By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Elllie Baker has a job many people would consider “cool.” In fact, she has two jobs which would fall into that territory!
The Decatur native has landed in the Music City, Nashville, where she is an Arena Marketing Assistant at the Bridgestone Arena, home of the National Hockey League’s Predators along with shows featuring some of the top names in the entertainment business.
But how’s this for some sweet frosting on the huge cake? Ellie also is an usher at the iconic Ryman Auditorium, where the Grand Old Opry became a national treasure.
After graduation from Bellmont High School, the daughter of Heidi and Aaron Baker of near Decatur moved to Nashville in the fall of 2020 to attend Belmont University. She majored in Music Business and, thanks to the AP and Dual Credit offerings at BHS, fast-tracked her degree, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in only three years.
“I began working at the Ryman Auditorium in my final year of college,” Ellie said. “I loved the job from the get-go! My dream job and reason for attending Belmont University was to one day be able to work in a music venue where I had the ability to experience live music as often as I possibly could.
“The Ryman Auditorium is such an amazing venue to work at in Nashville; it lives up to its legendary name every day,” she continued. “At the Ryman, I work the shows as an usher, which means I help with the guest experiences throughout the night, welcoming them into the building, helping find seats, answering questions, etc.”
When not busy, she says, “I’m able to enjoy the show.”
And in her year and a half at the Ryman, she’s seen some great artists – like Bono, Jason Bonham, Billy Strings and Ed Sheeran.
Ellie has seen some pretty cool stuff at the Bridgestone, too. Such as KISS, Queen with Adam Lambert, Thomas Rhett, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo.
Ellie’s first full-time job in the music industry came in 2023 at the Bridgestone.
“My position at Bridgestone Arena involves the marketing of the shows the arena hosts, more so than the marketing of the Nashville Predators team and games,” she explained.
“Our marketing team manages the social media outlets and website for the arena, so we announce shows coming soon and promote them accordingly.
“Most of the communications from the arena come from our lovely little arena marketing team, so I spend lots of time creating emails that we send to locals of Nashville and guests who visit the arena.”
There’s more: “We also coordinate backstage promotions for the artists coming through the building, which means creating welcome boards to display back stage, picking out fun artist gifts for big shows, and communicating with the tour promoter to make sure everything goes as smooth as possible,” Ellie said.
“Although our marketing teams split the responsibilities, I do some work for the (hockey) team by promoting their upcoming games in our outlets and selecting shows to promote in their games. I also try to attend every Predators home game that I can, because I am of course a huge fan of the team.”
(Her favorite player, by the way, is Juuse Saros, a 28-year-old Finnish goaltender.)
Elllie, who had another “cool” job during her high school days when she worked at Famous Monster Pizza in Decatur, says she is “hoping and praying” that the Preds make it into the NHL playoffs.
A fan is born!