As a part of the Morning Lazziness series about empowering women who are encouraging and doing incredible things with their ideas in society, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Pellicano.
Nicole Pellicano is the Director of Business Development at YellowHeart. In her current role, she spearheaded the ideation and development of the first-ever album to be released exclusively as a NFT with Kat Graham’s Toro Gato, helped lay the foundation for the Maroon 5 DAO, established and built the Brandi Carlile NFT community from the ground up, and more. She currently manages a roster of nearly 20 active clients and has a hands-on role in cultivating the growth of YellowHeart’s business portfolio.
Please let our users know about yourself and about your NFT Platform-YellowHeart NFT?
YellowHeart is a NYC-based, NFT ticketing, community token, and blockchain collectibles platform powered by distributed ledger technology and built exclusively for the benefit of artists, teams, and their authentic fans. I am our Director of Business Development – I focus on strategically expanding our new business, as well as maintaining meaningful relationships with existing partners.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Interestingly enough, my background is in social media and public relations – little to do with the space I’m currently in. I only started learning about this career path when I started conversations with the YellowHeart team.
Last year, YellowHeart released the first-ever NFT album with the Kings of Leon. The Kings’ manager, Andy Mendelsohn, is a long-time close family friend, and he suggested I speak to (YellowHeart founder & CEO) Josh Katz about a project manager role. In parallel, I was teaching myself about NFTs and the Web3 space. There wasn’t a lot out there about NFTs at the time, but the YellowHeart team is truly brilliant, and over the last year, I’ve learned from the best in the business.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Since joining YellowHeart, the Maroon 5 collection was one of the most meaningful, full-circle projects I’ve been involved with. My first concert ever was a Maroon 5 concert at Radio City Music Hall, so it was incredibly exciting to work with the band that I shared such a major milestone with. One of the M5 band members, Jesse Carmichael, was incredibly inquisitive and interested in the space, so having the opportunity to work with him and teach him what I knew was extremely exciting.
Let’s jump to our main focus: What is your NFT marketplace about?
At the core of our business, YellowHeart facilitates meaningful relationships between artists (or teams) and their fans.
Everything we do is for the fans. I think a lot of folks, unfortunately, get into NFTs for the wrong reasons (like looking to make a quick buck), but we pride ourselves on only putting out collections that we ourselves would buy. Our projects are always multi-pronged, rarely (if ever) a one-and-done. We want long-term partners.
Do you think NFT, which opens to virtual reality, could adversely impact our health due to increased screen time?
I don’t think NFTs increase screen time more than anything else we’re already doing on our phones and computers. In fact, the decentralized nature of the blockchain does an incredible job of giving us, the users, control over what we’re consuming – which I argue is good for our health. Web2 is nearly entirely controlled by major players – search engines, social platforms, etc. – Web3 is controlled by all of us, the users.
What are the key services you render through this platform?
We specialize in NFT ticketing, collectibles, and community tokens. Each pillar offers a unique opportunity for artists/teams to engage with their fans.
What are some upcoming programs you hope to launch this year?
Ticketing is a huge focus for us. Our app, and therefore our ticketing, officially launched in September 2021, and it’s something we’re looking forward to growing exponentially this year.
What do you think will be the future of NFT in this industry?
I truly believe that NFT ticketing is the natural next step in the ticketing industry. It gives artists control of secondary markets and allows them to rev-share on the resale of their tickets, which is an otherwise untapped revenue source for them. Right now, after that initial sale – many of those sales going to scalpers who intentionally raise prices and therefore take advantage of fans – artists don’t collect any money on secondary sales.
NFT ticketing is the answer to that problem, with so many other benefits.
Lastly, what’s one goal you’re looking forward to achieving in 2022?
I’m extremely excited to watch YellowHeart grow and evolve this year. We accomplished more in 2021 than many companies accomplished in five times as long. I look forward to adding more incredible team members to the YellowHeart family and pushing this company to the next level!
