Meet Meghan Brown of House of Blues Boston in Fenway

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meghan Brown.

Meghan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I come from a small town in Connecticut, a place where we don’t have even a single stop light, Dunkin, or even a gas station (anymore). Moving to Boston for college was a huge step for someone like me who liked to be home when I could be. I moved to Boston in 2011 and was attending Fisher College for Human Services then was accepted and transferred into Emmanuel College. I was broke working for my friends’ band, trying to find a job without really trying when there was a career fair at Emmanuel. I saw a booth for House of Blues and had only heard of House of Blues from my friends so I went over and spoke to the lady who was running the booth she said they were hiring in their restaurant and actually anywhere and to apply. So I took the application and thought about it filled it out for shits and giggles and handed it back in. I had worked in two restaurants previously in CT and always had the echoing of my friend’s mother saying “the restaurant industry is toxic because the money is addicting”. So I applied and after attending two shows (getting kicked out of one) I got a call asking for an interview. I interviewed in October of 2012 and was hired as a hostess in the Restaurant and Bar at House of Blues. For some, including me, I didn’t even know that the House of Blues had a restaurant. So I was intrigued and completely fell in love with my coworkers, boss, and the company. After about 8 months of hosting I was moved up to serving and phone ambassador- which is just the concierge for the venue they handle complaints and comments and questions basically if you were to call HOB you were talking to me. So after about 2 years of server, hosting, food running, bussing -in both the restaurant and the Foundation room, phone ambassading, and the rare security hours I was moved up to bartending. After graduating college with a degree in Psychology I realized I needed more money so I could go to grad school. Soon after that I saw online that the supervisor position in the restaurant and Foundation room was open and applied. After my first interview, at a House of Blues holiday party I was awarded Employee of the Year. A month after my first interview I was asked to become the restaurant and Foundation Room supervisor. I automatically took it and was excited, and scared since I had no clue what I was doing. I was trained by the best in the industry- at HOB being a supervisor or manager isn’t so black and white you are doing every single job in the venue when you have too. Examples are kicking people out, customer service, making food, giving your staff support- it’s a lot of work. About 10 months after I had been working as a supervisor, the manager position opened. So I worked hard to prove I could take on the work and be prepared for a more intense job. In 2017 I became Operations Manager of the Restaurant and Foundation room. With that my responsibilities have grown to doing everything you think one would do and more. I also book all the entertainment in the Restaurant and Foundation Room for pre and post games or shows. It a hard job but I climbed through the ranks to get here and I love it.

Has it been a smooth road?
I think the biggest struggles for me are that I am a young female and Boston is severely expensive- being 24 and being taken seriously is not as easy as it seems. I work with an older staff and deal with older customers on a 24/7 basis- a lot of times I’m not taken as seriously as I deserve because I look and am young. Also being a lady doesn’t help- being someone who has to kick people out and make sure people are happy and dealing with drunk red sox fans or patrons isn’t always easy with what people may say you to. But as my Boss says “at least they’re taking the time to talk about you”. I definitely have grown a very thick skin working in my position. Then money!! Boston is so expensive and the service industry is not as exuberant in pay once you become management. BUT that’s why I am always looking for ways to make a couple extra bucks here and there bartending or helping a friend out. I am completely self-sufficient I get no help from anybody and sometimes realizing that is my biggest reward.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The House of Blues is a music venue, a VIP member’s club (The Foundation Room), and restaurant. I am the Operations Manager of the Restaurant and Foundation room. My tasks for my job are working on the floor, overseeing staff, making schedules, and making sure the both of my rooms are running smoothly and making money. I specialize in the booking of entertainment in the restaurant and Foundation room. I grew up loving, playing, and listening music. A lot of my friends are musicians both in Boston and back in Connecticut. They are all very talented and I want to be able to share their music that I enjoy. I love working with my friends to get them to be able to play in my rooms that work. I also love that part of my job is going to other bars and venues in the city and listening to music and seeing if they would want to play in my rooms. It makes me feel important that I get to help them share their music and let people relax and have a night out in my rooms!

I would say as a company House of Blues is most proud of and sets up apart from other companies are that we are incredibly flexible and extremely diverse. We are diverse in different areas like we have different genres, different crowds, different types of crowds. Every day is new and we treat every crowd with the utmost respect, you never know when you can make someone first concert ever the best day of their life. We want everyone to remember that seeing music should be fun. We have “Unity in Diversity” written in all the venues in multiple areas, we take these words very seriously and we are proud of it. What also separates us from others is the fact that we have so many different ways for people to see music- we have our restaurant that has live music usually for free, we have our foundation room which is a members VIP lounge that is exclusive and fun, and we have our large music hall. You have so many different areas to go in and experience different things.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
100% a good city for music. Boston is full of artists whether you’re walking down the street and seeing someone painting to seeing someone with a tattoo that a local artist drew to the music you hear when you’re walking down Newbury Street from the buskers. Obviously Boston also has its flaws which make it hard for any musician. As I said before Boston is so expensive and if you’re just playing small gigs, while in college, while trying not to starve it can be very difficult. Boston has Berklee and Boston Conservatory which are where a lot of musicians do come to start their career.

Contact Info:

• Address: 15 Lansdowne Street
• Website: www.hob.com
• Phone: 6179608315
• Email: meghanbrown@livenation.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/fdrandresthobbost

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