Talent Agent: Kylie Green
Kylie Green. Kylie is a marketer, entrepreneur, supporter of women in business, networking champion, mentor, charity worker and mother of one. Kylie attended MLC School in Burwood NSW and after her HSC studied Accounting and landed her first role in an advertising agency at 19 years old and was hooked. Kylie started as an assistant accountant and was promoted to Financial Controller however she wanted to learn every facet of working in the industry so studied for her Diploma in Advertising and Direct Marketing Certification in the evenings. Kylie landed an Account Service role in a Below the Line Marketing Agency and found her calling working creating and managing brand campaigns. At 29 years of age, after several years of working in advertising and BTL marketing agencies, she founded Kaleidoscope Marketing and sold it in 2005 to The Photon Group of Companies where she she held the position of CEO till mid 2010. From 2010 through to 2012, she founded and ran two businesses The Oven and Adland Jobs, and took some time out to fulfil her greatest desire - to have a baby.
After having Addison, Kylie joined the Board of Directors for Layne Beachley's Aim for the Stars Foundation and consulted as an industry mentor. Kylie then joined Dentsu Aegis Network as Managing Director – Activations for Australia and New Zealand for almost 4 years managing ApolloNation in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland as well as Synergy Brand Experience in NZ. In 2016, she steered the agencies to merge and rebrand as MKTG. This followed with a 12 month contract at Commonwealth Bank managing marketing and events for their Women in Focus division, Managing Director of a Digital Marketing agency for 2 years then starting her own business again in 2020 called The Lime Agency which specialises in talent management, brand partnerships and influencer marketing.
Can you describe your current role at Lime Agency and what your day-to-day responsibilities include?
As I run a small business from home, I am responsible for many hats/roles. I have a VA (Virtual Assistant) based in the Philippines that helps me on a daily basis with administrative duties, social media, website updates, contracts and presentations. However, I am doing the remainder of the work, including new business, management of the talents, contract negotiations, brand briefings, overseeing content creation by the talents, presenting it to the clients and the campaign reporting. I have a team of freelance experts I can call on when needed to engage on projects, including PR, Podcast, Legal, Creative and Writing experts. Every day is different, which I love. The only thing I find challenging is working from home isolated and alone, as I have always worked in an office environment with a team around me!
What inspired you to start Lime Agency?
I had a long career in advertising and marketing and had worked with many celebrities over the years in various campaigns, speaking events, etc and I was seeing the rise of influencer marketing and the popularity it was having with brands and consumers. A great industry colleague and friend of mine had been working in influencer marketing for some time. After several discussions, we decided to launch the agency together. Unfortunately, a few months later, she left the agency to pursue another venture; however, we remain great friends, still collaborate together on projects, and she is a great mentor and confidant to me. I continued with the agency and have grown it over the past 4 years to now represent some 30 talents.
Can you share a significant challenge you faced in your career so far and how you addressed it?
I have had a few! Probably the one that hit hard the most was when I sold my first agency Kaleidoscope to an ASX listed company, remained as CEO for my earn out period and then left on garden leave for 12 months. Shortly after I left, the agency was merged with two other agencies in the group and rebranded then all of the staff mostly left. I felt like it was the end of my legacy and that my baby no longer existed in the world. It took me a long time to get over this personally by speaking to professional help and realising that I had no control over the decision.
What skills or qualities do you believe are crucial for someone in your role, and how have you developed them over time?
People skills are imperative - you have to have good skills to deal with all kinds of personalities and situations. Negotiation skills also are imperative. Marketing knowledge is a must, and particularly being across all of the various social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc. Presentation skills are a bonus, too.
How do you stay informed about industry trends and ensure your work remains cutting-edge?
Reading industry press daily, updates from the industry body, talking to colleagues in the industry and keeping up to date with the talents you manage and represent. To remain cutting-edge, I keep across global trends, judge in a lot of award competitions so I can see campaigns from all over the world, and I always play around with new ideas and concepts with the talent. Attending awards shows is also great for networking and to see the work being showcased. I have been fortunate to win the B&T Women in Media Awards Casting Agent of the Year 3 times in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as well as many other prestigious awards over my career.
Can you highlight a recent project or campaign that you are particularly proud of and explain what made it successful?
My colleague and friend that I work with closely and I negotiated Nigella Lawson for The Good Guys within a very short period of time. Nigella was coming to Australia for a short window to write her next book and holiday, and we saw this as an opportunity to negotiate a brand campaign for her. The client has been a long standing client of mine and we quickly developed a campaign with them for Nigella to be the face of their Storecash loyalty campaign. The campaign was negotiated, created, filmed and executed in a very short period of time, launched with great excitement by the retail teams nationally as well as the brand partners and is something we are very proud of.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into the field of talent management?
Once you get a foot in the door, work hard, listen, network, earn the trust of others, be bold in your creativity and always strive to break the status quo. Once you are in the industry, look at getting recognised with industry awards and doing great work. You can also volunteer to be part of the industry committee body working groups, which is a great way to meet other industry colleagues and get across the latest updates and happenings in the industry.
Who would you love to represent (can be anyone in the world living or dead)?
If I could have my pick of my top 5 people I'd love to represent and work with from all over the world, they would be all female and would include:
Michelle Obama (just love her confidence, style and grace)
Katy Perry (I think she is fierce, fun and has a lot more to offer than what we see)
Reece Witherspoon (her versatility both in front and behind the camera, the films she is working on are powerful stories and she seems like a really lovely person)
Melanie Perkins (She is Australian and one of the co-founders of Canva. I think she is incredibly talented and has so much knowledge and experience she could share)
Iris Apfel (She recently passed away and was an American fashion icon that looked a million bucks everyday! She was doing collaborations right up to her passing at 103. I reckon she'd be a hoot to work with and have many pearls of wisdom, too!)
What excites you most about the industry?
I love variety and change and that delivers in volumes every day. It's also hard work but fun and I love that about the industry. And there are some really great people who work in the industry, too, who are great to network with and share experiences and knowledge with, and it's an industry that is growing rapidly and changing fast.
What’s the first step someone can take to get into the industry?
I'd say start in a PR or social media agency as a junior account executive and work your way up. Study marketing, advertising, digital marketing or social media and get your foot in the door.
Franc’s Fast Five
What's the most interesting place you've ever travelled to? The most interesting place I have travelled to is Eqypt. The Pyramids, Valley of the Kings and Temples are phenomenal and how they built them without today's technology is awe inspiring!
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? If I could have a super power it would be to stop all crime all over the world.
What's a book or movie that you think everyone should experience? One of my all time favourite movies is Titanic. It's a beautiful love story but also a tragic accident from history.
What's your go-to comfort food? My go-to comfort food is hot chips!
What's a hobby or skill you've always wanted to learn but haven't had the chance to yet? I've always wanted to learn French. My brother speaks it fluently and my daughter is now learning it at school. It's such a beautiful sounding language.