Festival Leadership Foundations -- Online Course
You've mastered the production.
Now master leading yourself
through it.
The first leadership course built by someone still doing the work -- designed for the exact windows in your industry calendar when you actually have capacity to learn.
Get Notified When Enrollment Opens →
Created by
✦ The Real Problem
Elite operational excellence without holistic integration eventually collapses.
You didn't get into this industry to survive until load-out. You got in because live events matter. Because creating transformative experiences for thousands of people is sacred work.
But here's what nobody tells you: the same drive that makes you exceptional at production is also quietly eroding you. Not because you're doing something wrong -- because you're using a leadership framework designed for offices, not for people who live in organized chaos.
The answer isn't to work less. It's to lead differently -- from your identity, not from adrenaline.
Festival Leadership Foundations is the course I wish had existed 36 years ago. Built from the trenches. Designed for the way our industry actually works.
✦ The Data Is Clear
Our industry has a leadership crisis. And it's not because we don't work hard enough.
of festival professionals report burnout symptoms
higher depression & anxiety rates vs. general population
annual turnover -- highest attrition of any industry
Yet we keep using leadership models designed for offices, not production environments. What if the problem isn't you -- it's the framework?
✦ Built for Your Calendar, Not an Academic One
This course was built by a practitioner who actually knows your calendar.
Live events professionals have maybe 2-3 windows of 4-6 weeks per year where they have actual learning capacity. If your course takes 12 weeks, you'll start and never finish. That's why this course is 4 core modules released one per week -- timed to fit between your production cycles, not during them.
Jan -- Mar
Post-holiday recovery & planning season
Some bandwidth -- awards shows, corporate kickoffs
Apr -- Jun
Spring festival peak season
Jazz Fest, Coachella, Bonnaroo, arena tours
May -- Jun 2026
Course opens 🎸
Enrollment opens May 6 -- Course begins May 19 -- right between spring peak and summer festival season
← You Are HereJul -- Aug
Summer festival peak
Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, stadium tours
Sep -- Oct
Post-summer recovery window
Next enrollment cohort opens in the fall
"I've lived this life for 36 years. I know what's actually doable -- and I built this course around reality, not a syllabus."
✦ The Three Depths Framework™
Your proprietary path to sustainable leadership.
Most leadership training tells you what to do. The Three Depths Framework™ starts with who you ARE -- and builds from there. This is the foundation of every module in this course.
Depth One
Deep Identity
Who you are when the radios fail, the artist is late, and weather threatens load-in. Leading from your core strengths -- not borrowed strategies that don't fit festival realities.
Depth Two
Deep Stillness
Contemplative practices designed for people who live in organized chaos. Building internal capacity to stay centered when everything around you is spinning.
Depth Three
Deep Agility
Strategic responsiveness that doesn't sacrifice your values. Real-time decisions that honor both performance excellence and human sustainability.
✦ Course Curriculum
4 Strategic Modules. One Per Week. Real results.
Module 01
The Crisis & The Framework
Why traditional leadership training fails festival professionals. Introduction to the Three Depths Framework™ as an integrated system. Your baseline assessment and diagnostic.
Module 02
Deep Identity -- Leading From Your Strengths
Your CliftonStrengths applied directly to festival crisis scenarios, artist relations, and team management. Identity-based decision making: leading from who you ARE.
Module 03
Deep Stillness -- Leading From Centeredness
Contemplative practices for chaos workers. Why stillness is strategy, not just self-care. Your personal stillness protocol for before, during, and after crisis moments.
Module 04
Deep Agility -- Leading Sustainable Operations
Adaptive leadership under pressure. Crisis communication with artists, teams, and vendors. Systems that don't burn people out. Your 90-day implementation plan.
✦ What Leaders Are Saying
Real voices from the industry.
It's a great chance to actually step back and reflect -- something we never make time for in real life. I learned to use my strengths intentionally instead of just running on adrenaline.
-- Festival Finance ProfessionalEJ's vulnerability stood out most. I really appreciated how openly she shared her experiences -- it made me feel seen, understood, and reminded me that I'm not going through this alone.
-- Core Festival StafferI loved it! I'm actively doing the work to grow in my professional development, and this motivated me to keep going. I need more of this!
-- Marketing Assistant, Live Events✦ Festival Leadership Foundations ✦
Enrollment opens May 6.
Get notified first.
Festival Leadership Foundations opens to the public on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Enrollment closes May 15. The course begins May 19.
What's Inside
Enrollment Opens: May 6, 2026
Course Begins: May 19, 2026
Enrollment Closes: May 15, 2026
- ✦ CliftonStrengths applied to real festival scenarios
- ✦ Contemplative practices built for organized chaos
- ✦ Crisis communication & adaptive leadership frameworks
- ✦ Systems that build sustainable operations
- ✦ 90-day implementation plan you'll actually use
- ✦ Complimentary Gallup CliftonStrengths® Top 5 assessment (~$60 value)
- ✦ Live Q&A with a Gallup-Certified Coach and 36-season festival professional
- ✦ Two exclusive private audio sessions from EJ -- enrolled students only
Enrollment opens May 6.
The course begins May 19.
Drop your email below and I'll send you everything you need to know when the doors open.
Festival Leadership Foundations
Enrollment opens May 6.
The course begins May 19.
Drop your email below and I'll send you everything you need to know when the doors open.