About Shakeenah Kedem-FentisHow I started in this business:
In 2014 I began taking African Dance classes again at the age of 51, with the Ivory Coastian master drummer/dancer Yao Angelo. A few weeks afterwards, I was offered the opportunity to become a member of the dance company associated; Afrique Aya. And then within that same year, I was also asked to become the group's booking agent. This has enabled me to gain the required professional experience to now be able to represent others on their path to getting more gigs and the broader recognition they deserve, with more grace and ease in their business. I can not do it all for you ; example - I am not the tax specialist you will need, but I can be your rep and contact person for bookings, get contracts created and drawn up just for you, create promotional videos of you, follow up on payments when need be, and even be there for you at your gig if you want me there for a particular reason. I will provide you with that relief of knowing; "okay, when I get there; all of the props I requested will be in place already, or I will have someone there to see to it that they do get in place for me, and when I am done with my performance, I can feel secure in knowing I will receive my requested fee", and if not right away as in some establishments have a policy to mail your payment to you, you will not be the one to have to follow up with them, and deal with the potential headaches involved! You create and gain more respect from others; namely the establishments hiring you in this way; believe me / trust me on this one! I am trustworthy, honest and conscientious. I am looking forward to you allowing me the opportunity to be an agent for you, so you can see what a difference this can make for you in your career. I can truly say that this is what brings me joy; to be able to help a fellow artist be able to just be who they are and focus on what they do best without having to be concerned about the logistics of it all, so often. I can help you with managing your contacts, the contract, promotions. Please allow me the opportunity to serve you. Let's work together for 6 months at least and see how it goes. I feel you will want to hold on to me, and I am forever grateful! LONG VERSION: Greetings! I grew up on the east coast; Bronx New York, and attended the H.S. of Art & Design in Manhattan like my mother and grandfather did. I studied various artistic subjects and actively participated in the performance arts with various theatrical groups as a teen. At 18 I met my Prince and moved to Dekalb MS, awaiting marriage to this wonderful man... which never took place because he passed away in a car wreck before our engagement period ended. Since then I have lived in Algiers LA, New Orleans LA, St Joe/Yellville AR, Berryville AR, Eureka Springs AR and Fort Smith. I have visited Utah, San Diego California, Maryland DC, New Jersey NY, New Mexico, Agra India and Zamboanga Phillippines. In all of the few places I have been, there has been a common thread of learning to help self and others through love, art and natural healing. Being a mullti-faceted artist myself, I know what it can be like to do your art, render a service, AND also try to be the one to take care of the business end as well... Making contacts with event managers, emailing and/or phoning back and forth, booking your events, showing up and seeing to it that what you require is there, and then the sometimes challenging part - actually receiving your fee when you are done! I have seen so many creative, artsy type people shy away from the left brained activity of getting down to business and sticking with their social networking, handling contracts, event coordinating, etc. Dear ones... I can do this for you. I just realized that I have always had a passion for helping others; and I am trustworthy, pay attention to details, easy to get along with. How I started in this business: In 2014 I began taking African Dance classes again at the age of 51, with the Ivory Coastian master drummer/dancer Yao Angelo. A few weeks afterwards, I was offered the opportunity to become a member of the dance company associated; Afrique Aya. And then within that same year, I was also asked to become the group's booking agent. This has enabled me to gain the required professional experience to now be able to represent others on their path to getting more gigs and the broader recognition they deserve, with more grace and ease in their business. I can not do it all for you ; example - I am not the tax specialist you will need, but I can be your rep and contact person for bookings, get contracts created and drawn up just for you, create promotional videos of you, follow up on payments when need be, and even be there for you at your gig if you want me there for a particular reason. I will provide you with that relief of knowing; "okay, when I get there; all of the props I requested will be in place already, or I will have someone there to see to it that they do get in place for me, and when I am done with my performance, I can feel secure in knowing I will receive my requested fee", and if not right away as in some establishments have a policy to mail your payment to you, you will not be the one to have to follow up with them, and deal with the potential headaches involved! You create and gain more respect from others; namely the establishments hiring you in this way; believe me / trust me on this one! I am trustworthy, honest and conscientious. I am looking forward to you allowing me the opportunity to be an agent for you, so you can see what a difference this can make for you in your career. I can truly say that this is what brings me joy; to be able to help a fellow artist be able to just be who they are and focus on what they do best without having to be concerned about the logistics of it all, so often. I can help you with managing your contacts, the contract, promotions. Please allow me the opportunity to serve you. Let's work together for 6 months at least and see how it goes. I feel you will want to hold on to me, and I am forever grateful! |
How This Works |
You and I will have a preliminary phone or in person meeting to discuss your business needs in terms of booking events, our expectations of one another, etc. If we both agree to work together, we will take action one of two ways: verbally agree to do so for 6 months as a trial or work together strictly when you want me to handle the business end for you on a case by case arrangement. You and I both can cancel our verbal agreement at any point , verbally or in writing. I will then begin creating a contract especially for you and your clients and customers, unless you have one already that you prefer to use. You can supply me with a list of the venues you'd like to perform at, and I will start to contact them on your behalf. If you have no list, for our 1st month of working together, I will provide up to one hour of free searching of venues and contacting them for you. My main responsibility is to respond to any leads coming in that have an interest in your performance. Shakeenah's Talent Booking Agency will make all arrangements for you for all events that are paid ventures, according to our agreement. I encourage you to network and not only give interested parties my contact details, but to get people/places contact information and send it over to me if they show interest in you.
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