Josefine Jandinger

I would say my passion, and the fact that I do value authenticity and that connection. I think also patience and attention to detail, but more than anything, passion and just really caring about what I do and having a love for what I do. Music has been such an important part of my whole life - I mean, I started when my mom took me to my first concert when I was 5, Miles Davis, and so I grew up in a home with classical music and jazz music, and it was always a lively, cultural home. My mom would take me to theater, to musicals, concerts. It came pretty natural to me, and I just knew I wanted music close to my heart and wanted to work with something that I really enjoyed. That connection that music brings and brings people together - I'm just learning how that connection has evolved, how people's connection to music and where people find their information is changing over the years. With marketing, things have changed tremendously in the past 20 years, so I've had to stay up to date with trends and technology, and it's been kind of exciting because it's definitely not a stagnant industry or business. As a marketing expert, you have to keep learning, and especially now with AI, it's ever-changing.

I would say just to pay attention to the details. The details is what makes something unique and stand out. I'm not talking about perfection, but just storytelling and making a connection through uniqueness, and just kind of taking your time to tell that story. That's what I've learned from the owner of the company. He has impeccable detail fascination, and it's something he's trained me over the years to really pay attention to the details. I also believe in nurturing relationships. I've been in the same field for such a long time, and the relationships I've had have been built and nurtured. It's not something you build over a year or two, and it has to do with trust too. So being consistent and just being a good, honest person - it's something that takes years to build that type of reputation and get those relationships.

I would say, because I've mentored many young women over the years, that with the right attitude and with the right work ethic, you can go really far. But what I find a lot of times is that people just don't want to do the bare minimum. At the end of the day, as a business, I'd rather invest in a person than a resume. A person that has really good attitude and wants to learn and has a drive and a passion, and is a self-starter and just excited - that's gonna go farther than just someone who has a big resume. Because at the end of the day, personality's gonna add to the team, and you want someone who likes what they're doing and can inspire others, but also is someone who's a pleasure to work with.

It's highly competitive. The Shout House, fortunately being a destination venue, is something we've positioned ourselves as over the years. We don't rely as much on walk-in traffic as other businesses in the district where we're located. We have positioned ourselves as a destination venue where people will intentionally come to the website, make a reservation, book a party, and I think it's saved us in economies that have gone up and down. People come to our venues with intention because they want to have an experience, whereas other restaurants and bars rely more on walk-in traffic and they're suffering because they don't offer that value. Other than it being very competitive if your product is just food and drinks, we are selling an experience. But also, post-COVID, nothing's the same in San Diego and in a lot of other cities. We've been dealing with the city of San Diego having budget cuts and struggling with homeless people and all that, so it's been a lot of outside factors that have been totally out of the business's control. But we've stayed strong because we offer something unique, we offer an experience, and we offer connection. When people leave our venue, they're happy because they've had a good time.

I think working with entertainers and working with live music, just having passion and caring, and just kind of understanding that connection and how special that is, because it's not something you can't be fake. It has to be authentic. So just authenticity is I think the most important thing to stay in business and be successful. I'm fascinated by how music brings people together and creates that connection. You see a whole room full of strangers just bonding through music. It's beautiful. Live experiences, music - it's something that never is gonna be able to be replaced.