Name: Alesia Hendley
Title: AV Operator
Company: The Berry Center
Location: Houston, TX
Twitter: @thesmoothfactor
Overtime: Hendley spends her free time working on her podcast, The Social Slice, with cohost Noble Crawford. Together, they dive into best practices, tools, and tips to help marketers connect, engage, and grow their brands.
Why You Need To Know Her: Let’s face it—you probably already know Alesia Hendley. In just over a year, she’s burst onto the pro AV scene with her trademark smile, social astuteness, and extreme networking skills. The 29-year-old has been working in audio her whole life, but made a conscious decision to get more involved in the industry in late 2016. She began reaching out to industry influencers via social media and asked them for their top tips. The rest, as they say, is history.
Natural Born #AVTweep: Hendley’s love of the AV industry began early. The daughter of a preacher, she began running sound in her father’s church at the ripe age of 12. “As a child, I found my passion for the audiovisual world,” Hendley said. “Working as a sound engineer in my father’s church, I figured out how to utilize different technologies to take the congregation higher, both musically and spiritually.”
As she grew older, Hendley realized AV could be an actual career path. She pursued her passion earning multiple certificates from the MediaTech Institute in Houston, TX. From there, she consulted with multiple houses of worship (HOW), and ensured they had the best sound for their space. Eventually, she landed at The Berry Center, a multipurpose facility, where she runs the venue’s audiovisual systems. Hendley is also the Texas chapter head for SoundGirls.org, which aims to inspire and empower the next generation of women in audio.
“If I hadn’t been introduced to audio at such a young age, I might have never known all that the world of audio has to offer,” Hendley said. “When I became active in the SoundGirls community, I realized it was a place to not only build each other up, but it was a place to share experiences—the good and the bad. I wanted to give back by sharing my personal experiences to help others see the various paths that a background in audio can lead to.”
Social Butterfly: So how does Hendley do it all? Social media is a key part of her career growth. “From Twitter to LinkedIn, I’ve been able to connect and build relationships with likeminded people as well as influencers that continue to inspire me,” she said. “You never know who is watching you [on social media platforms], and the doors that could open.”
Hendley has utilized her social media prowess to not only network with AV influencers, but to create genuine business relationships and friendships within the industry. “I utilize social media a lot, but I equally invest in being in the right place at the right time to make those face-to-face connections,” Hendley said. “Being genuine on- and offline has gone a long way beyond just a professional connection.”
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