industry panels on the new digital economy for creatives, music showcases, workshops on culture, funding, and wellness, highlights on member achievements, job resources, and much more.

Membership is free and inclusive so encourage all women and gender minorities in the music industry to join!

Dina:

To bring all the women, gender minority professionals, and allies in the music industry together. I want to create a community that will encourage a positive change in terms of the statistics on gender balance within the industry.

We want our members to feel that shesaidso.sweden is an open, creative, and safe-space community. And we want to have a lot of fun on as well!

Find out more about shesaid.so and get involved.

 

 

Want more Swedish music? See our Robyn, ABBA, and Swedish metal playlists.