Name: Tara Barnes (she/they)

Location: Ottawa, Canada

Business: Thunderhaus

Tell us about your business.

Thunderhaus is a talent management agency that specializes in artist management across all media channels. We’re a creative space for queer and BIPOC artists who work in social media, education, and entertainment. We help talent to build their brands and raise their voices. We produce content, build relationships with agencies and agents, create campaigns, and negotiate ambassadorships with brands. We also help our talent establish best-in-class business services to help them scale their art practice and content production. 

Why did you decide to start your own business? How did you get started?

Before starting Thunderhaus, I was the Vice President of Marketing at Manitobah Mukluks which was an Indigenous-Owned footwear company. I spent 10 years helping the owners to build a meaningful brand that was rooted in artist and community development, representation, and digital marketing. It became one of the largest and most successful Indigenous brands of all time. 

During the pandemic, the company sold. I pivoted to content development and talent management. I saw a huge gap in representation and support for mainly queer and Indigenous artists (who are powerful influencers as a result). I built a company to help bring my decades of business, arts, and marketing experience to young artists who are looking to establish their practice in the arts and media. I look for talent who want to make a social impact with their work and build lifelong careers in the arts and content production.

What makes your small business unique from others?

Unlike most talent agencies, I care about building people and their personal brands holistically; with story-telling, community-building, and dreaming. I believe in reciprocity and ethical trade (that is culturally and historically rooted). I try to engage with everyone as sovereign beings that have shared collective responsibilities. I love being a connector and producing projects through collaboration. I try to listen, learn, and amplify the voices of others as much as possible. 

What is the biggest lesson you learned in the first year?

I learned that building a roster of clients and talent with a shared vision is essential for creating partnerships that matter. When I work with young artists, they are often unfamiliar with business and require professional and brand development. We invest in them, we inspire them to dream big, we help build community around them and their professional capacity in tandem. Establishing a solid foundation for talent takes time, commitment, mutual effort, and immense trust. 

When we work with brands, we try to seek partners that want to make a positive impact and create economic sovereignty for the diverse voices they want to leverage. Finding alignment with talent, partners, creating systems for accounting (like Quickbooks), scheduling, production and communication are essential for surviving as a management agency. 

I’m grateful to the artists who have trusted me with their brands and have allowed me to learn so much about their realities and grow into the agency we are today. 

What was the most surprising thing about becoming a business owner?

Everything starts and ends with you when you’re the owner. 

I encourage my talent to see themselves as owners of their own personal brands. To become a working artist, you need to build a daily practice around your work. Having a routine is the best way to build a career making art. At Thunderhaus, we try to create systems and inspire artists to build an “art-business-practice.” We manage the systems, trackers, emails, invoices, and calendars so the artist can focus on making art. It’s important to work with people you trust with your limited resources. Investing in the wrong people or tools can deplete those resources very fast!

What were some things you needed to teach yourself about running a business? How did you learn those things?

Luckily, I have a naturally entrepreneurial brain. I don’t mind a bit of risk-taking and with my background in the arts and marketing, I love making visions come to life. But I had a few important mentors in my life including the former owners at Manitobah Mukluks. Josh Fine taught me the ropes of business and how to put my unique brain to work. He was a genius at aiming high with his vision, having clear expectations, and building independence in his employees. He encouraged us to take ownership over the brand and our roles. Now that I’m an owner, I’m glad I was given that confidence early on. 

How does running your own business make you feel?

At the beginning it makes you feel insecure and small. As you grow, it makes you feel free. 

What are some of the challenges you’ve overcome or are working to overcome?

I’ve learned that it is important not to say yes to everything and everyone. When you are a new, small business, it’s very easy to over-deliver and under-pay yourself. Finding partners who are committed and trustworthy is essential. You are responsible for everything in your young business, so using your limited energy effectively is the key to success.

As a queer person, working in the community has taught me a lot about lifting-up and valuing diverse voices. There is a huge demand for diversity in business, but often, our systems are restrictive and exclusive. Small businesses are great at serving niche markets and creating agile systems to compete; we have an edge in that way. The legacy of racism, homophobia, and genocide in our institutions have created inequities and a lack of access to opportunities for diverse voices. Cultural awareness, capital, and capacity-building are essential for diverse businesses to succeed in this economic reality.

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs looking to start their own business?

My advice is to understand your story and find a mentor in your field! I was so lucky to spend a decade learning from the best. A good manager or boss will demystify and fast-track your understanding of your business. Push yourself to value and improve your skills. Seek real data and build theories behind your instincts. If you have a clear vision, you can find a path, systemize things and scale your business. 

Test theories and seek-out other business like your own and collaborate with them. Working with diverse talent, means understanding and navigating different realities. I think we all have a responsibility to invest more in our communities and less in capitalism. We all benefit when we respect the protocols of operating on Indigenous land (as settlers).

What challenges do you feel are unique to LGBTQIA+ business owners?

The business world is still an old, white boys club and I’m a free spirit who is noticeably queer. So, for the first part of my career, I had to mask who I was to fit in and had to learn how to recognize harmful systems that were exploitative. Now, I’m starting to see micro-economies scale around communities and support diverse voices where they didn’t before. Queer people still lack capital and systemic access, so we’ve had to invest in each other and advocate for ourselves to build wealth. 

What are your proudest moments?

In the last year, the talent of Thunderhaus have performed on huge stages, made viral content, partnered with global brands, landed roles in big productions, created social change, and inspired other young people to raise their own voices. That makes me the most proud.

What are the next big plans you have for your business?

Thunderhaus is busy! Over 3% of North America follows our talent roster on social media. Soon, we’ll be looking to grow our talent roster, sales force and build our client and agency network. We continue to facilitate meaningful projects by building a community for creators to foster their natural talents.

When you’re having a tough day, who or what inspires you to keep going?

I’m an artist outside of my role as a manager and making art keeps me grounded. My partner, Haley (@og.robinson10) is also an influencer, so I’m lucky to be with someone who understands my business and supports me and vice versa. The nature of my work means I’m on-call all the time and rarely get to turn-off. So, I’ve tried to build an artful life that nourishes my career and my passions alike.

How do you maintain a work/life balance as a small business owner?

I decided to build a job around art and people, so I’m bad at maintaining a work-life balance. But I had to create some boundaries (so I don’t work all the time). Managing artists is like managing a flock of night owls! They are sensitive and they don’t sleep at regular times. So, I try to be the keel that maintains a routine and standard office hours. 

What’s your “power song” and why? (A song that pumps you up and makes you feel ready to take on anything)

I’m lucky to manage a few incredible musicians like Tia Wood , Niya, and just started working with Desiree Dawson. I get to listen to all of their unreleased music on repeat before they share it with the world. That pumps me up like crazy.