028: Make $4MM (ANNUALLY) by Booking Celebrities – Christa Haberstock Colson

Background on Christa Haberstock Colson:

Christa Colson is President & Founder of See Agency, the industry’s fastest growing speaker management outfit. She manages, consults, and represents a cadre of elite corporate talent, personally booking over $4M of speakers annually into corporate events.

In 2016 and again in 2017, See Agency was awarded a coveted spot on the Inc. 5000, ranking a remarkable #1036 (2016) and#1181 (2017) on the List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies.

Christa is both an accomplished Recording Artist and Actor. She has written, performed, and produced award-winning songs which received radio play in the US, Canada, and West Africa. Her music has won international awards and earned critical acclaim “from people who know stuff”.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[0:48] Christa is the President of See Agency, a company that represent and manage rosters of elite corporate speakers.
[2:10] The company has 10 people with a revenue $4.2 million.
[2:38] She’s been in the industry for 20 years and she started the agency 8 years ago.
[2:58] Her brother is a successful professional speaker.
[3:18] Her brother married a woman who ran a speakers bureau where she worked for 10 years.
[6:57] “I don’t feel terribly entrepreneurial but what I do think I am is fiercely independent and creative. And maybe that’s a marking of an entrepreneur.”
[11:45] “Don’t ignore the obvious” is one of Christa’s guiding principles in making a lot of decisions.
[14:20] The reason she started the company was so she can do whatever she wants with all of her ideas.
[17:58] Christa started the agency in July and had her first hire 4 months after.
[19:47] There are two sides in the agency: the booking part and the logistics part.
[20:40] She gets 10% of any deals and her speaker's fees anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000.
[25:30] One of the speakers in her agency’s roster is Doc Hendley, a 2009 CNN Hero who aims to help 1.1 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean water.
[33:06] The agency came up with speaker therapy division and she eventually realized that it’s too much diversion from what the Agency is.
[34:14] “Know where your strengths are but know those that will come up and bite in you in the butt. They can also be your weaknesses.”

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? Holy Bible & Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Amazon Prime Membership
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Relationships.
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? An unwillingness to compromise my vision & values.