Joe GiulianoI first worked with ElizBeth “Beth” Jones, CEO of Atomic Venus Media (AVM), more than thirteen years ago at Parallel 49 (P49), an offshoot of The Feldman Agency. P49 felt like a manifester for bigger things. It was there I watched Beth carve out a new lane in non-traditional and variety touring – what we’d now refer to as experiential.
Her Midwest roots resonated with me. We were two dreamers navigating an industry that rarely shows mercy. Beth quickly became a mentor and trusted advisor, leading with vision, courage, and an unshakable belief that storytelling could change lives.
When Beth shifted her focus from touring, our paths split. She began incubating the ideas that would grow into Atomic Venus Media (AVM), while I joined Live Nation. I spent a decade there, rising from Project Manager to one of their top Tour Directors. From clubs to arenas, I built financial models, forecasted tours, and managed logistics for some of the biggest names in music – all with the foundation I’d gained from her guidance. It was a crash course in the machinery of live entertainment.
Even from afar, her influence stayed with me. Beth showed me early that entertainment wasn’t just about shows – it was about shaping culture. Which is why, more than a decade later, watching her launch AVM, a female-led media and entertainment company creating original content and transforming film and television IP into dynamic live and immersive experiences – feels less like a surprise and more like inevitability.
Beth has always believed in the impossible. She has always championed collaboration over competition. Most of all, she has always carried the conviction that stories can heal, inspire, and transform.
Beth’s story begins in southern Ohio, on the edge of Kentucky and West Virginia. Her father, a Marine, farmer, and truck driver, died when she was twelve. Money was scarce, but her mother was gifted tickets to the rock opera Brigadoon – a show about a city that comes alive every hundred years and where true love can transcend time.
That night changed everything. “It was as if that show opened a doorway to the divine,” she recalls. “I could breathe again for the first time. It restored my faith and helped me truly understand where my dad was.”
The stage was a revelation. That moment gave her purpose: to create stories and tours that could offer the same renewal to others. “The arts quite literally saved my life,” she says. “The least I can do is to return that honor.”
In college, she worked every angle in live entertainment from events in museums to radio shows and amphitheaters. Her first big career leap came with the Mushroom Group based in Australia. This is where she says she earned her “degree” in the music business.
As one of the few female agents in the PA department at The William Morris Agency, she had a reputation for creating the story around the tour. Her successes got her hired to do non-traditional touring and she was asked to take on traditional tours as well. Broadway and WME became her master’s and leaving WME to strike out on her own became her PhD.
Each chapter has built persistence, innovation, and respect. Building a startup, she says, “taught the power of relationships, intuition, and perseverance against all odds. Vision is the anchor of AVM, creativity is the soul. Find the power in your knowledge and voice – realize not everyone is going to agree, and that’s okay. Be adaptable.”
Beth is quick to credit her mentors. The lessons she carries sound simple but cut deep:
Your health is paramount. Be prepared to pivot. Good choices can’t be made from a place of fear. She also learned that values are non-negotiable. “If you don’t align on core values, you’ll never agree when things turn chaotic,” she says. “Find incredible mentors and surround yourself with people who believe in you in the easy and hard times. Disagreements are natural. Always leave room for a perspective shift in the future.”
That clarity was evident at P49. I watched her hold her ground in tough rooms, with even tougher people, and then take the time to guide me through lessons I still use today.
Earlier this year, as AVM launched, Beth ran into Todd Holmberg, a Midwest presenter from Kansas State University she hadn’t seen in over a decade. With tears of gratitude in his eyes, he told her that if he hadn’t booked Mannheim Steamroller with her years ago, the series there would not have grown to enjoy its national relevance and stature today. Beth shook her head at the credit. “We’re all part of a bigger puzzle,” she insisted. Holmberg also mentioned he was serving on a non-profit board restoring an 1880s vintage theatre, Wareham Hall. Beth was inspired, immediately recognizing yet another opportunity for connection. “How crazy if we ended up filming Vaudeville there. That’s what I call kismet.”
Vaudeville is one of AVM’s pieces of original IP and its touring potential feels like a no-brainer. Venues need content year-round, and audiences are hungry for variety.
Beth’s résumé is a tour de force through modern entertainment. She learned from Mel Brooks and The Producers’ general management team on Broadway. She stared down skeptics who swore Hugh Jackman wouldn’t sell in Performing Arts Centers – and watched him sell out in minutes. At William Morris, she was behind the first national tours of shows like MythBusters: Behind the Myths Live Tour, that redefined how television and live shows intersected.
She helped build The Price Is Right Live into a multimillion-dollar touring franchise that still thrives today. In typical fashion, she credits others for its success. Humility runs in her bloodline. Still, she was central to transforming a TV institution into a live juggernaut.
Her boldest move came when she walked away. After years at the top of the industry, she left to start something of her own because she saw the opportunity. “Having the courage to leave everything I had worked so hard for and known – that was the leap,” she says. That leap became Atomic Venus Media (AVM).
AVM’s mission is rooted in Beth’s commitment to impact people globally through storytelling – a form of healing. At its heart are two principles she repeats often: make the impossible possible, and choose collaboration over competition.
“More brilliant minds means more possibility,” she says. “The financial upside comes naturally with that combination.” That philosophy shapes every AVM project. She created Couture on Tour from scratch, then secured the license for Emily in Paris.
AVM is entering its next chapter. They are in advanced conversations to acquire multiple licensed properties while developing original IP across film, television, live touring, and mobile-first content. The goal is not one-off projects but ecosystems – stories designed to expand across mediums, drive multiple revenue streams, and resonate long after launch. “Our projects are never just one thing,” Beth explains. “They live in multiple places and invite the audience to engage on their terms. That’s how you build loyalty – and longevity. That’s community. Which is everything.”
Beth’s optimism isn’t just emotional – it’s grounded in market momentum. Experiential marketing was projected to reach $128 billion globally by the end of 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Nearly three-quarters of Fortune 1000 marketers say they plan to increase that spending in 2025. Broadway is booming as well: the 2024–25 season grossed a record-setting $1.89 billion – up roughly 23 percent from the prior year. Live Nation reported a 20 percent increase in global concert attendance, with the top 100 tours grossing $9.17 billion. And corporate event spending was projected to grow from $429 billion in 2024 to $670 billion by 2033.
Beth frames it simply: “The future is Limitless. Don’t listen to the noise. The only thing that inhibits the possibilities of our creativity right now is ourselves.
She compares this moment to Vaudeville in the early 1900s, when doctors and lawyers abandoned stable careers because live entertainment was more lucrative. “Live entertainment is about to expand in ways we can’t fathom,” she says. “But like Vaudeville, today’s platforms thrive on variety, immediacy, and community at the heart of it all.”
Beth doesn’t shy away from technology; she leans into it. “I heard a great quote from an amazing entrepreneur, founder, and CEO Neha Kumar – ‘AI is your new trusted co-pilot’! She continues, “Is it about to take some people’s jobs, yes. And that can be frightening, but when one door closes, another opens.” For Beth, the challenge is balance: preserving creativity’s soul while harnessing tech’s power. AI-driven personalization, AR/VR, and interactive streaming are already transforming events. A 2,000-seat venue can now reach two million virtually. A live show can evolve into a mobile series, a brand activation, a global community.
Equally important is the rise of independent creators. Millions of voices outside Hollywood are shaping culture in real time. Most lack infrastructure to scale. AVM aims to be that bridge: amplifying their stories without stripping their authenticity, and connecting them to platforms that can take them global. “It’s not about giving them a seat at the table,” Beth says. “It’s about building the new table together.”
Beth’s journey has been defined by resilience. From losing her father to facing down Hollywood’s old boys’ club – she has never shied from hard truths. Her advice reflects that resilience: Learn the lessons – failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s part of it. Don’t argue with skunks, you’ll only end up smelling. And above all, don’t give up before your miracle happens.
For Beth, the Phoenix tattoo on her arm isn’t about survival anymore. It’s about ascension. “We’re not just part of the future of entertainment at AVM,” she says. “We’re helping to architect it.”
For me, this story is personal. I started under her wing at P49, carried those lessons into my decade at Live Nation, and now get to write about her as she leads a company built on blending courage, creativity, and collaboration with commerce.
We share Midwest roots, and maybe that’s why her journey resonates so deeply. Beth Jones taught me vision. And with Atomic Venus Media, she’s proving that the impossible is only the beginning.