The Keys to the Office: Tiauna Jackson Shares the Keys to the Talent Agent Office

Kristina (00:05):

Hey, future black and Latin X leaders. You are listening to the keys to the office podcast, where we interview amazing guests who share their individual career paths to set you up for success. We're giving you the keys to the office and all you need to do is show up, ready to unlock the door. Let's jump into today's episode. All right, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the keys to the office podcast. I am super excited to sit down with the one and only Tiana Jackson, founder of the Jackson agency who recently made headlines. So I'm sure you've seen her name in essence and elsewhere as the first black woman elected to the association of talent agents. This happens to not have been the first time she's made history. So I'll let her tell you a little bit about not just the receipts, but who you are and what you do.

Tiauna (01:04):

Thank you. Hello everyone. I'm Tiauna Jackson. I'm a talent and literary agent. My agency, the Jackson agency is headquartered in century city, which is, um, just outside of Los Angeles and California. And what I do is I specialize in providing representation for actors, writers, producers, directors, pretty much anything that involves a creative person being needed in front of the camera or behind the camera. They have an intermediary in that intermediary typically is a talent agent.

Kristina (01:31):

Awesome. Awesome. In terms of history making, I mentioned one, but I know it goes beyond that. So it's not the first time you've made history. Talk to us a little bit about that.

Tiauna (01:41):

Yeah, so what's unique about me is I started my agency entirely from the ground up. I was a victim of the barriers to entry in entertainment that we've started to discuss post George Floyd mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so I had to start my own agency. I didn't have any contacts. Didn't have a family member in the industry just completely built it from the ground up and by doing so, in some instances, I'm the only known black woman with a hundred percent ownership of her agency mm-hmm <affirmative> to do so. There are other agencies that exist that are also black owned, such as mine. And then there are some, they have partners or silent partners, so they may not have a hundred percent ownership. And so with that, I became the first known black woman in Los Angeles to have a WGA franchise. Wow. And then I became the first WGA franchise, which is the writer's Guild of America in Atlanta, Georgia. That was significant because it's a 2 billion, $3 billion a year industry in Georgia. But my understanding from the writers that I met there was that they didn't have any support. So we wanted that and opened up a franchise in Georgia as well.

Kristina (02:37):

Awesome. Awesome. So you've been in this talent space, breaking barriers for quite some time, I guess let's rewind for a little bit. Talk to me a little bit about what you wanted to be when you grew up. Is this really what you saw for yourself in this space? Or was it something like I wanted to be a teacher or a social worker kind of talk to me a little about that dream.

Tiauna (03:01):

The first career path that I wanted for myself was actually a biochemist.

Kristina (03:06):

Wow.

Tiauna (03:07):

As a kid, I was like, you know what, I'm gonna find the cure for aids. I had an awful biology teacher, sophomore year of high school, and I abandoned it, you know, and yeah, kind of sucks to say that, that, you know, this teacher ruined it for me, but that was initially what I wanted to be was a biochemist. As I fell into entertainment around the age of 14, started making my first little short films and skits and whatnot and writing my first scripts. I initially wanted to either be an editor or a publicist actually mm-hmm <affirmative> I ended up heading off to university and they didn't have a film program there. So the closest was broadcast journalism. Okay. So I ended up with a bachelor of arts in communications with an emphasis in mass communications.

Kristina (03:47):

Awesome. And you said 14. So you started very young. How did you balance the pursuit of your dreams and your education?

Tiauna (03:57):

Well, I liked to be able to pay my bills on time <laugh> so I actually see it's critical entertainment adjacent. So if you don't understand from a production standpoint, like say you're working as a production assistant or a script, uh, supervisor, you're going from job to job essentially. And so it's much like construction where you're constantly looking for your next gig. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So with entertainment and even back then, there really weren't that many people of color. I remember the first time as an extra on a TV show, I saw I had black male, um, boom operator, which is a part of the sound department mm-hmm <affirmative> and I, my jaw dropped and I was like, we can do this. Wow. You know, and that was at like age of 18. So I chose a steady check. So I actually worked as an accountant for over a decade, but I kept my ear to the ground when it came to entertainment and mainly pop culture, really mm-hmm <affirmative> and, um, actually pitched a few scripts for my best friend.

Tiauna (04:48):

Who's a writer director to some production companies in my mid twenties. And, um, I, like I said, I went down a different path at the age of 31 32. That's when I actually became a talent agent and started my own agency. It was really out of necessity at that point. I, there really weren't that many black agents that were known or visible definitely didn't really know that many that owned their own agencies. And frankly heard two of my actors. I had casted in a web series. I was filming who were both Hispanic say that they couldn't find an agent. And I just thought that was weird considering, you know, I started studying this industry at 14 and now here I am in my thirties and we still didn't have any change or progression.

Kristina (05:27):

Wow. Wow. So did you have mentors along the way? I know you mentioned your best friend kind of being in the space. Who did you have to hold your hand and provide you with that guidance and direction? And then who would you suggest or how would you suggest maybe, uh, college students considering this path find their own mentors and, and guides?

Tiauna (05:49):

I don't have any, I've met some people, some prominent black agents in some positions. And we went to set some meetings and they were kind of just strongly me along. So I've still just been navigating my own way, my own path. So I'm a Testament to, you can do it and you don't need somebody to hold your hand. Mm-hmm <affirmative> you just get out there and do what needs to be done for the students. Now, hopefully with some of the changes that I've worked really hard to implement inside of Hollywood, through the work I've done and inside of one of the committees that I helped, uh, really put together that framework, the racial equality task force. I spent two years on that task force before I withdrew to pursue other endeavors, we really focused on what does mentorship look like? How do we combat the culture inside of these workplaces that have made this career undesirable to most black people? I know a lot of black women who started off at agencies who now are producers, they're winning Emmys, they're, you know, heads of studios. And they all came from inside of that system. And it was just very, very toxic.

Kristina (06:49):

So let's pause here for a second, because I know as someone who's not in the entertainment industry, what we typically see is the glitz and the glam just in our conversations, right. Not just today, but our previous conversation. Talk a little bit about how students can prepare to deal with the obstacles. And I know you're working on your end to make it just a little easier, a little less complicated for them, but how do you deal with that? Talk to us about the obstacles. Talk to us about how you prepare to overcome them. If you don't have someone holding your hand.

Tiauna (07:25):

Yeah. I mean, I think that a lot of us are naturally prepared by birth. I think we all figured out at a certain point or age that the world views us a bit differently. Yeah. It took me until I was about 19 or 20 to see that I went to go rent a room when I was still in college and a landlord accused me of being a drug dealer because she didn't know who I was. And so that was my first instance.

Tiauna (07:53):

Interesting. Right. And so I think that we start to experience these things and, you know, it's learned behavior and we learn how to move in certain ways. And some of us are fortunate enough to have parents, but I know a lot of people who've been on their own since they were 15. So the things that maybe you will experience in your thirties, forties, and fifties, they had to experience at a very young age mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so what I've really sat with this year and figuring out is, is, okay, I've worked in enough industries to know that every industry has problems. There's no industry period that, that doesn't have these types of issues in my experience, mm-hmm <affirmative>, and I've worked in a lot of different ones, telecommunications, health, and beauty entertainment, even just, you know, administrative services and, you know, stuff like that. So they all have these microaggressions, they all have these problems. Now that you know, there's going to be obstacles and unpleasant situations, which one can you really stand to make your money in? And that's literally the conversation I had with myself this year of like, do I still wanna do what I'm doing in entertainment because where I'm sitting, I'm not really seeing the change.

Kristina (08:58):

Wow. Okay. So I think if we just marinate on that, because that was real and authentic, right? Do you stay in this space? If it's not producing the results you hoped for, if you're not seeing the evolution that will impact future generations who come into this space, what's next? So where would you go from here? Right. Let's say an individual gets into this space. Um, and they decide, you know, it's not for them. You mentioned some are producers. It sounds like once you have this foundation, you can kind of go in, in a number of different directions.

Tiauna (09:38):

Yeah. Entertainment is so big. Yeah. Right. It's industry. But when you look at all the little jobs, there's literally a jobs for greens, which is the person who brings in the fake hedges for the TV shows. You know, you have studio electricians who wire up the sound stages versus set lighting technicians who tend to work off of portable power. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So you're looking at it as an industry if we even use the military, for example, because I think that's a great example that most people are aware of. The military has every job known, man. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so does entertainment. Okay. And so a lot of times when we're talking about, you know, the glitz and glamor, those typically tend to be the writers and the actors, and you already know that's the 1%. And so the first thing I tell people, when they find on metalation, they're like, I'd like to be an actor. I wanna be on TV. And I'm like, just so you know, people who appear in these commercials only make about $500.

Kristina (10:26):

Okay. Here, come the numbers.

Tiauna (10:28):

That's also the eye-opening aspect of it is that yes, those actors, you know, the Donald gloves, the Issa rays, if you will, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, they're making millions, but the actors that are no names less or known, and when advertisers wanna really save money non-union commercials, right now pay $500. Sometimes they will have what is called a buyout that could be anywhere between 2,500 to $7,500. And what that means is instead of residuals or royalties, if you're familiar with music out, the passive income comes mm-hmm <affirmative>. That means that you're gonna get one flat rate check for that amount and it's done. And sometimes that agreement is forever. Meaning in perpetuity mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative>. So then mathematically you're like, well, shoot, $500. Sounds great for one days of work, right? Sure. If you're on camera, but for me as the agent, I'm entitled to 10% of that 20% is the max in the state. So we're talking about $50 to $100. And I may have worked for three years trying to get you that one $500. Wow.

Tiauna (11:24):

How do I pay my bills? And so that's why you have ancillary services. So when you look at the successes of the bigger agencies, they are more than just agencies. They have concierge services, they have general counsel, they have, you know, legal services. They have all these things that generate additional revenue. In addition to their real estate holdings, their other investments. At one point in time, they own the movie theaters until California made a law, making it illegal to have antitrust, but now they found a way around antitrust it's called vertical integration. So there's so much that goes from a business standpoint. Yeah. That this is why I say every industry is gonna have this problem. You have to figure out which one you want to exist inside of to earn your living.

Kristina (12:07):

So how does someone get started as an agent? Do they come to you and say, <laugh> put me on, like, how does that happen? Like I'm intrigued. And because I'm not as familiar with this career path, right. I'm intrigued. How do you get your foot into this particular space? Which sounds grueling, by the way, if I'm listening to you talk about how much you earn just for that one person. So you've really gotta put, uh, quite a bit of effort into just pay the bills, but if I'm still attracted to it, how do I set foot in that straight outta college? Or no, let me not even order that because I was gonna say, do you think a college degree is required? As a matter of fact, let's dig in, let's have the raw conversation, unfiltered. Talk to me about the importance of education in this space.

Tiauna (13:03):

Yeah. So we'll talk about the traditional pathway as what is known and documented, which is where you work in a mail room. So typically the bigger agencies tend to have agent trainee programs that involve you working in a mail room for about a year. Then hopefully you can claw your way out of there and onto what they call someone's desk, meaning you're an assistant or a trainee under an agent. And so typically when you look at the makeup of those larger agencies, it tends to be Ivy league graduates and Juris, doctorate graduates, meaning graduates of law school. Mm. And so that's where the misconception, which I also had as well of, I need to be an attorney or finish law school, I should say, in order to be an agent mm-hmm <affirmative>. Cause initially that friend I told you about who I was shop in his, his scripts in my early twenties, he was like I want you to be my agent. And I'm like, I don't feel like going to law school, you know? Right,

Kristina (13:55):

Right.

Tiauna (13:55):

So, but you actually do not need that in order to get your license. Okay. But traditionally, because you're gonna wanna work somewhere else because you'll be able to pay your bills. Easier. Everything I do is commission based. And I just told you $50 is pretty much what I make. If somebody books a commercial and films one day mm-hmm <affirmative>. So you're gonna need, you know, a little bit more sustainment, right? <laugh> yeah. $50 every once in a blue moon, but working at another agency is kind of the best gateway and pathway for you. Again, I started mine out of necessity. I could not get employment anywhere. In fact, I ran my own racial bias study. I submitted as myself, Tiana Jackson at multiple agencies, even though I have a degree from Chapman university, which is well known in California, especially for its film school. I have a professional program certificate, which mirrors the MFA programs at UCLA, by UCLA, in producing as well as their one year screenwriting program, which is a direct copy of their MFA program. And I still wasn't getting any bites and I, a little voice came in my head and I was like, you idiot, you're too black. Your name is too black. Tiana Jackson sounds like a strong black name. And so my middle name is a very white European middle name. And so I put that on my resume and I got five interviews. Nothing else has changed on my resume.

Kristina (15:08):

We hear about this often. Yeah. And you're telling us an actual story of it happening. Yeah,

Tiauna (15:14):

No, I'm a living, living, breathing monument of that and the impact. And so of course, when I went on those interviews, I picked my hair out and I was like, well, here's the deal at this point, they don't realize that I'm black. And so when I come, I'm going to be black E black, black, they're going to see my Afro. I am still gonna be well educated and polished wearing a suit. But ultimately this is also a part of my identity. Wow. So now getting back to that for quick, cause they're like,

Kristina (15:41):

But how do we

Tiauna (15:41):

Do this? So in a mail room, you can sign up for an agent trainee program. Typically that's in a mail room because they need people of color. They may have bypassed that cause they realize it is pre arduous. I mean, you're expected to wear a full suit, be in heels or nice shoes all day and literally run mail throughout that multiple story building it's wow. It's grunt work. And you've got an Ivy league degree and, or a Juris doctorate. You've got bills. And at the time this is, you know, years ago, starting salaries about 36,000 and you're in Los Angeles or

Kristina (16:11):

New York can't pay your bills before

Tiauna (16:12):

The real estate <laugh>

Kristina (16:14):

Yeah.

Tiauna (16:14):

Is very high. Yeah. And Dre Nelson MIGS, who is Beyonce's agent would be another person that I know of who actually came out of that mail room program.

Kristina (16:22):

Wow.

Tiauna (16:24):

A lot of the black agents I have met, however, they didn't come from that. They managed to get placements or whatnot in various ways and arenas and continue from there. Maybe even starting up their own shop after a

Kristina (16:34):

While. Mm-hmm <affirmative>

Tiauna (16:36):

Another way is an internship. That's a great way as well. Agencies love going to colleges and looking for students, especially film schools, mm-hmm <affirmative> now because they want more diversity. They're definitely just focused on Howard Howard Howard for some reason and ignoring the other a hundred and so HBCUs. And so that was something that I was trying to get them to understand as well. Is that there's more than just Howard and Spellman.

Kristina (16:57):

Yeah. I went to Jackson state a lot more, a lot more

Tiauna (17:00):

<laugh> mm-hmm <affirmative> so that's another way as well. And then even if you're a little bit older and what we would call nontraditional, like I was, I was in my thirties. They're not trying to have me really for any internships, you know, mm-hmm <affirmative>, you can sometimes find boutique agencies such as mine, which are smaller agencies that need an agent to work, you know, commission only, but it, it gives you an opportunity to get in somewhere, utilize that agency's license, find your clients and do what you need to do to, to start building yourself up and get going. Okay. And then of course the last option is the Tiana Jackson option. Just start it up and away you go.

Kristina (17:33):

Yeah. All right. So mail room. We're not gonna pay you a lot. We'll get a good bit of experience. A lot of, yeah. Not for everyone internship connect with a boutique agency or just build it.

Tiauna (17:49):

Yep. Those are pretty much the options.

Kristina (17:51):

Yeah.

Tiauna (17:52):

Because you know, the degree thing has come up and like I said, mainly most people have Juris doctorates. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, there may be some folks out there who did not complete college that may have gotten in, you know, it's kind of, one of those things is once you kind of get a foot in somewhere, you can kind of move in different ways. Like there are agents who have become managers, Charles King's a problem. Example of that. Okay. Um, and then there are, you know, agents who become writers, who just decided, you know what, I wanna write the scripts instead of read them and try to sell them. Mm-hmm <affirmative> now you have people who work on set all day. Right now you have directors of photography, cinematographers who are directors in the making, or they screenwriters in the making, but they wanna work in entertainment and they needed a job. And so they were able to get in and get that job, doing that vocational skill inside of the trade. What we call the trades II international alliances, I believe stage and theatrical employees.

Kristina (18:40):

Okay. I hope you all are taking notes by the way, like I've started taking notes and I have no interest in becoming an agent, but this stuff is so good. And I think it crosses multiple industries. So my hope is that you all are taking good notes and of course we'll have show notes at the end. Let me ask you this. I know you've done a lot of work in the Buffalo soldier space. So with all of the work you're doing for DEI and entertainment, how did you land in that space? What I think is so fascinating. The story, talk to us a little bit about that work.

Tiauna (19:17):

Yeah. So it's really my father. He decided he wanted to pay homage to the Buffalo soldiers in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. That's the home of the Buffalo soldier. And so right now that Ford is really for aviation or like the drones and whatnot mm-hmm <affirmative> and military intelligence. But back then when we were dealing with, you know, the Indian wars, that was where they were based out of down there mm-hmm <affirmative> in Sierra Vista. And so my father started the organization and I got involved obviously as a family thing. And gosh, I feel like we started that thing way back in 2006. And over the years, we've just done so many amazing things. Um, in Arizona specifically with it, we're not a part of any national chapter, it's just a familial trait. We create our own and do our own thing. And so we have the Buffalo soldiers of America, which is its own sovereign entity of 5 0 1 C three. Then we also have the Buffalo soldiers of Arizona. And so in Arizona, the majority of the work has been done educating students inside the schools. We have a traveling museum. So we have a box truck filled with about eight mannequins dressed in authentic attire.

Kristina (20:20):

I love it.

Tiauna (20:21):

Um, so you'll see an airman and a Marine, you know, and a sailor and a soldier. And we also added a Latino in there because of the Aztec Indians who were fighter pilots that were used during one of the wars as well, that a lot of people,

Kristina (20:31):

Wow.

Tiauna (20:32):

We go out and do presentations, we'll present colors. We did something amazing. In 2009, there was a east deceased. This was a very long time ago, 1920s, um, even really 1890, um, Isaiah maze. He is a medal of honor recipient mm-hmm <affirmative>. And during one of the wars, a if you're not familiar with the, okay, so let's go back. Cause there's so much the, I love it. Cultures unit is specific because it's a segregated unit. And as far as I know, until the previous president started handed out, medals of honor, two Caucasians heavily, we're the most decorated unit in mil military history. And it's very important. So people understand the <inaudible> airmen because we talk about that, but right. Totality black units are the most decorated units in military history. Okay. When someone pointed that out, if you notice, we don't really get the Mohs anymore, but that's you, we're not here for that.

Tiauna (21:23):

So what's, but it's a fact unique about this is that corporal Mays and his team, they were guarding a pay wagon. That's the wagon with the money. So we're going back to 18 hundreds here. Okay. Buggy. Okay. And so they were guarding that pay wagon. One of the officers in their unit who was most likely white, although we did have some black officers like Henry flipper, you know, the first, I can't remember, he's the very first west point graduate, but we had a few that were the first in there and they endured awful awful environments. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Doing what they needed to do. Yeah. Um, and so they were attacked, literally shot at and corporal Mays took a few bullets to the hip and leg and he crawled walked one or two miles to a house to tell them what had happened.

Tiauna (22:04):

They didn't an investigation and found out that his officer had set them up and people in his unit died. Okay. So let's make that perfect and clear this wasn't just a while they beat him over the head and ran off with the equivalent of a 1 million today. Okay. Wow. So he earned the medal of honor for that, when it was time for him to get discharged. My understanding is that he did do his 20 years and would be entitled to some benefits. The officer in the unit fudged his paperwork and made it appear as if he was never in. So he actually died in Arizona in invalid, which means he was homeless at everything to his name. And he was buried in the back of the Arizona state hospital, which later became a Sanitarium in an unmarked what you would call a poppers grave mm-hmm <affirmative>.

Tiauna (22:45):

And so my father worked with a group called missing an America project and missing an America project was able to find someone to exude his remains. They got conservatorship over the body. It had to be cremated out of typical OSIS concerns. And so they cremated him and we drove and rode my father and a few members of the Buffalo soldiers rode motorcycles. And we escorted corporal MA's remains all the way from Arizona to Arlington in DC. So that could re in turn with full military arts. Okay. And so that was an interesting journey because we had to travel across the United States and along the way we experienced racism and another woman tried to jump in our caravan and almost killed my father <laugh>. So are you serious? The journey of just being a Blackmore in America has just been peaches and that's sarcasm. Yeah. Um, so that's one instance of something that we've done.

Tiauna (23:45):

And then what's also cool is, is, you know, unfortunately he is deceased, but he received the medal of honor, uh, passionately mm-hmm <affirmative> it was, uh, oh God, why am I blanking on say Oscar, Austin? OK. He was a Marine. He dove on a grenade and he saved so many lives, but unfortunately passed away. He grew up here in Phoenix. He went to Phoenix union high school, Phoenix junior high school is a segregated high school. So don't think that the south was the only place that had segregation. Mm-hmm <affirmative> my father went to a segregated high school. OK. And my family's been a victim of imminent domain where the city steals property downtown in Phoenix. They stole a lot of property from black people and push them out. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so a lot of the beautiful buildings and stadiums you see downtown were black owned mm-hmm <affirmative> Oscar, Austin actually has a USS Naval destroyer named after him in honor of what he's done as a medal of honor recipient.

Tiauna (24:33):

And so we actually have a gentleman in our club who went to high school with him. Okay. And so he was able to talk about, you know, how nice and wonderful of a person Oscar was and all these things. And we filmed the video and attribute to him and we sent it to the ships chaplain. So that way, any sailor who serves a tour on the USS Oscar Austin gets to see that video mm-hmm <affirmative> and see the people that he knew and see some of the places that he grew up in. And that's what we did. And we're doing this with $0. Mind you, this is all coming outta my father and I's pocket donations. We get from the community when we go out and whatnot. And so that's what he's focused on now is raising funds to finally get a building, to put that museum that lives in a box truck in our backyard, mm-hmm <affirmative> into a building so that we can open it to the general public and continue to share stories. Just like some of these stories I told you today,

Kristina (25:23):

How can we support?

Tiauna (25:25):

There is a GoFund me that is out now. So I link

Kristina (25:31):

Definitely is so good. As someone who considers a practitioner, HR professional, all these things, constantly talking about the importance of inclusion in workspace. You've dealt with a lot and you continue to fight this battle. So those who come behind you may have it a little easier. Talk to me about what's on the horizon in terms of projects you're working on

Tiauna (26:00):

Right now, it is shopping season. So I've been actively trying to get my client's scripts, their original TV series, you know, out the door, trying to get them sales, trying to get them meetings. One of my clients is having in general with a network right now. So we're simultaneously in separate zooms mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so it's really just about continuing to service my clients. And then also just tightening up. I've been very vocal and, and honest about my journey. And there are a lot of people who have put a lot of their baggage on me thinking that I can make them the next ins in Washington. And that's a tall order. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so from a mental health standpoint, mm-hmm <affirmative> I had to really just dial back and say, you know what? I'm just gonna work with the people that have been rocking with me this whole time. Mm-hmm <affirmative> because, you know, I call people bandwagons, right? Anytime there's press, as soon as I'm in the New York times, people wanna work with me when I'm on TMZ. People wanna work with me. Mm-hmm <affirmative> when I'm on Fox. People wanna work with me when I'm in essence, people wanna work with me. Mm-hmm <affirmative> when my client is in deadline. People wanna work with me and it's like, no, you should have been here. When we were grinding in these trenches before we became popular for 24 hours on social media or in the trades.

Kristina (27:06):

All right.

Tiauna (27:06):

Right. Um, and so also recognizing that, that there are people that will come in and say, oh, well, I see you doing something. And now I wanna be a part of it. There are so many people who actually follow me on Instagram. That one girl who I've never interacted with one day was like, yeah, I've been here the whole time, just watching you to see what's gonna happen. We're talking eight years of this person never contributing towards the success of the agency, whether it's, whether it's spreading word of mouth, whether it's advocating for it, but just watching to see whether or not I make it or whether or not I fail.

Kristina (27:36):

There's a lot of that. Yeah. There's a lot of that I imagine. And that's probably a, a, like, I think about mental health in the entertainment industry and how important it is for us to focus on that. Are there resources dedicated to our mental health in this space and this absolutely nothing to do with your career path. But I think that's important because someone getting into this field needs to know,

Tiauna (28:03):

I will say I haven't been the best with it. A lot of it for me, it's just been venting. <laugh> online sometimes publicly, but then sometimes seeking out a therapist to talk about various other issues. Never really talk about the entertainment stuff, because nobody's gonna understand. Yeah. Know what I'm saying? Yeah. But interpersonal relationships, people will understand. Cause it doesn't matter what industry you're in, dealing with. People is difficult. And the majority of what we do as agents is dealing with people and where there intermediary between both the client, as well as production mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so you're stuck right in the middle and you just gotta take stuff from both sides where your client's acting up, not, not doing what they're supposed to doing, then productions calling you because the client's acting up and it's like, realistically, I'm only getting 10%. Yeah. But what do you expect me to do?

Tiauna (28:47):

We obviously work more than 10% in order to get these opportunities that we're getting for our clients. But you know, I can't make them take a COVID test. You know what I'm saying? Like, I can't make them wake up at 5:00 AM to be ready to go to set at six. And so there's certain things that are beyond our control and that's difficult as well. It's been very difficult to watch people block their blessings, where we've handed people. You know, I've gotten people on major shows, Westworld, sneaky, Pete, just roll with it. I've got client right now. Who's on the new Disney series for the crossover. Wow. You know, we've had some amazing opportunities where casting has seen that potential and book those clients mm-hmm <affirmative>. But at the same time, after that, something goes terribly wrong. It's kind of like, I take it to you've handed someone, their dreams on a silver platter. And then as soon as they get it, they do everything they can to destroy themselves in the process and something, we still haven't been able to figure out, even as I was speaking to one of my agents who runs the Southeast yesterday, we were just perplexed at some of the behavior. We're just like we gave you something that literally only 1% of this industry has been able to do secure a job on a major TV show. And you're fumbling the bag to say what the kids say, you

Kristina (29:58):

Know?

Tiauna (29:59):

Yeah. And that's the one thing that we just don't understand, but there'll be the same ones. Please, please, please. I just need an opportunity. I'm a hard worker. I'm gonna do it. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and then we deliver, they just don't hold up their end of the deal. So know that that dealing with people, especially creatives, you know, is frustrating. It's gonna be very frustrating. Very challenging.

Kristina (30:17):

Yeah. Yeah, man, you shared a lot. And I have some notes. I think my question, if we were to somehow put a bow on it, what's the one major key you could share with the college student traditional or nontraditional college student. Who's interested in going down this path, something they can sort of implement or marinate on. So to speak immediately. What's that one major key

Tiauna (30:44):

Social skills.

Kristina (30:46):

Mm.

Tiauna (30:47):

I would be the first to tell you, I lack social skills. I have a very low tolerance for BS. So I'm very linear ones and zeros get where I need to go. And it works for me cause I own the place mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> but if we're talking about the key to mastering life, no matter what industry it is, it's social skills being likable. We see it all the time in politics. Yeah. There are people who are just awful, but they're likable <laugh> right. And so they keep finding success and that ultimately is the secret kids, social skills.

Kristina (31:17):

Wow. Can you learn those?

Tiauna (31:21):

I think psychology majors learn it. I mean, in some ways it's manipulation. If we're being honest, you know, we try not to be, but that is what is happening to us every day. What do you think the news is? We're being emotionally manipulated into believing certain things or feeling a certain way. Mm-hmm <affirmative> even after it's been proven is not true. We can use the prime example of the Mar Lago rate. People are up at arms about that. And I made the joke that, Hey, Trump found out what it's like to be a black person inside of the justice system. Look at that.

Kristina (31:48):

Yeah. Imagine that.

Tiauna (31:50):

Yeah. The justice system absolutely can be weaponized. We've seen it all day, every day as black Morriss <laugh>

Kristina (31:57):

So

Tiauna (31:58):

He's just now not getting his way. And now he wants to throw off those turns, but he himself weaponized it. Apparently I'm finding out that he was the one who extended the range of felonies for if you remove classified information from the white house, he did it to try to get Hillary because of statute of limitations was

Kristina (32:14):

This.

Tiauna (32:15):

And now this new law is down in Margo.

Kristina (32:21):

Do imagine that <laugh> I didn't know that. I didn't know that, but that's good. That's good. These are piece of work, social skills. This is awesome. Like I've learned so much in this short amount of time about the industry and the different paths you can take and the challenges. This is so good. And I want to make sure we know how to follow you. I wanna make sure we know how to support you. And if there's someone out there who needs support as they move into this space, being able to follow your page, follow you somewhere, connect with you and just watch your journey. And of course, ask questions, participate, all that fun stuff. But tell us how we can find you and support you in whatever you have on the horizon.

Tiauna (33:20):

I will just give the agency pages, cause I've now made my pages private. Cause I just wanna be able to share my logic and thought process and how I feel about this world without anybody tripping,

Kristina (33:32):

Ah, hear

Tiauna (33:35):

We're Jackson agency and um, that's, you know, the best place to keep tabs on what we have going on with the agency.

Kristina (33:42):

Sounds good. Sounds good. Thank you. This has been so informative. I appreciate you carving out the time to chat with us today and the keys family. Certainly follow her, follow the team and they'll share everything they can with you on their Instagram site. Have a fantastic, fantastic rest of your day. Tiana. This has been amazing and I appreciate you so much.

Tiauna (34:06):

Thank you.

Kristina (34:07):

Thank you. If you're hearing this message, you have listened to the entire episode and for that, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We hope you enjoyed it. And if you did, please, don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and check out our website at www.thekeystotheoffice.com. We look forward to connecting with you in a future episode until then go be amazing.