The Night Sound Lounge Collective Was Born Part One.

The Idea

It was August of 2023 at Towson University. The sun was shining, and the campus was full of fired-up students. I worked as a Communications intern at the Towson Career Center. It was my last year and my last chance to make my mark on campus before graduating. I remember the day like it was yesterday.

I had just come from my music industry class and couldn’t stop thinking about the band I heard practicing in another room of the Performing Arts Building.

My supervisor and fellow interns sat around the round table in the Career Center.

“Okay ladies, I want you all to bring forth special career events since this is your senior year,” my supervisor said with enthusiasm.

Then the light bulb clicked in my head.

I thought to myself, We just had a mega internship fair, but I think that band I heard practicing would appreciate a mega career fair specifically for the music industry. And honestly, so would I.

My event project idea was simple: place musical artist students, acapella groups, and business students in front of music industry careers and trailblazers in the Baltimore and DMV area. Yeah, bring your resume — but then have them perform in front of employers so the employers could be immersed in their craft. Beyond the resume and cover letter.

Now let’s add a twist: café style.

The Sound Lounge Café — a casual, café-style music industry event to give these creative students a home. Lowkey, to give me a home too.

Now this was truly out-of-the-box thinking because it’s not every day you say “skip business casual” at a career fair. But the mission and potential of baby Sound Lounge Collective — I knew something was being born.

The Planning, Friendship, Collective, and the Power of Women in Music.

My manager at the Career Center was a superstar at networking. Marcy, she collected every business card at events and was a huge reason why I know how to network today.

“Jazlyn, this is a great thing you’re doing, but you will need a team. I can connect you with some people.”

I was all ears and ready to build that collective. Little did I know it would become a whole group of girl power.

As I sat at my desk brainstorming how in the world I was going to pull this off, my manager called me into her office. There was a girl sitting in the chair. Her name was Sydney I instantly felt excitement because I knew we would become good friends.

My manager shared that she had the same passion for music and the music industry as I did, and right then I knew we would click. She was a dancer and had a perspective on the music industry that I had overlooked but was excited to learn more about.

We sat in that office for a good 45 minutes talking about all our ideas to make Towson a music industry hub. When I told her about the Sound Lounge Café, she was completely on board.

Then there was another girl named Charlotte.  She was interested in becoming a Career Center intern and was also a classical singer on campus. She would later end up hosting the 2nd Annual Sound Lounge Café at Towson. She had pipes on her and a light like no other.

She brought in another Lauren who also had a great perspective on the music industry. She was in our music industry class and always had great insight during class discussions.

Alicia had just come from a Media Fellowship in NYC. She was a boss at mass communications and business and had many internships under her belt. I always wanted to pick her brain, so I was glad to have her on the team.

Now this was a big jump for me — developing a team, learning their strengths, and letting them know what was needed to execute the Sound Lounge Café.

Will they like me? Will they believe in this vision? Me? A leader?

This was way out of my comfort zone.

But I believe this is where the collective outlook of Sound Lounge really began.

We met weekly, and I quickly realized I had nothing to be afraid of. They all had the same simple need and passion: collaboration and community in music.

It wasn’t about me starting a networking event anymore. It was about fellow artists and powerful women in music setting the stage for more music industry enthusiasts.

And that’s exactly what we did.