Member Spotlight: Ali Harnell

Ali Harnell has spent 35 years shaping the live entertainment industry and advocating for women’s progress. Over Zoom in her office at Live Nation, the music industry veteran presents as a stylish executive with a casual, rocker-chic vibe that tracks with her career in Nashville—hair in undone waves, a classic denim jacket, and chunky gold rings against the backdrop of industry awards and a vintage Indigo Girls concert flyer.

 

Today, as Global President and Chief Strategy Officer of the Live Nation Women division at Live Nation Entertainment, Harnell’s career in the music industry has been defined by live performances and tours for some of the biggest acts in live entertainment. For The Formation blog, she shares her story with TFR in The Extra Mile interview series, celebrating the unstoppable women who are shaping the future of their industries.

Women ​Paving the Way in Entertainment

At Live Nation, Harnell produces live tours and leads the company’s division dedicated to driving progress for women, which she founded when she joined in 2019. As a tour promoter at the $28B global entertainment company in over 40 countries, Harnell’s team handles the nuts and bolts of tours from sales to production, sourcing venues, managing ticketing, bringing the talent’s production into the venue, and paying vendors. As head of Live Nation Women, Harnell works to drive the culture at Live Nation as a great company for women to work.

The division focuses on three pillars: advancing women internally at the company through resources, programs, and benefits; advocating for women across the industry; and amplifying the voices of women using Live Nation’s global platform and reach.

Under Harnell’s leadership, women’s advocacy initiatives have included Live Nation Women Circles, a peer-to-peer mentorship program, Live Nation Women Summits, and programs like “Listen with Live Nation Women,” which has covered topics from business and wealth-building for women to support for caregiving.

For her division’s amplification pillar, Harnell ensures that the industry’s big names have the platform to share their voices and bring their work to live audiences. In the last six years with Live Nation, Harnell has launched the tours of household names like Oprah, Katie Couric, Grammy-Award-winning artist and activist Brandi Carlile and podcast megastar Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy”—women who have reshaped their fields through originality.

"I got to do Katie Couric's book tour, which was great because, for me growing up, Katie was just such a beacon and north star of what women could do,” Harnell says of promoting the beloved journalist’s 11-city book tour for her memoir “Going There” in 2021.

In the American capital of country music, Harnell has stood by artists like Maren Morris, who briefly distanced herself from country music in 2023 over political differences. “I love working with [Morris], who is very vocal and always fighting for what's right and never afraid and never backs down,” Harnell says.

Harnell produced Cooper’s sold-out “Unwell Tours” prior to the influencer’s $125 million deal with SiriusXM for the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, which garners 13.5 million monthly listeners. “Alex came to play,” Harnell says of Cooper. “She knows how to market. She knows how to engage with her community so authentically.”

But the ultimate unmatchable woman for Harnell is the inimitable Oprah, whose hugely successful tour “Oprah’s 2020 Vision, Your Life in Focus” to a sold-out audience of 15,000 women was Harnell’s first large-scale arena tour at Live Nation.

For Harnell, this year’s Grammy Awards were a testament to the power of women in music—a moment that left Harnell feeling inspired and hopeful.

"You saw so many incredible artists who are one of a kind and who are expressing themselves in completely new and exciting ways,” she says.

“Unmatchable art is just that—unique, singular, innovative, fresh,” she explains, pointing to this year’s Grammy stage. Harnell calls leading artists like breakouts Doechii and Chappell Roan and icons Beyoncé and Lady Gaga “powerhouses” who not only speak to culture but become it.

Representation isn’t just about visibility for the entertainment executive; it’s about changing the landscape of entertainment itself. As Women’s History Month highlights the contributions of trailblazers past and present, Harnell is proud to champion artists who not only break boundaries in their craft but also take a stand for what matters. “You can’t be what you can’t see,” she says, emphasizing the importance of these moments for the next generation of artists and fans alike. She says Live Nation is committed to women artists and their fans. “That's what we do. That is the culture of art and music and connection.”

A Mindset for Manifestation

Before her current role at Live Nation, Harnell paused between contracts to spend two weeks answering the question, “What would I do if I could do anything?" The answer was focusing on what she did best—live entertainment—but specifically in service of more opportunities for women.

Harnell took a gold journal she’d received as a 50th birthday present and advice from her songwriter friend Brandy Clark to sit and write early in the morning. For those pivotal two weeks, each morning at 5 a.m., she drafted what became the pitch that led her to Live Nation. The company’s CEO, Michael Rapino, reviewed her pitch for a division dedicated to women in live entertainment, and Live Nation Women was born.

When it comes to investing in herself, Harnell enjoys rituals like her dream-job manifestation and little luxuries—like her gold journal or TFR’s Marie slingback in Champagne Metallic with sneaker-like support for high performance and a fresh, functional take on executive style. When Harnell was honored by Save the Music in 2024 in front of her industry peers, family and friends, she treated herself to a new suit to wear for the occasion.

"There is something about feeling your best,” Harnell says of the confidence investment pieces can give you “when you walk into a room or a space.”

Having spent decades at the forefront of the entertainment industry, Harnell has learned that mindset is everything. To get through a typical day, she emphasizes centering positive thoughts and affirmations, and setting intentions.

“To perform at my best I have to meditate. I swear it’s my super power. It’s been a long road to getting to where my practice is today, but it has changed my life.”

Her advice is to create your own balance for the season of life you’re in, citing the Rainer Maria Rilke quote: “No feeling is final.” At 57, Harnell’s children are grown and it’s a “different level of parenting and connection.” What works for Harnell today in her 50s is something she’s well aware isn’t the advice she’d give to her younger self or a mom raising kids today.

"I look back and I have no idea how I survived it and remained successful,” she says of the years closing deals and then racing home “to make dinner and make sure homework is done.” For working parents, she says figuring out your support network is “paramount.” Harnell draws a metaphor of a rollercoaster: Look at what scares you and then look at all the people who are already on the ride figuring out how to do it.

And while Harnell says there is no magic wand, you can start by giving yourself grace.

"Do your best and know that you're doing your best,” she says. “And if you need help, ask for it and find community, and you're gonna get through it and you're gonna get it done because we're getting it done.”