There’s No Business Like...

Ep. 171 Ritesh Patel: It Takes Longer Than You Expect This week, our hosts talk about their favorite music festival or rave experience, Katie tries to explain the difference between a club and a “big dance party”, and Josh shares his conversation with Ritesh Patel. Ritesh shares how and why he got started in ticketing and music festivals.   Ritesh Patel (@ritlocus) is the co-founder and CEO of Tic...

Ep. 170 Moms Be Mommin’ In this special episode Katie and Danielle talk with presenters Tanya Gertz and Lindsay Bauer about what it means to be a working parent in our industry, and why the field needs support systems. Our hosts and guests share realities that often stay hidden: guilt, career tradeoffs, childcare gaps, invisible labor, and more. Moms in the Arts will meet twice at APAP 2026: Satur...

Ep. 169 New Year’s Podcastin’ Eve It’s another podcast party as we say goodbye to the year (or decade!) that was 2025. The team takes a few minutes to reflect on impactful artistic moments from the last year and share how we’re moving forward into 2026. Wishing you a fun, safe, and happy New Year’s Eve and 2026!   Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts and questions - https://link...

Ep. 168 The Holiday Merriment Episode It’s the holidays! We’ve all wrapped up our festive programming, but may still be wrapping gifts. This week the Pod Squad shares their holiday plans and you guessed it, Danielle hosts a holiday trivia game. Happy holidays to you and yours from the No Business Like team!   Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts and questions - https://linktr.ee...

Ep. 167 Ideas from MAX: Programming for the 25-45 Age Range This week on Ideas from MAX we talk to Amanda Sauvie about the challenges of programming for the 25 to 45 demographic, both in them showing up and in finding the right talent to book. Amanda Sauvie is the Manager of Community Programming at the FIM ( https://thefim.org/ ) in Flint, Michigan. Follow us on social media and let us know your...

Ep. 166 Ideas from MAX: Programming Genres Back to Back The next conversation in our Ideas from MAX series features Wallace Thomas’ hot take on a cappella music, which leads into a broader conversation on booking and programming strategy. Wallace Thomas is a member of the a cappella group Ball in the House ( https://www.ballinthehouse.com/ ) Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts...

Ep. 165 Lisa Richards Toney – Part 2: To Be Still Is to Be Powerful This week, Josh shares part two of his conversation with Lisa Richards Toney. They discuss the power in stillness, organizational management, and the annual APAP conference. Lisa Richards Toney is the President and CEO of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals – APAP ( https://apap365.org/ ) Follow us on social media and...

Ep. 164 Lisa Richards Toney – Part 1: The Arts Taught Me That This week Josh shares part one of his conversation with Lisa Richards Toney; to warm up for that conversation our hosts share some of their favorite APAP memories. Lisa Richards Toney shares the journey of how the arts impacted her life and moments that led her to being the head of APAP. She shares the challenges of leading a national o...

Ep. 163 Ideas from MAX: Audience Development vs. Community Engagement Our Ideas from MAX series will feature conversations from our booth at the 2025 Midwest Arts Xpo and a roundtable discussion with the Pod Squad! This week we kick off with Gary Minyard’s answer to the questions “What are we not talking about enough in the industry?”: the differences between audience development and community eng...

Ep. 162 Todd Wetzel: Fail Over and Over, Until You Fail Less This week, our hosts start with a little game before Katie shares her conversation with Todd Wetzel. Todd is a fountain of knowledge and shares that knowledge with Katie, and our audience. Todd shares how he got his start in the arts, his philosophy on leadership, audience development, shifting presenting models, and so much more. Todd W...

Ep. 161 Patrick Brogan: Lean In and Don’t Take It for Granted Our hosts kick off this week talking about things they weren’t great at when they first started, and Bryan shares his conversation with Patrick Brogan. Patrick shares his role at ArtsQuest, an organization that grew from an 11-day music festival to a 10-acre arts and culture campus, the SteelStacks. Patrick shares his journey in the art...

Ep. 160 Matt Smith: Fitness for the Body means Health for the Mind This week the pod is bringing you something a little different. This week the pod goes fitness! Kevin shares his conversation with his personal trainer, Matt Smith, and talk about how health and wellness impacts your workflow. Matt also shares a beginner workout for use at home, in the gym, or on the road. Matt Smith is a personal...

Ep. 159 Hot Headlines : Ticket Price Punchline This week The Pod Squad rounds up recent industry news including comments from the CEO of Live Nation and significant leadership changes in our industry. And Bryan throws back to MTV Unplugged.... Have opinions on the week’s top stories? Leave us a comment on social media or send us a message! Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts an...

Ep. 158 It's a Pod-iversary! It’s a three-year celebration episode for the pod! Thank you all for joining us on this journey. If you are new here, you can find some “starter” playlists here: https://nobusinesslike.com/spotify-playlists Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts and questions - https://linktr.ee/nobusinesslikepod Our theme song is composed by Vic Davi.

Ep.157 The State of the Arts: Arizona Edition! This week Katie gathers colleagues from the beautiful state of Arizona to discuss the vibe of the Arizona arts scene, collaboration, programming, and the state of arts funding in the 48th state. Bonnie Schock is the CEO of the Fox Tuscon Theatre in Tuscon, AZ ( https://foxtucson.com/ ). Christina You-sun Park is the Executive Director of the Arizona C...

Ep. 156 Norbert Leo Butz: From Busking to Broadway Josh had an opportunity to sit down with Broadway legend Norbert Leo Butz at the Midwest Arts Xpo, and we share that conversation here. Norbert shares how he got started in the industry and the stories behind some of the roles he is known best for. Our hosts do their best to play it cool and also share their first named role in a show. Norbert Leo...

Ep. 155 Bill Stanczykiewicz: The State of Philanthropy This week Kevin sits down with Bill Stanczykiewicz from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Bill shares incredible insights into philanthropy including what philanthropy is, what the data is telling us about giving, and breaks down the changes to the tax code. Bill Stanczykiewicz is the Senior Assistant Dean for External...

Ep. 154 Live From MAX – a Conversation on Ticketing This week our hosts Josh, Katie, Danielle, and Kevin are coming to you LIVE from the Expo Hall at Midwest Arts Expo 2025. Our four hosts discuss ticketing.  They touch on On Sale and announce schedules, ticket pricing, third party ticketing, and dynamic pricing.  Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts and questions - https://link...

Ep. 153 Empire Training Center for the Arts: Creating a New Pipeline to the Field This week Bryan introduces us to Trish Santini and Frank Butler, co-founders of the new Empire Training Center for the Arts in Poughkeepsie, NY. We learn about Trish and Frank’s extensive and winding careers and what inspired them to create a vocational arts training center that provides accessible and practical tech...

Ep. 152 The Values of Next Gen Patrons This week the team and guest Kiersten Birondo talk about a recent study examining Gen Z and Millennials’ perceived cost and value of attending theater, and how we can apply the findings to marketing and audience engagement efforts in venues across the country. You can read the Broadway News article and find the link to the study, “Unveiling the Value of Broad...

Ep. 151 Selling Out or Showing Up? The team follows up on Josh’s recent Tuesday Talk with the Ohio Arts Professionals Network (OAPN) about the value of commercial programming - how it can serve your community, support other programming financially, and broaden our industry. You can check out Josh’s Tuesday Talk with OAPN (https://oapn.org/) at https://youtu.be/OiUieO-e_jI?feature=shared Follow us...

Ep. 150 There's No Business Like - Hot Headlines This week Katie, Josh, and Bryan round up and discuss some the industry headlines from the week and the implications for the field. It’s not all bad, though! We do get to chat about a certain musician whose name rhymes with Taylor and everyone’s favorite 90s uncle. Have opinions on the week’s top stories? Leave us a comment on social media or send u...

Ep 149 Mary Jennings: Ballet is Frickin’ Amazing This week the team learns about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and talk about big transitions leading into Katie’s conversation with Mary Jennings, the Executive Director of the Grand Rapids Ballet. Mary and Katie talk about how to build staff and organizational culture, the impact of resident companies on a community, budgeting and artist pay, and...

Ep. 148 Kara Hettinger: Teaching Artists are Invaluable The team is back from summer break and this week Danielle sits down with colleague Kara Hettinger, and they discuss more ways of building the future of our industry: innovations in reaching teen audiences and training and support for teaching artists. Kara is one of the founding collaborators of the Midwest Teaching Artist Coalition, which is...

NBL Rewind: Wone Vang: Never Give Up on Your Stupid Stupid Dreams This week we wrap our July 20205 Rewind Series as we revisit one of Danielle’s favorite conversations from Season 2, Episode 65 with Wone Vang! Kevin tries out his old-timey radio voice before sitting down with Wone Vang. Wone shares the struggle of being a full-time artist and full-time employee, the Guaranteed Income Program she i...