In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.

This week's entrants will also find their mugs in our latest mag. Thankfully, they can lament this mortifying experience over delicious Super Bowl party leftovers.

Jess Mills
VP, Audience Development, AWAL

Mills is proud to have worked with JVKE on his debut album, 2022’s this is what __ feels like (Vol. 1-4), and viral hit “golden hour,” which amassed 500m+ streams and 3b+ views on social media and was AWAL’s first Top 10 hit. In addition to further campaigns for JVKE, Mills is working on Lizzy McAlpine’s “ceilings” and Lovejoy’s “CALL ME WHAT YOU LIKE,” as well as projects by Blake Rose and Eloise. Mills was voted “best dancer” in high school. We’ve been voted “worst trade rag” for 36 years.

Walter J. Tucker
Music Business Partnerships Lead (Hip-Hop + R&B), Apple Music

Tucker has managed campaigns for the likes of Nas, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Brent Faiyaz, Muni Long, Rod Wave, Mary J. Blige and Gunna and helped launch the first hyperlocal Apple Maps guide to Virginia, curated by Pusha T. The partnerships aficionado involves himself in everything from editorial pitches, Apple Music radio and marketing to original content, live-music events and strategic platform featuring. In his downtime, he obsesses over battle rap and Marvel movies. Too bad he can’t snap us away.

Nichole Kord
Director of Project Management, Create Music Group

Kord’s career highlights have included serving as the project manager for buzzing up-and-comer Ice Spice’s “Munch (Feelin’ U)” and “Bikini Bottom” via Create’s JV with Worldstar Distribution. Other standout projects have spanned Tory Lanez’s Sorry 4 What and DJ Chose’s “THICK.” She’s currently working on the next album by Foolio, whom she inked in 2020, among other endeavors. A USC alum, Kord also goes by her Ukrainian name, Nika, and speaks fluent Russian, which helpfully allows her to ignore us in multiple languages.

Joseph Morrison
Head of Creative, SVP, 10K Projects

Morrison has seen his photos for Spotify’s “New Music Friday” light up Time Square, led creative efforts on marketing campaigns for Trippie Redd’s Tripp at Knight and Internet Money’s platinum single “Lemonade” and delivered album art for the Grammy-nominated 2020 track “Bill & Ted Face the Music.” He just helped roll out Redd’s MANSION MUSIK mixtape, which debuted at #3, and is now curating visuals for JELEEL!’s upcoming debut album. Morrison’s starting a coffee-driven social club for entertainment-industry folk. Our invite was clearly lost in the ether.

Juliana Otero
U.S. Latin Project Manager, ONErpm

Otero will always reflect fondly on her role in the launch of Randy’s Romances de una nota, the album that yielded his single “23,” which has earned 125m+ Spotify streams, thus becoming one of the most important tracks of his solo career. More recently, she’s been focused on a forthcoming release from Ana Bárbara that she expects to set a record in the Mexican music scene. On top of serving as a project manager, Otero is passionate about music production. She also loves dogs and considers herself a foodie. She considers us losers.

Lindsay Simon
Senior Manager, The Oriel

Simon lived her fangirl dream when she took Stranger Things’ Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna) on a promo tour, in Brazil, no less. Her 2023 is coming in hot with the release of Kelela’s RAVEN and boygenius’ plans for an album due 3/31 and Coachella. She also just saw her work with Nice Life founder Ricky Reed to promote Lizzo’s Special culminate in a Grammy ROTY win for “About Damn Time.” Simon found herself in the biggest crowd imaginable when she attended Pope Benedict’s 2005 election in Saint Peter’s Square. Our presence would have cleared the room.

Nick Dearmun
General Manager, Three Six Zero Recordings

From listening to Rod Stewart tell stories at Abbey Roads Studio during his first job at Decca Records to working albums by Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man at Columbia and helping launch Three Six Zero alongside Pete Tong and Mark Gillespie, Dearmun’s career has been nothing short of exhilarating. He recently helped Dom Dolla grow to 4.4m+ monthly Spotify listeners and play over 120 shows while overseeing releases by Eric Prydz, Fanky Wah, John Summit and more. Dearmun was once a competitive swimmer. Too bad he can’t backstroke away from this feature.