Who is Amanda Acevedo?

Amanda Acevedo has always had a passion for fashion, leading her to graduate Magna Cum Laude from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Her experience in luxury fashion sales, retail, and corporate recruitment led her to her current position as Assistant Director of Talent Management at G&B. G&B is a digital talent management agency that brings a human touch through passionate storytelling and engagement. 

Before her current position, one of her jobs for a corporate fashion startup allowed her to train and mentor women in building their fashion businesses. 

“[That] was really exciting, just having those personal relationships with women and helping them understand the business side of fashion and sales.”

After having her son, she decided to take time off for the first year of his life but soon missed being a part of the fashion and talent industry. 

“I had worked with Kyle, who is the CEO of G&B, in a previous role at a fashion startup, and he was always a mentor to me, and we stayed friends throughout the years, and I followed what he was doing at G&B and always thought it was so cool.”

Upon hearing that G&B was hiring, Amanda interviewed and joined the team. 

Talent Management

As Assistant Director of Talent Management, Amanda manages ten talents, mainly in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle space. 

She explains that she manages and negotiates deals for her clients, which can include checking her talents’ partners to make sure they align with their own brand and helping them build more significant opportunities for themselves. For example, Amanda may help her talents connect with the right people to launch their own fashion line through a retailer or publish a book. 

“At G&B, we have all those connections to really make their dreams come true, so I’m a big part of that, which is exciting.”

In addition to this, she works with the sales team and Bobby, the Director of Talent at G&B. 

“We make sure that our sales team is trained with all of the up-to-date industry trends and sales strategy and what’s really going on. We do in-depth weekly training with our team, and then I just manage everybody [and do] one-on-one mentorships to ensure that they are providing our talent with top-tier service.”

Recent Successes

When asked about recent success stories, Amanda shares the following partnerships that she and G&B were able to create for creators. 

“We recently did a partnership with Gucci Beauty with one of our creators, Courtney Halverson, and I know that was a dream brand for her. I have another creator, Lizzie Darden, who just loves nail polish and color, and right now, we’re doing a big activation with Essie Nail Polish, so that was a dream of hers.”

She adds that they have so many success stories, many of which are confidential. 

“I would say a lot of our success really stems from Kyle [the CEO of G&B]… He’s such a people person… So with these larger agencies that have all the luxury beauty and the larger retailers, it’s easy to come in and be like, “Hi, I manage Courtney, I work at Kyle’s agency.” and they’re instantly like, “I love Kyle!”

Kyle’s years of building strong relationships with others help Amanda and her team out immensely. In addition, Amanda adds that the creators she manages have very high-quality content, making them desirable for collaborations. 

The Influencer Space

Amanda shares that one of the most exciting things about working in the influencer space is the industry’s power.

“I live in New York, and I’ll be walking down the street in SoHo shopping, and I see people that were clearly influenced by our talent just based on their personal style or what they’re wearing. I’m like, “I bet they follow that person.” So, I think just the power of influence is such an interesting thing to be on the other side of. It’s really exciting.”

In addition, she loves working with and being immersed in the world of fashion and beauty, which are some of her long-held passions. 

“We have a lot of influencers that are very body positive, and I love seeing how the industry has helped shape the world to be a more accepting and diverse place, and I love being a part of that.”

She notes that a lot of change is happening due to the creators and the deep connections and communities they form. 

What’s Missing in the Creator Marketplace

So, what are the downsides to the creator marketplace?

Amanda shares, “I would love to see just continuing diversity and continuing different voices being amplified… I think really to continue forward, we need to be amplifying voices that have been silenced in the past and making sure that every voice is being heard from the various communities that have been silenced or just not even represented.”

She notes that in the past, brand partnerships and ads featured predominantly white, straight women, so she would love to continue to see more voices and groups getting large partnerships and opportunities. 

“More continuing and really mindful diversity from all of us. That would be the biggest thing for me.”

Amanda’s Favorite Campaigns

When asked about her favorite campaigns, she shares that G&B has a large volume of campaigns, and she loves working with all of her talents, so she can’t pick just one. 

However, she notes, “Sephora, in general, is really thrilling, so I think our Sephora campaigns have been really fun. Her home and DIY campaigns are amazing.”

Some of her favorite campaigns include working with Walmart to create fashion lines with several different creators. Another fun one was with an influencer, Rhea Michelle, who made fun and unique spirits campaigns that interested others in trying out novel and high-end beverages. 
In closing, she shares, “It’s kind of hard because our volume is so high to really specify one campaign… About every month, there are normally 30 [new campaigns], but I will say just everybody that we manage has such a different lane and expertise that it makes it always exciting and really just never a dull moment.”