The Pro AV industry has long been known for its technical expertise and innovation, yet like many technical fields, it has historically lacked gender diversity.
That’s changing.
More women are entering and excelling in AV – leading projects, designing technology solutions, and shaping the industry's future.
In honor of Women's History Month, we spoke with four women on our team about their decision to enter the Pro AV industry. In this post, we share their thoughts on their career paths and offer their advice to other women considering roles in the industry. You’ll notice that not all their roles are highly technical – that was intentional to illustrate the broad range of roles available in this field.
Brittney Antonelli, Certified Technology Specialist
Role: Design Engineer
Years in Pro AV Industry: 5
Career Path: Specialist > Junior Engineer > Pre-Sales Engineer > Design Engineer
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies and a Master’s degree in Electronic Media Studies
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Brittney’s AV career began during high school. A substitute teacher with a background in broadcasting and media production encouraged Brittney’s class to improve the PA announcements at their school. The class started filming and producing video news segments, and by Brittney’s senior year, she was live broadcasting. |
After receiving her degrees, she networked her way into an AV company’s service department. “In this role, I worked with technicians and clients when they had issues with their systems. That allowed me to really understand commercial AV equipment, the different manufacturers, how the equipment functioned and how those systems worked.”
A series of promotions followed and then AVI recruited Brittney into a Design Engineer role, where she’s been for the last two years.
In this role, Brittney works with our account executives and sales team to design systems that offer the functionality a customer needs. Once clients sign off, the designs become a project. From there, Brittney puts together CAD drawings that provide the infrastructure architects require and creates documentation that on-site technicians need to install the systems properly. Along the way, she partners closely with AVI’s project management teams.
Brittney thinks the AV industry offers a unique combination of creativity and technicality and appreciates that, because the AV world is constantly changing, you can learn a lot in your role.
She’s passionate about two things she sees as gaps within the industry: the number of women in professional AV and the lack of awareness among youth of AV as a potential career path. To those ends, Brittney is now the co-chair of the AVIXA Women’s Council and has been involved in her branch office’s career fairs, reaching thousands of high school students.
Brittney’s advice to those interested in Pro AV: “Don’t be afraid to network and reach out to anyone doing what you may be interested in. Many people in this industry are very open to those conversations. And the more people and connections you have, the more possibilities open to you.”
Grace Blea
Role: Regional Branch Administrator
Years in Pro AV Industry: 1
Career Path: Administration > Area Administration> Regional Administration
Education: Certificate in Surgical Technology
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Grace found her way to the AV industry after spending more than 20 years in the medical field. There, she held managerial roles of increasing responsibility, eventually leading the administration of practices with multiple locations. These roles helped her gain operational expertise in managing people, accounts, and everything else that goes along with running a business. |
“I’ve done a lot of on-the-job learning over the course of my career and have had several good mentors in my path – mostly women. I really feel that prepared me for taking on a regional administrative role.”
After two years in a regional-level role in another industry, Grace joined the AVI team as the regional branch administrator for our Southeast region. In this role, she is responsible for coordinating administrative support to the sales team and maintaining branch administration according to budget, policies and procedures. She’s also a senior leader to her regional branch admins, inventory and warehouse management and facility management. In addition, Grace works with the central Financial Services Department to ensure each customer experience is best in class while maintaining accuracy, efficiency and organization around managing our cost of capital and the production of reliable and consistent regional financial information.
“The highlight of my role is that I get to support our more technical employees. By taking on the administrative business tasks, they can focus on what they love to do. In the end, this helps us grow and become successful as a team.”
Grace was drawn to AVI Systems because it’s a global company. This appealed to her because she’d hit the ceiling in most of her other jobs. “In this position and industry, I feel like the sky’s the limit because there’s so much growth and opportunity.”
Grace’s advice to those interested in Pro AV: Don’t be intimidated by the level of technology in this field – there are a lot of roles that support the more technical parts of the business. “In my role, you don’t need any technical background. Inventory is inventory and proposals are proposals – no matter what the subject matter is. If you’ve done them before in another industry, you can do them here.”
Samantha Cronin, Certified Technology Specialist
Role: Senior Project Manager
Years in Pro AV Industry: 19
Career Path: Service Coordinator > Project Manager > Senior Project Manager
Education: Associate’s degree in Film & TV Production
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Samantha’s been around AV equipment since she was a young girl, when she played in the warehouse of her grandfather’s AV company. As she got older, she got into movies and was always drawn to technology. After college, she landed a job in film and TV production, which she loved and was highly passionate about. But after working in the field for a while, she craved a career path with more stability. |
“Many people in AV have backgrounds in film, television and music. In AV, we can still work with and be around the latest technology, but the jobs are much more stable. That’s what drew me back.”
She worked in her family’s business for several years until it was bought out. After taking some time off for the birth of her first child, she became a service coordinator at AVI. Her project management skills quickly became evident, and her leader at the time suggested she move into that type of role.
Today, Samantha works in our Chicago office, where she manages the project teams that handle client work from start to finish. In this role, she collaborates closely with engineers, programmers, installation technicians, and other stakeholders. Additionally, she acts as a mentor for other project managers within her office. Samantha serves as the liaison to the company’s national project management office and facilitates the monthly knowledge-sharing meetings for the company.
When asked what skills have contributed to her success, Samantha quickly credits empathy. “Having empathy for customers and coworkers has taken me so far. Just the ability to listen – truly listen – to what people have to say and then respond with empathy to their situation. I think having that skill is huge.”
Samantha’s advice to women interested in Pro AV: “Don't be intimidated if you don't know AV or if you're not technically inclined. There are so many facets of the AV industry that you can get involved in, and there are all kinds of different departments here. You don’t need an engineering or technical background to succeed in this field.”
Lizzy Wolterman
Role: Senior Account Manager
Years in Pro AV Industry: 4
Career Path: Sales Intern > Sales Trainee > Inside Sales Rep > Account Manager > Senior Account Manager
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration
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Lizzy went to work for an electrical supply company right out of college. Hungry for more, she was drawn to the AV industry given its growth and the ever-changing technology. “I’m just a highly motivated person and saw that AVI had endless potential and growth. So, the opportunities here really fit well with my motivated mindset.” |
She’s quickly moved into sales roles of increasing responsibility and credits her leaders with making her feel like anything was possible – especially in a business development role. “I’ve worked hard, and the sales team has also given me a lot of support to help me succeed in my career.”
Today, as a senior account manager, Lizzy describes her role as helping make customers’ dreams come to life. She works directly with them on scopes of work, pricing and more. Lizzy also partners closely with the company’s engineering, design and project management teams.
When looking to the future, Lizzy is excited about AI and how quickly it’s become integrated into various AV systems. “It’s been very cool to watch from the beginning as AI has entered the audiovisual world and how that’s changing the way we design our systems. It’s truly creating a different environment for us.”
Lizzy’s advice to women interested in Pro AV: “Something I did early on in my career was write a vision statement for myself. Whenever I’m questioning what's important, I go back to that vision statement and re-focus on what I want out of my life, personally and professionally. So, my advice is to set goals based on what's important to you. Then, drive towards achieving those goals and always lead with integrity.”
Careers at AVI Systems
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