The New Bosses 2025: Gabby Palmer, SUPER

The 18th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses in association with Futures Forum was revealed in IQ 137, recognising 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business. To get to know this year’s class a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2025’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.

Gabby Palmer is the creative director at SUPER, and her speciality is transforming events into unforgettable experiences. With a passion for art direction, graphic design, and immersive event management, Gabby excels at crafting moments that leave a lasting impact on fans. Her expertise spans from cleverly enhancing fan experiences through visual design to ensuring that every detail resonates and is delivered with creativity and purpose.

SUPER is an agency centred on creating ancillary revenue streams for touring artists, creators, and entertainers. It was rated the second-fastest growing company in the Travel & Hospitality category by Inc. 5000’s 2023 ranking list, and its momentum hasn’t slowed since. Gabby began as the second official employee at SUPER in the company’s nascence, having started her work there in 2019 and seeing it grow from a team of thre to a team of 30+. Since then, she has built a team of creatives who are changing the landscape of experiences in the music industry.

Gabby’s journey in the entertainment industry is marked by her work with a diverse roster of high-profile clients, including Metallica, Oprah, Katy Perry, Slipknot, Ghost, Bon Jovi, Cage The Elephant, Queen + Adam Lambert, President Barack Obama, YouTube, Genesis, WWE, Global Citizen, Disturbed, The Who, Boston Calling Music Festival, Chris Rock, and many more. Each project reflects her unique ability to merge each artist’s individual artistic vision with her own creative flair to deliver uniquely personal live experiences.

You’ve worked with an impressive array of clients. Can you tell us about one of your favourite projects that you’ve led?
My favourite project to date has been putting together the Enhanced Experiences program for Metallica’s M72 World Tour. Their tour, which remains our biggest account, catapulted us into much of our widespread success today. The opportunity to work with such a legendary name in music was at once daunting and thrilling, and I’m very proud of the experience that we put together for those fans.

The company has grown a lot since it launched. How have you found the learning curve, as a leader – and do you have a mentor or anyone you can rely on for advice?
I’ve been fortunate to have a mentor in our founder Mike Savas, who has believed in honing my leadership skills since Day 1. Our company has an unconventional work culture, with a team of mostly women, a culture that champions passion and creativity, and a CEO who leads with kindness and enthusiasm. I’ve been lucky to have really great role models who showed me through their actions that the traditional rules of corporate leadership are not the only paths that lead to success.

“If you’re kind and you produce great work, people will take notice”

Your clients will have very different target groups in terms of demographics, or musical genres, etc. How do you and your team put yourselves in the shoes of those target fans?
The key is in research. Our first touch point is looking at fan communities on Discord, Reddit, Etsy (often overlooked!), Twitter, Instagram, and even fan fiction websites for the artists it applies to. While we aim to meet fans in a way that feels genuine, we’re always torn between what the fan wants and what management needs. Finding that balance, while upholding our integrity, is the true key to a great program.

Your remit at SUPER covers a variety of disciplines outside of music. Are there any new areas where you can see the company expanding into?
We’re always looking for new niches to hit. In the last few years, we’ve become the go-to ticketing partner for Visa’s sporting events (Super Bowl, Olympics, FIFA World Cup), which is launching us further into that sector. We’ve also been exploring influencer fan events, which is a bit of a “wild west” sector of entertainment right now and ripe with opportunity.

What about meeting new contacts in the business – are there any conferences, festivals or other events that you have attended that have been useful for networking?
I can’t say that I’m the most proactive when it comes to networking, though luckily, the nature of working in Live Music means that there are plenty of naturally occurring networking opportunities. This industry is very tight-knit and word always travels, so my best advice for networking is pretty simple – if you’re kind and you produce great work, people will take notice.

“It’s important to always recognise that life exists beyond what we do for work”

As a new boss, what’s one thing you would change to make the live entertainment industry a better place?
Besides making it a more inclusive space for women and people of colour, I would say that the live entertainment industry would benefit from more kindness and empathy. I would love to see more people in positions of power offer better wages and benefits to their employees.

I would also love to see leaders regulate their expectations of work-life balance, though this issue is pervasive in many industries, it is more insidious in industries where passion is the draw for its workers. It’s important to always recognise that life exists beyond what we do for work.

What do you do outside of your job to relax?
I spend a lot of my free time working on my own personal creative projects to unwind. I’m currently building out my own brand called Bobomart, featuring an illustrated world that takes inspiration from my experiences growing up in Asia, and being of Filipino heritage.

My goal is to showcase the beauty behind vernacular design in restaurant menus, laundromats, and convenience stores, to offer a new lens through which we can appreciate the beauty around us that often goes unnoticed.

Looking back on your career, so far, what advice would you give to the 18-year-old Gabriella?
I would tell her to always trust her gut, to never give up on an idea she really believes in, and to hold onto her passion and excitement to explore ideas that intimidate her. The projects that give you imposter syndrome are the ones that really accelerate your growth, and a healthy dose of anxiety encourages you to do your best.

What would you like to see yourself doing in five years’ time?
I would love to work with one of my dream clients to bring a really crazy idea to life. Creating an immersive fan experience for Tyler, the Creator would be the ultimate bucket list accomplishment. I think I could really push the boundaries with a project like that.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.