Business Leader Interview

Project 1: Business Leader Interview

Background

My interview was with Mr. Roosevelt Franklin, President of Gabon Management Inc formerly Gabon Model Management, and Gabon Model Agency. Gabon Management Inc (GMM or Gabon Model) is in the entertainment industry. Formed in November 1994, the company started as a partnership with Elvis Presley, who had a background in print media. As a female editorial company, revenues were generated through the placement of its model with clients representing current trends in beauty, fashion, and consumer products. Early vision for the company was to focus on female model placements as well as scouting minority models from age 14 to 19 years who were at least 5ft 8 inches tall. Emphasis was placed on girls’ ages 14 and 15 so that they could start learning the industry at an early and then by the time they graduated from high school they could be marketed globally.

Change Management

During its 15th years of operation the company went through several changes. For the first two years in operation the business went on as planned. The company was started with $1,800 and revenues for the first two years totaled $130,000. By the end of the second year two the company experienced two major challenges. First, the partner Presley left the partnership and migrated to Paris and secondly, the models were moving to larger modeling agencies. Franklin first major decision after forming the company was whether or not to keep the company after his partner quit. He decided to continue operation of the company and had to rethink his vision now that he was now a sole proprietor. Because of his experience in print media he quickly channeled his efforts into growing the business. With limited resources, he used his contacts within the industry to gain ground.

In 1997 L’Oreal came out with a new product name “Feria”. L’Oreal was looking for models that were beautiful to use to market the new hair color product line. Because of his networking he...