Owner and Founder of Talent Resources, Michael started his career in entertainment law where he oversaw and negotiated many opportunities for brands to garner celebrity support as he managed many celebrity’s careers from a commercial brand perspective which at the onset included but wasn’t limited to Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton. Mischa Barton, and Rachel Hunter.
Michael has established deep and strong connections within the entertainment, brand, and celebrity space for years and in 2007 quickly realized that there weren’t many active facilitators bridging the gap between brands and talent, thus founding Talent Resources. Mike has led the creation of some of the biggest national events and campaigns since founding Talent Resources.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is Talent Resources all about?
Talent Resources was formed over 15 years ago and is a boutique agency designed to help facilitate and cut the frustration of getting influencers and celebrities to connect authentically with brands. The brands will come to Talent Resources and then we connect them with an influencer or celebrity and help create the right program to bring attention to the brand. Since we are versatile, it could be a car brand, a food brand, a new clothing brand, whatever the brand may be, we create a game plan and utilize the brand’s budget to show them how they can spend their money in a smart and strategic way and we also take advantage of moment marketing.
For example, we look to see what the brand is and focus a stronger emphasis on certain moments in the calendar to help create a buzz for it. So if it’s Dunkin’ and they are coming out with a drink that is marketed as a healthy drink, we would pick healthy influencers, but also we choose to do this around moments where health is more highlighted in the calendar; like we know that in the new year people start going on diets or right before the summer when someone wants to get fit, if it’s a healthy product then we will push it. If it is a car company, we figure out when it is popular for someone to lease a car and figure out how to promote the new car to that consumer through an influencer or celebrity. It could be a charged moment like All-Star Weekend or Super Bowl, we always figure out times where it is best to make some noise.
Also, because Talent Resources doesn’t represent any talent, we are able to come up with the right types of influencers and celebrities through our mass network and best direct contacts for the celebrities. In the last 15 years the environment has changed as you used to only be able to go to an agency, now you have managers, agents, publicists to go through so we really go after the right people to connect with to get us answers fast and make sure who we choose are authentic and make sense for the brand category or brand itself.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
At a very early stage in my life I was always an entrepreneur, I used to throw events starting as early as high school. By throwing these events I secured myself to be featured in mainstream media outlets like New York Magazine which made me realize there was a big opportunity involving celebrities would bring attention to the events I was throwing.
Then, I went to law school and became a lawyer focusing on commercial deals for celebrities like appearance, endorsement and licensing deals which led me to managing celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and bringing commercial deals to Paris Hilton. With this experience, I realized there was a big opportunity to create an agency that could facilitate brands with what their budget could afford and that’s how Talent Resources started. So the core of the agency was always being a bridge between brands, celebrities, and influencers and now with the added technology we are able to dissect their social media community through their following. If a celebrity has a million followers we can see if the majority of followers are male or female, and know what kind of audience follows these people so we can make a conscious and strategic decision on if they are the right fit for a brand.
What are your plans, how do you plan to grow this company?
In 2020, during the pandemic, we realized switching from being in the office every day to going to Zoom, that it didn’t matter where you were in the world as long as you were on the call with the team and stayed connected each day. This gave me the real vision to expand. In 2020 we opened offices in Chicago, Boston, Phoenix, London, Dubai and continue to grow. We have taken advantage of the fact that we are headquartered in New York, but with the technology ability we are able to grow the company globally as we have a presence in different states and countries. The presence has in turn helped us close on new business that we may have not been able to close on before because we didn’t have a presence.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
I think the biggest problem I ever encountered with the business was in the beginning when I was first starting out it was gaining trust. Since we were going up against major agencies and companies, my biggest hurdle was explaining to companies ‘you don’t need to hire these gigantic, overly staffed agencies.’ The people I hire are always the right hire for the job and the smartest people for what we do so I was able to stay boutique while still being extremely impactful.
However, in the beginning the struggle I had was building my brand reputation and showing them in the very beginning we are long-term thinkers and here to stay because unfortunately in the entertainment industry there’s a lot of thieves, a lot of people who try to make a quick dollar. At Talent Resources we pride ourselves on advising clients properly and our business is word of mouth, not advertising.
Those were some hurdles we faced and this was simultaneously when we were pitching something that was foreign and advanced being pioneers in the business. I had to explain to our new clients and potential clients, ‘hey, you don’t need to go buy all the commercials, magazine ads you are buying. We can come up with easier ways with moment marketing and the technology that we have to make an impact for your business.’
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
In the beginning, I tried to start too big and I learned the hard way. I was able to rein it back in and instead of hiring a ton of people I was able to hire the best people. I realized instead of 10 employees you can hire that one great person who can do the job of 10 people and you just need to hire effectively for your company.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
I think since we managed to stay boutique and very selective of the clients we take on, and only take on the ones we really feel we could help, I feel that is something that makes us unique as we are very hands-on with the opportunities and every client we take on.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
I’m constantly reading biographies of successful people. For example, I just finished reading the biography on the founder of Netflix and the one about Steve Jobs. I’m constantly reading books that help me and reading articles to keep me informed on all different aspects of entertainment.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
- No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
- Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
I wish I knew to have more mentors around me, I do now, but the power of mentors that are successful and can help someone really help an aspiring entrepreneur; there’s a lot of people who are willing to mentor young entrepreneurs. I also wish I took more of a venture role. I had a lot of opportunities where I could have taken sweat equity and I didn’t and now that’s all I look for.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Word of mouth, keep doing the best I can and letting my clients speak on behalf of my work.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would use that money to go to the best networking opportunity where I would be able to meet people. Use that money to get me there and put me in the right room.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Make sure you have the right mentors around you and listen to podcast that will inspire you.
What is your favorite quote?
“If you build it, they will come.”
– W. P. Kinsella
How can we get in touch with you?
You can reach Michael Heller and his company, Talent Resources by visiting TalentResources.com and on social media at @TalentResources and @MiikeHellerTR
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