For the record

How Isaac Ridgely found his groove

Wheeling native Isaac Ridgely, a May 2025 graduate with a major in music business and industry and a minor in music technology, said for him, the program had a transformative impact. 

"Being part of Mon Hills is really the best and only way to develop an understanding about the industry we all want to work in,” he said.

Ridgely, who also plays in a local Latin band in his spare time, experienced just about every aspect there is in the music business during his time at Mon Hills. 

“My freshman year, I was just thrown in to learn what I liked,” he explained. “I started out working in the live events department, booking artists and handling live shows. The next year, I moved to the streaming department where we handled getting all the music from the label on radio stations and editorial playlists, as well as managing the metadata of our artists and reporting on streaming trends. I was director of operations my junior year, which included a lot of different experiences, and for my last year with Mon Hills I worked as the general manager, managing all the label’s goals, projects, teams, campaigns, communications, etc., and learning how to delegate a lot of things.”

Ridgely said the experience had a profound effect on him and his résumé. 

Ava Allen, a vinyl girlboss in the making

Ava Allen, Chantilly, Virginia, native, second-year sophomore and the director of operations for Mon Hills during the spring 2025 semester, said WVU was the only place where she could see a clear path toward her passion.

“I toured over a dozen schools and went to countless more tabling events when I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go to school,” she said. “I’d been playing guitar since I was 12 and in my final years of high school, I realized that music was something that I wanted to make my profession. I looked at so many schools with music technology programs and then I came to visit WVU. The huge emphasis on professional development, and the fact that the professors here were interested in what I wanted to do and what I wanted to make out of my degree, that sealed the deal for me. It was the only university that I applied to and here I am.”

Allen said finding her footing at Mon Hills was a slow progression for her as a freshman majoring in music business and industry with a minor in theatrical production, and that she’s definitely grown into the role she currently fills there — managing a little bit of everything. 

“My dream job would be getting involved with pressing vinyl records. I love vinyl and have a huge collection. I am in love with everything about it, from manufacturing it to buying and playing the records. It just endlessly fascinates me,” she said. “My experience at Mon Hills is helping to prepare me for that dream job, especially learning the business side of the industry, including networking and how to present myself. I’ve already noticed how much I’ve grown professionally.”

And for all of Allen’s certainty about WVU and her chosen career path, her parents were much more cautious. She said they expressed concern to her about the unpredictability of a career in the music industry and worried about her ability to find a job when she graduated. 

“Getting to show them all the things I’ve already done, all the things I’ve learned, my paper trail of all this experience I’m accumulating and how it’s preparing me for the real world, has really helped them come around,” she said. “I know they just want me to have a good future, and it feels good to be able to show them how possible that is for me doing exactly what I dream of doing.”

The drum beats on for Brody Minnick

Fairfax, Virginia, native Brody Minnick graduated with a music business and industry degree in May 2025. He came to WVU initially focused on jazz studies but found his calling in the broader music industry and realized his dream of working as a session musician — playing for label artists during recording sessions. He joined Mon Hills during his sophomore year. 

Also a member of the WVU Mountaineer Marching Band, Minnick said he gained experience working on artist relationships, artist management, and with planning live events, as well as regularly playing drums as a session musician for the record company. 

“It also forced me to put myself out there. Sometimes it's hard to go do something new, to put yourself in a new situation. That can be kind of scary. But in this business, it’s absolutely necessary and just another thing that we get to learn and experience through this program,” he said.

Minnick’s dream job is to continue performing as a session musician and to ultimately work as a music producer.

“Mon Hills, everything I’ve done here and everything I’ve learned, always getting to meet new people and work on new projects, has really set me up for the future,” he added.