Lessons from Artist Managers
Chapter 5
The second Finessed Media panel I attended as an Intern was the “Artist Management Panel”, moderated by our very own, Tiffany Wade – an aspiring Artist Manager herself, currently based in the Atlanta-area. For her event, she brought together an incredibly diverse group of women managers, all of whom were full of knowledge and excited to help the next generation of creatives. Of course, this is regular at Finessed Events, but still, it deserves to be recognized.
On August 29th, the Finessed Media community got the chance to learn from and speak with:
Trippie Redd’s manager, Charlene Bryant
Dax’s manager Brittney Boston,
Madame Gandhi’s manager, and bassist/manager for Mamalarky, Noor Khan,
as well as Trophy, who not only manages Jeezy Mula, but also A&R’s for Cinematic Music Group.
While listening to the different stories each of the managers told about getting to where they were, I realized how much of it was hard work intersecting with fate. Of course, it took a lot of work to get to where they are now, but even after years in the industry, none of them could have predicted where their paths would take them.
Charlene Bryant had been working with labels behind the scenes for years, but it was only once a fellow Canton, Ohio-native reached out to her for a favour, did she become an artist manager. Luckily for her, that phone call was from Trippie Redd’s mom, who knew Charlene had the knowledge and experience to help navigate Trippie’s success. Noor Khan met Madame Gandhi while she was in-between management, so she was brought on as an “intern” Tour Manager while she was still in school. As time went on, they became closer and she started taking on more responsibility. Eventually, she moved out to LA, to continue her work with Madame Gandhi, but also perform with and manage Mamalarky and Winter, two bands that she plays the Bass in. Britney Boston was a songwriter, who met and managed other songwriters. She would go on to work for Capitol Records, but organically fell into the role of Dax’s manager, because of a friendship that they had already built. For Julissa Bartholomew, aka “Trophy”, she was invited to “step up to the plate” and manage Jeezy Mula. Because she was eager to make an impact, she went back to school so that she could gain knowledge and bring back resources to not only help herself, but also help her artists.
None of these stories follow a simple trajectory, and few backstories do, but for these women, learning when and how to pivot, became key to their success. Obstacles are thrown at them literally every single day – especially at a time like this, but being the leaders that they are, they have been able to navigate. They found new ways to support their clients, and luckily for us, they were willing to share. They reminded us to be authentic, engaged and organized. They want us to be who we are, appreciate those that appreciate us, and plan our next steps – even though we will have to figure out how to pivot.
Although none of our panelists came into the game expecting to be managers, they found that their skills and paths lead them there, so instead of running from their blessings, they ran towards them – but only because it made sense. There had been plenty of times in their careers that they could have jumped at a “bag”, but because they remained patient, they would make bigger and better moves. They assured us, that even in the early stages of our career, we should carry this same sense of self-worth.
These were just some of the gems that resonated with me, an aspiring writer. I haven’t even begun to get into the nitty gritty of how you can use the gems our panelists shared to help grow your, or your artist’s career, so be sure to check out the event replay on our YouTube page!
Next week, we’ll discuss what I learned from Semaj Horry, CEO of All Harlem World.
Talk soon!