Scarra and I at Canoe in Toronto

I didn’t know it yet but meeting Scarra in Toronto would mark the beginning of my journey into talent management. I got involved in esports by hosting local League of Legends events, and invited Scarra for a meet & greet at one of my events. Whenever I have guests over I set aside some time to show them our city, so I treated Scarra for lunch at an iconic restaurant known for its beautiful view of the Toronto skyline. We got to know one another while dining on the 54th floor and he spoke about retirement and wanting to grow his brand to stay relevant but had no idea how to do it.

After he left I dug into his social media and noticed his YouTube channel was dormant. I worked with an artist to develop a Scarra logo, consulted with a close friend Disguised Toast on video editing, and pitched a short term plan with a greater vision for the “Scarra” brand. After a few calls he decided to give me a shot. I rented myself a desk at a co-working space because I was unproductive working out of my apartment, and I also hired a couple of video editors. Things started off poorly: we quickly fell behind in releasing videos, the quality wasn’t great, and it became clear the editors I hired were not working out. I didn’t want to let my first client down, so I decided to give video editing a shot myself.

I googled “video editing” and taught myself the basics, the first few videos were generic clips with some music thrown in which did alright. I soon realized the dumber I made the video the funnier it was, if it didn’t make me crack up then it wasn’t good enough. So I spent countless hours focused more on the content than the technical aspect, and viewership tripled while consistently hitting the front page on r/LeagueofLegends. It wasn’t where we wanted to be, but it was progress.

Sponsorship inquires started to come in and I volunteered to manage that as well. It became my job to make sure he didn’t have to worry about anything else other than playing video games.

In short I grew to become Scarra’s full time manager. I spent the next year attending almost every major gaming and esports event, getting to know everyone in the scene (it’s actually a lot smaller than people think). I discovered TheScoreEsports was looking for an interviewer and connected them with Scarra, and I co-created Beyond the Rift after I started to manage Imaqtpie as well and saw the obvious chemistry between the two former teammates (future post about this!).

After these minor successes I expanded my roster of talent to include other streamers and content creators I deeply believed in. Business started to grow to the point where I didn’t have time to edit videos anymore, and even though I had a lot of fun- it wasn’t meant for me in the long term. I ended up finding video editors to replace me as I focused more on the business side of things.

We knew we provided a service that the industry desperately needed, so we partnered with Everyday Influencers. I’ll get into Everyday Influencers in another post, but there is nobody I trust more than them to get the job done when it comes to providing the expertise and guidance in growing a content creator’s brand. Although I like to think I did a good job with Scarra, these guys are on another level, and it was obvious I have more than a thing or two to learn from them. They have worked with talent such as PewDiePie and Marshmello, they are the brains and support behind me to push our talent to reach new heights.

It was during PAX West when I discussed with Scarra the idea of moving into the house, I was walking around Pike Place Market after a long day at the convention when we both ran down the pros and cons over the phone. He was reluctant to the idea because just like me- I worried about how we would mesh together. Being friends with someone is much different than living together. Previously I moved in with one of my best friends and it ended in disaster. On top of that, relocating myself from the east coast to the west also meant I’d have to leave my fiance behind, who supported me during the ups and downs of trying to make it in esports (yet another post for another day). We made a compromise that I would temporarily live in the house for a few months before we decided if a permanent move made sense. This led to an awkward period where I had to explain to Rebecca I was moving across the country after I had just proposed to her. Oops!

Preparing my PC for the rough flight to LA (it survived).

Enter Pokimane

I first met Pokimane at local events but we never got to know one another. I started to work with her after I had to scramble for an influencer for an event appearance. Luck was on our side as she happened to be in the city and was available, I dug more into her socials and realized she had a lot of potential and could use some help. If she played her cards right she could be one of the biggest gaming influencers. The event appearance went flawlessly and she would be the first female content creator I manage.

Shortly after I moved in with Scarra, Pokimane told me she needed a place to stay in LA. Luckily we had just enough room in the house to squeeze her in. She took my room beside Yoona’s and I moved to the basement where I didn’t spend a minute more than the time I slept. Being unproductive in my room I placed my office in the kitchen right beside the fridge.

Pokimane is a ball of pure energy, if you think she is loud on stream her screams are louder in person as they echo throughout the house. She says she’s exhausted afterwards but it sure doesn’t feel like it. Being female means she brings a different element to the group that we can play off of, on top of that she is one of the few who refuses to sell themselves out for a cheap buck.

Pokimane using her makeup skills on Scarra for the ShopVmerch skit.

With all of us settled in the average day would start with a get-together for a late breakfast or early lunch, tie up loose ends before I had the whole house to myself while they kept to their rooms to stream. I would bury myself behind my computer replying to emails or answering calls, and sometimes pacing around the house brainstorming. Occasionally I monitor streamed marketing activations, which, being a door knock away if something wasn’t done properly, was much more convenient than being on the other side of the country, frantically skyping / texting them praying they’d do that sponsored shoutout (I’m looking at you Imaqtpie).

Living with talent taught me the biggest lesson about management: it isn’t just about reading over contracts or making sure they aren’t getting taken advantage of in the wild west of the gaming industry. It’s about knowing them inside and out: walking with them when tackling the simplest or toughest decisions about their personal or career life. It’s about bringing out the best content out of them while making sure they stay true to themselves and their fans. It’s about the amazingly fun times growing up and discovering new things, but also the tough love and putting your foot down when things get out of hand.

And that’s what this gaming house is about: growing with one another while enjoying life. What’s the point of becoming a huge content creator if you’re not having fun doing it? It can get depressing as content creators or streamers living by themselves with no one to socialize with in person after streaming late into the night. We attended a Marshmello concert jumping around and “dancing” with one another. Yoona and I tried to teach ourselves how to cook while destroying our kitchen, and we threw our first ever house party celebrating Scarra’s birthday who apparently never made any noise around his big day.

But besides the bonding experiences the one thing that stands out about the group is everyone checks their ego at the door. I’ve heard of many nightmarish jealousy stories among content creators or gaming houses, and felt that would be the biggest problem for us. Before I work with talent I always ask them what are they looking to achieve? No one yet has ever answered money or fame. They always reply with either wanting to play video games, or creating cool content. We all give feedback on each other’s content, or help out if someone needed it without expecting anything in return. I wouldn’t want to manage anyone who doesn’t believe in helping the group ahead of themselves first.

Backstage at the Marshmello concert.

The Wild Card

There is one person who lives in the house who I don’t manage that I’ll write about, and that is Based Yoona. He wasn’t nearly as established but I always saw, and still see, so much potential in him. He messes around with everyone, but the stupidity rubs off of one another and we can stretch an original idea into something better. I remembered back to my video editing days when I believed the more stupid something is the funnier it gets, which made creating content fun for him and us. He spontaneously thinks of a meme and we’re all there to help him execute it.

Yoona and I at Fat Sals. The funniest person I’ve ever met in the scene.

He reminds me of my brother, very witty and always knows what to say on the spot. Some of my best times in the house was us just sitting around laughing our asses off coming up with script ideas for the ShopVMerch commercials or Beyond the Rift memes. (Memeing is a job, believe it or not).

Mark my words. He’s going to be really big one day. Sooner than later.

I would write about Imaqtpie and Dyrus / Justin, who all brought another perspective to content creators but for this piece I’ll just focus on the roomies.

2017

One of our priorities is to move into a bigger house. We want to add some missing pieces to our group by slowly expanding, but more importantly get some more space for filming. I’m also excited to work with Pokelawls and Lilypichu, who are not just talented and entertaining individuals, but I believe will have some great chemistry with our group. I’m always open to picking up more talent, but only those who I believe in strongly, and have a positive message to amplify.

Deep down inside I wished gaming was as “developed” as it was today when I was a kid. Sometimes I think for me it’s about making sure their opportunity I wish I had when I was a hardcore teenage gamer doesn’t get wasted. I didn’t have many friends when I was a kid and locked myself in a room to play over 12 hours a day. I used to think that was a huge waste of time in my life when I entered university and the normal 9–5 working life, but it’s nice to know that experience has helped me on this unexpected path.

I also want this story to serve as a message to those wanting to get into the esports / gaming industry. Do anything to get your foot in the door, volunteer for exposure, start your own club — just get involved in some way. I started off by hosting local events, I never thought I would manage talent but somehow that’s where I ended up. You never really know what you’ll enjoy doing, or where the opportunities will be, but to figure that out the first thing you need to do is just start somewhere. Trust that you’ll make the best decisions in the moment to get to where you will want to be, and the process of finding what you’ll like is discovering what you don’t like first.

Anyways, 2017 will be the year we bust our asses to make as much content as possible to share with you, and I hope many of you will enjoy whatever this house puts out there.