Got To Know The Lows To Hit The High Notes

Joe Hornaday

A titanic level of motivation and a potent sense of optimism have transported former Greensburg resident 23-year-old Leah Masterson from one side of the country to the other as she pursues her music industry dreams.

Masterson grew up locally, and graduated from North Decatur High School with the class of 2004. She then moved on to Butler University where she got her bachelor’s degree. During that time, Masterson received top offers for internships in New York City, where she worked for Warner Music Group, MTV and the Entertainment Law Offices of Greenberg and Traurig. She also got accepted into a special spring semester program at New York University in 2007.

After receiving her bachelor’s in music business and pre-law, she knew she was meant to live in New York City. Masterson went straight to Manhattan to garner her first entry-level job.

Unfortunately, three exhausting months of job searching led to zero call backs and no job offers, so she journeyed back to her hometown of Greensburg and got a job working at the Medicine Shoppe to save up money for her next big move, to Los Angeles.

“I had a couple hundred dollars and said ‘let me see what California has for me,’” she explained.

Things happened quickly for Masterson, and after only being home for two months, she received a telephone call from Universal Music Group in Los Angeles. She was told that the job interview was scheduled for the next day.

“I’m packing one suitcase full of professional attire, three resumes and $500, so let’s hope for the best,” Masterson told her parents.

Eight days after arriving in LA, she achieved her goal and landed a job. Since November, Masterson has been working as an entertainment paralegal alongside the CEO and senior vice president of Universal Music Group, one of the largest record labels in the world. Now she has her own place and her own car in Hollywood. Living there and working in the business has allowed her to meet superstars like Fergie, P. Diddy, Miley Cyrus and Paris Hilton among several others.

“Working (in the music industry) is something I always wanted to do,” Masterson said. “I’ve always loved music.”

Growing up in Greensburg, she passed the time by playing bass guitar and the saxophone. She was in a band during her junior year and was a drum major for the North Decatur school band.

“But not everyone can be a rock star,” Masterson said.

Now, she works for the company that helps create the future generation of rock stars.

Stephen and Kathleen Masterson, Leah’s parents, are especially proud of their only daughter. They are planning to visit her later this month, following her 23rd birthday, which she is celebrating today.

In 2010, Masterson plans on attending law school at UCLA to focus on entertainment law, which she hopes will take her to her next big step - becoming CEO of her own company.

Masterson is appreciative of her success, and said she felt her story might help high school students who feel “stuck” where they are get motivated to follow their dreams and continue their education. She added that she didn’t have a special background or circumstances, just immense motivation that propelled her to succeed.

“I wanted to put in my failure at New York to show people that you will have setbacks and hardships, but you need to continue to follow your dreams no matter what, because you can achieve eventually,” she said. “You never know until you try.”

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