CARDIFF, Calif. (October 13, 2020) — For over a year, Steve Astephen has been strategically recruiting top executive talent to The Familie, stacking the bench with a team of super agents: a brand new agent / manager hybrid that currently doesn’t exist in sports or entertainment. At the heart of this secret sauce are leaders with a track record for authentic brand building, creative storytelling, digital and social prowess, and that gut instinct for predicting market trends in their respective disciplines. All this to plan for the massive cultural shift in how athletes, musicians, artists, broadcast talent and chefs are beginning to shape and control their futures. The Familie is also building a division dedicated to women, and has partnered with a brand incubator, Unlisted Brand Lab.
“The Familie was originally built in 1998 to service athletes in action sports who had to take control of their own careers to survive – authenticity has always been vital to their young fan base and important to their sponsorship deals.” says Astephen. “Now that we are communicating with lightning speed around the world, traditional sports and entertainment talent are looking to that same business model. They don’t need transactional agents to broker a deal. They need storytellers and brand builders. We are excited to build this agency differently to help them achieve that.”
“My team of leaders are also my partners. Each partner has equity, which is something I felt very strong about to keep them motivated as entrepreneurs.”
After three decades overseeing the careers of global household names in sports, and successfully architecting the modern athlete-equity brand business model – most notably with Art of Sport, Hoonigan Media Machine, Ethika and half a dozen incubator brands – Astephen and his team decided to relaunch The Familie, growing it to a cost-efficient size that they pledge will never top 125 staff. They already had a remote work structure in place when 2020 hit, so there was no need to pivot internally. An office in Cardiff, with upcoming additional hubs in Los Angeles and Nashville, as well as team members in Chicago and New York are servicing clients nationwide.
And while overhead is small, The Familie is going big with its talent roster. The first music client out of the gate is Machine Gun Kelly, who debuted his album at #1 this month with Tickets To My Downfall, effectively positioning him as the biggest rock star on the planet. That ethos continues across its client base. The Familie’s team of agents and managers have been securing exceptional talent, including very young rising stars, and developing long term game plans that will keep them thriving for decades.
“The Familie is poised to completely disrupt the traditional agency business model, by hiring entrepreneurs and builders rather than only traditional agents. In fact, the success of our business demands it,” says Jacob Laser, Chief Operations Officer. “We have been incredibly fortunate in bringing together a leadership team with rich and diverse backgrounds across sports, music, media and art. This cross functional expertise allows us to build a vision for each client and brand that is authentic to them – paving the way for the future of our industry.”
About The Familie
Founded in 2019, The Familie is an agency in sports, music, art and media with offices in Cardiff-By-The-Sea, Los Angeles and Nashville. Representing those who think differently. We don’t think outside the box we create the box. thefamilie.com
