Editor’s note: A ceremony Friday will induct three individuals into the Napoleon High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame — Dr. Todd Hernandez and Becky (Baughman) Gardenhire in the Class of 2024, and Mat Bisher in the Class of 2023 (Bisher was unable to attend last year’s ceremony).
For Becky (Baughman) Gardenhire, being open to new experiences and staying curious led her to her current position as a music agent in Nashville.
A member of the Napoleon High School Class of 1999, Gardenhire was nominated for the hall of fame by her long-time friend Rachel Barlow Gerken and was selected to be inducted this year. At WME (William Morris Endeavor), Gardenhire is currently a co-head of the Nashville office, partner and talent agent.
“I was certainly humbled. I love Napoleon,” Gardenhire said. “I have so many great ties to Napoleon and feel very grateful that’s where I was raised and went to school.
“This is a great honor … and I really appreciate it,” she continued.
While at NHS, Gardenhire served as her class president and was active in drama, varsity volleyball and varsity softball and NC-TV 5. While attending NHS, Gardenhire said she was always open to new experiences and opportunities, enrolling in a marine biology elective and taking French as a foreign language, which included in the opportunity to travel to Europe.
“Looking back on my journey … I credit a bunch to Napoleon,” she said. “Having a really good support system and opportunities where you could explore and see what you were interested in.
“To have those opportunities in a public school system and in Napoleon, it opened my mind when I got to see different things, I got to see different cultures,” she continued.
Gardenhire attributed her interested in television and film to her experience with NC-TV, especially in regard to producing material. She recalled she and a classmate produced a documentary on Buckemeyer Stadium as it was completed in her senior year.
“I was fascinated,” she said, adding she started to research careers in the field of television production. “I credit that all to Mr. (Ken) Neuenschwander, who was our instructor for NC-TV, and I had so many other great teachers that would push me to explore and research.
“I’m still very grateful that I had that type of relationship with teachers,” she continued.
Gardenhire attended Tisch School of the Arts at New York University after her high school graduation, earning a bachelor of fine arts degree in film and television in 2002 and moved to Los Angeles to accept a position at William Morris Agency, now WME. She has remained at the agency, although she relocated to the Nashville office in 2003 and focuses on country music.
Gardenhire said she was always a country music fan and, while working in L.A., was speaking with her peers in other areas of the agency and learned more about the opportunities to work with music.
“I fell in love with Nashville,” Gardenhire said of her current city, which she first traveled to to visit a friend. “It reminded me of Ohio in that it’s more grounded, more authentic. I just fell and obviously country music is very a huge industry here.”
In her position, Gardenhire represents primarily country artists and routes and negotiates all of their tour dates.
“You sign an artist from day one where no one knows them, their music hasn’t even been released (yet) and … then to see how their career and their dreams and their music grows, and they become a bigger name and a bigger star, it’s super rewarding,” she said. “That doesn’t happen for everyone, so you know when it does, it’s amazing.”
Gardenhire said her job is strategic in nature and involves problem-solving, as well as creativity.
“What we do to get every date on a tour to line up because there’s all these different factors — you have to know how many miles they can do overnight, you have to find the right venue that has the right capacity, you have to make the right deal that makes economic sense for the artist, we need to make sure that they haven’t played that market within a certain amount of time, we need to make sure there’s nothing else going on in that market so that it’s not competitive,” she explained. “There’s a lot of planning and strategy. I love that — it’s like a big jigsaw puzzle.”
Based in the agency’s Nashville office, Gardenhire represents various clients across country music, including Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Jordan Davis, Ingrid Andress, Sara Evans, Scotty McCreery, LANCO, Tenille Townes, Larry Fleet, Lukas Nelson and Morgan Evans.
Gardenhire noted the music industry is a male-dominated industry, and she is the first female to be announced as a co-head of any agency in Nashville. She has also been a member of a local women’s group called Source and an inaugural member of NOW (Nurturing Outstanding Women).
“Trying to build up females and empower females has been really important here in our company,” she said. “That’s always really important to me, too — providing support and empowering other women in the music space.”
In addition to being a member of CMA, ACM, GMA and board member of the W.O. Smith Music School, Gardenhire is also involved WME’s foundation, including serving as a leader at the annual all-company Walk the Walk Day and as a mentor to elementary students and college students through various programs. She has helped plan and host such philanthropic events and fundraising events benefiting W.O. Smith Music School.
“I was born and raised on how to give back,” she said. “If you are lucky enough to have everything provided, then you can give back so I just try to give back where I can and when I can,” she said.
Gardenhire lives in Nashville with her husband, Ryan, and children, Cassius and Willa. She is the daughter of Tom and Joan Baughman and sister of Sarah Baughman Shepard and Mary Baughman Driskill and an aunt to Payton, Tucker, Piper and Campbell Shepard.
As part of the induction ceremony, Gardenhire will address students and she plans to share the importance of keeping an open mind.
“There’s going to be doors that open, doors that close,” she said. “Just because it’s a closed door doesn’t mean it’s the end, it just means you need to maybe go find another door … and start to go down a different path.
“You can follow what you’re curious about, what you find interesting, because that will lead you to something that will make you happy,” she continued. “Oftentimes you think you need to go do something because it will pay the bills, or it’ll just get you through and … that may be part of a season in your life and you may have to do that certain times, but if you keep following what you’re really curious about, what you’re interested in, that’ll hopefully lead you to a more happier place and something you really enjoy doing.”