Conversations with Amy Georgulis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Georgulis.

Hi Amy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved from Colorado to Nashville in 2017, leaving behind a stable and lucrative career to start over. I had no connections or contacts in the world of fashion and glam, but I felt like I had found a place before I even moved to Nashville where I would be a perfect fit.

To digress slightly, this just shows how powerful social media can be; how great something can appear on a person’s or business’ feed or stories versus how completely different it might be behind the scenes.

I made the move and started at the new job, and at first, it was exciting. I was working alongside famous country artists and Nashville socialites. I quickly realized that I was being underpaid, and undervalued and was consistently dealing with poor behavior from leadership, which happens all too often in this industry.

I was made to believe, however, that outside of this new job I wouldn’t be able to be successful and couldn’t make it in Nashville’s highly-saturated beauty market; for a while, I believed that. Then I decided, with no real plan in place, that I needed to let go of that job and start working toward some new goals.

Shortly after making that decision, a new dear friend of mine who was the manager of an artist I had worked with previously, connected me with a talent agency that represented hair & makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, and models. They took a chance on me and signed me.

My time spent doing work through the agency taught me invaluable lessons in terms of working with talent, musicians, and models; being on the set of photo or video shoots for 12 to 16 hours a day. I learned an entirely different side of the fashion and beauty industry, including an entirely new skill set with styling and wardrobe watching how stylists procured clothing for photoshoots, to how they communicated with photographers and directors on set.

Freelance work is liberating but also inconsistent. Paychecks aren’t just handed to you after a freelance job or even two weeks later. Your agency invoices their client and waits to receive payment from them, they then take a certain percentage of the check and give you a check for your work. Sometimes you don’t get paid for several weeks or even up to 60 days after completing a job.

To supplement my income I had been cutting a country music artist’s hair who then recommended me to other artists. I made house calls which made things extremely convenient for artists who have crazy schedules and don’t always have time to make it to a salon or barbershop. I had also been cutting Seth England’s hair, a manager and partner at Big Loud, and made myself available to him whenever he needed. I would go to the office of the label and cut his hair to make life easier.

Soon he referred me to other management and some of the partners in his office and I was quickly working with more artists from the label. As time passed, I was doing hair or glam on set for Big Loud artists, and I found myself at the label in some capacity about three days a week. I said YES to EVERYTHING and I would charge much less than anyone else would to be on set.

This was important to me because I believe that developing relationships with people and gaining mutual respect and trust is far more important than charging a lot, especially with developing artists.

About two years into developing relationships with the partners, management teams, and label artists, I discussed the idea of having an employee (me) who would take care of all artist’s needs in terms of wardrobe, hair, and makeup. I weighed out the benefits of how this would take the weight off of management’s need to spend time booking wardrobe, hair, and makeup for photoshoots, video shoots, awards shows, etc.

It didn’t necessarily mean that I would do hair/makeup or wardrobe for every artist but that I could be the one to schedule those needs. I knew this position would help us ensure that artists were always on brand and cleaned up with grooming needs, etc, ready to go and look their best.

To my surprise, one of the partners thought that this was a great idea. This position or job doesn’t exist at any other record label in town. But, that’s why I love and admire Big Loud. We do our best to think outside the box, maximize efficiency and find success in everything we do.

Seth England has been my biggest cheerleader and believed in me and this department enough to talk amongst his colleagues to make it real, which is how I eventually became the Director of Style and Image for Big Loud Records. I truly owe so much of my growth and success to Seth and consider him the most valuable mentor I’ve had.

It has been a learning curve for all involved and has truly developed into something unique to this industry that has taken so much stress off of our artists and their management teams. I strive to continue to teach myself new trades in the fashion and beauty world every day to be able to bring it back to the table.

It took two years of slowly, thoughtfully and genuinely developing relationships with the right people and knowing when to swallow my pride and remove myself from situations that were emotionally, physically, and financially unhealthy.

I have been very intentional in surrounding myself with the right people and in figuring out how my skills can fill a gap in our company’s needs. I am above nothing, I take chances, I make mistakes, fail, learn, rinse, and repeat every day.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I find that smooth roads often don’t pave the way for major growth. That being said, I’ve had my share of trials and tribulations. Before being involved in the world of style and glam I worked in special education and was halfway through my master’s in speech pathology when I gave it all up to pursue what I really wanted to do.

I had some family and friends telling me I was crazy to give up my career and benefits for a trade-related career in fashion, style, and beauty. On top of that, I had to start over and went back to school again while working full time. I made it through and worked hard on building a clientele in Colorado, where I was living at the time. I knew I wanted even more from the industry, so I decided Nashville seemed like a good idea and moved here.

Once again, I was met with skepticism for wanting to take a leap of faith by moving somewhere where I knew no one and was starting all over again. Making it in Nashville was tough; I really had to overextend myself a lot in the early days, but it was totally worth it.

In my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined living the work-life I’m living now.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the Director of Style and Image for Big Loud Records. In this role, I specialize in helping establish artists’ branding as far as style is concerned. I work closely with the marketing team who develop Brand DNAs for artists and I take it one step further to incorporate their concepts into a Style DNA.

I’m here to help make the overall physical branding component more cohesive and consistent. For example, always implementing certain elements into their look for a specified amount of time so that there is a very recognizable trait about their hair or wardrobe. For example, “Oh, that’s the guy who always wears cut-off flannels.”

My job also entails photo and video shoots and making sure everyone is on the same page from the management/artist perspective as well as the director/photographer. I’m most proud of the relationships I have developed with artists, managers/co-workers, and oddly enough strangers on social media.

I like knowing that I can alleviate little stresses in management and artists’ lives by simply making sure everyone feels and knows they are being heard and communicated with. In the realm of social media, I love being able to share where fans can find the exact looks artists are wearing and that the looks artists are wearing are relatable enough for them to feel like they can wear those items, too.

I think what sets me apart is that I don’t ever want to change or make someone feel they need to change who they are to fit into a particular mold to be styled in what’s trending at any given time. You were signed as an artist because of who you are not what someone wants you to be. I don’t care about having all artists in high-end designer clothing for shoots or looks that lean too heavily into high fashion; I care that you’re coming across as your most genuine, authentic self.

There is a really interesting correlation between artists’ music and how they present themselves, especially in Country Music. Artists’ music tells a story, and their look tells a story.

I want those stories to match up. It’s about keeping a bit of humility through all your success as you grow. When that is lost there is a loss of authenticity. When anyone starts to worry about what others think or changes their personal style to please others, that’s the moment they’re no longer their unique, wonderful self.

Being in the limelight puts so much pressure on artists and not everything is for everyone, so pleasing everyone’s perspective of how they think you should look is an insurmountable task. In the end, if the artist I’m working with feels confident, happy, and secure about what they’re wearing that is what matters most to me.

Any big plans?
I plan to progress with Big Loud as long as they’ll have me.

I’m looking forward to the growth Big Loud will have as a company and the growth I will have within it. I have found my work home with Big Loud.

For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel the need to make a big change in my life. I’m confident that all the big changes I’ve made in the past led me to where I am now.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @the.label.closet