Scaling Talent – Interview with Sonal Vara-Parmar, founder of IAM Entertainment

What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine? My daily routine is the only part of the day that remains consistent. I wake up with a gratitude prayer, as soon as I’m awake or even with my eyes closed, I say, “thank you for today.” I then follow this with a prayer and ten affirmations. It’s something I’ve learned from Steve Harvey to give gratitude, first thing in the morning. I then proceed to having my morning hot water with cinnamon and lemon and a meditation session for 15 minutes. What led you to launch IAM Entertainment and how did your previous roles support your ability to do this successfully? I didn’t want my wings clipped within a corporate structure. I was grateful to receive a roadmap into the industry, the teachings and structure, but knew I wanted ownership and the creative freedom to delve into more than one aspect of the entertainment industry. Setting up IAM gave me the opportunity to bring my best practices to the industry and be creative and more importantly learn and absorb areas I wanted to focus on at my pace. You’ve had a phenomenal list of clients from Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys to Tony RobWhat are some of the creative ways you’ve found to successfully bring talent to the region? IAM prides itself with innovative concepts and ideas that don’t colour within the lines, and that’s the exciting part of what we do. Creating innovative out of the box concepts like Kevin Hart’s MarsShot campaign at the height of COVID-19, was something we are very proud of. A large part of the success of the campaign was Kevin’s own input, creativity and trust in the vision of our client, the UAE government. In the same way we conceptualised Alicia Keys first musical motivational event with her for the “Achieve the Unimaginable” event. She used music and her songs to tell and inspire the story of her life. The events industry is growing rapidly. How do you scale without compromising on quality of both talent and deliverables? I think each project where talent is concerned is very individual and focused. We could be working on a concert, or a brand campaign or talent in movies, each segment’s needs are so different that there is no conflict and compromising. Additionally, when you own your own business, you can also choose to prioritise, hand-pick your projects to maintain the integrity and quality of the work we deliver. Giving the team ownership is equally important to maintain a high standard of work. How has social media supported growth and which platforms do you feel are most successful? The pandemic really helped the growth of the entertainment industry to grow social media. It was really the only tool to stay connected. Smart celebrities understood this and remained very present and connected to their fan base. They found innovative ways to stay engaging. They no longer had to be paid to be present, and this was a gamechanger for the entertainment industry. Celebrities are now much more candid, available and engaged with their fans and audience which makes interacting with them even more exciting. After years of not being on social media Jennifer Aniston broke the internet in 2019 when she joined Instagram. It’s evident she understood the changing times, and the connection she needed with her audience. Did you have a mentor and if so, what advice did they impart? I’m lucky enough to have Venus Brown, music producer, expresident of SongBMG. as my mentor. He’s mentored and worked with the largest names in music from Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, the Black Eye Peas. He has taught me in order to sustain and have longevity you have to build a brand. To achieve this, you need to have a great team around you to help execute, deliver and build so the company isn’t based around a single person but a multi-functioning entity that will hopefully outlive you. What piece of advice would you give your younger self? Do not let anyone disparage bins. Black Eye Peas, Steve Harvey and Sad- you from your dreams. Stay confident and hguru who you recently bought to the region. true to yourself. Believe in God or a higher How did these relationships begin and what power and always be grateful and humble values are key to retaining them? As a Li- for what you have. Thank God every day, bran, I function and believe in balance. As a meditate and manifest. Your vision board business owner, I have an obligation to both is your greatest ally and your superpower. my clients and my talent. Trust plays a large This is the Entrepreneur Issue – what does part in this, and therefore your network is that mean to you? I think a true entrepreneur everything. More often than not the rela- stays in the game, no matter the success or tionship begins by someone endorsing or failures, it’s part of the journey as a busivouching for me or my team that is close to ness owner. Being recognised as an entrethe talent, so there is a level of trust already preneur solidifies IAM Entertainment and I there, it’s our job to honour this and nurture am in the long game to build something both and respect that relationship. unique but hopefully inspirational too.

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