Billboard's Lyndsey Havens caught up with Honda's AVP of Marketing, Jessika Laudermilk, on the red carpet at the 2024 Women in Music Awards. During the evening's programming, Honda proudly presented the Rising Star Award for the fifth year in a row , honoring Victoria Monét. In an exclusive interview, Laudermilk expressed Honda's deep belief in nurturing aspiring artists, highlighting the brand's unwavering dedication to fueling dreams in the music industry. Through partnerships with Billboard and initiatives like the Honda Stage, Honda empowers emerging artists, giving them a platform to amplify their voices and connect with audiences around the world. As Laudermilk embodies female empowerment in the automotive industry, her advice resonates as a beacon of inspiration for women everywhere: stay true to yourself, persevere and overcome obstacles. With her daughters by her side at the event, Laudermilk epitomized the spirit of the celebration, where dreams take center stage and the future of music shines.
Check out the conversation below:
Host: We are very happy to have you here. Honda is therefore awarding this year's Rising Star award to Victoria Monét. Tell me a little bit about why it's so important to be a part of presenting this award.
Jessica Laudermilk: Well, Honda is so excited to be here tonight at the Billboard Women in Music Awards to celebrate women as they pursue their dreams in the music industry. And for five years now, Honda has been honored to recognize up-and-coming female artists in the industry and truly help fuel the aspirations of these young artists as they pursue their dreams. And it's a great connection with Honda, as one of our biggest philosophies is the power of dreams. And so, it's been inspiring to watch all these past rising star winners as they continue to pursue their dreams in the industry, going back to Rosalia, to Gabby Barrett a few years ago, to last year's winner with Doechii. So this year's Rising Star award winner is truly a perfect embodiment of female empowerment: Victoria Monét and we are so excited for her to win this award tonight as she is the perfect example of a woman breaking down barriers and pursuing her dreams. And it's also encouraging to continue to see, and hopefully this award will be an award that young artists will be inspired to win and will also be an inspiration to the young women who will be watching this award tonight.
Host: How else does Honda empower women, especially young women, throughout their careers, whether they're in entertainment or something like that?
Jessica Laundermilk:Honda has a long history of over two decades of supporting women and music platforms within our brand. And either through the Honda Stage, we're here tonight as a partner with Billboard to help bring Billboard Women in Music to all of you, and we've also partnered with Billboard to support our Honda Stage initiative. And this year alone, we have four different female artists through the Honda Stage, where it's a really unique platform where we can bring unique content to their fans, but also giving these up-and-coming artists a new platform to be able to reach new audiences and help breaking into the music industry. We also have other events and programming that we work with called Dreamlab where we work with different female artists and also through the Honda Civic tour. So we have a lot of investment with the music as it's really a big correlation to our brand and our message as we see these young artists trying to pursue their dreams.
Host: As a woman yourself working in the automotive industry, what advice or wisdom would you have for other women?
Jessica Laudermilk:It was great to be a woman in a very male-dominated industry, as music is. And I love being that example for my daughters that I brought here tonight, and other women throughout the company. And I would say, as a piece of advice, always stay true to who you are and never give up and always try to push yourself to the next step.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/hondas-jessika-laudermilk-talks-rising-star-honoree-victoria-monet-billboard-women-in-music-2024-1235628146/