A life-shattering moment tested Dr. Angela Pearce’s determination while in pursuit of her first doctorate at Grand Canyon University.
Not only did Pearce stay on course, her new duties as director, CEO and chairman of the board of a prominent entertainment equipment company has fueled her motivation to seek another GCU doctorate tailored to become a more-rounded, sound leader.
“It’s more so of me trying to educate myself and me educating my team as far as what education entails,” Pearce said. “And for me, as a business owner, making sure they’re getting proper leadership.”
Pearce was in the midst of studying for her first doctorate when her husband Eric, founder of SGPS/ShowRig, Inc., a nationwide rigging, staging, custom fabrication and design company tailored for entertainment events, died in an accident in July 2022.
The death struck Pearce as well as more than 200 company employees and those in the industry who heeded Eric Pearce’s knowledge and innovation for decades.
“I had to tap into my psychology,” said Pearce, who possesses a deep background in technology. “My psyche is how to navigate life, how to navigate this newness of life, now to navigate the business, how to navigate the employees, how to be emotionally intelligent in things like that.”
Despite the heavy emotional weight of losing her spouse, Pearce knew the employees’ eyes were on her and that she needed to maintain her concentration on the company.
“I felt like I was blown up into a million pieces,” Pearce recalled. “Every single day I had to find ways to piece myself back together because I had to show up.
“I needed to be there to show them that emotional support, that moral support. Even though it was my husband (who passed away), it also was their boss. They were grieving as much as I was.”
Pearce took control of company operations and in 2023 earned her first doctorate – in philosophy with an emphasis in integrating technology, learning and psychology.
“Persistence,” said Dr. John Bryan, Pearce’s dissertation chair. “She just kept at it. She didn't let anything get in her way.”
But in order to run the company seamlessly and effectively, Pearce sought ways to improve her own skills and fortify the trust of her employees. The experience of earning her first doctorate at GCU while navigating through extremely difficult times paved a path to pursue another doctorate at GCU – this time in leadership.
“I must say, going through the courses ─ the leadership, the organizational courses ─ I’m learning a lot,” said Pearce, who has yet to reach the dissertation stage. “It’s making me become more aware of what leadership is, what it means to run a successful business, what it means to be sustainable, financial sustainability, industry competitiveness.
“It’s teaching me a lot about the business sector and how I can make our business better.”
Pearce is juggling a few balls in an industry known for high-wire acts. SGPS is a nationwide company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, with other U.S. locations in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville and New Orleans and an international location in Netherlands.
“Sometimes, as a chair, I tell learners that that they need to learn how to say ‘no,’ “ Bryan said. “Well, she wasn’t in a position of necessarily saying no to things that she couldn't say, ‘No, I don't want to inherit this business.
“She couldn't say ‘no, I'm not going to let the business tank because my husband died.' She had to do both.”
Pearce oversees a group of major stakeholders and shareholders, and hiring an entire executive team has allowed everyone to grow in their roles.
“I can look at the business from a 30,000-foot lens,” Pearce said.
That long scope is essential. SGPS is tailored for music for major concerts and tours, movies, filming and television production studios.
And when Eric Pearce passed, it meant, “it’s time for all of us to become leaders,” Angela Pearce said. “It’s time for all of us to take turns driving this bus.”
Angela conducted individual and department meetings at all of the company’s sites, explaining, “We need to come together. We have no time to bicker and fight and say who is going to be in charge, who is going to do this, who is going to do that.”
Pearce recognized she needed to be transparent in the midst of a crisis and provide employees with the company’s vision and goals.
“It was more of me giving them a certain degree of certainty, even though we were in the midst of uncertain times,” Pearce said.
Coincidentally, the title of Pearce’s first dissertation: “Smartphone Usage Affects on Multidimensional Aspects of Active Senior African American Smartphone Users’ Well-being” stemmed from watching her husband minimize the technology on his iPhone.
“I come from customer support, so I have that knowledge and background and skill sets to teach you how to use that technology without stupefying you or making you feel dumb, so to speak,” Pearce said.
“… I’ve learned how technology influences younger generations to older generations, how it impacts the psychology, psychologically, socially, economically and everything like that. Even academically. It gave me a different perspective as far as like how technology really impacts our lives.”
Pearce learned how technology has impacted people from different demographics.
“I’m still learning,” Pearce said. “There’s always something new. Look at AI. Everyone says we’re in an AI bubble. So I’m zoned in on AI. I wanted to take some AI classes. It’s significantly impacting us.”
Future perspective doctoral students juggling with other issues can learn from Pearce.
“If she can get through with everything that she went through, then other people should be able to also yeah, for sure,” Bryan said.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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