Marcie Allen ’96 is no stranger to success. Today, she is the President and Founder of MAC Presents, a sponsorship and fulfillment company out of Nashville she built from the ground up. Marcie though, got her start at Rhodes.

While at Rhodes, Marcie was a history major and went on the British Studies program. She first got started booking bands for her sorority, Tri Delta. Marcie says "Rhodes College provided me the foundation and tools I needed to start my own company at 25 years old.” That first company was MAD Booking and Events, which booked and produced a number of successful festivals and college and corporate events.

She started MAC Presents in 2004 in order to tap into the sponsorship and corporate events opportunities that she recognized while operating MAD Booking and Events. Shortly after MAC’s inception, Allen secured a name-in-title sponsorship with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for the Alison Krauss & Union Station 2005 Tour. The deal led to an on-going relationship with Cracker Barrel to build and improve their newly-modeled music platform. With Marcie’s guidance, Cracker Barrel introduced six exclusive CDs into their stores.

Emerging as a leader in the world of music sponsorship, Allen was the first ever recipient of the Billboard Magazine Concert Marketing and Promotion Award, for her work on Jeep’s sponsorship of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul Tour in 2007. MAC Presents also coordinated sponsorship fulfillment on the 2008 Tim McGraw “Live Your Voice” tour, sponsored by KC Masterpiece and Kingsford Charcoal, and the 2008 BlackBerry Presents John Mayer tour, which netted Allen her second straight Billboard nomination.

Other MAC projects that Allen produced include a gospel music tour sponsored by Chrysler Financial, a club tour sponsored by Microsoft in support of the CBS television show Rockstar: Supernova, a tour to support the launch of Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy Make-Up and Pink! and a Habitat for Humanity benefit concert sponsored by Chrysler Financial that featured Martin McBride, Carrie Underwood and LeAnn Rimes.

MAC also books and produces events both in Nashville and across the country, including Vanderbilt University′s Rites of Spring and Homecoming, the BlackBerry Storm Launch Party featuring Foo Fighters, and BlackBerry Presents John Mayer at the Consumer Electronics Show.  Most recently, MAC was hired to be the entertainment agency representing Kingsford & KC Masterpiece on their 2009 sponsorship of the Keith Urban tour.

Marcie definitely hit the ground running and shows no signs of stopping. She was named to “30 Under 30” by Nashville Post Magazine in 2002 and “40 Under 40” by Business TN Magazine in 2004. She was also awarded the Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award in the entrepreneurial category in 2008. She is a member of the National Academy of Records Arts & Sciences, Harpeth Hall Young Alumnae Council, and the W.O. Smith School Board of Directors.

Marcie is an incredibly strong and dedicated businesswoman in a business primarily run by men. Regardless of gender, she is certainly a mover and a shaker within the music sponsorship realm. And, since much of the work that she does is behind the scenes, her efforts and influence on the music and entertainment industry often go unrecognized. She has been speaking for some time now about her desire to teach and inspire students who either want to get into this aspect of business or start their own business.

Despite her job and long hours, Marcie still finds time for her dogs and her passion for black and white photography.

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