The background:
Fabiola’s passion for live events was there from the start. Born in Colombia, she was raised surrounded by a melange of sound – from African beats to sultry Spanish rhythms. So it felt like a natural step to study a degree in music. During her studies, she fronted bands – where she always seemed to end up taking the reins, managing bookings, handling promotion, and looking for opportunities to perform. With this experience under her belt, Fabiola decided to build on it through a master’s degree in music and management at Leeds University. This experience taught her a lot – but her dream of producing events or programming music for festivals still felt out of reach.
I didn’t want another long academic course. I wanted something that would help me understand the gaps in my knowledge and fill them.
Fabiola Morales
A chance encounter with a MUTI Live bootcamp
Although immersed in the music industry, Fabiola wasn’t sure how to make the next big leap. She knew there were gaps in her knowledge – especially when it came to funding and budgeting. But with a full-time job, how on earth could she fill those gaps and get clarity and confidence? The answer came when she spotted the MUTI Live Event Producers’ bootcamp, which ticked all the boxes:
- ✅ A course flexible enough to work around her full-time job.
- ✅ A free course (subsidised by the Government).
- ✅ A practical, hands-on course focused on real-life processes
What the bootcamp delivered
For Fabiola, the bootcamp was a fantastic experience. She told us: “Everything was straight to the point. The stuff I really needed to know about grants, funding, budgeting, risk assessments and health and safety was delivered in a succinct, simple way. And probably a highlight for me was the expert panels. To hear other people’s real-life experiences – and be able to ask them how they dealt with certain situations – was so valuable. When people are prepared to share their mistakes, their successes and even failures, that’s really powerful. It gives you a huge confidence boost, because you realise we’re all learning as we go along.”
The bootcamp gave Fabiola exactly what she was looking for:
- Filled knowledge gaps around producing events.
- Helped her feel confident about handling all aspects of an event cycle.
- Showed her how transferable her existing skills are.
- Connected her with a supportive community of learners and industry professionals.
It’s great to learn alongside people of different ages, at different stages in their careers, with vastly different experiences. Everyone was genuinely open to helping and supporting each other – and that made it such a valuable experience.
The impact for Fabiola
Armed with new knowledge and a newfound confidence, Fabiola convinced Bristol Beacon, where she works as Assistant House Manager, to let her produce a show for Asere, the legendary Cuban ensemble. Fabiola told us, “There’s a big Latin America community in Bristol, so I knew the right demographic was there to put on a successful event.” With great support from the Beacon marketing team, she pulled it off, handling the booking of the band, liaising with the venue and coordinating the whole event from start to finish. And on the night, she stepped outside of her house management role to look after the band and rep the show.
When asked what the Event Producing Skills Bootcamp meant for Fabiola, she said, “It showed me that everything I’d picked up doing different things in the music world was really beneficial and valuable – it was exactly the foundation I needed. MUTI helped me fill the gaps and take my knowledge and skills to the next level. Now producing events doesn’t feel like a distant dream; it’s the next chapter in my career.”
