what talent managers don’t show you (but should)
why visibility should be standard practice for every creator partnership
people always ask me why tbh is called “tbh” or what “tbh” stands for - it stands for to be honest 🫶
back when i was doing consultancy, i’d always find myself saying it.
“to be honest…”
right before delivering a home truth.
not in a brutal way or a harsh way.
but with a focus on saying what I wanted to say plainly. clearly. without fluff. bc i’ve always believed that transparency is kinder than secrecy.
and in talent management, that matters soooooo much !!
this feels icky to say but…
there have been moments in my career (pre tbh) where i’ve been told:
“don’t tell the creator that.”
“we don’t need to share that detail.”
“they don’t need to see that yet.”
and every time, it’s felt strange.
because if someone’s career is their livelihood - their business - their name - why wouldn’t they have visibility??
creators aren’t children.
they’re founders.
they’re ip owners.
they’re the product and the ceo.
so why would they not have access to their own numbers?
at tbh, transparency isn’t a feature - it’s a value
when we built our systems, we built them around full visibility.
creators can log in and see:
what’s in negotiation
what’s been signed
what’s invoiced
what’s been paid
what’s due soon
all at a glance.
no awkward “has that invoice landed?”
no guessing.
no feeling in the dark.
and tbh… every time a new client sees it, the reaction is the same:
“i’ve never seen this level of transparency before.”
which is wild, when you think about it.
because this should be standard.
transparency makes better managers, too
this isn’t just about empowering creators.
it’s about making better decisions.
if you don’t have clear data in front of you, how are you:
forecasting properly?
spotting revenue concentration?
identifying your top 20% partners?
deciding what to double down on next quarter?
i make decisions every single day based on the data in front of me.
it’s how we’ve scaled at the pace we have.
without that visibility? i’d feel anxious. reactive. guessing.
and guessing is not strategy.
creators should behave like business owners
creators should be looking at their numbers.
they should know:
what their average deal size is
which brands rebook
what percentage of revenue comes from long-term partners
where their income is concentrated
when you understand your numbers, you make calmer decisions. you negotiate better. you grow on purpose.
and good managers should be empowering that - not gatekeeping it.
why this matters now
the creator economy isn’t small anymore. we’re not in 2016. this is a multi-billion-pound industry. and yet, some of the infrastructure still feels… scrappy.
opaque.
manual.
dependent on memory and inbox searches.
i don’t think that’s good enough.
not for managers.
and definitely not for creators.
so… we’re building something
the reason i’m so excited about the platform we’re building right now isn’t just because it’s efficient.
it’s because it enables transparency by default.
managers can see everything clearly.
creators can see everything clearly.
data is shared.
deadlines are visible.
payments are tracked.
no mystery.
no awkwardness.
no unnecessary power imbalance.
and to be honest… that feels like the future.
we’re about to roll it out to a handful of talent managers and small agencies (at a discounted rate)… so if you’ve not already joined the waitlist - what are you waiting for!??!!
more soon.
verity x