Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Mark Willingham Full Interview

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Mark Willingham Full Interview · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

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Speaker 1: heart or text I Heeart to five hundred, five hundred.
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Speaker 1: Now my next guest. He's been a whole He called
1:27
Speaker 1: in early, then we dropped him nights back. You know,
1:30
Speaker 1: because I thought I was a model one time in
1:31
Speaker 1: my early years. You know, I was ever any man.
1:34
Speaker 1: You know, I had it going on with this man here.
1:37
Speaker 1: Probably tell me right now I don't have it going
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Speaker 1: on when he guess what he's a guest on Money
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Speaker 1: Making Conversation. He's revolutionizing the beauty and fastened industry by
1:45
Speaker 1: protecting models from abuse and harassment with his new platform,
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Speaker 1: Agent Inc. Agent Nique has already signed over twenty thousand
1:53
Speaker 1: working models in less than six months. The goal of
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Speaker 1: Agent Ink is to empower models to grow and manage
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Speaker 1: their career, while providing companies were an easy way to
2:02
Speaker 1: search for models using granular filters. Please work on the
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Speaker 1: money making conversations. The CEO of Agent Ink, Mark willia Ham.
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Speaker 1: Good morning, restaurant. Thank you for having me. Mark, I'm
2:14
Speaker 1: really excited about having you on the show. First because
2:16
Speaker 1: you're not entrepreneur, but also you're doing you know, you're
2:19
Speaker 1: just trying to protect people. You're trying to because there's
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Speaker 1: a lot of manipulative people out there, especially predators out there,
2:25
Speaker 1: and people who will put you in the situation that's
2:27
Speaker 1: not favorable to your safety, not favorable to you trying
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Speaker 1: to build your brand, your career. So tell us why
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Speaker 1: you started. I'm just telling why I love the idea.
2:36
Speaker 1: Tell us what got you started and and creating this app. Well,
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Speaker 1: you know, as you just mentioned, the the bwing industry,
2:44
Speaker 1: just like pretty much any of the industries that are
2:48
Speaker 1: in the entertainment chapter are really like based on dreams.
2:53
Speaker 1: You know, people have a dream, they go and they
2:55
Speaker 1: chase it, right, I mean, and and they put it
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Speaker 1: all out there. Whether you want to be an actor
3:00
Speaker 1: or what you want to be a musician, you want
3:02
Speaker 1: to be a model and you chase that dream and
3:05
Speaker 1: you're it's tough. It's a tough road. Anyone who's been
3:08
Speaker 1: entertainment knows that. You know, for every success, there's a
3:12
Speaker 1: thousand failures, and that for that creates an environment that's
3:17
Speaker 1: right for people to take advantage of these people wherever
3:20
Speaker 1: there's a power structure that allows for someone to coerce
3:24
Speaker 1: or get someone to do something because they're chasing that
3:27
Speaker 1: dream um and oftentimes they're not even quite sure at
3:30
Speaker 1: that point what is but they're supposed to do or
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Speaker 1: what they're not supposed to do. So when someone who has,
3:36
Speaker 1: you know, a powermaker in that industry says, hey, we
3:40
Speaker 1: need you to do this, they sit there and they go, wow,
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Speaker 1: why do I not? They don't know where to turn,
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Speaker 1: they don't have a support system with them. And we said,
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Speaker 1: we're going to change that. And we're not only going
3:51
Speaker 1: to change it for those reasons, We're you change for
3:53
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons. So you think about it. Think
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Speaker 1: about modelling. You know, if we think about you know, Gezel,
3:59
Speaker 1: we think out on Greenalinema, we think about all these
4:02
Speaker 1: big models out there, um and and it's like, okay,
4:06
Speaker 1: but we don't think about the hundred thousand others they're
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Speaker 1: actually doing the majority of the work, and they're not
4:12
Speaker 1: they're not the ones that it's like the top actor.
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Speaker 1: You know, there's a there's thousands of others and they're
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Speaker 1: all working actors, and there's so these are working models.
4:20
Speaker 1: And the problem with the mauling industry is it is
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Speaker 1: about modeling, yet the models have become secondary to their
4:26
Speaker 1: own industry. They're they're sitting on the purple edge. And
4:30
Speaker 1: then you've got like an agency, like a traditional agency
4:34
Speaker 1: or an agent who's negotiating everything on their behalf, hopefully
4:38
Speaker 1: in their best interests, but many times not in the
4:40
Speaker 1: malle's best interest um with the client that wants to
4:44
Speaker 1: book them, and the model just sits on the side
4:46
Speaker 1: because inside the contract with the agency that says they're
4:49
Speaker 1: going to handle it for him, and they just sit
4:52
Speaker 1: around there and hope that this stuff is happening correctly.
4:55
Speaker 1: And so the wall is pretty much relinquishing the control
4:59
Speaker 1: over his O career to the agent. And the model
5:03
Speaker 1: doesn't set their rates, they don't have a say on
5:06
Speaker 1: whether they get the job or to you know, to
5:09
Speaker 1: in the negotiation process and we'll say we're going to
5:11
Speaker 1: change all of that. We're gonna put the models in
5:14
Speaker 1: the center of their universe as they should be. We're
5:17
Speaker 1: gonna empower them, We're going to give them the tools
5:20
Speaker 1: to guide their own careers. We aren't even going to
5:23
Speaker 1: require them to have contracts with us. They're gonna be
5:25
Speaker 1: with us because they want to be with us. That's
5:27
Speaker 1: a novel idea, right, That's that's the way I like it.
5:30
Speaker 1: That's where I like it. Isn't that like the way
5:33
Speaker 1: of like That's I mean, truly, it's like the American way.
5:36
Speaker 1: That's what it's supposed to be. All these contracts come
5:38
Speaker 1: into place and all of a sudden in handcuffs basically,
5:41
Speaker 1: and they don't even know what they're signing half the
5:44
Speaker 1: time because it's like and we're like, no, we're not
5:48
Speaker 1: gonna do that. They're gonna be with us because they
5:50
Speaker 1: want to be with us. Quite frankly, we don't even
5:52
Speaker 1: care if there with a traditional agency. That doesn't matter
5:55
Speaker 1: to us. When you are going to be that foundation
5:57
Speaker 1: for every model, that that uh stability for the first
6:02
Speaker 1: day of modeling to the last day of modeling for
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Speaker 1: every single model, and we're the people they can turn
6:07
Speaker 1: to we're the ones that have their back. We do
6:10
Speaker 1: things crazy, weird um from the standpoint of disruption. So
6:16
Speaker 1: we we do this weird thing called back contexts on
6:18
Speaker 1: every single client. Uh not, so we really need that.
6:25
Speaker 1: We do criminal we do sex offender checks, We do
6:28
Speaker 1: a ID verification, we do a verification of needs to
6:33
Speaker 1: they actually need a higher LEDEL. I mean someone's you know,
6:35
Speaker 1: depending on what they're who is this person and why
6:38
Speaker 1: they need to hire a model and they have to
6:40
Speaker 1: So the clients actually have to apply just like the
6:43
Speaker 1: models need to apply. And we want to create the
6:47
Speaker 1: safest environment for models in the world. As you mentioned,
6:50
Speaker 1: we're on the way over twenty thousand registered models already. Yeah,
6:56
Speaker 1: that's amazing. Mark. I can't let you just say twin
7:00
Speaker 1: need because I you know, that means that this is
7:02
Speaker 1: this is this is resonating with with with the industry.
7:06
Speaker 1: You know, it's a need. And that's why I can't
7:09
Speaker 1: let you just go twenty thousand. No, No, that's in
7:12
Speaker 1: it because we know how all it is the lunch
7:14
Speaker 1: launch an app and then also to create a trust
7:16
Speaker 1: to the environment, and that's what you're doing. You're creating
7:18
Speaker 1: a trust to the environment with agent Ink. That's the app.
7:21
Speaker 1: You can download it Google Play Store, Apple Store is
7:25
Speaker 1: available on all the platforms. When we come back, I
7:28
Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit more about you and
7:30
Speaker 1: the career you're trying to set the standards that you're setting,
7:33
Speaker 1: because I have some personal stories because I've represented models
7:36
Speaker 1: and I know I love this idea and I'm a
7:38
Speaker 1: champion this idea, and you have a fan in need Mark.
7:41
Speaker 1: We're gonna be back and hear more marked story. Agent
7:43
Speaker 1: Eek on the phone is the CEO of Agent Inc.
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Speaker 1: I'm a fan of this. Can I share a quick
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Speaker 1: story what you're mark about my experience as UH a
7:53
Speaker 1: guy who represented UH models in the industry, UH early
7:59
Speaker 1: on in the early two thousands, UH representing several models.
8:02
Speaker 1: They were video models and UH so videos are really
8:05
Speaker 1: popular and especially in the urban industry UH and BT.
8:09
Speaker 1: You could always just turn on BT and to see
8:11
Speaker 1: UH how dominant their video models were. And when you
8:15
Speaker 1: get on set, they had no dressing rooms, they had
8:18
Speaker 1: no they had they generally had no food. UH. They
8:22
Speaker 1: and IOU was always have to go to set with
8:24
Speaker 1: my clients to make sure they were treated with respect.
8:27
Speaker 1: You know, you get there, you basically had the state
8:29
Speaker 1: till the shoot was over with. There was no time window.
8:32
Speaker 1: It really was not a comfortable environment. And plus a
8:35
Speaker 1: lot of times the women will have on bikinis, so
8:38
Speaker 1: they will be dressed with a limited amount of clothes.
8:41
Speaker 1: Sometimes these video shoots are at night and it can
8:43
Speaker 1: be cold. So I am really champion. I'm sure you've
8:47
Speaker 1: heard these type of stories before. That's why you started
8:50
Speaker 1: this app. But this is the reality of why it's
8:52
Speaker 1: important to understand why Mark app is blowing up, why
8:56
Speaker 1: it's needed because as a professional, and I consider myself
8:59
Speaker 1: one of the top managers in the business, I had
9:02
Speaker 1: to walk my clients and feel I had to protect
9:05
Speaker 1: them not only from the environment, but of certain situations
9:08
Speaker 1: so they will come home and safe because they can
9:10
Speaker 1: get bad out there. Correct, Mark, that is absolutely correct.
9:14
Speaker 1: Your story is is pretty much the norm I which
9:18
Speaker 1: it was not, and that's what we're out the change
9:21
Speaker 1: and E nailed that. I mean we we we looked
9:24
Speaker 1: at the big picture of this industry and we said, no, fabulous.
9:26
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of great industries out in
9:28
Speaker 1: the industries one of them, but I think because of
9:32
Speaker 1: all the the hype and excitement and all the beautiful
9:37
Speaker 1: sides of it. People don't realize what's really happening, and
9:39
Speaker 1: I hate heye said. I mean we started this. We
9:42
Speaker 1: started the company actually over two years ago. We launched
9:45
Speaker 1: just you know this year, and we did this with
9:49
Speaker 1: these the intent of making it better for both the
9:52
Speaker 1: clients and the models. So this isn't really a two
9:54
Speaker 1: sided thing. We said, let's look at the entire industry
9:58
Speaker 1: that we put on the whiteboard. How would we redesigning
10:00
Speaker 1: industry today and not just try to put bandies on
10:04
Speaker 1: a ship that has a whole lot of holes in it.
10:07
Speaker 1: And so we kind of reimagine the industry and we said, look,
10:10
Speaker 1: if we weren't support foundation, we could provide value to everyone.
10:15
Speaker 1: So it's not just to the models. Although without the
10:17
Speaker 1: models being you know, in the right mindset and having
10:20
Speaker 1: support and and being safe, then everything starts to fall apart.
10:25
Speaker 1: And we definitely, you know, came in there with that focus.
10:28
Speaker 1: I mean we we even you can probably know this
10:31
Speaker 1: as well too. Models. A lot of people would I
10:34
Speaker 1: couldn't believe this when I tell them that's on the
10:36
Speaker 1: traditional payment cycle for a model after job is thirty days,
10:40
Speaker 1: sixty sometimes ninety and even sometimes this far out as
10:43
Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty days after the job they get paid.
10:47
Speaker 1: And I saw a contract recently where where the model
10:50
Speaker 1: showed me with a traditional agency that said, in bold letters,
10:53
Speaker 1: all caps, you will be the last to be paid.
10:56
Speaker 1: Do not keep asking for teaming. You will get paid,
10:59
Speaker 1: but you are the low inline. And I'm like, I said,
11:02
Speaker 1: the modeling industry and the models of the reason the
11:05
Speaker 1: jobs are happening. And yet the models the lost when
11:08
Speaker 1: to be paid. And we said, no, that's gonna stop.
11:12
Speaker 1: And we pay the models the same day as the shoot.
11:16
Speaker 1: So we we just said everything, we wrote everything out
11:19
Speaker 1: and we just said we're changing at all. We we
11:23
Speaker 1: do seven customers assistance. We have a button called agent
11:28
Speaker 1: Assist in our app. If the model needs anything, we're there.
11:32
Speaker 1: We're there. Um, we give a guarantee to the clients
11:36
Speaker 1: whoever did that modeling. I mean, we say you're gonna
11:39
Speaker 1: be you're gonna love what we're doing, or don't use
11:42
Speaker 1: this again, and we're gonna give your money back. Um,
11:45
Speaker 1: we're standing behind us and we can't do it alone
11:48
Speaker 1: to the models. You know, you said, and I'm glad
11:50
Speaker 1: you brought that up because You're right, quite rank thing.
11:53
Speaker 1: It really is not a trivial feed to get twenty
11:55
Speaker 1: tho models and a few you know, and so many
11:58
Speaker 1: months to write to sir, and you know people are
12:02
Speaker 1: from everyone, whether it's an interview or from an investor.
12:06
Speaker 1: How did you guys do that? And I said, by
12:09
Speaker 1: by offering something that everyone wants, that they need, that
12:15
Speaker 1: they aspire, that is going to support them. And I
12:19
Speaker 1: have to say, it's kind of like putting water in
12:20
Speaker 1: the desert. Everyone's going to come to the water because
12:23
Speaker 1: you need it. And and we're providing something and they're
12:27
Speaker 1: telling they're telling everyone this is what we don't feel
12:32
Speaker 1: a good current industry. We don't feel supported, we don't
12:35
Speaker 1: feel safe. And when someone comes up and gives them
12:38
Speaker 1: a solution, um, they all want to be part of it.
12:43
Speaker 1: Just playing everybody highs and broken down? It's broken down
12:46
Speaker 1: by age? Is it broken down by body type? Is
12:48
Speaker 1: it broken browns? Because you have different levels of model.
12:51
Speaker 1: You're gonna actually models, but that print model, you're gonna
12:53
Speaker 1: have hand models, you can have foot models. You know
12:56
Speaker 1: what they call parts modeling. So how does house the
12:59
Speaker 1: apple can down? So we can just give people a
13:01
Speaker 1: sense of if they have children who want to be
13:03
Speaker 1: all part of the app or that limited do their
13:05
Speaker 1: parents have to have the co sign on that and
13:09
Speaker 1: put release forms break down to everybody who doesn't have
13:12
Speaker 1: the app in front of them here and this for
13:14
Speaker 1: the first half so they can get excited about the process. Sure. Sure,
13:18
Speaker 1: So first of all with with the agent, because you
13:22
Speaker 1: know there is not that's with our company agents. UM,
13:25
Speaker 1: you have to be eighteen or And the reason for
13:27
Speaker 1: that is we just know that when you have someone
13:29
Speaker 1: under eighteen, someone has to be there with them. They
13:32
Speaker 1: should be there, They should not be going to jobs
13:35
Speaker 1: on their own. And we don't want we can't really
13:38
Speaker 1: control that element, so we focus on eighteen years old
13:42
Speaker 1: and older. And we are about optionte diversity. I mean,
13:46
Speaker 1: this is a changing world one not only because it's changing,
13:50
Speaker 1: but because it should change, and we are going to
13:53
Speaker 1: be we want to be one of the forces behind
13:58
Speaker 1: change and people really being accepting of more diversity UM
14:03
Speaker 1: in the lolling industry. And that's whether it be plus
14:06
Speaker 1: size models or or you know, someone said, what is
14:10
Speaker 1: the criteria because the other reality, which a lot of
14:14
Speaker 1: people don't like to hear, but everyone is not a
14:16
Speaker 1: model and it's just like, I am not going to
14:18
Speaker 1: play basketball for for you know, uh, just the Rockets
14:23
Speaker 1: or for the Gallas play I mean it's a Lakers
14:26
Speaker 1: because it's just not gonna happen. To agree it and
14:30
Speaker 1: I can be changed that dreams from the time on three.
14:32
Speaker 1: But I'm not tall enough and I'm not good enough,
14:34
Speaker 1: and even if I want it, it's not gonna happen.
14:37
Speaker 1: That's the unfortunate. But we all need to find the
14:39
Speaker 1: things that were great at and pursue those. And everyone's
14:43
Speaker 1: not a model, and our criteria is very simple. Do
14:46
Speaker 1: we believe someone would book them? We don't go through
14:49
Speaker 1: this all this, you know, it's like and it could
14:51
Speaker 1: be charisma, could be that smile, could be their eyes.
14:55
Speaker 1: We have models who have padded sleeves on both both
14:59
Speaker 1: arms and down their neck, and we we are there's
15:03
Speaker 1: no judgmental part of this. It is a business, and
15:06
Speaker 1: we also want the models to able to get to work,
15:08
Speaker 1: and we want the clients, especially the ones with the
15:11
Speaker 1: progressive mindsets. I mean, in in a few years, that's
15:15
Speaker 1: you know, if the banks, the traditional banks aren't hiring
15:18
Speaker 1: models that resonate with the linnials, they're gonna lose their
15:21
Speaker 1: entire customers marching customer base. So we we're providing that,
15:26
Speaker 1: we're providing the opportunity for the models, and quite frankly,
15:28
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, the clients
15:31
Speaker 1: are much better off of what we're doing when we
15:34
Speaker 1: charged less. We charged seventy less to the clients than
15:37
Speaker 1: a traditional agency for our fees, So it's like a
15:41
Speaker 1: massive discount. We guarantee it. Plus we're doing the right thing.
15:46
Speaker 1: And a lot of companies are out there here every day,
15:49
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's you know, in the morning news
15:51
Speaker 1: or labrary TV uh eight times late night TV shows,
15:56
Speaker 1: companies out there talking about them taking a stance, whether
16:00
Speaker 1: it's because of me too, whether it's because you know
16:03
Speaker 1: hertling put everything on the map, or they just have
16:07
Speaker 1: these you know, a philosophy in their company that they
16:10
Speaker 1: are about the quality, about empowerment and all these things.
16:14
Speaker 1: And that's what we're doing. So my challenge to these
16:16
Speaker 1: companies is talking is easier than walking. I gotta tell
16:22
Speaker 1: you this, man, I'm very impressed. Uh do me a favor.
16:26
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you to do me a favor. Now.
16:27
Speaker 1: I want to support you. I want to get banners
16:30
Speaker 1: to put on all my social media and uh well
16:33
Speaker 1: almost a million followers on all my platforms. I want
16:36
Speaker 1: to support you because I've been there, I've represented models,
16:39
Speaker 1: so I know the dark side of this industry. And
16:42
Speaker 1: hear you talk, I gotta support you because they are
16:45
Speaker 1: young women out there, young men too. We can't leave.
16:47
Speaker 1: We can say it's just one side being affected by this.
16:50
Speaker 1: But no mark that I'm a fan of Agent Inc.
16:53
Speaker 1: Please go to any app downloaded if you're an industry
16:56
Speaker 1: just just just going to understand it, get educated about it.
16:59
Speaker 1: But Mark ra Sean McDonald money Making Conversation is a
17:02
Speaker 1: fan of your brain, so you keep winning. Okay, you
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