Emily Satterlee is Founder of
“Any speaking engagement comes with nerves and insecurity. But this isn’t a pitch competition and I’m not there to sell anyone anything. I’ll be there to speak from the heart and to encourage anyone with an idea to answer their call to adventure,” Emily says. “Go out there and do the damn thing. Because there’s nothing else more important that you have to do.”

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The new technology tool transforms the old scheduling model by gathering a little intel from the user upfront. As an entrepreneur, Emily relates to the struggle of ‘concept to seed’ and encourages everyone to step into their moment and embrace their purpose despite the obstacles and barriers.

Emily is a singer-songwriter who spent the better part of her twenties playing songs in bars and coffee shops in Los Angeles, California. Emily made an album with a male music producer who discovered her from her live performances. The arrangement ended when Emily refused to date him or give him majority songwriting credits to her songs she wrote in their entirety from chord progressions, lyrics, to melodies.
The producer had a lawyer. The lawyer sent threats to Emily, claiming her refusal to cooperate had caused him to lose money from the potential of money he could have made. He threatened to sue Emily for astronomical amounts of money. He sent demands that the songs be removed from the internet and to cease any reproduction. Emily’s inexperience in the music industry led her to cave. She felt devastated, powerless, and confused.

“I was young and naïve. I had no contracts in place to protect myself. The whole experience turned me off from wanting to make music at all. After that time, I worked with many other producers; some were great experiences, some not-so-great,” Emily says. “Sometimes, I felt overcharged. Sometimes I felt results were
Emily saw a need in the music industry, and she wanted control over her creativity. She did not want to lose control over her rights to her songs. Her power was in her freedom to create change and bridge the gaps in music creation and production.
The experience propelled Emily to study music production and music business in college and launch one of the largest songwriter Meetups in Orange County. Emily led songwriting and studio collaboration workshops. She created a boutique production house in Los Angeles in 2014 with other like-minded producers.

“Through these experiences, I saw how many other artists are out there who struggle to find the right producers to work with and struggle to know how to protect themselves and get the best results,” Emily says. “But to be honest, it wasn’t until I saw 99Designs.com – a website where people can receive multiple concepts for their graphic design needs, like a logo and then pick their favorite – that I had the lightbulb moment for ItyDity.”
Emily’s idea was a 3rd party platform where artists can test out different producers. The platform aims to find the best fitting producer for an artist’s project and to protect the safety and rights of the users. She created something that she would have used all the time as a singer-songwriter if it had existed, ItyDity, the professional support of a label, with all the perks of DIY.
Part of Satterlee’s journey of launching
From that experience, she saw a need to have a virtual ‘Andrew, or Mentor’ that anyone could access if they needed it. She took that idea and made it a reality and created Pathway Pilot in partnership with Justin Harlow
They are aligning people with relevant startup week programming that fits their individual needs.

Pathway Pilot is easy to use. Complete a simple 15-minute questionnaire. Then, you get an effective schedule for Startup/

“The best part is all the data that the City of Fort Collins will get from survey participants,” Emily says. “By taking the survey, you’ll get your curated Startup Week curriculum, but you’ll also be helping the city – and The Music District – figure out what the pressing needs of the community are, so they can better provide the right support to entrepreneurs and artists year-round.”

“It’s not about the thing, the idea, the startup. There’s risk in entrepreneurship. Something like 95% of startups fails. If it works, and if you can solve a real problem, amazing,” Emily says. “But who you will become as a person during the process and how you will be tested and grow, is the true reward.”
Rsvp to FoCo Startup Week Kickoff Party and see Emily’s Keynote.
Singer/Songwriter/Producer? Try ItyDity for free: Upload a demo and start getting requests from top producers.