Living The Red Life - Over 300 Million $ In Brand Deals Revealed By Famous Agent Paul Fisher

Starting point is 00:00:00 Many years ago, there was 12 covers of American Vogue and 11 covers used to be models and one with celebrity. And now, there's 11 celebrities and one model. Interesting. And every time I get a phone call from a Prada or a Gucci or any major designer in the world, the first question they ask me is, what's the kid's Instagram? Because they know, if they book one of the Jenners, they know it comes along with 150, 200, whatever million followers. And so they're asking us the same exact questions.

Starting point is 00:00:28 They're saying to us, yes, I love that model of yours, or they love that kid, but what's her conversion rate as far as her online following goes? And so with every model that we manage now, the most important thing is... I know you've grown a company to, you know, done tens of millions of dollars over your time. What are some of the biggest, you know, entrepreneurial lessons you've learned? Well, there's a few lessons really quickly that I use. I'm not saying that they're right for everybody, but number one... My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast,

Starting point is 00:01:00 and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in Wonderland and change your life. What's up guys? Welcome back to another episode. Today we have my friend Paul Fisher who has been one of the top supermodel agents for the last few decades. He's worked with some of the biggest models and celebrities in the world the hilton family the getty family has a couple of tv shows out kate moss naomi campbell tyra banks the list goes on and he's brokered over 300 million dollars in deals between these celebrities and brands gucci versace you name it he's done. And today we're talking about celebrity influence, how to

Starting point is 00:01:45 build brands using celebrities, how to crack those deals and how you can do it as a beginner. So don't switch off and think I'm not a Gucci, I'm not a Versace, because I'm going to talk about how you can do it even if you're a beginner. Paul, welcome to the show. First of all, thank you so much for having me here, Rudy. It's an honor. I'm humbled and I'm looking forward to wrapping to you. Yes, sir. So tell the audience if they don't know who you are, some of what you've done and are doing and all the celebrities and brands you've worked with. Because I wanted you on today to really talk about that synergy between celebrities, influencers and brands. Something that I see as the future for every type of business is merging in those big talents.

Starting point is 00:02:28 And I know you've worked with a lot of those talents. So, yeah, tell the audience. So I've spent the last few decades, Rudy, representing some of the biggest stars in the world in my field, in the world of the modeling industry, and now moving on into the world of influencers. I've been the personal agent of everybody naomi campbell stephanie seymour cariotas monica bellucci carla bruni the hilton family the getty family um current you know huge current

Starting point is 00:02:56 stars my kids have uh and my talent has has booked over 300 million dollars worth of jobs. I think, and I'll say very, very humbly, I think I've created more stars in the modeling industry than anybody before me. Maybe not into the future. We'll see what happens there. But in the past, I don't think anybody's created more stars than I have. And now I have moved into representing

Starting point is 00:03:21 because the business has shifted so much into just, you know, there is really no supermodels anymore. We can only name a couple of, you know, high fashion supermodels right now. But right now it's moved into the whole world of social media. So I represent, you know, a couple of big stars in the social media world, Suede Brooks, who's actually been living in my house for the last five or six years. I've known her since she's been born. So I've moved now into the world of social media. So I really have two jobs, Rudy. On one hand, I manage talent and have done that for a few decades. The second thing I do for the last few years, I've been starring in a TV show called I Can Make You a Supermodel. I love it. Yeah, I'm so excited to see how you feel the celebrity influencer world has changed too, right? Because, you know, I've been obviously in this industry about 10 years, and even in those 10 years, a lot's changed. And I really became fascinated with merging my brands and the brands I ran or managed or consulted for my own personal companies with celebrity talent. Because one thing I've seen over many, many years

Starting point is 00:04:26 is the instant trust and credibility and the instant amount of doors that open when a celebrity is attached. And all the big brands have noticed that too, right? They're paying out tens of millions of dollars for these celebrity ambassadors and even giving equity away in billion dollar companies just to get a celebrity on board.

Starting point is 00:04:45 So can you explain kind of how that world's changed and how you've seen it with all the talent you've managed? Because I know you've done some big brand deals too, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd like to. Yes, Rudy. And there's a new business that I'm actually launching right now, which actually plays right directly into this. I was a very, one of the most powerful brand builders in the world is a man named Berndt Ullman, U-L-L-M-A-N, Berndt Ullman. And Berndt has done the biggest celebrity brand deals

Starting point is 00:05:17 on the planet. He did the Jennifer Lopez deal with Mark Anthony, $3.2 billion for Kohl's. He's done deals for Adam Levine, Nicki Minaj, Steven Tyler, et cetera, et cetera. And he came to me five months ago and he said, Paul, have you heard about the Ryan Reynolds deal that Ryan Reynolds did with Mint Mobile? And Ryan invested $1 million of his own cash. And two years later, he walked away with $334 million. True story. That's a good ROI there. It's a nice ROI there. I'll get him now.

Starting point is 00:05:51 He said to me, he goes, I know you manage a talent by the name of Suede Brooks. Are you able to put together six Suede Brooks? And what we want to do is we're doing a deal with T-Mobile and Verizon. And we're launching this company called Lit Mobile, L-I-T. It's a phone plan. And we want you to put together six influencers, creators in that space, in the beauty, fashion, pop culture space. So basically what they're doing, which I'm helping them do, is taking high-end, powerful influencers who have a reach in the aggregate of about 50 60 million followers in the aggregate and we're launching this um this phone plan called lit mobile so the ability to kind of it's kind of a it's it's monetizing celebrities and monetizing tele

Starting point is 00:06:41 communications with the use of celebrities it's's just like the alcohol liquor lines, right? 100%. It's all that. They slap a label on the top, right? And it makes a $100 million company because Brad Pitt's behind it or whoever. That's exactly. It adds credibility. But it also adds one more thing, which is the reach of these influencers and these social media stars.

Starting point is 00:07:06 Because when they can actually push a button and actually reach 50 million, 60 million, 70 million people in a moment, it's bigger than NBC. It's bigger than Fox. You guys have the power and these influencers have the power to create a brand literally overnight, not just because of adding their huge credibility and their name to a product, but Ryan Reynolds didn't just add his name to Mint Mobile, which became a billion dollar brand. He leveraged his 50 million followers. So A, one level is the actual brand awareness that the, that the, that the celebrity brings along with them.

Starting point is 00:07:48 But the other thing is that huge following in the followers. Totally. And I think, you know, I keep trying to emphasize to my listeners and my audience, like don't sleep on this, but also don't eliminate yourself from thinking it's only going to work for the billion dollar brands. Because most of my audience, as you know, is startup entrepreneurs,

Starting point is 00:08:10 right? Doing a couple of million or even trying to get to that phase. And there is a lot of potential to still do these celebrity deals at that early phase, right? And obviously, a lot of the biggest A-listers are doing it more at the billion dollar level, but we've helped some of our clients for a minimal investment, take their successful supplement company or skincare company or fashion company and duplicate it with now a celebrity face on it

Starting point is 00:08:41 and basically run it as a second company. And the way we structure the deals with a celebrity is the celebrity gets paid up front, right, or gets a guarantee over the first year. And the celebrity basically generates that money themselves from their own following. So for the entrepreneur starting out, they're taking very little risk because they might partner with a celebrity, have to give the celebrity 100k in the first six months, but then the celebrity goes and makes that 100k from their own influence, right, from their own following. So, and then this beginner entrepreneur gets all of that

Starting point is 00:09:16 instant credibility and now co-owns a brand with a major celebrity. So, I know you've done a lot of bigger deals with like big billion dollar companies and stuff. But for those listening that, you know, don't eliminate yourself from, you know, what we're discussing right here. Because if you're smart and strategic in the deal structure, every single person can be leveraging the power of celebrities. 100%. It's putting your brand on steroids overnight. Yes. And by the way, if I may, Rudy, I love working with the smaller brands. To be able to be there at the inception with some of those smaller brands and watch them grow literally in a six to eight month period and watch them just fly out of the gate because they've used a celebrity, because they've used an influencer to kind of put a power pack on the back of their, on the back of that brand, I think is really even more exciting for a guy like me to watch their success. Totally. And I think also most entrepreneurs don't learn this. So they do

Starting point is 00:10:21 it the hard way, which is basically in my 20s, I understood growing a company was you start the company and you grow it from ground up. And I go, that works. I got my company to tens of millions of dollars doing exactly that. But it's hard and slow. Whereas now in my 30s, I've changed my brain on how to grow big companies to you either raise money like private equity or whatever. You partner with a big celebrity and grow a brand there or you buy a brand. how to grow big companies to you either raise money like private equity or whatever, right? You partner with a big celebrity and grow a brand there, or you buy a brand, right? And you take an existing brand because you're able to cut out with all three of those options, probably at least five to 10 years of that startup phase that's slow and tedious. And you're able to, like you say,

Starting point is 00:11:02 put it on steroids. So I think for anyone listening, you know, there's really the free options. If you're serious about growing like a company to do in tens of millions or hundreds of millions, it's very slow and painful to just do it yourself. Right. And if you look at companies like Elon Musk and Amazon and all those companies, yes, you know, they started or founded them. But most of the time when you actually read into it and research it, they acquired a company and then renamed it. And it had a lot of the IP or was in the base. And then they started acquiring a bunch of companies and putting it under the umbrella. You know, like I think Facebook has had over 60 or 70 acquisitions or maybe 200.

Starting point is 00:11:40 I can't remember. But it's had a lot. Right. Amazon's had hundreds of acquisitions. So, you know, leveraging acquisitions and celebrities to grow the brands are so important. And let's talk about the flip side for like, you know, what's in it for the big billion dollar brands? Because obviously you've brokered deals and worked with, you know, your talent and those big brands,

Starting point is 00:12:03 how are they structuring those deals and what are they getting out of it? What I'd like to do is talk about one thing in regards to that, which is the type of celebrity and the type of influencers that the brands are shimmying up with. I have this concept that I believe that, you know, I'll give you an example. I manage a girl named Suede Brooks. And if you look at Suede Brooks, her social media following, three and a half, four million followers between her TikTok and her Instagram. And one of the things I stress to Suede is out of every 10 postings that you do, at least a couple of them have to be in a form of giving back. You have to be where you're actually giving back to your community and you're actually

Starting point is 00:12:50 doing something good for the planet. And I think that just kind of creates circuitry and actually creates my stars into becoming bigger stars. And how that has to do with the question that you're asking me is, I think the type of influencer and the type of stars that these big brands are going after and that are important to these big brands are those types of talent talent that gives back to the to their community talent that actually cares about the world talented you know i can get a kid a versace campaign or eve's on the wrong campaign whatever but i think that kids then it's got to go out, feed the homeless, do something great for the community. And I think those big brands, what they, what they're doing is they're actually shimming up with, with talent that actually has this kind of consciousness. They're,

Starting point is 00:13:34 they're, they're, they're, they're, they want to be involved with young people. I don't want to say PPG, but, but, but have parental approval. But I think that the brands, what's important to the brands are talent that where they know it's not over-sexualized, it's not a lot of TNA, it's not too sexy. The talent that they're working with has great morals and are giving back to the community and doing something great for the world. So I think those bigger brands are excited about talent who are not, I don't want to say mainstream because they could be edgy, they could be cool, they could be interesting, but they're also doing something great for the planet.

Starting point is 00:14:19 They're giving back. They care about the world, care about what's taking place in the world. And the kind of talent that I manage, that the of of their of their of their postings and of their uh of their platform yeah and i and i think what's interesting with someone like swade brooks is that it's kind of changed where you know some of your earlier um you know talent that you were managing or maybe still manage right whether the typical Naomi Campbell the typical You know celebrity model etc But now it's almost becoming like youtuber influence a term celebrity So how have you seen that sort of world change because I think that's like, you know

Starting point is 00:15:19 Celebrities used to be born out of TV movies or maybe sport right pretty much whereas now they're born out of social media yeah you know many years ago there was 12 there's 12 covers of American Vogue and 11 covers used to be models and one with a celebrity and now there's 11 celebrities and one model interesting and and it's it's it's it's turned the whole business on its on its uh on its back because it's very hard to create supermodels anymore because they've taken the covers of the magazines away from us if you look at harper's bazaar or vogue or any of the major fashion magazines in any country around the world, it's not 11 models anymore and one celebrity. It's one model and 11 celebrities. And every time I get a phone call from a Prada or a Gucci or any major designer in the world,

Starting point is 00:16:21 the first question they ask me is, what's the kid's Instagram? How big of a reach does that kid have? Because they know if they book one of the Jenners, they know it comes along with 150, 200, whatever million followers. And so they're asking us the same exact questions. They're saying to us, yes, I love that model of yours, or they love that kid, but what's her conversion rate as far as her online following goes? And so with every model that we manage now, the most important thing is that they're using and they're building their platform in a very, very powerful way because that's the only way we can attract the brands. And for us, Rudy, the building of a brand for a model nowadays is twofold. It's to attract major brands to use that GID. But then the second part of that, the second part of that is when the model is done modeling, what is she going to do with that

Starting point is 00:17:17 platform? She needs to be able to move it from A to B. She needs to move it from the modeling career to building a product line, to opening up a restaurant, to doing whatever they want to do in their life. But it's about moving that platform from A to B. So the reason for a model, for example, to build a very large online following is one, it decides your rate, it decides what big brands you're going to attract. But then when you move it from A to B and you're done with your modeling career, it's imperative to have a major platform to use the modeling industry, to have a huge platform for whatever business that you want to build afterwards. And they're building big businesses after their modeling career

Starting point is 00:18:03 with the use of these online social media platforms. Totally. So let's talk a little about the business side because, I mean, we've talked a lot about celebrities, influencers, you know, the models and the brand deals. But I know you've, you know, grown a company to, you know, done tens of millions of dollars over your time. So I would love, you know, and obviously this show, most of us are all entrepreneurs at heart, right? So what are some of would love, you know, and obviously this show, most of us are all entrepreneurs at heart, right? So what are some of the biggest, you know, entrepreneurial lessons you've learned over growing, you know, growing over the years and running the business side?

Starting point is 00:18:35 Well, there's a few lessons really quickly that I use. I'm not saying that they're right for everybody, but number one, put in the time. You know, everybody wakes up at 9 o'clock in the morning they start working i wake i start my day at five o'clock in the morning you know you gotta work you gotta put in the time i like to outwork everybody if everybody's gonna work eight hours a day i'm gonna put in 12 14 hours a day because i just think that uh especially in today's generation people think that they can get away with working four six seven eight hours and they're cool it's a joke if you really want to build something you got to work you got to hustle

Starting point is 00:19:09 so i think working from from you know you know putting in the extra hours is really important i think number two is is believe believe in something you're gonna get your you're gonna have a hundred people say no to you you got got to keep knocking on doors. You got to believe it's, it's, it's, you know, to me there's one enemy and the enemy is doubt. And so you have to, you have to have a hundred percent certainty in yourself, in the product that you're selling, but 100% certainty, who cares if you get a hundred no's. I mean, the way I create star is very simple. I take a kid, I send it to a hundred of the biggest decision makers in the world i know 94 people are going to tell me i'm an idiot but six people are going to think the kid is great

Starting point is 00:19:50 yeah and and and and simple math and all i got to get is two or three out of those 100 people to believe in the kid and then we're off and running to the races so one is work really hard two is the enemy is doubt have 100. And then I think the third one is a spiritual thing that my spiritual teachers taught me, which is the following. I did this study many years ago, and I tried to figure out how can people stay successful for long periods of time? Not five years, not 10 years, but 20 years, 25 years. How do you stay in the game for long periods of time? I wanted to see if there was a common denominator. How do you stay successful for a long period of time? And I found a common denominator. And I wanted to figure out, was it they were better

Starting point is 00:20:37 looking? They were better dancers. They were better singers. They were better business people. What was that thing, that common denominator that kept people in the game for long periods of time? And that thing was they gave back to the world. They were philanthropic. Whether it's Robert Redford or Paul Newman or now Katy Perry, Sean Penn, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, what are they doing? They're giving back to the world in a very, very, very powerful and profound way. And I think that same way about business. I think that A,

Starting point is 00:21:11 you got to work harder than everybody else and put in the time. I think you got to believe more than you could ever possibly believe in anything. You have to have complete certainty. And then you got to figure out how you could take a piece of that and give back to the world and share with the world. And I think if you use those things, hard work, belief, and giving back to the world, I think that's a very serious cocktail for success. Yeah, I love that. And I mean, you know, I think that's part of your story, right? Like most of us started with nothing. I know you said you started with 10K and that, you know, helped generate over 300 million now in deals and growing your own company to tens of millions. And I think that's one thing all of us entrepreneurs have in common is we have this borderline crazy

Starting point is 00:21:56 arrogance, like we're going to make it and everyone else thinks you're crazy. But, you know, until you do, right, as the saying goes. Yeah, they laughed at me. They said, how could you ever build? How could you ever go against elite do right as the saying goes yeah they laughed at me they said how could you ever build how could you ever go against elite and ford and the biggest modeling agents in the world and you got 10 000 bucks and you got and you're 22 years old out of uc santa barbara how could you possibly pull that off i love it and i just said i'm gonna work 15 hours a day and i'm gonna believe with with complete certainty. Then as I got older, I figured out the final one, which was share.

Starting point is 00:22:35 Share as much as you possibly can share and give back in a very profound, powerful way. Love it. And just lastly, as we wrap up, I teased the new stuff you're up to to now you have the tv show um tell us a little about that for a couple of minutes to wrap up today well i've been doing a show for the last three four um well three four seasons now about five years but i do a show overseas in london and in amsterdam and it's in in around maybe 10 countries around the world it's called i Can Make You a Supermodel. And so if you Google me, Paul Fisher Supermodel Agent, you'll see me, my show, I Can Make You a Supermodel. And I go into rehabs, homeless shelters, I find kids on the street.

Starting point is 00:23:16 And six, eight weeks later, you see them walking for my clients, Donatella Versace, Mrs. Pratt, etc. And then I manage those kids' careers. So the show has become a big, huge hit. Eight o'clock at night in Holland and in London, Next Top Model comes on. Nine o'clock at night, my show comes on. But the new show that we're out there actually presenting to all the big streamers in the networks right now is called Confessions of a Modeling Agent. And that show, which we hope gets picked up soon, is where I tell stories about my clients, about me and Naomi, me and Stephanie,

Starting point is 00:23:54 me and Monica Bellucci, me and Carla Bruni, me and the Hiltons, me and the Gettys. And so I'm actually coming out of the closet, but I'm telling stories that have never been heard before. I'm telling stories about the O.J. Simpson case when I used to represent Paula Barbieri that has never, ever been told before. The true story behind one of the biggest murder mysteries in the world. I'm telling stories about how Axl Rose blew up my freaking Jeep. I'm talking because of Stephanie Seymour and how me and Mickey Rourke had wars

Starting point is 00:24:26 and shit like that. So my new show, which is Confessions of a Model Agent, God willing, people are starting to get excited about it. God willing, I get to do that show in the coming year. Nice. I'm excited to see that. Thanks, B.

Starting point is 00:24:42 TV Journey is a fun one. I just filmed my first show last year that comes out uh in a couple of months time on a major streaming platform um and uh you know it's it's a it's a it's a great experience to to kind of give back in that way right youtube and socials is one thing but um i love the idea of impacting people through the TV side. So, yeah, I'm excited to see that. So just last question. I want to close with this.

Starting point is 00:25:12 I just want to close with this. I love what you do. The ability to give knowledge to young entrepreneurs on how to become successful in this freaking war zone out there, this business war zone out there. I take my hat off to you, brother. I've watched you for a while, and I'm humbled to sit and talk to you. And I think what you do is so damn important and really, really cool for young people and older people to learn great business ideas and techniques and entrepreneurship. It's really, really great stuff, man. My hat's off to you, brother.

Starting point is 00:25:43 I appreciate that. I mean, look, just like you, I do all this because I didn't have this when I started. I figured it all out. And just because I believed in myself, pushed through and became successful from kind of brute force and not giving up. And I always look back and how further ahead I could be if I had that lessons and mentorship, right? So just like you, it's actually a privilege

Starting point is 00:26:05 to be able to now be in a position to do that. And that's why I'm so excited by TV. This is a bigger platform or stage for me to hopefully have that positive impact on entrepreneurship. I mean, entrepreneurship is one of the best things for the world if it's used in a good way. So yeah, I think we're all aligned there.

Starting point is 00:26:23 So Paul, just to wrap, if people want to check you out or follow you, what's your best social? I know you're on Instagram and such. Yeah, two things, just two things really quickly. One is my Instagram is thereal.paulfisher, thereal.paulfisher. And then one of my great things that I get to do in my life is I get to teach.

Starting point is 00:26:45 And it's kind of a website. It's a training course where I train people all over the world. And I, and I actually trained some of the biggest modeling agencies and influencer agencies on the art of being an agent, the art of creating stars. And it's called the Paul, it's called the Paul Fisher method, the paulfishermethod.com, the paulfishermethod.com. And here's where I literally teach people how to become a modeling agent, an influencer agent, to represent talent, how to create stars. And I'm very, very proud of it because we've had, I think now, 75,000 people go through the course and it's really really exciting for me to see people that i've trained through my course become agents of some of the biggest stars in the world that has been one of the the most exciting parts of my journey is the art of teaching and creating the

Starting point is 00:27:37 art of creating stars so paulfishermethod.com it's uh it's a really cool course and you'll learn how to become an agent of top talent. Nice. I love it. All right, buddy. Well, that's a wrap, guys. Until next time, keep living the red life. Paul, thank you so much. I hope today's episode was educational and inspiring and I'll see you guys very soon.

Starting point is 00:27:59 Take care. Thanks, Rudy. Peace.

Living The Red Life - Over 300 Million $ In Brand Deals Revealed By Famous Agent Paul Fisher

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