Today we’d like to introduce you to Clarissa Cardenas.
Hi Clarissa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always loved going to concerts and music festivals and traveled all around year-after-year just for music. I started getting a three to four requests a week asking me about what shows were happening for the week or what events they should go to since they were visiting, and I was taking the time to write everyone back. Weirdly enough, I was working one day and someone introduced me to their friends as “The Concert Queen of Austin” and then I went to a show that night, and a different friend introduced me to HER friends as “The Concert Queen of Austin” and I was like… wait a minute… and took at as a sign to change my name to the “ATX Concert Queen” on Instagram. It was then that I started a weekly calendar of my recommendations of shows and events that people should go to. It basically snowballed from there and I grew a following for telling people about cool, can’t-miss events and brands they should know about. I protect the integrity of my recommendations by vetting everyone out and doing my research. A LOT of work goes on behind the scenes before I actually partner with anyone. I’ve been offered A LOT of money to promote places or things, and they were places I would never go or products I would never use, and turned them down. I care A LOT and would rather promote things I love with good people before anything.
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?
Wow, it’s definitely had its ups and downs. People only see the highlight reel a lot of the time and what started out as something just fun and casual, has turned into something I put a LOT of time into. I was coming off the BEST year of 2019, (having been named one of the “Top Local Instagrammers” by the Austin Chronicle) and was partnering with some of my dream brands (Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary to name one), so I quit my pharmaceutical job in December 2019 to do ATX Concert Queen & Ashera Creative full-time. Covid hit and those partnerships disappeared that I was counting on and our business took a hit since our clients were in the nightlife and hospitality industry. It was the first time I’d ever felt ,”WTF was I thinking leaving my nice, stable medical sales job” which I had done for 12 years and made exceptional money. Having a startup business and no other income coming in was really rough so I had to get creative and do whatever needed to be done to survive and living on less than I’d ever had. It was hard to support the music community and others that were impacted when I too had been impacted heavily. I still don’t have it all figured out but I do know that I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing and working harder towards a goal I can visually see in every way in my head. I’ll always do whatever it takes and even if that means making some sacrifices like going out, seeing friends and doing what I love like watching concerts, to be able to create the life of my dreams.
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?
ATX Concert Queen is a brand that is focused on always letting people know about can’t-miss concerts, events, experiences, and brands around Austin and beyond. I specialize in curating “the cool, VIP experience” for others and can tell you any given night where you should be and what you should be doing. The artists I’ve had the chance to meet and musicians are also so talented and I started a YouTube/podcast show called “Concert Queen Connect” that is a weekly show highlighting artist, industry experts and concert friends and what it means to really connect with the music and others. I’m most proud of “Concert Queen Connect since it encompasses everything I truly love about music, which is the people and the processes behind creating their artistic works. I love knowing people’s “why’s” and learning about them as regular people, and what their vision is and creative process putting music or their roles in the final result. The concert and music festival experience is one thing, but seeing what goes on behind the scenes makes people appreciate it that much more! I love being able to do that for the audience and listeners! We’ve been fortunate to grow very quickly since my Instagram following has been SUPER supportive and have more listens, downloads and views than music shows that have been around much longer. I’m able to use my life coach skills, improv comedy background and showcase my personality more with this show which is what I TRULY love. Ashera Creative is a creative agency I co-founded with Brooke Blodgett and together, we have become this insanely talented, and knowledgeable duo in the marketing space. We work with people on branding, marketing and how to accomplish their marketing goals in social media. We also offer co-management and full management depending on the client’s needs and have a lot of fun watching our clients’ reactions when our advice and strategies are utilized by them. We’re luckily batting 1000 and utilizing our network to make THEIR voice and story told the right way. We set ourselves apart by being 100% authentic and can back up everything we say with data and analytics. It’s hard to watch these other social media agencies prey on innocent business owners so we are pretty blunt when it comes to our feedback. We know our stuff and have the case studies to prove it, not just with snake oil, pretty pictures, and fake likes or engagement. If people want to see their ROI with the best, we’ll work with them.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
I joined Clubhouse in January and that was an amazing resource to stay current on everything social media and music. I’m currently trying to get better on meditating and mental health. I subscribe to a LOT of social media blogs as well so am constantly sifting through these to know about trends in the community. I do a lot of audiobooks and as far as podcasts, favorites right now are Joe Rogan, Juan EP is Dead, The Broken Record, Mark Groves, Tony Robbins, TED Talks, Freakonomics, Ram Dass, Unbecoming with Phoebe Mroczek, and Sofia with an F. I do more podcasts than anything right now! Always learning and listening on the interviewers and their styles!
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@atxconcertqueen.com
- Website: http://www.atxconcertqueen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atxconcertqueen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atxconcertqueen
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ATXConcertQueen
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCbNiyZMWKbK2pH4J2rdj69Q?sub_confirmation=1
Image Credits
Cynthia Dawn Steve Souza
