Being an Agent

After watching Jerry Maguire over the weekend I got a little sappy about the whole artist/agent relationship and felt the need to write about it.

What is a good agent? Obviously there is no right answer as I am sure it would be in a dictionary somewhere if it was. It’s a very personal question as in What makes a good wife, a great husband, a great Mom? There’s no right answer, but I felt the need to write more about me and what makes an agent get out of bed every morning. Maybe understanding more about agents will give artists better insight into their business partner.

As an agent, business development is my one true love. I thrive on looking at a brand, a piece of art, a concept and then figuring out what will this work on, which company can I see this with, what end consumer would be interested in this? How can I make it happen? My other true love would be the artists I work with and the designs they create. If one of my artists send me a new collection, I will turn on my computer at 10pm at night to download it if for some reason I can’t see the artwork on my phone as I literally can’t wait to check it out. I am in awe of what they create on a daily basis.

Being an advisor, a friend, someone to bounce ideas off of, all of these roles are what agents enjoy doing on a daily basis. Artists are celebrated for their crazy side, what inspires them, the lengths they go for the perfect photograph, etc. Agents are celebrated for being the voice of reason, the practical one, the business savvy one.

The best feedback an agent can ever get is: What would I do without you? The best feedback to give an artist is the exact same thing, What would I do without you.

Maybe I should just not watch Jerry Maguire anymore…