The Founders

On April 10, 2019, award-winning musician, record producer, and accomplished networker Emo Alaeddin held his first MNO meeting at his SoCal recording studio, Granted Records, by inviting professionals he had known locally. His hope was to form a networking group of musicians and other professionals who would meet weekly and then promote each other on each others’ social media.

Magically, in twelve weeks, the concept of “Play It Forward” was put to practice by way of the formation of the first chapter of MNO members, who would call themselves The Founders MNO, which is still around today.

The Founders MNO’s very first meeting was held on July 3, 2019 at Granted Records in Southern California and was open to visitors to celebrate the launch of the very first music networking group.

One of the visitors in attendance was Emo Alaeddin’s good friend, financial planner, and equally accomplished networker Melissa Levin, CFP®. Melissa was already attending Alaeddin’s concerts and was curious to see what her friend and fellow networker had created.

As impressed as she was with The Founders MNO’s first meeting, she saw the potential to turn MNO into not only a networking group that focused primarily on musicians but a networking organization with equal focus for all professions.

Melissa had built her financial planning business solely by way of referrals generated from referral groups in her past and understood the power of networking with professionals from all industries. She was an avid fan of local music and understood the plight of musicians and how important it was to them to have folks attending their shows and listening to their music.

So after the first Founders MNO meeting, Melissa submitted her application for membership as the financial planner. She was excited about promoting the talented musicians of The Founders MNO but also saw the potential for the musicians to recommend her services to their fans, friends, coworkers, and family members. Her concept of truly bringing together the two unlikely worlds of music and business together made her an undeniable founder of MNO.

In September 2019, Music Network One, Inc (now rebranded as MNO) was officially established with Emo Alaeddin and Melissa Levin as equal shareholders. In March 2020, their proprietary MNO Member App was launched and MNO members were able to post for each other on their social media sites, pass referrals, log shows attended, and invite visitors looking to grow their businesses all within the app.