When making friends, you need different types in your life. You need that friend whose going to come meet you on a random Friday night for drinks and shisha. You need that friend to help you reason the unreasonable. And you need that blue sky thinking business friend like my friend David. We can talk about business for literally hours on end.
So when Dave introduced me to the Earn Your Leisure podcast I immediately gave it a listen. EYL is an American podcast with global reach, known for revolutionising the way the Black communities think about money. How they earn it. How they spend it. How to utilise it for the future.
So when I saw clips of the interview they were doing with comedic legend Steve Harvey, I was ready. I’m already a Steve Harvey fan but came to him through his talk show and his books rather than the comedy. So one Sunday morning I sat down to watch his two hour interview.
Listen to me when I say I had to remind myself to breathe. Uncle Steve was just dropping wisdom in abundance. It’s actually a phenomenal interview and I was inspired to see how people strategise, negotiate contracts and also fail in Hollywood.
The portion of the interview that got me in my feels though was the clip above. Here Steve breaks down the percentages behind contracts and how quickly a large portion can go to your support team. Sometimes as much as 70% could be removed from your earnings before you’ve done the work.
Now, is Uncle Steve lying? No, he’s not and for a moment I reassessed my life choices. I had to remind myself that my management experience comes through my experience building businesses and not because I’ve been in the Hollywood machine which has its pros and cons. I also really thought about the work managers do.
So, don’t get me wrong there are some shystie managers in the world. I’ve watched documentaries on the subject where everyone from The Backstreet Boys to Elvis felt the effects of dodgy management.
However, from my stand point, Uncle Steve also didn’t really explain what a manager or agent does and it goes far beyond just picking up the phone.
I’d like to think my management style is not like how I perceive some of the global companies to deliver it – impersonal, money driven, cold and callous. It’s a personal relationship and I don’t want to get to a point that I don’t know the people on my roster. However, it’s also a business relationship.
Whether a client requests talent or the manager/agent brings the work in there is always work involved. There’s the administration surrounding the contract, liasing with the potentail booker, putting contracts together. This takes time and resource.
There’s also the intangibles and tangible things you don’t see. As a manager/agent, my role splits into several camps.
It’s managing portions of my client’s lives. Diaries, meetings, issuing contracts, chasing payments, strategising.
One thing that I have in my arsenal is my experience across marketing, PR and business which gives me an ability to spot things and give insights that my client may not be aware of.
There’s the bits clients never see like pitching trying to get press, bookings etc. The filtering of calls and emails from not only interested bookers but at times members of the public looking for help or calling you to say they want your client to win Britain’s Got Talent (This is a true story).
Then there is the unspoken element. In some instances you’re the houser of secrets. The cheerleader. The reminder when the purpose seems lost. The voice of reason. The buffer. The gatekeeper. The bad cop when they don’t want to or can’t be.
Maybe I’m doing it wrong but this manager/agent doesn’t get to sit on their a** and do nothing. And honestly I wonder if that comes with being a Black woman, we don’t know anything other than hustle.
The point I’m making is that there are different types of managers in the world and whilst there’s a responsibility – and hope – they’ll be ones with intergrity, you as an artist have to do your due diligence and remember management is a partnership.
