Josh Abelson, 35, is the co-owner of the INDUSTRIAL event space. He’s based in Las Vegas. A quote from his nomination: “With over 10 years of experience in marketing, sales, and event management, Josh is a passionate and versatile professional who thrives in dynamic and challenging environments.”
My career journey: “After college, I worked for different Fortune 500 companies running the Salesforce platform for sales teams and executives. I stumbled upon this as my major in college with retail with a focus in business.
I moved to Las Vegas in 2016 to start this business with my partner, Alexis. We threw several parties in an old family warehouse, with no electricity. Neither of us had any experience in the event/hospitality world, but we took a risk to start something new. From my previous work experience, I had great customer service and knew what it meant to work hard. This translated directly to starting our business. Now, eight years later, we have persevered with those principles and have hosted incredible clients such as the NFL, Microsoft, Ferrari, and many more.”
My day-to-day: “I am always at the venue as I like to be in the action! On non-event days, I am meeting with the different departments at our company to plan and strategize for upcoming events and prospects. A lot of my day is spent planning for the future and helping to grow our company.”
What inspires me: “I love seeing the success of what we have built. To go from a blank warehouse to hosting Fortune 100 companies in eight years is what keeps me going. We have built our venue and team over the years, and every step I am still truly grateful for and inspired by the opportunity. Also, seeing the mass growth in Las Vegas is very encouraging, especially from a live events perspective.” 
“We had over 500,000 people step foot in our venue,” says Abelson.Photo: Courtesy of Josh Abelson
My greatest career accomplishment: “One of my greatest career accomplishments was hosting an event for the president of the United States. Last summer, the White House booked a community event at our venue with 600-plus guests. This was truly a milestone to show how far we have come. Out of all the venues and spaces in Vegas, the White House chose ours to host the most important person in the country.”
The advice I’d give my younger self: “Continue to push and work hard. I am a big believer in hard work paying off. It might not look like it at first, but if you are truly passionate about something and work hard you will always have a payoff in some fashion. Also, don’t get caught up in what others want you to do and become; be your own person.”
What’s next: “I am continuing to grow and expand the INDUSTRIAL reach to make it a household name for flexible, turnkey venues. With over 40 million visitors a year, there is still room for marketing our space to all companies that come to Vegas.”
