Life & Work with Fiona Marie Booth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fiona Marie Booth.

Hi Fiona, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I was born and raised in rural Ireland. I always had big ideas of leaving Ireland in search of more. I knew that I wanted to do and experience bigger things than what I felt Ireland was ever going to offer me – especially as a creative person wanting to work in music and entertainment. There really isn’t a lot of infrastructure or industry around music as a career in Ireland, despite an abundance of talent.

I studied Performing Arts and Music for 4 years at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, followed by a Masters in Festive Arts – Live Production.

After my studies, I just kind of carved out my own path in the arts. I founded a couple of festivals and was a producer on many of the Irish music and cultural festivals, as well creative directing at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and other various events and organizations. I also worked as an International Producer in the corporate world for some time. It was a very varied path while I held out for a broader goal to move to Los Angeles to work in the live music industry on a more global scale.

I had the plan in my head for many years but never really took action on it because such a small percentage of people are eligible for a US visa, and it’s an incredibly difficult process. You have to really want it! Eventually, after some wrong turns and dead ends with my research, I found out that I did in fact, meet the criteria for an “extraordinary ability” visa due to the work and things I had achieved in Ireland.

Once I started embarking on this process, my father, who had been battling a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease since I was a teenager, began to decline dramatically. I put my plans on pause and spent the next couple of years living at home to help care for him, in and out of hospital, a rigorous medication schedule, many sleepless nights, and much more – until he passed in late 2019. During that time, I was in survival mode, not sure what the future looked like or when things would ever be bright again.

A few months after his passing, I decided I needed to reclaim my own life and get back out into the world, so I booked a one way ticket to Los Angeles to try and find work and piece my visa project together. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks in, I was forced to return home because the pandemic had hit. I ended up stuck back in Ireland for another 2.5 years!

Finally, in the summer of 2022, my visa was approved, and I moved to Los Angeles, ready for a new chapter. Since then, I have been really fortunate to work and tour the world with some amazing artists, from Alanis Morissette to Aerosmith to Lionel Richie. Now I am really grateful for the timing of it all!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way? 

As I mentioned, I stood in my own way for many years because I believed the messaging that getting a visa and moving to the US was next to impossible and that I would not be eligible.

Also, dealing with my father’s illness for a number of years, putting my plans on pause, followed by the pandemic definitely felt like I was falling behind.

There was a lot of adversity with this journey and just trying to survive for the first year of living here – it felt like I was starting all over again and had to re-learn and build a reputation from the ground up. Moving across the world alone is definitely not an easy path for many reasons.

There have been many moments where I could have or maybe should have given up on pursuing this path, but I am way too stubborn, and I’m really glad I didn’t! I hope that pieces of my story can show others that things can work out if you stick with it and give it your all.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I work in Tour Management / Coordination – at the moment for legacy artists like Lionel Richie and Aerosmith. This year I was pleasantly surprised that I’d been nominated for Production Coordinator of the Year at the Live Production Summit Pinnacle Awards. It was unexpected but it meant something to me because the votes had come from my peers in the touring industry who I really admire and respect – and also because I still feel like such a newbie out here!

I don’t think I’m particularly special but what I love about the job is that I get to serve and connect with such special people on touring crews and also with such legendary artists. I also really appreciate the travel element because I felt a bit like I was stuck in a corner in Ireland for such a long time when I really wanted to get out and experience more.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?

I’ve definitely taken a big risk with the choices I’ve made. I left my home place as a thirty-something-year-old woman – while most of my peers were settling down and getting married and having kids, I decided to throw it all up in the air and move across the world to start a new life and go on tour with some rock stars!

I feel like the risk was worth the reward. Even if I decided to move back to Ireland tomorrow, the adventures I’ve had in this past 1.5 years alone would have been worth it.

I think risk can involve a massive amount of uncertainty; you have to be ok with that. I also think it’s more important to listen to your intuition rather than just letting fear take over. For me, fear is allowed to be involved because it’s natural, but it is not allowed to be in the driver’s seat. My perspective on risk is that life is so precious, and you only get one go. I’m sure several people in Ireland thought I was crazy for doing this because it was such an uncertain and unconventional path, but I feel proud that taking the risk has proven what you can make possible.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: fionamariebooth