Angie Awadalla Coleman is the Senior Talent Manager and Head of Recruitment at G&B, a digital talent management agency bringing a human touch through passionate storytelling and engagement. 

Angie’s background is primarily in fashion. After graduating in Egypt with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, she moved to LA to attend the Art Institute and study fashion. After graduating, she worked in fashion merchandising and wholesale, where she met Kyle Hjelmeseth. Kyle went on to create G&B Digital Management. Later, he reached out to Angie about working at G&B, which she said: “was a no-brainer because I loved working with him.”

“I was a talent manager [with G&B], and I’m still managing talent today, but earlier this year, my role has changed, and I became the Head of Talent Recruitment, which is basically in charge of expanding our roster and our talent.”

Influencers on Amazon Live Shopping Market

Amazon Live is an Amazon platform where celebrities and influencers curate their top deals and must-have products on live streams. 

Influencers can earn commission from Amazon Live sales in multiple ways, including creating their own Amazon storefront and from items they showcase during Amazon live streams.

“I know some of our creators are doing Amazon Lives pretty actively. It starts with a base, like a flat rate fee, and then from there, it adds to it. It’s tiered. So, as they hit start tiers with their sales, they end up getting a certain amount of commission or a certain amount of extra money based on that tier.”

Angie Awadalla Coleman shares that creators can do as many live streams as they want to increase their potential for how many sales they make. 

Creators can join the program in two primary ways: 

1. A brand like Disney can tell Amazon that they want the creator to work on a particular Amazon Live. 
2. The more common way is for creators to launch an Amazon storefront and opt into doing Amazon Lives. Amazon will walk them through setting up their shop and live streams. 

G&B also has contacts that can help creators set up Amazon Lives for their clients. 

Angie shares, “I think it’s [Amazon Live] is more like a modern-day QVC or HSN, if you will, with your favorite creators that you trust and love. They can see what the product looks like, whether it’s clothing or kitchen [items]. Whatever the case might be because there are obviously all different sorts of products that are available on Amazon. Basically, they send the products to the creator, and the creator showcases those products, and they’re able to link it to their [Amazon] storefront.”

Angie shares that there is a significant difference between Amazon live streams and YouTube haul or unboxing videos. 

She explains, “When it comes to YouTube, you [the creator] are contacted, right? You’re getting a flat rate fee, and the way creators find it best is doing integrated videos versus a product video or dedicated video. Therefore, you’re getting paid a set fee where with Amazon, it’s creating passive income because it’s linked to your store, and you’re getting commission.”

Angie Awadalla Coleman provides the example of a creator who does Amazon Live one hour a week. A creator’s live stream will continue to be shown, allowing them to sell while they’re sleeping. 

Brands that traditionally hire YouTubers to do a haul or unboxing may earn a lot of initial sales if the YouTuber has many followers or strong engagement. However, many people aren’t on YouTube. 

“It’s much easier for them [brands] to kind of segue to Amazon. I think everybody is on Amazon. Everybody’s shopping on Amazon. People on Amazon are there to shop.”

Amazon Live Opportunities

Angie Awadalla Coleman shares that she’s excited about upcoming holiday opportunities with Amazon Live for the talent she’s managing. 

“I’m kind of hoping that some of our creators would be able to get on some of those opportunities, especially with our mom creators and toys. I think this would be really great for a great program and a great activation to get on, but again, I think not everybody is okay with doing live. Some creators are not comfortable with it.”

Some creators are used to being able to pre record and edit their videos before posting them, so a live may be too nerve-wracking for them. However, Angie shares that many of the creators she has worked with that do Amazon Lives have had significant activation and success. 

“I think it would be great for more creators to get on doing Amazon Lives because it’s just a great way of earning passive income. I’m a true believer that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Angie explains that she encourages creators to not put their eggs all in one basket by being on many different platforms. This strategy creates more opportunities for growth and diversifying their income. 

Working in the Creator Space

Angie Awadalla Coleman shares that the most exciting part of working in the creator space is “being introduced to different creators that are doing different things that I’ve never heard of before or discovering new creators.”

She also loves introducing her creators to clients and helping them negotiate and charge better rates for campaigns. Education is another vital part of her work that she loves. 

“Just helping them [creators] expand on different platforms and how to grow different platforms is so exciting… We have amazing creators that we work with, and just helping them to be even a better version of themselves is such a joy.”

Closing Thoughts

Angie Awadalla Coleman shares that G&B is continuing to expand by adding more creators to its roster and adding additional verticals beyond the beauty, fashion, and mom spaces. 

“Giving our brand partners a really wide variety of creators that they can work with. I feel like brands always come to us asking for the most random campaigns, but I think they know that G&B has a wide variety of creators. We’re not just locked into fashion and beauty or mom creators.”

She adds that feedback from brands about how they love the wide variety of creators G&B represents inspires her to continue finding diverse talents and expanding G&B into different verticals.