“I can think of a few instances where my mom picked up my sisters and me after a show with a minivan full of pillows so the three of us could sleep on the drive back home.”
Our first interviewee for the Class of 2026 is Zoe Willis (MBA ’26). Zoe grew up in Lacey, WA, and moved to Los Angeles to attend USC. While there, she landed a dream internship with AEG / Goldenvoice on their festival production team. Despite taking on full-time roles at Amazon and Twitch post-USC, Zoe’s managed to keep one foot in the festival world through freelancing at Coachella and other major festivals. Most recently, she transitioned from Coachella’s main stage guest relations (yes, she was there for Beychella) to headliner liaison, working closely with music’s biggest names.
What impact has your childhood had on the person you are today?
Willis: Growing up, my parents were very supportive of me and my two younger sisters going to concerts. My dad's a mechanical engineer and my mom's an early childhood educator, so they have no background in entertainment; they could have easily said “this is a very unconventional path for you to go down.” Instead, they've been supportive since day one. I can think of a few instances where my mom picked up my sisters and me after a show in Seattle with a minivan full of pillows so the three of us could sleep on the drive back home. Being given the freedom to go to concerts and explore different music made concerts and that community a huge part of my childhood. Beyond being exposed to music and learning about the concert industry, it was also a huge source of community for me. I’d start seeing the same people at shows and then connecting with them and other fans on Twitter. One of my good friends to this day is someone I met in line to meet an artist. I'm so appreciative that my parents encouraged us to do that and to get out there because it really shaped my passions.
The second thing about my childhood that had a major impact on me was hosting foreign exchange students. My family hosted international students that stayed with us anywhere from two weeks to two and a half years. Grace from South Korea and Mai from Vietnam both stayed with us for over two years. As the eldest, it was a way for me to finally have a big sister and to see what it's like to be a younger sister. It also exposed me to different cultures, foods, and music. The experience shaped my tastes and my interests and has driven my curiosity as well.
Two years! That’s a crazy long time. Do you still stay in touch with any of them?
Willis: Yeah, especially with Mai, we're still quite close. She's married now, and had a baby about three years ago. And I saw her last year. She lived in Seattle for a while after college, so my family saw her a lot. She still comes for Thanksgiving every so often.
That’s incredible. Do you have a favorite concert experience from when you were younger?
Willis: The Justin Bieber My World tour, it was one of my first big arena shows. And looking back on it, the production is not that complex, but in the moment, I knew – this is it. And the community was so tight; I saw people at that show that I had befriended on Twitter, so meeting IRL was incredibly fun. Both from a production and community perspective, it was just an awesome experience.
Sounds like it. HBS has this question about what we want to do with our one precious life. Imagine you instead had “multiple precious lives” and not just one. What would you be doing in those parallel universes?
Willis: I feel like so many of us at HBS have such varied interests and I feel that way about myself as well. I love concerts and live events but I also really enjoy traveling, being abroad and learning from other cultures. If I had multiple precious lives, one would be working as a concert or festival promoter, like Live Nation or AEG, in a global strategy role where I’m enabling unique, community-driven experiences for fans. I’m also really passionate about Formula 1, and its unique fandom. I’d love to work with F1 Academy, the women’s racing series. Bringing more women into motorsport (either as fans, drivers, or team/industry personnel) would be a dream job. Finally, being full-time on tour with an artist would be amazing. I’d love to be on the ground, at a show every night, but I know how all-consuming it is!
If you could go on tour with one artist right now, who would it be?
Willis: I don't know if it's necessarily about who the artist is, it's more the act of being on the road, working with the same team every night to put up the show and learning more about the fans. I'd tour any genre, because I think it's fascinating to see how different fan communities interact. A Justin Bieber show vs. heavy metal vs. k-pop, you're seeing dramatically different things in each of those crowds.
I’d love to see the Venn diagram of fans that overlap all three of those spaces. Last question: What book, movie, or piece of art has had a meaningful impact on you and why?
Willis: There's this art island in Japan called Naoshima Island that holds a collection of contemporary art. It has various museums, sculptures, and pieces of primarily contemporary art. It's my favorite place in the world and it's had a huge impact on me. I've been twice, once with my mom and once with my fiance and a friend. It's such a slower pace of life and is a place that's very conducive to reflection. Both times I've been there I've been able to slow down and reflect on whatever was happening in my life at that point; the art contributes to that. There's works by Yayoi Kusama, and the architect Tadao Ando has designed a lot of the museums and structures there. It's a really special place, unlike anywhere else I've ever been in my life. I highly recommend checking it out.
Peter Sykes (MBA ’26) is originally from Calgary, Canada. He graduated from Georgetown University in 2015 with a degree in Economics. Prior to HBS, Peter worked in strategic ops at Reservoir Media, an independent music company in New York, and for Morgan Stanley.
Nikole Naloy (MBA ’26) is originally from Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from Harvard University in 2021 with a degree in art history and economics. Prior to HBS, Nikole worked as an investment banking analyst at The Sage Group in Los Angeles and in strategy for TikTok in New York.
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