& n o i t a v o n In d o o h t n a v r Se p i h s r e d a e L Innovation in Business
BY ANNA DERBY SHIRE (‘9 0)
SUSAN (VAN HOOK) RILEY (’97) has embraced innovation throughout her career, always grounded by fundamental lessons of Servant Leadership learned at Southern Nazarene University. As a Freshman at SNU, Susan became part of SGA (Student Government Association) working alongside (future husband) Rod Riley. Through their shared SGA experience, Rod and Susan “remember many faculty and staff members who poured into us, taught us the importance of servant leadership, and helped to lay the foundation for how we viewed business going forward.... We will forever be thankful to them,” Susan said. In 1997, Rod and Susan graduated from SNU, married, and headed to Nashville, TN, beginning careers in the Christian music industry. During that time, they saw a need for a label geared to a younger audience and started saving up money to launch Fervent Records in 1999. The biggest hurdle was getting the first band to sign. “We had no experience and were so young ourselves,” Susan recalled. Finally, after persistence, By The Tree, a band out of Texas, signed. Big Daddy Weave signed in 2002, which put the label on the map, and many other bands followed suit. “Early on we had to be innovative as we ran on a shoestring budget. We had to come up with street level marketing plans and creative ways to compete with more established labels.” she said. “We built the label together with the bands, as many lived in our house and drove our cars on promotional tours, etc. Innovation and servant leadership were truly the foundation of Fervent Records,” said Susan.
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SNU MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
SNU.EDU/ALUMNI
