The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum promoted five staff members to either associate director or director roles within the museum’s events, sales, public relations, retail and security teams. It also recently welcomed Patrick Huber as historian-editor. Details below.
Museum welcomes new staff member
Patrick Huber recently joined the museum as historian and editor in the museum services department. In this role, he will contribute to exhibitions, museum publications, public programs and other educational initiatives that document and interpret the history of country music and the genre’s contributions to American culture. Huber is professor emeritus of Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he taught U.S. history for more than 20 years and won more than a dozen campus teaching and research awards. He is the author or editor of six books, including Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South (2008), which won the 2010 Wayland D. Hand Prize from the American Folklore Society and other awards. His other books include The Hank Williams Reader (2014) and A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record (2018), which earned national recognition for research and documentation of country, blues and bluegrass history. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Museum promotes five
Events
Grace Cavanaugh has been promoted to associate director of event services and catering. She oversees the event services team, which manages more than 1,000 private and internal events annually at the museum. Since joining the museum in 2015, Cavanaugh has served as event services and catering manager and, most recently, senior event services and catering manager. With more than 13 years of experience in the event industry, she previously worked with Sodexo. She holds a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from Widener University.
Museum Sales
Paige Maillet has been named associate director of guest relations. Maillet oversees all aspects of the visitor experience for the museum, Hatch Show Print and Historic RCA Studio B tours, as well as other publicly ticketed events and programs. Her oversight includes box office sales, information and membership desks, greeters, tour guides, reservationists and ushers. During her seven-year tenure with the museum, Maillet has served as guest relations specialist, guest relations coordinator, assistant reservations manager, reservations manager and most recently ticketing services and reservations manager. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Texas Christian University.
Public Relations
Aubrey Miller has been promoted to director of public relations. In this role, she develops and implements public relations and media relations strategies, as well as executes external communications campaigns for museum initiatives, including exhibitions, public and family programming, education programs, development and community outreach efforts, along with museum-operated Hatch Show Print and Historic RCA Studio B. Miller previously served as public relations manager and most recently senior manager of public relations. Prior to joining the museum staff in 2019, she served as senior manager of public relations and video/photo production for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from East Tennessee State University.
Retail
Kayla Zakosek has been named associate director of retail. In her new role, she helps oversee the retail stores and develop strategies to drive sales that provide key operating revenue for the museum. Her oversight includes operation of four stores featuring merchandise for the museum and Hatch Show Print. Zakosek joined the museum in 2019 as store manager. She previously held the position of retail store manager at the United Center in Chicago.
Security
Joe Bridges has been promoted to associate director of security. Bridges is responsible for a safe working environment for staff, visitors and guests during all hours and events. His job entails maintaining and enforcing security policies and procedures; providing security for the buildings, artifacts and other company assets; and overseeing daily security operations, among other duties. Bridges previously served as senior security manager. He has an associate’s degree in applied science from Nashville State Community College.
