Meet Melinda Colaizzi of Women Who Rock

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Colaizzi. 

Melinda, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Music has always been a strong force and calling in my life from the time I was a child. After getting my first guitar at age 13 the rock n’ roll bug bit me and I knew I would pursue a career in the music industry. It was a life-long dream of mine to attend Berklee College of Music and after receiving the Berklee World Scholarship I was able to make that dream a reality. While at Berklee studying Music Business and Vocal Performance, I played with a band that received a developmental deal with Epic Records but decided to pursue my own song-writing and solo career and moved to Los Angeles. 

After working for over 15 years both as a singer-songwriter fronting a rock band and as a music business executive working with companies including Live Nation, ShowClix, and Berklee College of Music, I have personally experienced the gender disparity found in the music industry. I have been the only woman in dozens of concert lineups, and in national festival lineups generally, 20 percent or less of headline acts are women. With so many talented female musicians both locally and nationally, the need for an event and organization like Women Who Rock was clear, and my vision was born. 

I’ve had my own personal experiences of women’s health issues affecting my family, friends, and colleagues. Through those experiences, I discovered that women are also underrepresented in health research and learned that my hometown Pittsburgh was home to Magee-Women’s Research Institute, the nation’s largest research institute dedicated to women’s health. Learning about the disparity in research dollars made me think: why not unite and rock the future of healthcare for all women through the power of music? 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I feel being a creative person, artist, and entrepreneur automatically throws some bumps in the road and isn’t always the easiest path to take. It’s a constant path of following your passion and taking risks, working on your craft, realizing your worth and making sure others know that value as well, learning to be ok with rejection and realize the opportunities that come along with it, and trusting and believing in your vision, no matter how much others doubt or second guess you. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m the founder of Women Who Rock and also provide sponsorship, event, and PR consulting services through my consulting business Pitch Consulting. 

Women Who Rock (WWR) is a crusade to champion women in music and women’s health awareness. We connect through the power of music and help to educate, support, and fund women-centric health and music endeavors. WWR is proud to be Female Founded, Female Fronted, and Female Produced. 

Both women in music and women’s health are greatly underrepresented, so this cause is extremely important. 

Our signature annual benefit concerts are an event experience like no other and feature a 100% female-fronted music lineup featuring some of the brightest stars in music. Some of the incredible artists who have supported Women Who Rock include Sheila E., Orianthi, Rita Wilson, Emily Wolfe, The Vindys, Lauren Monroe, and her husband Rick Allen of Def Leppard, Lyndsey Smith, and many more. The event also features our annual Women Who Rock Impact Award Ceremony which honors outstanding women making a difference in the fields of women’s health, women’s rights or women in music. 

We unite our supporters to “Rock the Future of Women’s Health” with proceeds benefiting understudied women’s health research at Magee-Women’s Research Institute & Foundation 501(c)(3), our nation’s largest research institute dedicated solely to women’s health and reproductive biology. Over the past decade, Magee-Women’s Research Institute has carried out 192 studies, enrolling 162,000 women in clinical trials, and are helping to give women’s health the scientific prominence and cultural status it deserves. 

Women Who Rock has recently partnered with Gibson Guitars and their foundation Gibson Gives based in Nashville. Gibson has been an incredible partner who has helped give a voice to our mission and helped launch the new Women Who Rock merchandise collection at their flagship Gibson Garage in Nashville. Gibson Gives also presented our 2021 Women Who Rock Benefit Concert this past October and has hosted virtual Women Who Rock events, which helped us raise over $50,000 for life-saving women’s health and breast cancer research. 

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
100%. You have to know how to innovate, create, be nimble, and never be tied to any one idea or way of doing things. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://womenwhorock.info/
• Instagram: officialwomenwhorock

Image Credits
Kelli Daerr