From International Model to Agency Owner: The Power of Positivity

Agency co-owner, Phillip Gums, talks about what it was like to be a black male model in the late 80’s and the age of the United Colors of Benetton.  Exciting stories of how he persisted in the face of rejection and built the relationships that eventually evolved into founding, JE Model Management, of the most prominent agencies in San Francisco through a career spanning thirty plus years.

Music by Dan Cantrell

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About Guest, Phillip Gums

Phillip Gums is the co-owner/director of JE Model Management and has a career in modeling and acting spanning over thirty years.  He also loves to cook and was a contestant on the T.V. show, America’s Best Cook in 2014. Gums is passionate about healthy eating and is currently working on hosting and launching a YouTube cooking show sharing easy healthy recipes from his kitchen to yours.  Follow him on Instagram @pgiiikitchen


About Your Host

Holly Shaw, CHT  is a performance coach, creativity researcher and stand up comedian.  Growing up in Indianapolis, IN she convinced her parents she needed to go to Chicago to get her own agent when she was 14 years old and has spent a lifetime in film, T.V. and on professional stages all over the world as an actor, dancer, and director. 

Now she shares her passion for the problems that artists face as a Creativity Coach and a Certified Hypnotherapist and has helped hundreds of artists, from Emmy award winning and Grammy nominated artists to world class choreographers overcome their anxiety, stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create original work and totally kill it onstage again and again without feeling like they're selling out or losing their sanity. 

In 2016, Shaw wrote and released her book, The Creative Formula: Compose, Choreograph, and Capture Your Masterpiece  which has become an Amazon bestseller.  In 2018 she launched the Performers & Creators Lab podcast which was named one of 2019's most outstanding podcasts by Databird Research. She teaches regularly at the SAG/AFTRA offices in L.A. and SF and runs creative laboratory workshops like the Comedy Lab Open Mic once a month at Monaghan's on the Hill in Oakland.