From Student Visa to CFP and Money Handler for Black Eyed Peas World Tour

Celebrity Business Management, is the art of managing a celebrity’s finances, from the cash flow, to the taxes and the investments, it also includes advising them on sound business decisions. Frankly, I didn’t know it existed until I got my first job at a firm called Madison Smallwood. I started there in 2002, at the peak of the firm as it handled Usher, Swizz Beats, Outkast, Music Soulchild and Kelly Price. That same year, the company was featured in Black Enterprise as the top black-owned business management firm in the country. I learned a lot at Madison Smallwood, especially about attention to detail and maintaining a constant sense of urgency in everything you do; since we were handling such high profile clients who were usually demanding in every way.  Later-on, I left for two years and returned after the founders split up. This time, I ended up in South Beach where I mainly worked on accounts such as Lil Wayne and a couple NBA Players. Those were some of the best years of my life. One of my accounts was a celebrity-owned restaurant right on Ocean Drive. Around that time, the 2007 Superbowl was held in Miami, so you can imagine the hard partying and experiences it brought to the city;  money, beautiful people and celebrities were all in one place.

From there I landed in LA on the advice of an ex coworker, and there I lucked up on the biggest opportunity of my career. I held the position of Budget Controller on the BEP (Black Eyed Peas) E.N.D. tour, from 2009 to 2011. It was a whirlwind experience dealing with a massive $40 million budget and moving over 200 people from continent to continent for 100 dates. The experience was unreal. I learned a lot on the tour and made long-lasting connections reaching the top of the industry. The most shocking thing about the job was what you end up knowing about your clients’ habits based on their monthly credit card statements; private stuff you could live perfectly fine without knowing. Needless to say, as a professional, I cannot divulge these idiosyncrasies.

 I can honestly say that I tasted the “American dream” though. Me, an African college graduate student from Cote D’ivoire, working and rubbing elbows with people the rest of the world only sees on TV. There was nothing predisposing me for such a career. It took guts, courage and smarts to survive in these shark-infested industry waters but I am grateful for the experience.

If I had to say, my proudest career moment was getting my mom VIP access to a BEP show in Paris. She literally called me right after the show to express her amazement at the production machine I was a part of (rising stages, flying motorcycles and thousands of screaming fans).

 At this point in my career I am in transition, as I started my own firm (Armand Edward Financial) right after leaving BEP. Then I suffered a stroke, and in the meantime my business partner moved to Dubai, which caused the shutdown of the firm before it grew legs. I was temporarily paralyzed on the left-side but thank God I’m in recovery and have recovered nicely. Recently, I moved my base to Cote D’ivoire while I’m plotting my next move. I still have a boutique firm in Atlanta, working with some great film and music acts under the “Monsiot Money Management Agency” umbrella.  But business management is my passion so I wouldn’t count me out yet!

Is it true that when you’re close to celebrities, you gain friends you wouldn’t otherwise have?

 That is quite true, as I have met amazingly talented people from all walks of life who I would not have met otherwise. My life has actually been enriched by that aspect of unexpected networking that comes with the job.

What were some of those experiences and are those same people still around, since your stroke?

 I met one of the most wonderful and stylish females I’ve ever encountered during my first job; Mrs. Marnye Gaston. She has the most electrifying personality in that she speaks very fast and can be very blunt. I love her for her realness, and yes she is still around and doing incredible work with Wealth Management, Inc. for artists such as Trey Songz, Skylar Grey and others. Marnye is also an ex-military person who hails from Nashville, TN and is still a dear friend and mentor. I mess with her by dropping by her office any chance I get.

What was the experience like meeting Black Eyed Peas? How have working with them encouraged you to better your strategy?

 The entire band was refreshingly down to earth and meeting them was actually sort of an out of body experience. Their manager invited me to Las Vegas to ring in 2010 with them at the Luxor. I was taken aback by the willing hugs at the stroke of midnight. That night I also met Fergie’s husband Josh Duhammel, and the legendary Prince. Talk about starting the year off with a bang! Working with them instilled in me the importance of having a great team always on top of their game and because of that I carefully select the projects I am a part of based on the professionalism of the people involved! Another thing I learned while with them is to constantly push my boundaries creatively. For me personally as a business manager, it means thinking of innovative ways to get the job done, to be solution-oriented and not to take “it cannot be done” for an answer.

What were one mistake you made while working for Lil Wayne at Madison/Smallwood and with the Black Eyed Peas you wish you hadn’t made and is there anything you could have done differently to further future opportunities?

 I definitely wish I would have socialized more with the inner circle, and taken the time to get to know the clients as individuals. I feel like I was handed the opportunity of a lifetime and did not fully capitalize on it. I was young then and more worried about being perceived as a groupie than actually seeing the bigger picture. I am not mad, as I have made great professional connections nonetheless. I’ve frankly never been interested in being a celebrity hang-around type of guy.

 Do you have any advice for emerging acts trying to grow in the music industry?

 My main advice would be to focus on making great original music and network, network, network. “It’s not just about who you know but who knows you.

Connect with J. Tahou:
Twitter: @bmoc78
Facebook: jean-luc tahou CFP