International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the achievements of women across the world and to address the efforts in tackling gender inequality, especially in the workplace.

But for us, it’s not just a glib marketing campaign opportunity, but the chance to show our support for women considering a career in the entertainment industry.

While it’s encouraging to see more women taking on roles in the industry, there is still a long way to go before we achieve true gender parity.

At Production Light & Sound, we’re proud to have women involved in managing the day-to-day business and we’re committed to supporting and encouraging more women to join us.

Sarah, our company director and technical manager, has worked in the events industry for nearly 25 years. She loves the variety of opportunities that the industry presents.

“One week we could be in a hotel putting on a conference, the next at a racecourse doing a car launch then a field in the middle of nowhere for a concert or wedding or in a Victorian Theatre creating magic and illusions.

“That variety allows you to meet lots of different people and it’s great to have seen so many more women come into the industry during that time not just in the theatres but in all fields of the industry.

“It’s great to see female lighting designers and sound engineers out on events but we need more, and I hope by encouraging them at schools and colleges we can start to see many more working with us soon.”

Leann has worked in live events for more than two decades and loves the fast-paced nature of the industry.

“I once worked in the office of a large government department and after six months, I was still working on the same one area of the same project. That was far too slow a pace of work for me!

“In live events, there’s creativity, both in the production of events (music, lighting, set) but also in the problem solving (such as, how do we hide cables, access equipment, get it ready in time). I like working in such a dynamic environment: getting stuck in with whatever needs to be done, always learning and meeting new people.

“When I started out, I was often the youngest person and the only female on a technical team and really had to fight to earn respect, especially from older crew members. While it is encouraging to see more women in the industry, it’s sad that even after 20 years there are precious few female technical and production managers or crew chiefs.

“Because they are seen as physical and technical jobs, often women are either dissuaded from embarking on this career path or are actively overlooked.”

Our marketing, social media and website work is looked after by Claire, a journalist who has worked in the technology industry for 25 years.

And, since the return to ‘normal’ following the pandemic, we’ve worked to grow our freelance pool. We’re proud that at some of our festival projects with Jägermeister last year we had all-female operator teams.

However, there’s still only a small number of female lighting, sound and AV specialists out there and we would love more women with technical skills and experience or those leaving technical training to join us.

Sarah says: “As a female head of a company supporting the theatre, music and corporate event industry, I am committed to challenging bias in the workplace and ensuring that women are represented at all levels. Production Light & Sound encourages diversity and inclusion, and we’d love to hear from you.”