If you've been watching us closely, you've noticed a trend of showcasing amazing music executives who have devoted their careers to helping artists develop sustainable careers. These two women are powerhouse advocates reshaping the music industry from the inside out—combining decades of expertise with a shared mission to educate, empower, and champion a more equitable future for music creators everywhere.

Carolyn Ortiz is Co-Founder/COO of Big.Ass.Kids (B.A.K), bringing over 15 years of experience across music business, brand marketing, and the creator economy to build platforms and communities that support artists and music professionals. A dedicated advocate for equity in the industry, she serves as an adjunct professor at NYU's Clive Davis Institute, sits on the Board of Mamas in Music, and earned the 2024 Mentorship Award from Live Nation's Femme It Forward for her work supporting emerging artists and creative professionals.

Jamie Dominguez is the National Director of Industry Relations at the Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), where she leverages 25 years of music industry experience to educate and empower songwriters and publishers worldwide on rights management and streaming royalties. A passionate advocate for music creators, she is currently serving her third term as Governor of the Recording Academy's New York Chapter and has held notable roles including instructor at Berklee NYC and board member of the Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board.

The Smartest People In The Room® is a series of one-on-one conversations between music industry executives and personalities hosted by Tom Truitt, Managing Director of the Music & Live Entertainment practice. These hour long conversations draw an audience of hundreds and feature every type of global music industry executive, including agents, managers, attorneys, business managers, promoters, publishers, working musicians, songwriters. The audience is global, with strong concentration in music business centers like New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, London, Toronto, San Francisco, Austin and more.