Q&A with Celeste Brown, Part II

Part II of our interview with Rhino Staging’s Operations Manager in Tennessee Celeste Brown where she answers questions about working in Nashville, her Rhino journey, and advice to newcomers to the live events industry.

Working in Nashville

Q: Obviously, working in Nashville, country music’s capitol city, is a very exciting prospect for anyone on the outside looking in. What’s it like to live and work in live entertainment in “Music City”? What makes it different, maybe better, do you think, from other American cities for those in our profession? 

A: One of the biggest things that we tell all of our new hires is that Rhino Tennessee has a lot of opportunities that other markets do not. A lot of the shows store and pack their stuff here, they prep their shows here, they rehearse here, and they perform here. In Nashville, we get to be involved in every step of the process. We love when tours come through and recognize our crew or when our hands get to see all the prep work they did in action!

We have stagehands that sometimes get picked up by these tours and it is really exciting when the tours come into Nashville and we get to see our Rhino’s thriving!

Rhino’s office in Nashville. Read Part I of Celeste’s interview to learn more about it.

Personal Background

Q: Tell us a little about when and how you came to Rhino, what roles you have played in the company, and some of the stand-out experiences you have had along the way. 

A: I’ve always been involved in theatre and the arts for as long as I can remember. I had just left my theatre job and was looking for something different. I found Rhino Staging in Louisiana and started there as a stagehand in 2017. In late 2018, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee and transferred to Rhino Tennessee. I worked my way up to crew chief and then in 2022 I became a Scheduling Coordinator. By the end of 2022, I was officially promoted to Operations Manager! January 2027 will be 10 years with Rhino Staging.

I would say my favorite job I have ever worked would be WrestleMania 2018 in New Orleans. There’s something special about the chaos of wrestling and seeing everything behind the scenes. I also love working all things Rodeo related. Music City Rodeo is my favorite gig we do here in Nashville!

My biggest accomplishment though would be supervising my first Stadium show from beginning to end. I was the main supervisor for The Weeknd in 2025 here at Nissan Stadium (special shout-out to J Blain (CO) for being my co-sup and helping me out!). It was an incredible learning experience all around.

Advice to Newcomers

Q: What is the advice you give to new Rhinos who are just getting started in the live event business?

A: Try everything! I very first started as a sound engineer back in the day. I tried lighting and fell in love with it. Then one gig at Rhino I got put into the carpentry department and found that I was really good at it. Now I’m working in the office! We do a lot of really cool things in this industry and you never know what you might find out about yourself unless you try it.

Click here to read Part I of our interview with Celeste where she answers questions about Rhino’s new office space in Nashville, synergies with clients and venues, stagehand field days, and more.

Read more interviews with Rhino Staging team members at the links below.