In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.

This week's entrants will also find their faces in our latest mag, which makes for a great stocking stuffer when you're out of coal.

Allison Junker
Manager, Artist & Label Partnerships, Spotify

“I was hours away from taking a job,” Junker recalls, “when I had breakfast with my current boss, who said, ‘Do you want to work at Spotify?’” Ensconced there since 2019, the one-time publishing A&R recently wrapped Kacey Musgraves’ star-crossed campaign—replete with a recreation of the artist’s childhood bedroom—and continues to support #1 country act Cody Johnson’s Human. In second grade, Junker sang “Tomorrow” from Annie at a school talent show. She says her inability to carry a tune and unwavering confidence persist to this day.

Kenny Hamilton
CEO, CSH Management Group, Inc.

Hamilton’s professional charges include R&B artist Rotimi, whose All or Nothing tour, his first as a headliner, will visit North America and Europe later this year and into next. He also represents DIXSON, co-writer/producer of Beyoncé’s “Be Alive (Original Song From the Motion Picture King Richard),” who’s gearing up for his next EP, arriving via Roc Nation in Q1. While Hamilton may watch The Golden Girls before bed, this Navy vet/former radio personality most definitely does not consider us a pal or a confidant. And if he threw a party…

Chandra Karp
Senior Manager, Artist & Label Marketing, Ingrooves Music Group

Karp fondly remembers a press junket she ran for Stan Lee to promote a Marvel DVD release: “It was just Stan and me and his bottle of Orangina and a speakerphone in a small room, where he told the most captivating stories.” In 2022 she’ll be overseeing the 60th anniversary of Herb Alpert’s first album and advancing the work of artists like Steve Aoki, Dolly Parton and Sondre Lerche. Karp also DJs parties, spinning vintage soul, girl groups and garage 45s. Somehow, our invitation keeps getting lost in the mail.

Timothy Collins
Cofounder/Co-CEO, Creed Media

Collins and co. put Creed Media on the map when they took Trevor Daniel’s #1 “Falling” viral (1b+ streams RTD). Since they cofounded the digital-marketing agency in 2018, it’s grown to 80 employees, produced $15m in revenue and executed 4k+ campaigns. U.K. and German offices are opening in 2022, and Collins says Creed’s in-house tech function will be a game changer. RE: games, at age 12, Collins was #46 on global leaderboards for COD Modern Warfare on Xbox 360. That’s Call of Duty to us boomers. We are not OK.

Jonny O’Hara
Director of Production, Virgin Music Artist & Label Services

O’Hara went from being a longtime fan of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard to working with the band, who hail from his native Melbourne, Australia. Entrusted with the GIZZVERSE access fob, he continues to run all things physical for KG&TLW, as well as Canadian singer/songwriter Mac DeMarco’s record label. Also keeping him “happy and on his toes” is a Modest Mouse catalog project. O’Hara has been known to create animated Slack emojis for the amusement of his colleagues. All we get from our co-workers is a pile of poo. (We could use a new emoji for our cesspool).

Robert Nelson
Director of Marketing, AWAL

Nelson feels blessed to have worked with the late Chris Lighty at Violator Management, where he found the beats for Wale’s double-platinum “On Chill” f/Jeremih and secured A$AP Ferg for AG Club’s “Memphis” remix. At AWAL, he’s working with Little Simz, A$AP TyY and Beanz and on the posthumous album from Phife Dawg (ATCQ). Little-known Nelson fact: “I don’t really know my birthday. My parents noted the time I was born as 11:59pm, but the doctor’s watch said 12:03am. They decided on 3/24, but my dad always calls on 3/23.”

Brandon “Redd Push” Terrell
Senior Director of A&R, Venice/Q&A

Terrell was ecstatic to land his gig at Venice, a subsidiary of Troy Carter’s Q&A, in February, inspiring Carter to note, “Brandon is a cultural powerhouse in Atlanta. He has a remarkable ability to connect with artists and impeccable taste in music.” In addition to his A&R work, Terrell is managing Eastside ATL rapper Money Mu, who last year hosted Moneybagg Yo on a remix of his “Hittin’.” Terrell was once an artist himself and owns a trucking company. Is there anything he can’t do? Is there anything we can?

Jess Mitchell
Marketing Director, Monstercat

Having worked with the likes of Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Kaskade and Slushii and shouldered marketing duties for RCA Records and Sony Music Entertainment (in Sydney, Australia), Mitchell is now expanding Monstercat’s footprint across Asia-Pacific and supporting its releases through digital collectibles—in 2021 she oversaw the promotion of three NFT arrays that collectively generated $1.2m. A classically trained singer, Mitchell once considered a career in opera but then fell in love with her label day job. We’re still waiting to fall in love with OUR day job.