The Industry Connection

👋 Welcome to the first edition of The Industry Connection. Today’s newsletter features an interview with Layla and Paul Gongaware of The Gongaware Group, open jobs, and some industry beef between WME & CAA?

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🥊 Beef between WME and CAA? Ari Emanuel compares CAA to Walmart (Deadline)

🎙️ Interview with Layla & Paul Gongaware of The Gongaware Group

Layla and Paul Gongaware are the husband and wife duo behind The Gongaware Group, which launched in late 2022. Their roster includes international stars like Imanbek, Sigala, Aluna (½ of Aluna George), Shouse, Slushii & many, many more. All together, their roster has nearly 100M monthly listeners and are on pace to eclipse 1,000+ shows this year. I worked with Paul at WME and he is one of the kindest and hardest working people in the industry. Our conversation is below.

AvA: Talk to me about the launch of The Gongaware Group (TGG)

Paul: We quietly laid the groundwork in July 2022 and then launched publicly in September 2022. It was honestly the scariest time in my life. I thought I would be at major agencies for my entire career and I had just been laid off for the second time in two years. This time it came two weeks after our daughter was born. Both cut deep. There’s an added layer of responsibility and fear when you realize there is another mouth to feed that’s counting on you to make a living. Layla and I went out for dinner, talked through all the pros and cons, and decided to go for it. We then called all of our clients, managers, friends, and family and ran through the same pros and cons so they understood where we were coming from and why we were going this route.

Layla: It was our second date night post baby. I’ll never forget it. If we were going to do this then we wanted to do it as a team. Not just on paper but on a real day to day grind together level. Almost everyone we spoke with said that starting their own business was the best decision they had ever made. I had done it before and knew we could do it together.

AvA: What are your plans for TGG in the future?

Paul: We’d like to go one of two routes. The first route is hire and scale by bringing on other agents who aren’t happy with their current situation and/or other staff who are experienced but not getting the investment they believe they deserve. There are always talented assistants at the major agencies who do a great job but get overlooked for a promotion and there are always agents who get paid far less than they bring in for the company. Both are obvious opportunities for us. The second route is to remain true to being a two-person family oriented team but hire more back-office staff. Either route will mean growing and scaling which is exciting for us.

AvA: What has been the most rewarding part about starting your own Agency?

Paul: Doing it together. Working with your wife can go one of two ways. In our case, it’s been the best part of starting TGG. It just feels different. Layla has elevated everything we’ve done while raising our daughter at the same time which is amazing to see. I’ve made 1 out of our 144 Instagram posts because her voice is our voice and that’s really special to me. There are also so many little things that make a huge difference. I got my identity back and am no longer Paul from WME or Paul from ICM. I can make my own schedule and spend time with my family. I don’t have to ask someone else if I can take a few hours out of the day to go to my daughter’s 1 year pediatrician appointment. I can just do it. Layla and I can also retain the income we generate vs. paying a big percentage of it to a company. We’ve passed every goal we set at the start of the year including the ones we thought were too ambitious to put on paper. We’re both extremely proud of what we’re building and even more invested in it since we’re doing it together.

AvA: What is your biggest piece of advice for someone starting out in the industry?

Layla: Be kind and work hard. That’s why Paul is where he is now, it sounds simple but sometimes it's the simple things that are the most impactful.

 Paul: Be nice, do a good job, and treat people fairly. Otherwise, what do you think people will say about you when you’re not a part of the conversation?