Thinking of setting up your own agency? We chatted to Emilio, owner of Outreach Talent agency to get the insider tea
Pro Perspectives
The workforce is changing, there is a 43% increase in Gen Z’s setting up their own businesses. If you are thinking of being your own boss – this one is for you. We chatted to Emilio Arciniega, founder of Outreach Agency home to talent who have found fame through social. So, what is it really like running your own business?
1. What do you *actually* do day to day?
Lately this has changed quite significantly. We recently brought on the wonderful Amy Bryant-Jeffries as our Managing Director and my role has gone from looking internally to externally. A typical day usually involves several meetings, largely with external clients or partners, as well as a handful of quick internal meetings with members of the team. These could be creator meetings, meetings with partners such as MCNs, production companies or more practical meetings like speaking to accountants and lawyers. I genuinely love how varied each day is, it keeps me on my toes.
2. What’s your plotted career history?
I fell into talent management. I’m not sure many plan it to be honest. At 18 I’d failed to get into uni so I went to work for my sister as a runner in the music industry. During the ages of 18 to 22 I was lucky enough to work with a number of musicians and YouTubers (while ultimately studying at Newcastle Business School) and it was during this time that I feel upon the opportunity to work in the US. A YouTube band called Boyce Avenue asked me to come and work with them for a year helping with their digital marketing and following this I was asked to become their manager. The band were huge YouTubers (at the time having over 15 million YouTube subscribers) and were arguably the most followed independent band in the world. This gave me the opportunity to work on global music tours, produce YouTube content that was viewed literally in the billions and importantly build a strong network in the creator economy. When Covid hit in 2020 it was a bit of a wakeup call for me. I’d been managing the band for almost 5 years and did I want to spend the next 5 years doing the same. Ultimately my wife, Amy, and I decided to start a side hustle, pitching creators to brands and 12 months later her and I quit our jobs to start what became Outreach.
3. What got you into your chosen career path?
A combination of luck and persistence. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Boyce Avenue through working with my sister, but I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. I moved to the US, away from family and friends, and at a time where my friends were all taking traditional graduate jobs, everybody thought I was crazy. Somehow I knew that this opportunity, although going to be hard work, would lead to bigger things. I spent the first year or so working on music tours, getting coffee, making dinner, running errands, working crazy hours on tour and I loved every minute of it. The buzz you get when working with talent is like no other. Seeing your hard work pay off in ticket sales, downloads, views, gives you a tangible feeling of success.
4. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?
A common piece of advice that many founders have given me is that hard work will always trump talent. So many talented people have been trumped by those who simple work their butts off. I’m nowhere near the most educated person in the world, I can barely spell (as you can probably tell from these answers) but what I do pride myself on is that I’m not afraid to work hard. For anybody wanting to achieve anything, my biggest piece of advice is to work until you can’t fail. If you don’t quit, then it’s pretty hard to fail.
5. If you were starting the working world today, what area interests you and why?
I’m actually a bit of a tech geek. The speed at which the tech world moves fascinates me, so I think I’d probably look to do something in that space. I guess the creator economy is so beholden to technology advancements that I get to scratch that itch in my current role.
6. In your career, what was the moment when you felt like you really went to the NXT LVL?
Honestly, I don’t think that I’ve had that moment yet. I have serious imposter syndrome and while I back myself, I’m always thinking of how I can improve. This is sometimes a terrible trait of mine, that I find it difficult to look back and applaud myself for what I have done, but I also think it can be a great trait for allowing me to continually improve and not be complacent. With that said, I’m hugely proud of my team at Outreach and this past 12 months I truly believe that they have taken things to the NXT LVL, they are always striving for more and that’s why I believe that they still have so much further to grow this year.
7. What’s the wildest part of your career?
Tour management for sure. Touring is one of the most fulfilling roles that I’ve ever done and it’s not for the faint hearted. The thrill that you get when you put together a show for thousands of people is pretty wild. Then playing shows in countries where the artist is loved is pretty cool as you see the euphoria that you’re bringing people. We used to play a lot of shows in countries like the Philippines and Brazil and those fans are crazy (in a good way) and more importantly those shows mean so much to the fans. Being able to see the world was a huge benefit as well (despite the late nights and early morning flights). For anybody who loves music and is wanting to gain experience in the industry I’d highly recommend it, you can learn so much about the industry while seeing the world and getting to do it as a team.
8. What’s is your superpower and the one thing you’re really fucking good at?
I asked my wife this question as it’s a hard one to answer personally and she said my ability to work under pressure. I think she’s probably right as I do enjoy when the pressure is on. It gives you a buzz that you don’t get when everything is going swimmingly. I’d say I almost enjoy pressure and I like being challenged. Running a business has many upsides, but the downside is that the buck stops with you and if I couldn’t handle pressure then I think that I’d find it very difficult to run company.
9. What would be your biggest pointer for someone trying to get a job like yours?
Back yourself. I think most people think that those in higher positions have everything figured out and that you need 20 years of experience before you can lead a team. The opposite is usually true. I can only speak for myself, but I rarely have everything figured out and I’m constantly learning. If I can give one piece of advice is to back yourself and just make sure that you’re always open to learning and being vulnerable.
10. What’s in store for you for the nxt big thing?
Outreach is about to take a huge step forward as an agency. We are barely 3 years old and we’ve made huge strides in the industry but 2024 is really going to be the year where we take things up a notch. With a growing team of some of the best in the business and a roster of talent with huge potential, this year is going to huge for us as a team.