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The Best Things Come In Threes
Interview & Words Phadria Prendergast
Brooke Wall, Alison Bird and Kate Stirling were usually found behind the scenes pushing some of Hollywood’s most profiled makeup artists, stylists and hair stylists. Now, taking the WOTC centre stage, the trio speak about life before The Wall Group, their different leadership styles and why sending the ladder down wasn’t a problem for them.
Brooke grew up in Vancouver, Canada, where she harboured a love for fashion from a young age. She considered herself an oddball in school and admitted to often skipping class. I didn’t suppose she did much partying now (although I’m sure being one of the most connected women in America, if not the world, the requests were still never-ending), but having only spent 10 minutes with Brooke, you could tell she would have most certainly been the life of the party in her heyday. She was highly regarded for her agency, The Wall Group, which she launched over two decades ago. What she created had never been seen. She represented a furrage of creatives - both men and woman who would primp and dress some of the globe’s most elite and influential for every occasion - largely red carpet events - equally making them (the stylists, hair stylists, makeup artists etc.) influential public figures in their own right. Janelle Monae, Kim Kardashian, Margot Robbie and Leonard DiCaprio were just some of the stars that had been on the Wall Group roster.
Alison grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and unlike Brooke, she never missed a day of school and considered herself to be a “real follower to the end”, which she credits as one of the many reasons why her partnership with Brooke has worked. It was important for her to be viewed as responsible, stable and consistent and it was the exact foundation she had built her career on. Alison also carried a great love for fashion and recalls probably being considered one of the “weird kids” because of the clothes she would wear. “I remember in eight and ninth grade, buying the Face magazine and ID magazine and waiting and saving up money at the bookstore to buy those things and then being scandalized that there were swear words in the magazines, because that just didn't exist,” she laughs.” Her first exposure to the fashion industry (and to Brooke), came shortly after relocating to New York, a day after her college graduation, after taking a position as an agent assistant and producer at a photo agency called Art Partner. It was here she would meet Brooke, who she reveals was the only agent she knew would tell her the truth. “So if you're used to calling in options, you just get second options all the time, and no one tells you the artist actually doesn't want to do this job. They just give you a second option. And I was representing an up and coming photographer, who was really starting to pop and do well, but he wasn't quite there yet. I was trying to book one of Brooke's well-established talents and instead of giving me the brush off, she explained why her talent wasn't right for that job and who would be right in place. I was asking for a hairstylist and she pitched me a makeup artist. This is how good it was, but the way that she sold me the makeup artist - she clearly knew the photographer. She knew what he was like. She knew what he needed on set. She knew why her talent was right. [...] and that really started my relationship with Brooke.” When Alison made the decision to leave production, though she still loved photography; which initially led her into the industry, she didn’t love being a producer. She was a people person and preferred the business side of things as opposed to the creative side of being on set, but she considered her time working as a producer as training ground. And so, after sitting down for lunch with Brooke, who made an offer to Alison to join her company, citing that she was a great agent, she joined the Wall Group family assisting Brooke on almost all tasks. “It was really just Brooke and I in the office and a part time accountant (they laugh), and we did everything.”
Kate was born in Vermont, and admits to not having a strong sense of fashion growing up. She had met actor Harrison Ford and the late Melissa Ford, on a ski trip she had taken at the Jackson Hole Resort and from there began to work for the couple. She made her entrance into Hollywood, working on a handful of movies, before working for actor Ashton Kutcher as his assistant whilst he was on set of American sitcom ‘That ‘70s Show.’ After a summer of being on set with Kutcher in Canada, Kate realised she no longer wanted to travel. Like Alison, she was also looking for stability and through a mutual friend, she had been connected to Brooke. “So Brooke and I had a mutual, really close friend that said, ‘Kate, you should speak with Brooke Wall. She's opening an office in Los Angeles and you should meet with her.’ And I said, ‘well, what is she doing?’ ‘She represents hair, makeup and makeup and wardrobe stylists,’ she had replied. And I didn't even know that agents existed at that point for hair and makeup artists, she admits laughing.” Sitting down with Brooke, she was convinced to also join the Wall Group family managing their LA office, which at the time had only been open for 2 months. She admits to not having much knowledge of what she was doing, but the new office meant she had time to learn, develop and grow. From there, it really just grew quickly, because I knew publicists from working with Ashton and Harrison. And so I had those relationships and they started calling me to book our talent.”
Phadria: Tell us, who was your first client?
Kate: An artist who we no longer represent. I inherited her from Brooke and Ali, who were working with her in New York.
Brooke: Danilo, who’s still with us, (she laughs)!
Alison: Frank B, who we still represent.
Phadria: Do you have many clients that have stayed with you for this entire duration
Kate, Brooke, Alison: Yes!! (laughs)
Alison: Denilo is one, Frank B is another, Bob Recine, Renato Campora.
Brooke: The list goes on and on
Alison: And we also have artists that have have tried going to other agencies and they've come back, which is interesting.
Phadria: Oh wow, and Brooke, at what point did you realize that you had really established something with the Wall Group?
Brooke: I think it's so funny. There's definitely a moment in time that I woke up and I thought to myself, ‘ there's nobody that I can call and quit.’ Who am I calling myself? I own a business and I have all these people who are now relying on me to run this business. And there was a moment in time when I woke up and I thought. ‘I'm responsible for everything’, instead of that feeling of, ‘oh, I can walk away from this and try something else.’
Phadria: I understand that well. And Kate, what was it like to replicate what had already been done in the New York office?
Kate: I had no nothing to compare it to. I had never been to the New York office. I don't know how we pulled it off, because I really knew nothing about that side of the industry. Brooke spent a lot of time in Los Angeles during that first couple of months to really hold my hand through it, and I had Ali in New York that I could call 40 times a day with dumb questions. I think it was my relationship with the publicists. Once I figured out, ‘OK, this artist is so good with hair and Reese Witherspoon needs hair for her premiere,’ I could call the publicist and really pitch them the artists that I felt were right for the job. And because I have good relationships, people started calling the Wall Group in L.A.
Phadria: What is your leadership style?
Alison: It's an interesting question. I think for me, it's really collaborative. It's trusting the people that you work with and your colleagues and being willing to to do everything and anything that is needed.
Brooke: I don't really think of ‘leadership style’, I really think of a lifestyle. When you have ownership of a business, you have a larger responsibility and it infiltrates everything. You realize that you not only want to be a good role model in the office, but you take that on as part of your life in every way because that muscle reflex has to be there at all times. I'm always thinking about the bigger picture and what is best for all. It's just the way I hope people who build companies think, because you really do feel this huge responsibility for individuals. You do want people to grow and have fun at what they do and enjoy where they work and be passionate about what they love to do in life, whether personally or professionally - all of those things.
Kate: The first word that comes to my mind is approachable. I love people. I want to treat everyone fairly. I want people to come to me if they have questions, if they need help signing an artist. I really I love the energy. I'm a people person. So being in the L.A. office with twenty five managers and assistants around, I love that energy. And we all work really hard, but we have a ton of laughs. I want to have fun doing what I'm doing and I just like being collaborative. I talk to Brooke and Ali multiple times every day. I couldn't do this alone, but I've enjoyed stepping up to this position. And this industry is all about relationships, people and artists and so I'm going to go back to [the word] approachable and that's what I think my leadership style is.
Phadria: And Kate, how do you build long standing relationships?
Kate: I don't want to say it's a job, but it takes time and we all have our busy lives, but that has to continue to be a priority in order to stay in the game in our industry. That's something I feel Brooke, Ali and I all encourage our junior managers, assistants to do; go out with the other assistants and PR, have drinks. Get to know these people, because you're just starting in the industry and these are going to be the publicists that you're going to be working with for years, and it's all about relationships. So we really spend a lot of time and energy focusing on all the relationships that we have. We know the importance.
Phadria: Wow! And Alison what would you say to the 16-year-old you?
Alison: I like this question and the first thought that I had is something that's guided me in my career: make yourself indispensable no matter what you're doing! I think if you do that - - and it's really what I said to myself when I started working with Brooke. I said to myself, ‘‘I'm going to make all of these artists want to talk to me.’’I actually said that because they didn't want to. They wanted to speak to Brooke. They were used to Brooke. She was their agent. But I wanted to prove that I could do it. So, much of what I did was listen to how Brooke spoke on the phone and who she spoke to and why and who she might have to call back and really absorb that and let that guide [me]. I remember there was one artist particularly who never wanted to, and the day that she asked, I mean, Brooke literally put the phone on hold and and said, ‘well, this one's for you,’ and it was just a big moment for me. I think that was about nine months in and that was the last artist that I was waiting for.
Phadria: I love that! And what’s it like working together?
Brooke: I think we're a great team. I think that we have genuine enjoyment in each other's company overall. I think we always look forward to speaking to one another, and that's the starting point of any great relationship. We know who's good at what, and we are supportive of one another in those areas. I don't think there's really a cut and dry ‘I'm in this lane and you're in this lane.’ I think we're happy to crossover, but generally speaking, we firmly understand each other's strengths.
Alison: I want to second that. I completely agree; we enjoy each other. Every single morning my day starts with Kate on the phone, without fail, and generally Brooke is shortly thereafter, and that is what it's always been like. So you have a lot of communication and then you also allow each other the space to grow.
Kate: I couldn't do my role without Brooke or Ali because everyone offers something so different in between the three of us. I definitely rely on Ali, if I'm having a stressful day and she will calm me and talk me through a situation and let me see other ways of looking at it, to come up with a solution. If I'm stuck creatively - because I'm really not a creative person, I am a manager - with the bigger picture, when I know there is something there and I'm trying to piece it together, I'm like, ‘I'm going to call Brooke because Brooke knows how to piece it together.’ And she'll come up with a really great idea with these three things that I can't figure out what to do with. So I know exactly who to go to when I need to pull someone in. And that is really valuable - that we have that relationship and can rely on each other.
Phadria: That’s very powerful. And how does the Wall Group send the ladder down?
Brooke: I think for me, there is a natural. Joy in. Seeing people succeed and grow. We are excited to help and give any kind of advice and guidance that can give a person a step up. The agency was really built because I was looking at underrepresented talent who had a value and were not being featured. And so, that translated so easy for us last year with the Black Lives Matter movement and right away, we knew it was important to take action, instead of thinking because we work in a creative business, we support everyone. We actually had to take action. I would almost say that we send the ladder down so often, and that’s more of a problem than it is not a problem, (she laughs). We are constantly lowering the ladder and pulling people up.