- 3 months ago
With an impressive career spanning over 25 years in the realm of public relations, Tony Ferguson is a distinguished professional renowned for his exceptional leadership, profound industry insights, and unwavering commitment to shaping the trajectory of the field. As a dedicated PR pro, he has consistently demonstrated his knack for aligning business strategies with the intricacies of public relations, resulting in impactful campaigns and dynamic growth.
Founder and Principal of Society House, a boutique PR team based in Los Angeles, Tony has masterfully orchestrated high-impact PR initiatives that have resonated with a diverse range of clients – from Fortune 500 brands and music powerhouses to TV and film projects, non-profit organizations, and corporate ventures. His ability to cultivate and nurture enduring professional relationships is a testament to his impeccable networking skills and innate understanding of client needs.
Throughout his illustrious career, Tony has showcased his prowess in fostering top-tier client partnerships with digital, TV, and print platforms, as well as influencers and high-profile brands. His strategic acumen has not only driven brand recognition but has also facilitated the growth and empowerment of his PR peers. Mentoring has been a cornerstone of his journey, and many of his mentees have flourished into influential roles within major record labels, creative agencies, and media outlets.
At the heart of Tony’s career lies his unbridled passion for championing the voices of his clients. With a historically diverse portfolio that includes luminaries such as George Clinton, De La Soul, Awkwafina, Roc Nation, DMX’s Memorial, BlackPAC, Otis Redding Foundation and Motown Gospel, he has seamlessly bridged the gap between creative vision and media representation. His remarkable contributions extend to high-impact placements in renowned media outlets, including GMA, New York Times, Black Enterprise, Forbes, Complex, CNN, USA TODAY, XXL, and Mass Appeal.
Tony’s journey to industry leadership began during his freelance years in Los Angeles from October 2006 to August 2018. During this period, he leveraged his expertise to secure consulting contracts with PR agencies, guiding the development and execution of groundbreaking campaigns. His role as a tactical leader enhanced the capabilities of a variety of PR teams and ensured seamless communication between clients and artists. He was pivotal in amplifying positive media exposure for notable clients such as Tommy Boy Records, Kobalt Records, Primary Wave, RCA Inspiration, 5-time Grammy award winner Kelly Rowland, NBA greats Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, and more.
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00:00Okay. Failed on some destinations. It always fails on Twitter. I got to figure out why,
00:08but I don't care. How come it says recording is doing it again, but I don't see no intro.
00:19You know what? What's good? What's good, everyone? This is Big Sed, Dennis B. Cosine, back with
00:25the latest edition of My Friends Are Better Than Yours. Have a great, great, well, I always
00:29have great people, so it's not out of the ordinary that I won't have somebody great, but I have
00:35Mr. Tony Ferguson from Society House. I don't even know how long we've known each other, but
00:41it's been about three weeks or so. For those tuning in for the first time, the purpose of
00:50me doing this, My Friends Are Better Than Yours, is because I've been doing interviews for years,
00:54and I interviewed basically any and everybody, and I just got sick of giving other people
00:59stories away when I know people who I know personally that are probably doing better than some of the
01:05people that you want to know, and I feel that if you're part of my audience, you need to know
01:10the people I bring on, and I appreciate you coming in. So Tony Ferguson, like I said, we've known each other.
01:17Wow. I think like 1942 or something like that? No. But we're going to start off like this.
01:28I'm going to allow you to introduce yourself. Give a brief intro of who you are, what you do,
01:36and then we'll take it from there because we're going to have a lot to talk about. So thank you for
01:41coming on the latest edition of My Friends Are Better Than Yours. Yeah, well, I'm honored to be
01:48on this, and thank you so much for inviting me. I don't get these a lot, you know, being a publicist,
01:55so this is great. And to have this interview with you is even more special, man. You talk about going
02:04way back. I'd say definitely over 20 years. Industry Cosign, where you were posting photos from events.
02:14I was like, yo, I made it to Industry Cosign. I'm part of the, you know, the photo reel. That was a
02:23pretty special moment. You know, that era where you were just posting these photos from different
02:29events and stuff. And that was great for young professionals in the industry.
02:35Pre-social media. That was social media for sure. But yeah, I've been in the game for 25 years.
02:43Started off at Columbia Records around 98. I was fathered in by Yvette Noel's shirt,
02:53on Beyonce's publicist. And at that time, Royalty, Royalty, Royalty. Straight up, Royalty. So I started,
03:01I started, that was a pretty good place to start. Okay, so you had Columbia Records,
03:07you had Yvette Noel's shirt. But on top of that, you had Miguel Beguer. People don't even talk about
03:14him today. I don't know why. He was like big, like Nas, Warren Hill, Maxwell. I mean, he was doing them
03:22right. And he was somebody that was a huge influence to me early on. And then the other one
03:32at the time was Yvette. At the time was Yvette Davis. She's now Yvette. And then she morphed into
03:38Yvette Davis Gayle. And now she's proper Yvette Gayle proper. So those three were definitely the ones
03:47who early on kind of created who I am today, to be honest. So yeah, you know, I've worked with,
03:55I mentioned Nas and Miguel. Lauren Hill with Miguel. Maxwell, Destiny's Child. Then it was Beyonce,
04:08Michelle. I don't know if it was Kelly on Columbia. I don't know if she did her solo on Columbia.
04:13But yeah, it was all of them. And then moving forward, when I had my own wings and got promoted
04:21outside of the assistant chair, then it was like diving deep into Nas. We did about four albums
04:28together. Lil Flip, that was like the start of the South, Independent South. Then you had
04:39Three Six Mafia, Breaking Barriers there, first hip hop group, group, not artists, but hip hop group on
04:47the Oscars back in 2005. Just monumental stuff like that. A Marie on the R&B side from zero to 60
04:58in 60 days type movements there. Incredible stuff came out of that era too. And then fast forwarding to,
05:06you know, leaving Columbia on a high and then branching off and doing my own thing.
05:15That's been about 18 years of that. So I branched out of music. I still do music and I have, I always
05:22will do music, but then you get into sports, pro athletes, pro clubs, you get into big nonprofits,
05:29you get into spirits brands, you get into different music organizations, start growing from that. So
05:38it's been a treat, man. 25 years of PR has been a real treat. And that's been my main thing this whole
05:44time. So, yeah. I know we can continue going off another, I thought I put my thing on,
05:51ah, anyway. Like I said, we can, we can continue. We can be here for another two hours and you'll be
05:58like, and then I did this person and then we did this and this, that. So my question to you is why PR?
06:05Like what, what led you down the path of going to public relations?
06:08Yeah. So I, I was pursuing marketing and my first internship exposed me to PR. It was with,
06:17um, it was with Sears Roebuck. It was at the corporate office in Chicago. So I'm from San Jose,
06:24San Jose, California. I went to San Jose state. Um, so I, I commuted to school and
06:33the fate of marketing people at that time, this was like early nineties, mid nineties, like you're
06:40immediately chase chasing the tech companies. Yeah. You know, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft,
06:49Intel, all those companies were paying real nice for entry level and get stock options, all that stuff.
06:58But music was in my blood, man. I don't know why it was just something about music and hip hop culture,
07:04East coast culture, for sure. East coast culture was something was about it. You know what I mean?
07:11Something about it, fashion, all of that stuff. But anyway, I went to, um, yeah, I had this internship
07:17with Sears and, um, that was a marketing, it was event marketing and public relations. It was like two
07:24departments, the public relations person there, Lee Antonio. She was just a darling of a mentor, man.
07:33She just, she knew I was fresh. Cause I mean, it was, I didn't even know this was the case, but it just
07:40turned out to be an MBA. It was an internship for MBA students. So I was an undergrad. I was,
07:48I was going into my junior year as an undergrad, but I was exposed to the PR side, which was very
07:57frontline stuff. You're, you're definitely in the front lines of everything. And there was a connection
08:02there that marketing just didn't have, um, with the client, with the partnership and all of the
08:10day-to-day that had to happen, um, to promote, to gain exposure. So that's what got me. So when I
08:17came back from that summer internship, I was just blasting off looking for more PR internships to build
08:23that resume. And I had experience already. And then the next summer, that's when the goldmine came,
08:30the pot of gold came. And that was a summer internship with Sony music, specifically Columbia
08:36records. But that was a paid, it was a minority internship program at the time. And I found it
08:42because I was reading black enterprise. And on the very back of that issue had a list of corporations
08:49that were, um, appealing to minorities. And it was also a list of paid internship opportunities. So
08:57Sony music is on. Those are the best. Yo, that, that was a ride. That, that eight week program in New York,
09:09going into my senior year, I came back on my senior year, like I'm, I'm already lifted. Like,
09:13let's just get through this year. So I can check out and go, go back.
09:19Yeah. Um, it's just amazing because I know that, that people, because there are people that
09:26really don't know the difference between PR and marketing, but I tell people like nowadays,
09:31it's like all the same. If you think about it, because I know that even with what you do or what
09:37you've done over the years, there's a little bit of marketing involved. If it's, even if it's not called
09:43marketing because it overlaps and intersects so much, especially within music, because we both
09:50are in the music game. And I know that I've done marketing before. I was asked to do PR,
09:56but I don't think I could ever do PR. I mean, I, I, I've been approached and it's like, I don't know,
10:02because when it comes to PR, sometimes you have to face rejection. Like when you make pictures and
10:08things of that nature, I can't handle rejection. So I don't know how I feel. I'll get mad. I want
10:13to fight somebody if they don't cover my artists in their magazine. Let me stop. But, um, I've been
10:18there before. I promise you, I've been there before. Like, no, I had a hip hop artist back then. It was
10:26real rugged. It was rugged. Like, you know, yo, when, when XXL ain't hitting you back, you might have to visit
10:35the office, you know, you might have to knock some, you, you might have to knock some doors down.
10:41I, I, I've been approached, I've been approached and I'm like, I could fight. So I don't care. So
10:47you can't really do much. You can't threaten me much. But, um, I, I, what, what, um, I know we had a
10:53conversation about this before, of course, not being recorded where I, I, people had known me and I've
10:59been saying this for years and I will continue to say that I hate publicists. And what I mean by that
11:05is I just hate the, the, the grind and the, the pitch sometimes, because I do know that more so
11:13with today's publicists, because publicists today, let me, let me rephrase that. People who call
11:19themselves publicists today don't understand either the pitch process or the taking no for an answer.
11:27I try to, and I was taught actually a couple of years ago, because I didn't care at one point in
11:33time, but I understand the, we, we need the coverage, we need the coverage aspect. And I, I,
11:40I've had to learn how to tell people no, as opposed to ignoring them, because I don't like being ignored.
11:44But to this day, I still get hundreds of emails daily. So I can't respond to everybody's email.
11:52And what I don't like is the, the, I don't, like I said, I don't want to make this a gripe session,
11:59but the publicists I do like and, and respect are the ones that I know that I can just be like,
12:05no, and I don't have to worry about 17 questions asking afterwards. Why not? Or, well, double Excel
12:12covered them or this project covered them. I'm like, then you don't need me. So it's like, um,
12:17I've always been a straightforward type. And even when, and I think most publicists, let me,
12:22let me phrase that. A lot of publicists over the years didn't like me because I always said no,
12:28not, not saying that I always say no, but I've, I've always been lucky where, um, even every, every
12:35publication I worked at, because I started my own publication, Industry Cosign, which made 21 this year.
12:40Um, I've always had the choice to do what I want. I still have that choice. Well, for the industry
12:46cosign. So if I, you know, I've had publicists. It's like, I finally, it took me four years. I
12:54finally got a, I finally got a big set article and, and, and I understand it, but it's like,
12:58what I don't like is when people don't understand that just like you're approaching me,
13:02there's 1700 other people like you approaching me for the same little space.
13:09And specifically for, you know, I freelance for black enterprise and then the black enterprise
13:13pitches that I, that I'm getting. And I'm like, I don't, now I don't make those decisions. I can't
13:18make those decisions. When I made those decisions before it was easy because I can just tell you,
13:21no, now I'm passing you on to the editor that makes that decision because now you're complicating
13:27my life by trying to, you know, I'm, I'm going on a tangent and I apologize. So this is about you.
13:34It's important to talk about brother, because especially right now, time, times are, times
13:38are tough right now. Budgets are shrinking and you'll, you'll probably be getting way more emails
13:44in the next six months because it's crucial. PR is crucial and it's needed more than ever before,
13:51because you have to think about it. You can get us a page for pretty much nothing.
14:00I don't even know that there, there probably isn't any money involved unless there's a photo
14:04shoot budget or something like that. But most cases you're writing a page of a story versus
14:11my client buying the page in terms of an ad, you know, all kinds of other stuff, you know,
14:18they'd rather hear from the editor or writer rather than us boasting about how great we are.
14:23Just have the editor talk about that and it has more credibility. It's not, it's less of like,
14:27we're, we're selling to you more like we're storytelling. You know, we are storytelling, but
14:34I'm with you, brother. But the thing with the experience is knowing like, I know if you don't hit me back,
14:39it's, it's either you're not interested or you just haven't gotten to it because you do get a flood of
14:44emails. So, you know, that part about rejection, you just can't take it personally. Most of the time,
14:50unless you're beefing with somebody, but you know, that's a whole nother thing. But with you,
14:56we're cool. Hey, say they hit me back. It's not because he's not effing with us like that.
15:0390% of the time, I just didn't get to it yet because I get, like I said, hundreds of emails a day.
15:09And then by the time you hit me and I'm like, oh, that was last month. Oh, that party was too,
15:15we are. So my question to you, since we brought that up, like, how do you handle it? Knowing that,
15:21like, it's not just about me, of course, because you have to pitch to multiple publications. And now,
15:28before it was just magazines. Then it was maybe magazine and radio. Then it was blogs. Now you have
15:33YouTube shows. You have, you have so many different outlets now and so many different
15:38places where you can have placement now. How do you handle the, just the whole process of like,
15:46like I said, knowing that you have to satisfy the client, get, and more than likely because
15:52you're doing your own thing, you believe in a project. So trying to convince people and then
15:58like, how do you handle like the people not getting back to you or the rejections for lack of a better
16:04word? Yeah. So, you know, it's, it's all relative, you know, what, what kind of reach are you starting
16:10with, with your client? You know, some, and it's managing expectations, you know, so some newbies,
16:16they, they want to be everywhere. But you have to manage those expectations. Hey, this is what we're
16:23going to get out the box. This is what we're trying to achieve. This is what's realistic.
16:27Um, you really want to manage these expectations. So the other thing is there are way more platforms
16:36out there right now. And it's what makes sense. You know, sometimes a YouTube channel makes sense for,
16:41for a client. Sometimes national makes sense. National talk shows make sense for a client.
16:46Depends what it is, but everybody can't get everything. Okay. So the days of cookie cutter,
16:54that's gone. Like you cannot apply the same thing to the next. You just can't. So yeah, you want to get
17:00immersed. You want to, um, you want to do a lot of research on, on your client and their competition.
17:09I typically, I go straight to the competition and see what their footprint looks like.
17:15And at minimum, I got to get that at minimum. And then let's push some boundaries. Let's push some
17:21boundaries. But, um, you know, for example, I, I had a new business call on Friday. And what was
17:27shocking to me was, what was actually a breath of fresh air is this gentleman was very, what was
17:35priority was black press. And I haven't heard that in a very long time. That's not a thing anymore.
17:42Yo, I was like, thank you. Thank you. Cause the power of black presses, it's powerful. And people,
17:49I don't know why people like, nah, we don't want that. We want the mainstream, you want mainstream.
17:53And it's like, yo, I don't know the power of black press, yo. Like that's, it's still here
17:59because for a reason, black press is still out there and it's out there big, to be honest with you.
18:04But, but this is funny as you say that, because I've written crazy articles in the past where
18:10like what, like the industry goes, the one good thing about industry cosine was when I started,
18:16I predated a lot of the artists or even the publicists that are doing it. So I can tell
18:20you some of the artists that are probably billionaires now that was featured on industry cosine.
18:27And my whole beef with many black artists is that once they get to a certain level,
18:34black press doesn't matter anymore. And I'm like, but then it starts to matter when they're falling back
18:39down. I would get phone calls or, or if let's say, I might want their names. Um, I feature so-and-so
18:49on my, on my site, the past five years, then they hit it. They're in Forbes and I get it.
18:56I do understand that I'm not above thinking. I'm not thinking that you know me. So you have to know,
19:03I will never think that because I'm realistic. But my thing is if I'm speaking to Tony and Tony
19:10started with me and he brought his artists and his artists. And I'm like, you know what, can I get
19:15a, can I just get five minutes or whatever? Because you know, it can help me out a little bit.
19:20It'll also, and this is what some publicists don't understand or some companies or even some artists,
19:25sometimes showing people that you still fuck with the little people goes a long way with the people
19:32that still follow you because everyone knows, or most people know that you have to elevate yourself.
19:37You're going to get level. You're going to level up. Nothing wrong with that. There's no,
19:41I have no issues with that. But then if let's say, um, Altoy, the MC was hot for 17 years.
19:51Then Altoy, the MC started coming back down. Now, Billboard doesn't even want Altoy, the MC.
19:57All of a sudden, Altoy, the MC sees me, yo, sad. And it's like, those past 14 years when I'm like,
20:03yo, can I at least get a drop? Can I get a, can I get a high? Can you even wave at me from the stage?
20:09You don't want to do that. But the minute that white media and bigger media doesn't want you anymore,
20:16now you want black media again. I understand that it is, um, it's tricky because you can't
20:23please everybody and you can't give everybody. I understand that game. My beef is only, it's only
20:29when, also when, if Tony Ferguson, um, is working with certain artists and Tony Ferguson knows what I
20:37do. And if I speak to Tony Ferguson and Tony Ferguson doesn't get back to me, not because we have
20:42beef with them, but because he's not doing black press, let me know. Because you know what? I get
20:48it. Now I do understand that I'm definitely different because like, you know, people, people,
20:53but I hear from other writers, they'll bitch and moan about things and then they'll hold a grudge.
20:59I won't hold a grudge. I just won't fuck with you. I'm like, you know, so it's like, it's too much.
21:03But, um, I just think that, um, with black press, we're still here. And like I said,
21:09when it comes to black artists, when they, when they forget where they started, that's when they
21:15lose. Now, of course you're going to have some people like a, a Jay-Z or you have some people
21:19that said stratosphere is that they may never need black media again. That doesn't mean that
21:23they shouldn't fuck with them, but they may, they may not, but there's also levels. The industry
21:29cosine is not, is not double XL. It's not black enterprise. I get that. I'm not going to put
21:36myself above them, but my thing is, can you give them that play? At least the ones that's been doing
21:44the things for years that supported you. So that way people can see that you're still
21:49fucking with black press. And I think that that's a problem that we have. And I know that you have
21:54that sometimes because you have clients that might be like, we just want this.
21:58Yes. So I know that can't put all the blame on publicists, but I can, when I know the publicists
22:05and I know they're thinking, but you know, it is what it is, but you know, yeah, I always got a lot
22:11to say. So I have to apologize several times during the conversation because, you know, but like I said,
22:18I know, I know with you having to deal with different levels of press, as well as artists,
22:25how do you go about your day to day when you have a client up here that needs this much attention and
22:33a client that's here, that's just like, just get me into whatever you have. Like, how do you balance
22:38getting both clients what they need and want? So that way you can continue business and other clients
22:45are waiting to join you because they see that you have a great relationship with your clients and publications.
22:50Yeah. Now that's, that's a great question because I do, I handle both. I handle a listers. I handle
22:5730 year brands. I handle movies and they do come with their own set of goals, but the process is
23:06different. So, uh, daylight is a great example, 30 year brand. Um, I've been there with them for almost
23:1410 years, next year, every 10 years, I already know what it is. You know, I already know what, what
23:21they're going to do and what they won't do, what they need press wise. And it's literally right now,
23:25it's a handful of outlets. It's not everybody is, it's it, and it, and it's also so sensitive that their
23:33brand is that, um, I want to say delicate. They have a very delicate cause they spent so many years
23:42building it. It's like Disney. It's like Coca-Cola. You can't fuck this up. You know what I'm saying?
23:49You can't. So any little thing can derail their sort of, um, the trajectory and that's legacy for them
23:59right now. So you only get, you only put them in front of specific writers at this point. Like I ain't
24:06having them in a room with somebody that really isn't versed on daylight. You can't do that. You know,
24:14they'll hang up the phone. They'll hang up the phone or go look at me and I'll get a text during the
24:18interview. They'll be like, what's going on? What's up? What's up, son? Come on.
24:21Yeah. I'm like, oh, oh, oh, okay. Um, my bad. My bad. Sometimes you get it wrong. Sometimes you get it wrong.
24:29But no, and then the newbies, you know, you, you, because they want everything and because it's so
24:36hard, they don't, they're not known yet. It kind of is a numbers game, you know, for every hundred journalists
24:41I'm reaching out to, if I could get one or whatever I get out of that hundred, I know I'm going to have to
24:47do another hundred to get that amount. So if I get two or three out of that hundred outreach
24:52number, damn, I got to go back and do it again just to get two or three more. So I know what it's
24:58going to take. But again, you want to have that type of relationship with your client where you
25:03could talk about these things and give them the real cure. Cause it's out of love, man. It's like,
25:07yo, we're having challenges here, bro. We're having some challenges here, yo. So we gotta,
25:13it's not just press. You gotta incorporate promo. You gotta incorporate marketing, social media, video.
25:22You, you actually, you actually segred right into, to what I was thinking as you said that.
25:26Now we've, we've been in the game for, like I said, a couple of weeks now. Like your job is partly
25:34easier, but also harder because of social media, knowing that now, not necessarily Dela.
25:42Um, but knowing that you have, let me give this, let me give an example of, um, like a fat Joe,
25:48he'll get on Twitter, he'll get on Instagram and just go all out and do whatever he wants.
25:53And so in one way that could be good because then that means he's getting out there, but he may say
26:01or do something where it's like, Oh, I gotta clean that up. Yeah.
26:05Like what happens when that happens? Like how, how, how do you do it?
26:10Well, look, where, where I come from, what, what, who, who I am. Um, and everybody can't do this.
26:18All right. So everybody can't do this. I just let them talk. Like you bring up fat Joe. Oh,
26:24I would let, let fat Joe talk all day, talk all day, post all day. Let me handle the rest.
26:31Cause I know how to handle it. I know how to handle it. I have relationships. I have, you know,
26:36a lot of times, you know, writers or editors, they will edit. If I ask, they will,
26:44they will set up an interview to counter what was said and have a platform to explain what was going
26:50on. Um, I know how to handle crises. So I let them talk. Cause that's the beauty of, especially
26:57hip hop, man. I think I feel like media training and all that. I would say, yeah, if you had a,
27:03like a Disney level brand, yeah, there's gotta be some, you have sponsors, you've got partnerships,
27:09you've got brands that you're partnering with all kinds of stuff is at stake. You kind of want some
27:14media training, um, to, to, to not F that up. Um, but otherwise, yeah, I love drama. I love, um,
27:24yo, that Nas Jay-Z beef era was incredible to me, man. Like that was, that was a rock.
27:31That was a ride said. Um, but yeah, so you have to be, again, you need an expert on your side
27:40when you are that type of client. Cause yeah, popping off is that can happen at any time.
27:46And we gotta be on go time every single time.
27:48Now, I know that as a publicist, like you're never off, you're off, but you're never off because
27:56there could be that one moment, especially nowadays. Like I said, I think, um, social
28:01media has just made things so much, like I said, easier, but also so much harder. But, um,
28:08even with, with like shifting, cause like you worked specifically with music. Now you have other
28:14brands. Like when you made that shift, like what was going through your mind? Because I mean, that's
28:18like going from one cave until like bright sunlight and rain, like completely different environments
28:26and different mindsets, as well as different skillsets. So how were you able to transition?
28:35So that way you're still able to have a daylight, but there still be able to do a, uh, a brand. Um,
28:42I can't remember some of that brands you have, but like, you know, something with sports or,
28:46or Hollywood thing, like, like, I think a publicist, like I said, I think a publicist has one of the
28:51hardest jobs, but they also have one of the easiest jobs. Like I said, it's so like,
28:56yeah, sometimes. So
29:02I love my job. I love my job because I could just be me, to be honest with you said, I don't have to
29:08code. I don't have to do none of that stuff, man. I don't have to throw on a, you know, I'm not
29:13uncomfortable in the suit and I'm definitely not uncomfortable in the team. You know what I'm
29:17saying? Sitting in a conference room with a bunch of thugs up in there, or they can be a gang of
29:24Harvard grads that are running this big ass company. You know what I'm saying? So
29:30the thing with, the thing with pivoting, yeah, there is some work involved. There is some education
29:37involved in terms of like, you've got to know that market. You can't just like be in there like,
29:41yeah, I want to do sports. I want to do athletes. It's like, okay. But that athlete, you know,
29:46again, millions of dollars are at stake with athletes. And you got a gang of gatekeepers that
29:54they have their opinions. You've got agents, lawyers, marketing people. You've got the ball
29:59club that they play for. They've got their own stuff going on. You've got schedules, you've got all
30:04kinds of stuff. So yeah, you've got to know how that environment works, man. It's way different
30:10than music. Their goals are different. Their approaches are different. Their cycles are
30:14different. You know, off season, on season, what they can do, what they can't do, what they're
30:19focused on. So yeah, man, you've got to know those things when you go after business there. When you,
30:25when you want to create relationships, you want to build relationships, you want to nurture
30:29relationships. You got to know all that stuff. And it just so happens, man, in my mind early on,
30:37I already knew what I wanted to do. And as a matter of fact, right now, right this second,
30:41I can look back and be like, yo, I, there was, there is a level of manifestation. You know,
30:46I can tell you looking back 25 years from the beginning, like back in college, I ain't gonna lie to
30:53you, man. Back in college, I, I wanted to be a rapper back in college, bro. Like I, but I sucked
30:59big time. I was good in the, I was good in the, I didn't stop a couple of other people, but go ahead.
31:06I was good in like with my, with the homies going to a party, freestyling in the car on the way.
31:15You know, I wasn't, I wasn't going to make it to being a professional rapper. I just wasn't going to do
31:20that. So yeah, music got me in there. And now, you know, my at 51. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm feeling
31:29excited, man. I'm feeling excited because I know so much. I know so much the technology, the, the
31:37relationships. So yeah, the pivots these days, it still is work, but it's a smarter kind of work. You
31:45know, it's not a numbers game for sure. That's another thing, because
31:51now, of course, you know, people are coming to you to become, to have you, become clients of yours.
31:58And I know in the music industry, now it's a numbers game. How many followers do you have?
32:05Like the metrics are like, before it was like, oh, you got that talent. We can work with this. Now
32:10it's like, okay, how many people you got on Instagram? How many people are following you on
32:14TikTok? Um, do you like when you're choosing your clients outside of like, maybe legacy artists are
32:22just because these people have a lot of money, not to say that that's your, that that's your motivation,
32:26but I'm saying it makes it a little bit easier to say, okay, I'll do that. But what, what, if I'm
32:32looking at this right now and I need a publicist and I have a little bit of money, cause I know you're
32:36not cheap and I have a little bit of money and I need somebody with experience, what would it take
32:42for you to consider? Because I know like there's so many different variables, but like what would
32:48catch your attention and, and, and the type of client you would ideally want?
32:52Yeah, it really is the team more than more than anything today for me. It's the team, team, team. I
33:01gotta know who the manager is, who the, and how they move. I gotta know how they move in times of
33:07challenge. Cause we, we're going to have many days of challenges and, and people, people change, yo.
33:15People show their true character. Um, so I really look at the team. Um,
33:20Um, the artists, not so much anymore, to be honest with you. The artists is just who they are. Yeah.
33:26The artists, bro, I don't care who you are and how you move. The artists is, I want to know that
33:32your team can handle you and get you to the places I need them to be. And I need that work ethic.
33:42That's what I look for from the artists. Not about like, they're not controllable and all that stuff.
33:46Like I, I, I fiend off of, um, handling alphas, chaos, chaos, alphas, alphas for sure. Yeah. Um,
34:00that's a special breed right there, bro. Like those are the ones that actually go far. Um,
34:08with that team, I gotta be able to work with that team on a day to day.
34:11That makes sense. Now I want to kind of, um, I know I have like notes all over the place and
34:19I'm trying to get to those cause I'm just going off whatever comes to mind, but I want to go to,
34:24um, yeah, outside work. And I see that you do volunteer stuff. What, what are some of the things
34:31you do as a volunteer? Because a lot of people don't realize is that even though people are busy,
34:36sometimes that takes your mind off, whatever, I'm not gonna say troubles you, but whatever is
34:42going on in your day to day, because you might still have a work ethic where you might need to
34:47get away from your particular work to do some other work in order to be fresh. So when you go back to
34:52work, you'll be able to work. So what are some of the things that you do, um, for, you know,
34:58volunteer or just to give back? Yeah. So all of that came, I've always volunteered throughout my career,
35:05but not as intense as I volunteered maybe in the last two to three years. So, you know,
35:11that concept of, um, it's better to give than receive. It is extremely true. And you gotta look
35:16at it like, like forgiveness. You know what I'm saying? People say it's better to forgive. You gotta
35:21forgive this person. And it's because for yourself, you know, it's not to let this person off the hook.
35:26It's for yourself. So the same concept is for volunteering, like giving your time and it doesn't
35:32have to be money either. It's like giving your time is actually more valuable than giving, just
35:37dropping money. But I, I do things like, um, so I coach special Olympics. Um, I do track and field.
35:45We're in our track and field season. Now. Um, I also do, you know, there's different categories
35:49like bowling, uh, indoor hockey, things like that. But that's been extremely fulfilling. Um,
35:58and it keeps you, it keeps you humble. I rarely complain about anything these days just because
36:05of my experience with, um, uh, children and adults that have these challenges that they,
36:13that's just life. You know what I'm saying? They're, they didn't choose this. They didn't
36:17do anything to get to where they're at, you know, like that. So these challenges, um, another thing
36:25that is helping me out is, um, I I'm on the board of PRSA LA. So that's public relations society of
36:33America, the LA chapter. Um, I'm probably one of maybe three. There's two of us that are also in
36:41entertainment, but that has opened up a can of success. They're kind of a huge can of network.
36:50Um, outside the scope of what I've been doing. So you see how other, uh, executives, other publicists
36:59are operating in healthcare, in, um, tech, in, um, what other things that, um, you know, consumer goods,
37:09all, all of those areas, um, you can hear things and talk about different approaches, um, to PR.
37:17Um, so that's another one. Um, but overall I love mentoring. I always have, uh, a set of interns
37:25with me, um, just to make sure that they understand the realness behind the success specifically in PR.
37:34A lot of, a lot of, uh, young people these days, they want to be on red carpet. They want to be,
37:38like you said, that social media look, we could talk about that all day. I appreciate the social media
37:45production. I do. I appreciate it. Cause that's not easy either. You know, so some have to hire a
37:52crew, some have to hire some of the higher quality production, the self promotion that I see out
37:57there. Um, it's, it's a team for sure. But, um, uh, I told you before, man, like I'm a blue chip, man.
38:07So I'm, I'm more of a, you know, constant, uh, you know, I'm not like some people grow too fast
38:15and they're out there, but they're not great business. Sure. You know, they're, they're out
38:20there, but they can't, they can't hold on to a client. Yeah. And that's another thing as far as,
38:27um, because I know that you, you stated like the, um, Hollywood are different, like this, um,
38:36different, um, categories. I can't think of the correct industries. Yeah. Where it's a different
38:43skill set. Um, you also, like, like I said, you have to volunteer, you have to do this and you have
38:52the music, the film, the nonprofit, this, that, and the other, but you also have to have a personal
38:57life. Yeah. How's that going? Because I, I mean, like, you know, you, you have to, because if you
39:03don't have a personal life, then you really have nothing. Cause you know, when, when you get burnt
39:08out from doing too much, it, it, it affects you in ways that should. Yeah. Yeah. And I've been there.
39:15I've been at burnout. Um, that was a little bit of my exit from Columbia records was burnout.
39:22For sure. Um, I've been through maybe one, I've been through one other burnout cycle where it's like,
39:31you've got to check out for a while. Yeah. Um, but balance is key. Um, I have,
39:40I have four kids now. Um, oldest one is nine. That's a PR team right there.
39:46Oh yeah. They're the team for sure. They're the team of my life. Like they keep me alive.
39:52They keep me alive for sure. Keep me going. Um, but it's hard, man. I mean, my,
39:58I was married for 11 years. I'm going through a divorce right now, unfortunately. Um,
40:04um, but I can't speak too much on it cause I'm, I'm still in it. And, um, you know,
40:10we're both in the industry kind of thing, you know, but I love her to death. You know what I'm saying?
40:16And, uh, it's just unfortunate that, um, I failed to recognize some things that even she was on her
40:24career path, um, as a journalist and how taxing that all could be when you're just focused on work,
40:32when you're just focused on getting that bag and you just, it's, um, the imbalance, uh, will backfire
40:39at some point it will backfire. So, you know, you just want to stay balanced, man. Again, you want
40:45to stay physically fit, mentally fit, uh, spiritually fit, um, emotionally fit, all of that. Yeah.
40:54All of that, man. All of that. Cause it, and all of that takes a lot of work. So, you know, for me,
41:01I'm up at four 30 in the morning. I'm, I'm in the gym by five 30. There's a lot of affirmations
41:05jumping off, a lot of meditation, a lot of meeting. Um, you know, a lot of my responses right now,
41:11how are you doing? I'm like, I'm just out here believing in myself, you know, cause you,
41:16you got to this, this, you know, current times right now say like it's hard out there for a lot of
41:21people, a lot of people where they haven't experienced the dip like this ever. So they
41:27don't know how to handle this type of thing, or they've been in a dip for a while and it's getting
41:32even worse. Yeah. That's another situation. Um, so, you know, I've, I've been through this,
41:38this is my, yeah, this is my third time getting, be going through a dip like this.
41:42Um, it's annoying to me, man. That's all it is. It's annoying. Yeah. Cause you know, cause we spoke
41:49earlier before we got on camera and as you, as you did, as you did state, I sound like Elma Fudd,
41:56um, as far as the dips and like, we know the cycles and we've been in the game for so long
42:02that we do understand that, you know, being hot, you're not, I mean, Drake is going through that
42:07right now. He's been hot for like 90 years now. He's like, Oh, I don't know how to be hot. But,
42:12um, what people don't understand. And of course you understand that
42:20one is kind of healthy sometimes to, I'm not going to say for, but to not be as successful
42:26because you get a chance to, to reboot as well as rethink some of the things are and are catch up
42:34to society, technology, or just a different way of thinking. Because even now I'm going through
42:41a little resurgence for myself, I'm starting to do more video and I did video before, but it's like,
42:47there's just so many things, but what keeps people relevant. And, and I know you can speak to this is
42:53not the fact that you failed or something, or you tripped and you, you know, you, you couldn't get
42:59right back up, but the fact that you've got up and not only did you get up, but you may have gotten up.
43:04And if your arm was weak before, now your arm's a little stronger because now you worked on that.
43:10And I think that now I went through a financial thing where I wasn't working for like seven years.
43:14I wasn't making money and you would see me out and about, but nobody knew because, you know,
43:19I'm still smiling and I'm like, literally like getting eviction notices. Like, like, like I went through it,
43:27but I'm happy I went through it because one, I proved to myself that I'm able to trip, fall,
43:34and get back up. My mindset now is that I can't fail. And for me, before, I think when I was kind
43:42of, wasn't really, but when I was kind of chasing the money, it wasn't happening. Now I got to chase
43:46the happiness so that way the money can be there for me. Because if I was doing it for the money,
43:51my situation would not be what it is now, but my opportunities are still better based on the
43:57choices I've made. And, um, I guess, um, I want to ask you like, um, how the mentality, what,
44:07what goes into you having to feel, and like you said, okay, I'm going to use an example because
44:12you had mentioned work with them for 10 years. Now, of course for daylight, it hasn't always been
44:1710 years of like everything up. So maybe that's a bad example, but just use an example of like,
44:24how are you able to, how are you able to just refocus and just rebuild? That's a good word.
44:30Rebuild, especially being that you're an entrepreneur and you run your own company,
44:34as opposed to when you work for somebody, you have to talk to them, you have to do certain things and
44:39regardless of what you do, you're still going to have to have the answer, but you have to answer to
44:43yourself. So how does it, how does it like, what does it take for you to do that, to get back up,
44:51do it again, but then do it better the next time around?
44:55That's a really good question, Seth.
45:01It, it, you gotta fall so hard that you have to look in the mirror.
45:07That look in the mirror, that talk to yourself about like, let's, let's talk about you though.
45:15Cause you like a lot of people say, Hey, this, this happened to me because this, this company
45:21laid me off or this happened to me because, um, you know, something, something didn't work out
45:29outside of you. Okay. But, but for me, I'm really realizing I'm accountable for everything,
45:38especially being an entrepreneur, especially being, you know, um, I don't know at times you're a
45:46freelancer, at times you're an entrepreneur. Cause you have, you're building a company and you have
45:49people you're responsible for, but that accountability, um, that's necessary. Um, happiness is, is
45:59way more, um, like, you know, your path, seven years of financial problem. Let's just say you're
46:08not where you want to be financially for seven years. Um, and you, I'm talking to you today.
46:15Um, you know, for somebody like me, I can just tell you right now, I fuck with you with whatever
46:22project you want to do, because I know you got through that and I know how you got through it,
46:27you know, and I know that you're just a positive brother. So there there's, it's good to tell
46:35people you fail. I think I see a lot of potential clients and companies more concerned about my
46:41failures and how I got out of it and how, what I did, you know, not what happened to me, but it's how
46:48I handled it. And to understand there was a growth from it. Oh yeah. They're, they're like,
46:54where can we start? Where can we start? Cause you're that guy that's going to get us through
46:59the storm. That's, that's going to be calm in the pocket. That's going to be like, yo,
47:03you're not going to freak out. Um, so yeah, those are the things, man. And I focus on real,
47:11the inside stuff is really what you got to work on. There's no way out of it. There's no way out of it.
47:16So yeah, there's been a lot of like, oh shit moments. Like, yeah, that was, that was me. That
47:22was me. You know, so the accountability part is big. I'm going to be honest. Cause anything that,
47:30anything that goes wrong, even if it's not my fault, I look at my role in it.
47:36Yeah. It's gotta be my fault.
47:37Yeah.
47:38Because if I don't handle it a certain way, it might not have turned out. If this didn't go
47:42this way. And if I didn't react this way, it could have gone. I can't put the blame on anybody but
47:46myself because I'm like that in my relationships. I'm with, I'm like that, like with my work. And
47:51it's like, you know what, because if I can see the things that I did wrong, then the next time or
47:57another time, I know what not to do. Now, if I make a mistake in a different area, as long as I don't
48:02make the same mistake. And I think the problem with people is that they're comfortable making the same
48:07mistake and not holding themselves accountable. And I can tell you that that's, yeah, that's,
48:14yeah. And I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna get, and I don't like to name drop, but when I was going
48:20through my struggles, even though they didn't know it, I'm going to name, um, free from in touch. Um,
48:27Kwame D nice. Like there were people that I spoke to that they went through their things. And through
48:34our friendship was like, I guess, bold enough to express, actually, um, I, me and D and I sat for
48:42like maybe three hours. I went to talk to him for a black enterprise article. This was like
48:48seven years ago, uh, way before club quarantine. And everybody had the same advice. Don't give up on
48:56yourself. So when I learned people's stories and to see what they went through and they came back
49:03stronger and better. And the reason why I brought, I bring D nice as an example, because like I said,
49:09this was like several years before club quarantine. And he still was like building himself back up where
49:15now it's like, he's at a level where, um, probably expected to be that way when he was rapping,
49:22but going through, and like I said, I'm not going to, I will never discuss anything that he discussed
49:26with me. Um, but just knowing that like he went through this, I can't even touch some of,
49:33some of the things he went through and yet he's able to do that. How come I can't do that for my
49:38situation? So like I said, and I use those, those specific three because they stood out in my mind
49:44when they told me some of the things that they had gone through without going into detail,
49:47but just letting me know that sometimes you will fall in that gutter. You got to,
49:52you just gotta, if you don't pick yourself up, you have no one to blame. You got to pick yourself
49:57back up. If somebody pushes you back down, pick yourself back up. Somebody pushes you back down,
50:01you might triple assemble, just get back up. Once you get back up and you realize that nobody can
50:06push you back down anymore, you can't be stopped. So I can appreciate, like, like you said,
50:11I never, I never told anybody what I was going through or what I went through because
50:17it's human nature not to let anybody know your failures. But then after having conversation and
50:23then realizing I helped other people going through their things and then realizing that, you know what,
50:29I think it is comfortable for people to know that you're not as big or you're not as successful as
50:36people may see you to be without having some type of failure. I think Michael Jordan said, I mean,
50:41so many people, so many celebrities, and it's one thing for a celebrity to say because celebrities
50:46in our minds are supposed to say things like that to encourage their fans. But when you have actual
50:51friends, people you know that you grew up with, family that tell you things like that, and you
50:56know what they went through and you're like, you know what, you're right. You know, and of course,
51:01my mother, you know, that's, she's my rock. So I'm going to always like credit her for
51:05everything that, that, that I'm able to do, you know, because of her. But of course,
51:10I went off on a tangent again. I want to ask you like, okay, because I appreciate your time.
51:15I don't want to take up too much of your time. Is there anything that you're either working on
51:19or doing that you'd like to discuss or just talk about? Or anything coming up?
51:29Of course, if you can't disclose it, or you don't want to, that's fine. You know,
51:34it's conversation only. I don't want to, you know, put you on the spot or anything like that. So,
51:38you know.
51:38Yeah, no, my, my, I'm always doing something exciting. I am. Nothing to like promote because
51:48that's not what I do. But what I'm saying is, I'm, I'll tell you what I'm excited about.
51:55Yeah. I'm, I'm excited about a renewal of myself to go after certain projects that I,
52:02I was kind of hesitant towards going after because number of reasons, like there was doubt,
52:10there was like, oh, I can't, I can't do this on my own. It requires a big team or things like that. Or,
52:18you know, pressure, pressure is something that I really take. I'm very conscious about that element.
52:29But I'm going to, I'm, I'm excited to stretch. I'm excited to get into these new industries in a big
52:37way. Um, I'm excited for, um, my pathway to, uh, 2028 Olympics and what I'll be doing in that space.
52:47Um, my path, uh, around the new NIL athletes that are out there, um, that will continue to be out
52:56there that space. Um, and I'm excited about nonprofit work that I'm going to be doing.
53:04Um, we're working with nonprofits that, that have that intersect entertainment that require
53:11entertainment to be involved. Those are my sweet spots right now. And just kind of, uh, understanding,
53:18you know, my happiness is here in here. So a lot of the things that are happening out there, um,
53:26I don't even watch the news, bro. I'll tell you that I'll probably the one publicist that will admit
53:30I don't watch the news. I haven't watched the news in two years. So I don't know what's going
53:34on in that aspect. And I don't, I think being naive to that has helped me be very calm, very calm, very
53:44like gratitude, just gratitude and, uh, just being happy. Um, despite what I'm going through right
53:54now, cause it is extreme. It's probably the most challenging time of my life. This is, this has
53:59got to be hands down the most challenging part, uh, era of my life these last three years.
54:08And here I am, man, I'm just out here. You can do it too. Um, stay faithful and really,
54:16really trust yourself. You know, no one knows you like you. So advice and all that, just, you know,
54:23what the answer is. Sometimes we just want to hear what, what we want to hear, you know,
54:29but at the end of the day, let's be honest with yourself. You're going to go far.
54:34Definitely. Well, I definitely appreciate, um, like I said, I know there's so much more we could
54:39talk about, but, um, I also know that we, we both have work to do period, you know, especially speaking
54:47in that vein, because like I said, I have some things that I want to do. Let me rephrase that.
54:51Some things I'm going to do. And it's just a matter of just doing it. Like, cause like you said,
54:56I've always had the same excuses. Like, is it the right time? Do I have? And the thing is,
55:01I've never worked with a team when it comes to my stuff and people are like, well, you need to,
55:07and then maybe I need to build a team, but I'm just used to doing things on my own and just
55:12figuring it out. And I've always figured I've gotten this far. So like continue, but at the
55:18same time, maybe I could have gotten farther, but I always, I always got to go back to,
55:24you have to go through whatever you got to go through. So that way you know what to get into
55:28when you get there. So, but like I said, I don't want to go off on another tangent,
55:33but I do appreciate not only, you know, you and what you do, your friendship, you know,
55:38what you've done, what you're doing. And as you know, I'm always here for you, you know,
55:44in whatever capacity I can be in and good luck with everything. And maybe one day when I have my
55:53TV show, now let me stop. Anything's possible. That's not what I'm going for. But like I said,
55:58if that does come up, you know, like I said, anything's possible because, you know, it is what
56:02it is. But thank you, Mr. Ferguson. Society has, oh, your social media handles are, and our
56:10contact information for anybody who wants to get in contact with you.
56:14Yeah, you know, social media, hit me at TF Genius. That's across the board, I think. IGC, that's how,
56:25see, I didn't prepare for that one. I didn't prepare for that one. My website is www.societyhousepr.com,
56:38but hit me on my personal IG. If you have any questions, you want to connect, you have any
56:44comments, hit me on TF Genius on IG. Once again, people, thank you. Big said,
56:50dentistry co-sign, my friends are better than yours. And if you think I'm wrong, then show me
56:56some of your friends and I'll show you mine. Until the next time, Tony Ferguson, Society House.
57:02Thanks once again. And, well, I guess since the intro didn't come in, the outro might not, so
57:08I'm going to end it and see what happens and then we'll take it from there. Thanks, everybody. Until next time.
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