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William Morris Endeavor (WME) was precocious weighted astatine $13 billion, and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) astatine $7 billion. Zac Hiller, laminitis and CEO of Loyalty Above All (LAA) Sports and Entertainment, believes his boutique agency has the imaginable to go the adjacent billion-dollar talent powerhouse.
"Why not?" Hiller asks. "We're already competing astatine that level."
Control the gaps
Hiller landed his first client — four-time Pro Bowl moving backmost Dalvin Cook — by doing what awesome agents do best: filling successful the gaps wherever needed. The 2 met astatine a business gathering successful 2017 erstwhile Hiller, past successful his early twenties, was eager to break into the sports industry. Having done his homework, Hiller came prepared pinch a mobility to make himself guidelines out.
He had noticed 2 Twitter accounts nether Cook's name, pinch the existent 1 distinguished by a "4" astatine the extremity of the username.
"The Dalvin Cook 4 relationship only had astir 4,000 followers, while the clone relationship had 30,000," Hiller recalls. "The clone relationship was tweeting, telling group to meet him places, and sending crazy DMs."
Hiller brought it up astatine the meeting. "Cook went off, saying, 'Yo, this personification pretends to beryllium me. It's truthful annoying,'" Hiller shares. When Cook admitted he couldn't get it removed, Hiller jumped in: "I conscionable said, 'I'll get it done.'"
Within minutes, Hiller tracked down a Twitter worker connected LinkedIn, DM'd them for proposal and sewage the clone relationship taken down. Reflecting connected the moment, he says, "I'm 24 aliases 25 years old, managing a superstar up for the Heisman astatine Florida State, and I'm thinking, really is cipher taking attraction of this for him?"
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Move the chains
That hustler mentality is the backbone of what Hiller has built astatine LAA — a boutique agency that competes pinch manufacture giants while offering the personalized attraction clients request to succeed. Nearly a decade aft that pivotal meeting, LAA has evolved into a powerhouse, representing top-tier NFL talent for illustration Pro Bowlers James Cook and Zay Flowers alongside rising draught prospects for illustration Shemar Stewart.
Left to right: Zay Flowers, James Cook, Zac Hiller
Image Credit: Loyalty Above All
At conscionable 33 years old, Hiller is still 1 of the youngest agents successful the game. While immoderate whitethorn position his property arsenic a situation successful landing awesome clients, Hiller sees it arsenic a chopped advantage.
"In this statement of work, particularly pinch NIL, you're dealing pinch athletes arsenic young arsenic 15 and up to 21 aliases 22 erstwhile they're entering the master level," Hiller explains. "Being person successful property makes it easier for maine to subordinate and link pinch them."
As his company's sanction suggests, Hiller powerfully emphasizes 1 halfway principle: loyalty. "Loyalty, to me, intends pursuing done connected your word," the LAA laminitis explains. "If you opportunity you're going to do something, you must backmost it up."
That cognition has made a beardown belief connected LAA clients, including Dalvin's relative and Bills prima moving backmost James Cook. "You ever request a reliable squad down you — a squad that's dependable and will instrumentality by your broadside nary matter what," Cook says. "I consciousness for illustration the group I person astir maine are precisely that — they're dependable and person stood by maine done heavy and thin."
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Huddle up
While immoderate mightiness deliberation that loyalty becomes analyzable erstwhile clients compete for akin roles — for illustration the NFL moving backs connected LAA's roster — Hiller believes the opposite. "Every statement is different, and each 1 is looking for unsocial pieces to complete their puzzle," he says.
Furthermore, players tin thief raise each other's salaries. "That's not collusion," Hiller says. "While teams aren't allowed to collude, players are free to activity together to summation their value." James Cook feels the same. "You person to understand that my position is ever valuable, moreover if it doesn't get each the attraction it deserves," Cook says. "That's why it's truthful important to support moving difficult arsenic a group and leaning connected each other."
None of this would beryllium imaginable without the cardinal ingredient: trust. "When a customer trusts you, they cognize you're doing what's successful their champion interest, not conscionable cutting a woody to support yourself from getting fired," Hiller says. "If I trim a deal, I get paid. But if you occurrence maine while the woody is still being negotiated, I don't get paid. So, will I conflict difficult for that past dollar for you, aliases conscionable move connected to the adjacent opportunity? That's wherever we abstracted ourselves."
Some unscrupulous agents mightiness unreserved to adjacent a woody conscionable to unafraid a committee earlier their customer realizes their incompetence. Hiller takes the other approach. "Clients cognize we'll conflict for that other dollar," he says. "Even though it mightiness only beryllium a mates of pennies to us, it intends a batch to them, and that's the difference. You must beryllium observant to guarantee your agency useful connected your behalf."
Along pinch taking down clone Twitter accounts, Hiller builds spot pinch his clients by simply being unfastened and disposable to them.
"Once I get my ft successful the door, it's astir making them consciousness comfortable and letting them cognize I'm ever location for them," Hiller says. "It's not conscionable astir being location while they're playing their sport; it's astir building a family. I'll beryllium present for them forever, conscionable for illustration I would for immoderate of my ain family members."
The communicative of really Hiller landed Dalvin Cook arsenic his first customer defines LAA arsenic an agency. This was pre-NIL erstwhile Cook wasn't seeing a dime of the millions Florida State was raking successful disconnected of him. They were speedy to waste number 4 jerseys, but erstwhile it came to supporting the prima jock pinch a pesky imposter, location was nary help.
"At that moment, he mislaid religion successful the full system," Hiller says of Cook. "Despite being surrounded by people, nary 1 stepped up. He needed personification he could trust connected — personification who would get things done." That's what Loyalty Above All intends to Zac: erstwhile they opportunity they'll do something, they make it happen.