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From Oakland Rapper to Hollywood Power Player: Tamra's Journey | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Dec 1, 2024
From Oakland rapper to Hollywood powerhouse, Tamra Goins shares her incredible journey from East Oakland's streets to becoming one of entertainment's most influential executives. Starting as a teenage artist featured on Too Short's platinum album, Goins evolved into a pioneering talent agent and comedy executive, breaking barriers as the only Black person with an equity position in the major agency comedy space.
In this revealing conversation, Goins discusses managing Shaquille O'Neal's All-Star Comedy Jam, representing stars like T.I. and Tisha Campbell, and brokering groundbreaking deals for comedy legend Luenell. She opens up about balancing motherhood with her career, growing up in Oakland's tough environment, and how early adversity shaped her success.
As a managing partner at Innovative Artists, Goins has revolutionized the comedy department while opening doors for others. Her story spans from college radio to club management, from NFL wife to Hollywood power broker, demonstrating how grit, determination, and authenticity can lead to extraordinary success in the entertainment industry.
Watch as she shares invaluable insights about representation, deal-making, and breaking barriers in Hollywood, while never forgetting her Oakland roots. An inspiring testament to the power of perseverance and staying true to your path.
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#oaklandrapperjourney #howtobecomeahollywoodtalentagent #celebritynews #waystolandatalentagent #howtogetatalentmanager
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction
00:55 - Woman To Woman Wednesday Guest Introduction
09:58 - What is Upward Bound
11:22 - Tamra Goins' College Experience
14:28 - Learning Management Skills at 21
17:11 - Current Endeavors of Tamra Goins
22:10 - Parenting Insights
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
that voice right there is the voice of choice it's our feature guest today on wom to women
0:05
Wednesday okay he the B can you explain the concept behind this it actually originated on your show yes wom to women
0:12
Wednesday originated on the happy I would have to be of course you can hear Monday through Friday from 6:00 pm to
0:18
midnight easn Standard Time on sirusxm fly channel 50 and I created this segment to celebrate women who are doing
0:25
amazing things that may not always be on the mainstream or may not always be on
0:30
everyone's radar but they should be they're making moves locally and then making moves nationally and then
0:37
internationally and so it's an amazing opportunity um for women everywhere to be a part of this segment and I'm so
0:43
glad it is now here on the Sue Morning Show as well absolutely and I I'm I'm very appreciative and happy to have uh
0:49
one of our first guests for women and women women Wednesday in studio yeah uh for a number of reasons when I think of
0:56
this person uh I often reflect about my Beginnings in my past coming up as an
1:02
artist in the 80s King Tech and I were putting out music independently Y and at that time we were looking up to a lot of
1:08
people like MC Hammer like two short you know some of the folks who came in and did it before us and when people were
1:14
making music back then in the Bay Area uh it was kind of a phenomenon that we had local people who were doing things
1:22
that you know big stars would do you never thought that you know somebody like two short who I used to see on a
1:27
bus you know running up Foothill would become the person he is to DMC Hammer I used to see at a club called Crosswinds
1:33
and they used to dance in the middle of the Dance Floor we all get excited locally about him and then he becomes
1:39
one of the biggest artists that music has ever seen and then there are people who are behind the scenes that actually
1:46
um help these people become who they are and equally uh we are are equally we're
1:51
impressed with what it is they're able to do and how they're able to navigate but when you're a woman coming up in
1:56
Northern California at that time in the ' 80s you know when you think about the climate back then this was when the drug
2:02
game was popping a lot of misogyny was there a lot of my cheeso it was a volatile environment and if you were a
2:09
woman it was probably five to 10 times as hard to make it but our guest today
2:15
first time I found out about her was on a song that she was featured on with two short and I thought it was really
2:21
interesting because I always thought who is this person because her rap style was a little different I was like it's a
2:27
little more advanced and I really enjoyed her flow um and um she at that
2:32
time I believe was a member of a group danger zone right it was she and a young
2:38
lady named Barbie Barbie I remember this and Nicki Minaj this is before Nikki you
2:46
know Lil Kim this was before Fox all of them you know this preh be right cash
2:51
doll all of that she was already doing what we see a lot of women doing today
2:56
um and then she began to expand her pallet when it came to the industry I think you find out sometimes how you
3:02
start is not always how you're going to end up and she became a influencer a talent innovator she became an agent she
3:09
became an executive she became a comedy executive as well she's been responsible
3:14
for working with some of the biggest names in the business brother Shaquille O'Neal that deserves a round of applause
3:20
he's a citizen up goat big goat uh rather is uh
3:25
Nick Cannon you know wilding out come on man of the longest now on right right uh
3:33
brother it's lunel we recently saw lunel at the Apollo she had a lot to do with
3:38
why lunell was at the Apollo and she has another event coming up in December and then we also have Allstar Weekend coming
3:45
up in the bay L early 2025 she will be in the DNA of all of these things and
3:51
I'm really proud of her and impressed by the journey she has and she continues to do I don't welcome her back to the show
3:57
please give it up for the one and only Tamara going T what up T thank you Queen come on
4:05
man you you know why I like to do that because you and I see each other all the time and you you probably think you you
4:12
never remember me but it's not true you know I know your work you know and when
4:17
there's people who come from where we come from and are able to break out of the box so to speak and then plant these
4:24
seeds around the country and around the world the way you have it should be recognized because in the you know how
4:30
it is in the bay um you need that representation to help fuel you to let you believe that you can get outside of
4:36
that bay and do these same things so I want to say congratulations to you Tamara absolutely did you grow up in the
4:41
bay yep what part of the Bay East Oakland 82nd of my Arthur went to Parker
4:47
Elementary then my mom said I got to get you out of here oh really so she took me
4:52
to so I went to middle school in uh camon in Danville okay and then came back to Hayward High and graduated from
4:59
Sandro but all East East Oakland East Oakland so just get Danville that area is more of a out the outskirts of the
5:07
city oh absolutely yeah so and that for f just to get people context that's it's kind of like you want to move there to
5:13
get your kids away from the suburbs you don't want your kids hanging out in in these streets like you will not be a
5:18
dope dealer baby mama okay all right and then you end up coming back though to the East Bay right uh I graduated from
5:24
San Jose State where I met your brother you met my brother San Jose okay and while I was there Jeff clanagan heard
5:30
that the girls that did don't fight the Felon with Too Short was uh were at San Jose State and that's how I met him and
5:37
Jeff clanagan as you know is an executive at heartbeat with Kevin Hart and largely responsible for Kevin's
5:44
explosion absolutely so Jeff clanin um also was a manager early on he
5:50
used to uh work with people like MC twist and he did a lot of independent projects to come up um Jeff clanin is
5:58
one of those he did a lot of films too right right and created sha Allstar and created a sha Allstar Shack yeah from
6:04
the South Bay you know uh San Jose area of Northern California another person I
6:10
recall as we were coming up you know we'll see these people adjacent to us doing different things right woo baby
6:16
parties wo a promoter bringing NWA to Oakland uhhuh what did he want with you
6:22
guys because you were on the song Don't Fight The Filling was a song Too Short put out yes right on Platinum on his
6:28
platinum album life is Too Short uhhuh uh he had a record label at the time so he was he was um had MC twist and I
6:35
guess had aspirations of having a girl group since we were right there and so he gave me a contract I I took it to an
6:42
attorney and the attorney said don't sign that really did he say why it was you know it was just a terrible music
6:49
contract that you know I mean even with don't fight the fing we were two little 16year old girls that wrote you know our
6:56
parts on this song and we were given $800 a piece on a album that ultimately
7:03
went platinum oh so yeah so it's like no we were happy yeah no no
7:10
publishing and so what's interesting is now we're actually having the conversation about having that
7:16
publishing returned to us and and short and I we're cool you know it's like it's just a grown conversation and it's it's
7:23
more about moving forward because there was um recently a movie Freaky Tales
7:29
yeah that was you know paying homage to short um is it is it an autobiographical
7:35
movie okay no no it's a um it actually is a director from Oakland that you know
7:42
uh directed Captain Marvel okay Ryan Fleck and Anna Bowden they're a a directing team and so it's their love
7:49
letter to Oakland but it's more like kind of Kill Bill and so you think it's
7:54
when you say Freaky Tales and shorts producing then you think it's going to be AO autobiographer Auto autoby um but
8:02
it it debuted at Sundance actually entice and Barbie were one of the four
8:08
Short Freaky Tales in the movie okay that comes together so it's really about
8:14
um you know this it it's there's a lot of I don't it it's more like a a Kill
8:20
Bill sci-fi kind of movie debuted at Sundance and uh Normani played depicted
8:27
me and Dominque Thorton from uh Black Panther 2 depicted Barbie my cousin
8:34
Bailey Brown Bailey Brown this is interesting so is that episode is that a
8:39
it's a Feature Feature it's a feature that was produced by macro okay um with
8:44
uh Charles King and those guys over there and um but it doesn't have distribution yet okay so but it debuted
8:51
Sundance and what was interesting with that is on the fir it on the first night of Sundance I'm on the red carpet as
8:59
Talent M and then the next night of Sundance I'm on the red carpet representing David Allen Greer CU he in
9:06
his uh Sundance Film uh uh uh I can't
9:13
even say it's like magical Negroes I can't remember what it was but this one photographer was like weren't you here
9:18
yesterday so they recognized yeah it was just interesting that you know there's this whole duality of you know having
9:25
been an artist and then having that full circle moment with the song and the opportunity that opened every
9:32
entertainment door for me and shout out to you know short CA too short for that right don't fight the filling right
9:37
absolutely so you do you jump on this track right you and Barbie right and you get paid your $800 you think you popping
9:45
you think you balling probably went to East M mall and spent it you are balling back then for that that was a lot that
9:50
was a lot okay you know and then you decide
9:56
that you probably I'm assuming go against all your mothers wish and pursu this entertainment game no I went to
10:04
college I was I you know upper bounds saved my life I think you know after
10:09
eighth grade uh Barbie's mom my Aunt Janette she always was putting us in
10:14
something so she put us in Upper bound but we went prior to high school so we
10:20
stayed at calay Hayward Now cal e East Bay for 6 weeks in coed dorms with 22y
10:26
year olds running the program if you can imagine that and um but the thing that it showed me
10:32
was College before high school so by the time I got to high school I was like let me hurry up and get through this so I
10:38
can get to College you know what is Upward Bound for anyone who's unfamiliar Upward Bound is a program for at r at
10:44
risk um teens and um they even had one guy that uh instead of P instead of
10:49
going to jail they put him in Upper bounds so it was it was a mix of atris teens and they put you in college
10:55
courses and so like my first you know in eighth grade I got three units at Cal
11:00
Hayward you know with a c in accounting that actually was transferable when I got to San Jose State so yeah but I
11:07
think that um you know just having that Expo it's all about exposure and showing
11:12
kids you know outside of the boundaries especially of Oakland because there there are people that haven't been
11:17
beyond those Beyond those boundaries right now so wow I love this U Tamara goens is with us and for so many reasons
11:26
uh so you went to San Jose State right and eventually you graduated from San
11:31
Jose State well while I was at State Jeff clanagan I started managing a jazz club called Jazz Club Jazz and he came
11:38
and he said I want to bring comedy here on Thursdays and I said okay he said you
11:44
don't have to ask anybody I I'm the manager even though I was only 21 and he's like if you can manage a club you
11:49
can manage a concerts just bigger and I said okay and so he would do these um
11:54
New Year's Eve parties at the convention center or New Year's Eve concerts at the convention center wa wait hold up they
11:59
were huge though they were huge like thousands of people would come like it was hard to get into these parties go so
12:06
there you know like you know iy Brothers Lakeside depending you know either if it was old school or new whatever and so I
12:14
started working with him doing those parties once I graduated moved back to Oakland next thing I know he put me on
12:20
the road with the AY Brothers I'm 23 years old as a promoter rep so you know just young out with all these grown ass
12:28
men on you know on the road but it you know it's like I think coming from Oakland um that gave me the grit it's
12:36
like you never know that adversity you know creates character and really prepares you for everything that you
12:42
know is coming in your journey so and you can't unbake the cake so when I say I'm proud to be from Oakland it's all of
12:50
it it's you know every every piece of it is prepared me for this Faith walk and
12:55
this purpose walk that I'm doing right now yes can you give an example when you were 23 and you were a part of that tour
13:02
um what what what what adversity from your past helped you in that present
13:08
moment you know you know that's a really good question you know what's what's funny I was just talking about this last
13:14
night is that there was an instant when I had a a a me too m i mean a me too
13:22
experience with um a NFL player that will remain nameless okay but the thing
13:28
was is that it ended up he did not physically harm me but because he
13:34
betrayed my trust yeah that set me up to protect myself while I was on the road
13:41
with you know in these very different experiences so even for that you can find forgiveness you can find you know
13:47
it's like when you can see the why and that thing that seemed so terrible at
13:52
the time really prepared me for what my path was and I'm sure saved me
13:59
from something that could have been like really horrific and so I didn't have that as an you know and as a result I
14:07
have grit I have respect you know was like don't come to my room don't ask me nothing you know you stay over there cuz
14:13
after the iy brothers it was HBO Def Comedy Jam oh my God and so you know it was like when you when you look in
14:20
retrospect then I know that my steps were being ordered this whole time amen I love this Tamara gens is here um what
14:29
about in terms of your skill set what was it because you were managing a club at 21 MH you know was was crazy how did
14:37
you learn this I'm like what's crazy about the club at 21 when I took that contract to an attorney Kurt Robinson uh
14:46
he took me under his wing and here it was this you know young my friends when I was 19 were these 30 to 35 year old
14:52
upply mobile black men and uh this man was an attorney and he was from Notre
14:58
Dame and he also was in the in the sports uh industry was a sports agent
15:04
and so he put together this club it was owned by Ronnie lot Kina Turner Eric Wright and Charles Haley and they hired
15:12
me but I wasn't really all the way to age yet okay and so they they know that
15:17
okay and they said you're not GNA get no tips because you got an attitude and well I turned around and I
15:23
ended up being server of the Year well this manager that they brought in he was
15:29
was I I told them that he was on something and they said look girl we've been friends longer than you've been
15:34
alive he's a Notre Dame graduate blah blah blah and lo and behold he was a pharmaceutical rep prior to being the
15:41
manager and he had to leave and so because I was the only one who knew then
15:47
they made me the manager ah cuz you had a keen sense about things and I had done everything
15:54
in it you know it's like you know a lot of our kids I think skip these jobs
16:00
because they want to be the leader off top but when you learn how to you know
16:05
clean the bathroom when you learn how to set the tables when you learn how to order the the inventory I couldn't even
16:12
order a wine cooler at a liquor store and I'm doing the hiring the firing I'm doing the alcohol order you know all of
16:18
those things if you take the one step you'll find that at the end you're so much more prepared than if you were
16:24
skipping absolutely and so that has that has really been been my by my journey
16:30
and you know how to speak to more people as well how to more how to better effectively communicate because you
16:37
understand what it's like to be in their position their job is absolutely right I love this man we GNA come back and talk
16:43
more with tamaron go this is our women to woman winning Wednesday okay she's our she's our star
16:49
today all right what's your social media if people want to reach out to you I am tg1 1225 tg1 1225 Instagram and then my
17:00
name Tamar go on Facebook and if you if you tuning in paying close attention I've heard about five gems already that
17:06
she's dropping which I can appreciate and that's why we do this segment we coming right back shade45 Tamara gos is
17:13
here when you look at her bio comedy executive producer influencer Talent
17:18
innovator business leader talent agent to some of the world's leading actors and
17:24
comedians uh over 25 years of experience and artist representation show
17:29
production branding and deal making she's known for producing and promoting
17:34
Shaquille O'Neal's Allstar Comedy Jam amongst other things gez congratulations
17:40
thank you yeah how do you feel about all of this when you I mean blessed right
17:46
blessed yeah yeah I um I remember waking up 38 dead end job Loveless marriage
17:53
living in the middle of Texas in a beautiful home in a nice life but
17:59
lacking purpose and I said if I can give two people 5 years of my life that didn't deserve it I.E ex-husbands then I
18:06
could certainly give myself five and see what God has for me yeah and I was a talent agent I was a Hollywood agent in
18:12
three and a half years with any aspiration to be so wow that's amazing Round of Applause two relationships how
18:19
did was it difficult to be in the business and married mhm I wasn't I left
18:24
the business for like 15 years yeah wow so you left your thing yeah well
18:30
actually the business kind of kicked us out I think when I was on tour with uh
18:35
the HBO Def Comedy Jam we went into two cities and it wiped Jeff out like he was
18:42
a young 30 something I think we probably probably lost like 80 grand in a weekend so he went corporate I went corporate he
18:50
went um you know in and that's when he met Master P and started doing the the movies and whatnot with him so he went
18:56
on the e-commerce and the distri ution in the film making side I became an NFL
19:01
wife went had some kids you know went on my journey circled back to him in this
19:08
moment in 2010 and he had created Shaq Allstar and so then I was back and and even for that
19:14
reason people are like where' she come from but I took that Hiatus which I'm happy about because in as a agent not
19:21
many women agents have children because there's no time for you to take off and
19:29
be a mom and save your spot when you're representing people because we're responsible for people feeding their
19:35
families so there traditionally hasn't been that you know a space to do so so
19:41
there are very few women agents that have children have you worked with any agents that have children in
19:48
no yeah very few it's just but it's also and and T I'm so glad you're here we we
19:54
talk so much and we've talked a lot and Stu so I I've always been appreci of her
19:59
sharing so much on and off like cameras because we talk on the phone as well but
20:04
I think we also share that in common with female artists you know and I said
20:09
this to T before there was a time coming up in this industry where as a female
20:16
artist kids were like taboo you know it's like you what you can't go on tour
20:22
you can't get no money if you get pregnant then you lose out on all of that money nobody wanted to see you out
20:28
there like that you know so it's a it's a decision and then hey what if you do
20:33
fall in love and you do meet somebody and to te's point you 38 years old or you you reaching a certain age in life
20:40
now if your body can even sustain a pregnancy because now they tell you especially with black and brown women
20:45
about high risk and you start hearing all these different things about it and then it becomes this work life balance
20:51
thing and then you're a mom and but you feel bad leaving your kids so it's it's a this conversation needs to be had
20:58
specific speically on wom to women Wednesdays because it's so many women in these industries where not having
21:04
children or waiting later on to have children or leaving the industry to raise your family it it takes a lot from
21:10
you it it it just does so I salute you and applaud you because I know if nothing else you go extremely hard for
21:17
your your beautiful children you do I I have I have three children Aaliyah Elijah and Jordan and I you know I think
21:25
transparently Co showed me cuz everything came to a a stop right and
21:31
so what can be bad actually allowed me to see my youngest daughter Jordan yeah
21:38
and then I was able to identify what my oldest two probably needed that I wasn't
21:43
available for you know and so they My Success definitely came at their
21:49
sacrifice you know wow wow yeah cuz you don't get the time back you you miss
21:54
birthdays you miss you know you're I'm on I'm on tour with Snoop I'm on tour with Martin Lawrence I'm like I got to
22:01
get the money but then it's a birthday it's a graduation it's a this it's a con
22:07
all of these things and you constantly fight yourself you know we had Malcolm Washington speak to um being raised by
22:13
his beautiful parents pauletta and Denzel and somebody asked about I think
22:19
I might asked a question about him growing up as a father you know him growing up in that household with his
22:25
father not being yeah and he he talked about you know my father worked right he
22:32
did hund he did thousands of movies so there was a lot of times he couldn't be there uh because he worked right and uh
22:39
so I I I definitely and then I I have experienced the same thing with my daughter yeah you think of how much
22:46
you've traveled and that you still travel but you made an effort when you could to go back and forth but listen
22:53
that's not an easy thing and there can be more leniency sometimes on the mail because when you think of gender roles
22:59
and your ultimate responsibility being to provide so you can like rationalize
23:05
justify but it's easier to send money yeah when you think of like a homemaker it's not the image of a man I definitely
23:11
needed a wife I said I just I told Tracy G the
23:17
other day I need a girlfriend I'm like yo and my homie just texted me he need a rich wife yeah it's just I do too it's
23:24
just things that oh that was me oh that oh [ __ ] yeah you tell on yourself FYI sway needs
23:32
a rich wife Only Women of a certain salary should
23:37
apply women winning Wednesday on the winning cuz here's the thing even when you're a parent it don't it doesn't
23:43
matter like I would fly my mom in my stepmom my sisters I I didn't bring
23:49
strangers in to watch my kids but it's still not that co-parent that you can just you know that you're on the same
23:56
page in terms of everything with their growth and you know what you want for them and so it doesn't matter how many
24:03
nannies or whatever that you hire it's still not the same if it's not you know
24:08
that the person you made them with you know cash doll just spoke about this the other day remember she was talking about
24:13
being a female artist today and her two kids and you know at least now it's more
24:19
welcome and acceptable seeing women female artists with their children and and Pregnant and people celebrated but
24:25
there was a time to te Point absolutely Tam tamaron you mentioned earlier that um growing up in Oakland in that
24:31
environment ups and downs pitfalls and triumphs you wouldn't change anything about it right nothing uh what about
24:38
parenting now that you know in retrospect that you know that if I work more I spend less time with my children
24:45
you know what would you have done would you do it differently I don't know I mean standing where I'm at now I would
24:53
probably say no and then I'm like my absence can just be my kids at iversity
24:58
for them to go be great yeah you go right CH that's that's that's real and
25:04
utilize the technology FaceTime them kids cuz here's the other thing is that I shielded my children from everything
25:10
that made me dope yeah right you know thinking not giving enough you know not
25:16
giving enough respect to the adversity and the environment that creates this
25:22
you know this fire or this survival and then we watch our kids we protect them
25:28
and we put them in these little rooms and then you know we expect them to be able to survive how they never had no
25:34
reps no adversity they never had rep yeah soon as you're ready they start crying get a umbrella you know and but
25:41
you know so we and and the thing is is by the time you've done it you can't go
25:46
back so you've already ruined them so you know I probably should have sent my I should have sent my kids to Oakland
25:53
for the summer yeah for sure for sure so we used to bring little kyomi to Oakland that's why would do it like because see
26:00
my daughter grew up in a gated community in La you know I'm saying come see your father's side see this is where you know
26:06
you need a fighter too you need a fighter and so she's become um that Fighter um yo this is an amazing Story
26:14
by the way we talked about Jeff clanin and you mentioned how Jeff when Master P really started catapulting his brand and
26:20
it wasn't just the music it was when he got into the movie scene independent movie scene Jeff clanin was that partner
26:26
with them that helped produce all of those movies right um we talked about Shaquille O'Neal so Jeff uh was the Le
26:33
on to your relationship with Shaquille O'Neal yes and but Shaquille too is one of the you know probably one of the most
26:39
successful Moguls we've seen of this generation if we peel back his portfolio you see how many companies he's invested
26:46
in so on and so forth what is that Dynamic what what has that Dynamic been like with Shaq what have you learned
26:51
from him I mean this dude stays relevant this dude is such a multi-hyphenate and
26:56
as a agent of multi hyen is it just really like opens your mind to the
27:02
different things people can do right so like right now I work with tii and I
27:07
work with Tisha Campbell separately what do you do for them so I rep them in comedy okay so TI is a standup oh my God
27:15
my right about yeah yeah that's right stand up and now Tisha Campbell is a
27:22
stand up perfect she you know and so I just matter of fact she called me while I was in the uh in The Green Room H um
27:29
but and so it's like helping them to flex or to develop another muscle okay
27:35
that's you know a part of them and taking them on that journey is part of what I do and so I think watching Jeff
27:45
be able to do that on the marketing side and the development side and then having Shaq as that example it it just shows me
27:52
that it's possible and that people can be more than one thing yep what would you say is the core difference between
27:57
an agent and a manager so the um the line is is really the manager is
28:04
supposed to lay out the strategy collect all the assets make sure they have all
28:11
the pictures and the reels and and help them to figure out the trajectory of
28:17
their career they should bring that into the agency for us to put them at bat so
28:23
the agency is very is a lot more transactional where we can take those things that they desire and make them
28:30
reality for instance with lunel you know she shout out to lunel she's
28:37
a got that from her come on so all right and you know Lun lunel is so you know
28:44
communicative she wanted a residency in Vegas she got it she's in Jimmy Kimmel
28:50
in Vegas every Sunday and Monday you know did you help her get that how what did you do i brokered that deal so when
28:56
Jimmy Kimmel when the Jimmy Kimmel Comedy Club opened up I had a relationship with Damen Costa and he
29:03
called me first and so she was that was one of the first people that we put in
29:08
and because I knew that she wanted that residency then we broke her that deal wow so do both the manager and the agent
29:15
with a deal like that they both get it cut or is it only the a okay yes what is
29:20
the standard rates would you say typically it's 10% for the agent 10% for the manager and 5% for the the attorney
29:28
if there's an attorney involved okay so that's 25% of your from the rip off the top that ain't even your taxes yeah
29:35
gross that's not even your taxes not that's not your net but you know it's how you get ahead right it's the price
29:41
you pay to get those things and it's a lot easier for the managers and agents to do the talking than the artists or
29:48
the or the talent and the information I think that the internet has really made
29:54
um you know representation work for their money though because because if you think about prior to the internet
30:00
all the information came into the agency and they could give it to who they wanted at will right they could say they
30:08
could decide who that opportunity was going to even if it came in for somebody else now with all the connectivity you
30:17
they can you know get to the talent directly so like for me I don't care if
30:22
a deal comes in that's disrespectful they want $1,000 for this bill me you
30:28
need to know this because his grandma might be there I don't know yeah so I don't you so now I think that you just
30:34
have to like really treat the talent that they are the CEO of their companies let them have all the information so
30:41
they can decide you you give them you know what you think but you don't make
30:46
the decision for them or you know shift deals or you know put somebody else in
30:52
place when I think it really holds the agency accountable one last point before we WRA remember but Chris Spencer was
30:59
here and he spoke about that a lot of times Talent don't even know about opportunities that come people don't the
31:06
agents or the managers don't give them the information so it's nice to hear that no matter what you let the talent
31:13
decide what you want to do with that but it's my responsibility to give you that information because he found out that so
31:19
many artist was was not even getting the information which is say absolutely I I
31:24
want to go back to Lenell for a second cuz I I don't want to let the Lun moment pass because her wanting to do Vegas and
31:32
she told us that was always her dream and we came to the show she did at the
31:37
Apollo which was right was always which was her bucket list yes that was her bucket list and it and it took me six
31:44
months and then we got that on the books and it happened you the [ __ ] you you're not even a f and so um so
31:52
tell me about Allstar this is big for the B yes okay well first and let's not
31:57
forget lunell so her next Bucket List was the headline the Paramount Theater
32:03
and that's and that is December 27th at Oakland and you know and the thing is is
32:09
that she's only played there being from Oakland she's only played there three times and never by herself so this is a
32:15
really big moment for her and because she says it it can happen you know it will happen no it's happening it's
32:21
happening and you going to be right there right and then for Allstar you for
32:27
Valentine's Day we got Allstar Comedy Jam at the Paramount Theater it's being hosted by Bill Bellamy DC youngfly is on
32:35
the show yes Michael blackon CoCo Brown and Gary Owen and so that's the our
32:40
All-Star Comedy Jam is coming to the Bay yo my ticket plug is crazy I'm so glad
32:46
we family what you got going on in New York right now
32:51
T always got something going on and I have Jinx Monsoon from from rupa's drag
32:58
playing Carnegie Hall on Valentine's Day so how do you manage like all of these
33:04
different personalities M why do you find a time like can you my degrees in criminal justice I don't know oh [ __ ]
33:11
all right I don't know the correlation to that I was a Prof criminals oh you a
33:16
profile so you can read the personality profiler they're all so different it's all a you know I have a team of about 14
33:22
people now and um within the agency we doubled our productivity in the comedy
33:28
department since I took over I've been a managing partner since 2017 and and
33:33
that's with inovative artist Innovative artists in Santa Monica in Santa Monica
33:38
right and we have an office in New York as well so making you a manager partner a managing partner that gives you equity
33:44
in the company absolutely listen get them T I'm a
33:49
unicorn I am the only black person with an equity position in this comedy space
33:57
Oh [ __ ] comes to midlevel or or or the the big agencies and she didn't separate
34:04
through gender she said black person hello wow I love it it sound it sounds crazy
34:11
saying it you know it's just like it it reminds me when you know in the NFL when there were no black coaches uhhuh you
34:18
know yeah and you're the first and no black owners you know so you see why we wanted to have you
34:23
here come on man I want to say thank you I I know I I I my brother and Tamara
34:29
went to school together and they're great friends and and I like to think we're friends too but y'all have a whole
34:35
another you know uh type of relationship Jose St San Jose State the whole n uh
34:40
but I've always um especially when since you came up 2012 and um the see you just
34:47
navigate the business I know it ain't easy especially when we coming from Northern California cuz the business
34:52
wasn't in there it was in LA it was in New York so we had to create our own business with independent way
34:58
hence Jeff clanin right hence to short you know everybody Sway and Tech I
35:04
always throw myself in got all right and so I want to say um thank you is there
35:09
anything else You' like to share uh shout out to Sigma gamaro Incorporated my okay we're and you know
35:17
again we're raising money for a coat drive that we've been doing for five years teamed up with Mr Fab during his T
35:24
his turkey giveaway shout out shout out to Fab shout out to Fab Shout out to eoydc East Oakland Youth Development
35:30
Center where I learned how to fight EC so give back to them so that that's
35:36
in December um just you know when I think about all the things that I'm
35:42
involved in um I'm just thankful for the opportunity to come on and talk with you
35:47
absolutely anytime like anytime because people need to hear your story absolutely tremendously inspirational
35:53
I'm looking at you like damn you know I've known her for years but but congrat ulations write the book The how to and I
36:01
have a restaurant opening I invest in a restaurant in Atlanta p25 and it opens
36:07
on Monday wow wow Peach Tree in 25th Street okay congratulations that's a
36:12
difficult business but you got it is TI involved no oh okay shout out to Greg
36:18
Thom oh Valerie Benning Thomas and Greg Thomas okay are you still taking clients Thompson I'm sorry are you I do okay
36:25
okay yeah no I I do it's um um when I first became an agent you had there was
36:31
three criteria you had to own a home you had to have children and you couldn't
36:36
have another job cuz I knew you was going to hustle as hard as me now it's a little it's a lot different and you know
36:43
I can take on more developmental clients cuz we build people for a living yeah so
36:48
why did they need to own a home cuz they they got to pay a mortgage okay she wanted the pressure on you okay okay I
36:55
ain't mad at it Tamara going give her a big round of applause man women and women will play woohoo thank you thank
37:02
you for having me all right God bless you shade for five
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