PROFILE
Jim Mack
By Michael Raine
J
im Mack’s rollercoaster career has
given him an insider’s perspective
on the highs and lows of the audio
products industry – a perspective
that’s been particularly valuable
to his current stint as CEO of
Ashly Audio, a subsidiary of JAM
Industries.
“I know the experience of both the
highs, and maybe even more so the lows,
really made me stronger for the next chal-
lenge,” says Mack, who’s been leading Ashly
since 2017.
Like many kids growing up in Chicago,
sports were his driving passion. That is until
he caught the “musician bug” in his sopho-
more year of high school, and “the rest is
history,” as Mack says.
This love of music converged with a
fascination in audio gadgets and so, after
high school, he joined a regional hi-fi chain
called Playback Electronics. At the same
time, his band “dumped an insane amount
of money into a huge PA system,” though as
young bands often do, they broke up. That
led to Mack and the group’s sound tech
renting out the PA system, which then led
to a job leading the pro audio department
at a small music store while also running a
sound rental company on the side.
“I was ready to take another position
with Sony Consumer Audio when my friend,
John Reda, offered me a position in his ‘little’
rep firm, Sound Marketing, which is now
one of the larger firms in our industry,” Mack
recalls. He stayed there for nine years, learn-
ing a lot from the company’s value-added
concept before growing tired of the sales
rep routine.
One of Sound Marketing’s bigger lines
happened to be Alesis, which at the time
was looking to get more into studio and live
audio products. “They wanted someone to
drive that part of the business, and I loved
the challenge. In spite of their reservations
about pulling a key guy from one of their
better rep firms, and my hesitance to leave
Chicago, I took the gig and my wife and I
packed up and moved to L.A.”
He stayed with Alesis from 1994 through
to its bankruptcy in 2001. “Watching and
being a part of the rise and ultimate fall of
such a dynamic company was an amazing
experience. I like to say it was ‘the best edu-
cation I was ever paid for,’” Mack says with
good humour.
After Alesis, and with a newborn daugh-
ter at home, Mack took a job with TEAC/
TASCAM just two weeks before the 9/11
terrorist attacks. “We were able to navigate
the rough market that consumed the next
few years because TEAC was such a broad
and stable company. Again, working with
such a great Japanese company, seeing the
attention to detail and process that they
utilized, was an incredibly valuable learning
experience.”
A couple of years later, now with twin
daughters added to the family mix, Mack
joined his good friend Bob Tudor at audio
technology company SaneWave. One of
its clients was Jim Odom at PreSonus, who
they had worked with on early mixer plans.
“Shortly after SaneWave folded, Jim came to
me and said PreSonus was looking for a new
CEO to move the company to the next level.
I had tremendous respect for what Jim had
done to that point, and the opportunity to
be a part of growing the company was an
awesome opportunity.” And so, Mack, his
wife, and their three daughters packed up
again in 2008 for a move to Baton Rouge, LA.
At PreSonus, Mack says his biggest con-
tribution was building a team of “industry
superstars” who crafted a “great brand and
marketing presence, high-quality product
development, and best practices in several
areas.”
Ultimately, Mack left PreSonus to do
consulting, but he had known the JAM
Industries team in Montreal for a long time.
He had a few conversations with JAM CEO
Marty Szpiro about Ashly Audio, which JAM
had purchased in 2008. “We agreed that
Ashly had tremendous growth potential
that wasn’t being realized. When they of-
fered me the opportunity to drive that
growth initiative, I was all in,” Mack recalls. “I
love the challenge, and the opportunity to
do it within the JAM organization, which is
Michael Raine is the Senior Editor of Professional Sound.
18 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
really one of, if not the best companies in
the entire industry.”
Since joining Ashly Audio, Mack says
the biggest challenge has been exercising
patience, as many of the things they’re try-
ing to accomplish take time. “In the near
term, it’s not only about transforming the
company’s market position with a wide
range of new and exciting products, but we
are also transforming the way we commu-
nicate who we are and why anyone should
care,” he says.
Away from work, his short-term goal is
helping his three high-school-age daugh-
ters succeed in their studies and prepare
for college. “Fortunately, they are all way
better students than I ever was and are do-
ing great,” he enthuses. “My oldest daughter
is a phenomenal artist and she has been
accepted at a couple of great schools. She
just needs to pick one!
“Beyond that,” he adds, “we’re still get-
ting settled in Rochester and getting in-
volved in various local community activities.
We were in Baton Rouge for over nine years
and established several great relationships
and community ties. We look forward to
doing the same in this area.”
Also, being a longtime Chicago Black-
hawks fan, he wants to visit as many NHL
arenas as he can. “There are 12 teams within
six hours of here, so that will keep me busy
for a while.”