6 Black-owned influencer management firms and talent agencies helping creators of color earn more money
Rell Rugely
- Influencer-management firms can help creators boost their income, including by landing brand deals.
- Some managers and agents have started their own firms after seeing that BIPOC creators have made less money than white creators.
- Here are six Black-owned influencer-management firms and talent agencies that work with creators.
Many creators have built their brands with the help of influencer management and talent agencies.
These firms help creators decide between different business opportunities, connect with other people in the industry, and earn a steady income.
While some management firms and agencies have established broad client rosters, others like UK-based firm Season25 focus on creators from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, in part because the founders themselves identify as part of those communities.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jessica Joseph founded Season25 in June 2020 after working in the creator space for a few years and noticing that it was mostly white. She decided to open her own agency focused on creators who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), especially Black creators, to help them earn more income.
A December 2021 report conducted by public-relations network MSL Group and The Influencer League found a 35% racial pay gap between white and Black influencers.
Other Black leaders in the industry, like 29-year-old Annelise Campbell, started talent agencies for similar reasons.
"There wasn't a huge prioritization of diversity in the influencer space, which was a problem for me, especially as a Black woman," Campbell previously told Insider. "I felt that most brands were not seeing the value of diverse creators and the audiences they serve."
Campbell founded in 2019 Campbell Francis Group (CFG) and now works with Gen Z influencers on TikTok and YouTube.
Here are four other Black-led influencer-management firms and talent agencies:
- Malc Agency, founded by Mariam Sinminsola Abaas. Abaas, 30, started Malc Agency in 2020 and manages the company from Lagos, Nigeria. She works with a team of three full-time staff and four freelancers, all of whom she hired in 2021.
- Kensington Grey, founded by Shannae Ingleton Smith. Grey, 41, founded her own management firm in 2019 and the company now has more than 20 full-time employees, with plans to hire more people in the near future. Her agency represents more than 50 creators.
- Talentiish, founded by Julian Andrew. Andrew, 31, worked in the industry for more than 10 years before launching his own talent agency last year. Ten of the creators he managed while working for other agencies followed him to his firm.
- The Paul Harville Group, founded by Gigi Harville. Harville, 29, is based in Los Angeles, California, but runs her company with five remote employees. Her agency manages 15 creators across the US, as well as a digital sorority content house with 15 female creators.