Biography
Growing up in a scholastically and creatively gifted household was the inspiration for Aileen to pursue her higher education and career choices. After receiving her A.A. Degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (F.I.D.M.), Aileen decided to finish her undergraduate studies at Cal State Los Angeles finishing with a bachelor’s in marketing/journalism and a minor in business administration. She also went to U.C.L.A. to receive her degree in Music Theory.
Initially, Aileen worked as a junior copywriter at the California Mart – the West Coast epicenter for the fashion industry while attending F.I.D.M. Her accounts at that time included The Broadway, May Co., J.C. Penney, Robinson’s, Chanel, Vidal Sassoon and Estee Lauder.
Aileen became the youngest writer for Women’s Wear Daily and youngest producer for the West Coast Fashion Week four years in a row. Her involvement in the arts – theatre production, wardrobe, music – was instrumental in her ability to present successful events.
After graduation Aileen was offered a full-time position with WWD in their New York office and declined. She wanted to pursue her first passion – entertainment and music. Growing up with a living legend in the Entertainment Industry made the transition from marketing fashion trends to working for A&M Records in their Sales and Marketing department smoother than expected. Aileen was responsible for coordinating, facilitating and tracking all sales activities with the national field staff. This included releases by Supertramp, Peter Frampton, 38. Special, Gino Vannelli, L.T.D., Atlantic Starr, Herb Alpert, Bryan Adams, Quincy Jones, The Brothers Johnson and all artists on our affiliated labels.
Because of her early influences with music tastemakers, Aileen was requested to sit in and critique various new releases in the recording studio. That is when she was told she had a ‘good ear’ and was highly recommended for a transfer to A&M’s music publishing department to work with their various songwriters which included such pedigree as Paul Williams, Carole King, Chuck Mangione, Will Jennings, Brian Wilson(The Beach Boys), Peter Frampton, Bryan Adams, Kim Carnes, Melissa Etheridge and Billy Preston, The Brothers Johnson and Allee Willis.
Almo Music Publishing(Rondor) had also just acquired the East/Memphis music catalogue which contained all the hits from Otis Redding, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. and the M.G.s, Sam and Dave and The Bar-Kays. Being familiar with the artists and the catalogue, Aileen was instrumental in taking Almo Music from #17 to the #1 independent music publishing company, internationally, within six months.
As a Professional Manager, she successfully placed songs with Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Phil Collins and Genesis, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, George Benson, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Peabo Bryson, The Crusaders, Melissa Manchester and Barbara Streisand.
After placing several songs with their small roster of artists, Beverly Glen Records approached Aileen to head up their music publishing department where she worked on the debut release of Anita Baker and Bobby Womack’s platinum success, “The Poet”. After the label closing, Aileen went to work directly for Barry Gordy at his Hitsville studios as his A&R Administrative Director. She commandeered the releases of the Temptations, Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, Lionel Ritchie, Motown’s 25th and “The Last Dragon” soundtrack. After the merging of Hitsville A&R with Motown’s A&R department, Aileen was offered a position as General Manager of Cinemascore – Quincy Jones and Tom Bahler’s music scoring company. Projects included “Raw Deal” and “The Color Purple”.
When Polygram Records decided to try their luck with a boutique, west coast label, Wing Records, Aileen was contacted to set it up. This successful launch spawned the highly acclaimed debut releases of Vanessa Williams, Tony Toni Tone, Brian McKnight and Will Downing.
This long string of successes curried the attention of A&M Records once again, where she was the only executive considered for the available Marketing Director position. Aileen was successful in the launching and management of such releases as Janet Jackson, Brenda Russell, Breathe, Extreme, Barry White, Jesse Johnson and Jeffrey Osborne.
She was then offered a Head of Marketing position at Virgin Records, but instead was offered to be President of the first-ever Black Music Department for A&M Records – where she declined because of her young daughter but became their Senior Director of Urban Music.
After taking time off to raise her daughter, Aileen became the President of Mystical Cinema in Valencia where she produced and released direct to video releases. She also was the marketing executive for Branson Entertainment. Aileen served as a consultant for the state of California Youth Authority, Department of Children’s Services and Probation Department for their transitional programs – specifically youth interested in the Arts. She successfully matriculated over 100 young men back into society in Business and Entertainment intern programs.
Aileen was contacted by Rondor Music Publishing where once again she coordinated the writing teams that were responsible for having songs released with TLC, Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot, Notorious B.I.G., Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carrey, En Vogue, Raphael Saadiq, Jay-Z, Destiny’s Child, Lauren Hill, Gerald Levert, India Arie, Musiq, Usher, Jermaine Dupri, etc. as the International Director of Urban Music.
Once Rondor merged with Universal Music Publishing, she was offered the position of International Publicist and Music Director for Lasting Value Communications where she produced the African Music Festival in Europe.
Aileen, from her many years managing and marketing content for various entities was asked to help steer the careers of several Artists; recording and screen and created and commandeered the marketing campaigns for many international green companies. i.e. – Topanga Earth Day, Green Peace and Earth Expo.
Aileen, along with her sister and partner Madeline, have an entertainment consulting business – Big Jim Productions, as well as, the various fundraising activities they are involved in. Big Jim Productions is currently involved in the funding of several films and music related ventures and/or releases.
Aileen is a member of B.E.S.L.A., N.A.A.C.P., A.A.F., the African Music Federation and Women in Film.
