Article about the Zoli agency
Paul Gallagher
Executive Female, March-April 1990 v13 n2 p70(2)
Title: Where there's a will, there's a way: bequeathed a modeling
agency, two booking agents are increasing revenues by 20% a year.
Author: Delaney, Joan
Full Text COPYRIGHT National Assocation for Female Executives Inc. 1990
Bequeathed a modeling agency, two booking agents are increasing revenues by
20% a year
Women typically go into business for themselves because they're fed up with
their jobs or they aspire to something better. But for Barbara Lantz and
Victoria Pribble, that wasn't the case. Happy in their jobs as booking agents
at Zoli Management Inc., a New York modeling agency, they were bequeathed the
business when founder Zoltan Rendessy died of lymphoma in 1982 at age 42.
Zoli, as he was called, tried to tell them of his plans, "but we didn't take
him seriously," says Lantz, 52. Both women went to work for him just after he
started the agency in 1971. "We were like family," recalls Lantz. "We loved
him and the agency."
Though they had 22 years of experience between them, Lantz, now president, and
Pribble, executive vice president, were overwhelmed by the idea of running the
multimillion dollar company. But they dismissed the idea of selling out. "We
felt Zoli had given us a job, not a business. We had to make a go of it," says
Pribble, 45.
The first thing they did was upgrade the women's division by hiring models
more suitable for advertising and editorial work. Over the past eight years,
the two entrepreneurs doubled the men's division to 70 models and added hair,
makeup and styling experts to their roster to further accommodate clients.
Last September they opened a satellite office in Miami Beach. Revenues have
been increasing by about 20 percent annually since they assumed ownership.
We've managed our company the same way you'd manage a kitchen or grocery
budget-with common sense," says Lantz. Others in the business agree. According
to Frances Rothchild, executive vice president at Whilhelmina Modeling Agency,
there was never any doubt the two would succeed. "They were very capable,
loyal employees. Zoli made a wise decision."
To most, the word model connotes Miss America clones. But Zoli, once known as
an exotic agency with a European look, prides itself on its diversity. It
represents about 150 mannequins everything from blue-eyed blondes to doe-eyed
blacks. "We want our models to look different so we can better service our
clients, who increasingly are targeting black and Hispanic markets," says
Pribble.
Zoli's top model is Beverly Peele, a 5' 11" black Californian who turned 14
last year. She has appeared on major magazine covers such as Cosmopolitan,
Madamoiselle, and Seventeen. To find the Peeles of tomorrow, four times a year
Zoli's division heads visit European agencies as well as small talent shops
across the U.S. And every Tuesday and Thursday walk-ins interview at New York
headquarters to see if they have "it." Chances are slim only one or two are
signed up a year.
Once a model is signed, the agency puts her on a proper diet to maintain her
weight. Next she's sent to a top salon for hairstyling. After she tests with
photographers and develops a portfolio, bookers set up go-sees, where fashion
editors, advertising agencies and photographers get a chance to check her out.
Models build careers on magazine covers but grow bank accounts with ads.
Advertising agencies pay about $7,000 for a day's shoot, compared with Conde
Nast's day rate of $250, for example. According to Lantz, the average model
makes about $100,000 to $200,000 a year. If she's making less than $50,000,
we're concerned," she says. Top models gross between $300,000 to $500,000.
Zoli's cut is 20 percent.
To Pribble and Lantz, there's more to running Zoli than just making money. "We
give our models guidance and counseling," says Lantz. A lot of them,
especially the girls, are away from home for the first time and need tips on
exercise, nutrition and sometimes just a shoulder to lean on. That's part of
our job, too." To help models manage their finances, Zoli regularly hosts
investment seminars. "These kids are making vast sums of money. While some
are more savvy, a lot still have the mentality that a man will take care of
them," observes Lantz.
Scouting out models is only half the job. The other is discovering the hot
locales, "Florida presents a great opportunity to us. The state is opening up'
" says Lantz. For several years Florida has been attracting both foreign and
domestic clients who favor the state's sunny climate for location shoots.
Additionally, advertising agencies are springing up to service the booming
economy. To cash in on Florida's growing demand for talent, Lantz and Pribble
opened Zoli South at the Park Central Hotel in Miami Beach. "In the winter,
our models used to travel to Europe and pick up editorial work. Now they like
to go to Miami, hang out at the beach and do catalogs," says Lantz, who, with
Pribble, divides her time between both offices. Over the next five years they
plan to open a full-service agency in central Florida.
Not all of Zoli's new ventures end up winners. To fulfill one of the founder's
dreams, seven years ago Lantz and Pribble opened Theatrix, a talent agency in
Beverly Hills to represent models-turned-actresses. But they found Hollywood
competition too stiff. The actresses were bombarded with heavy-duty agents.
With no Hollywood history, we found it hard to convince them they would be
well represented," explains Lantz. Further, she adds, "to become profitable
you've got to spend big bucks. You've got to maintain a flashy office and
entertain lavishly. Agents typically make 10 percent commissions, so it takes
$1 million to make $100,000." The office closed down in 1985.
Since the stock market meltdown in 1987, the model agency business has faced
tougher times. Budgets are tighter, money is more carefully spent. According
to Margaret Sala, a former casting director at Doyle Dane Bernbach, a New York
City advertising agency, money was no object in the 1970s and early 1980s. "It
was a free-wheeling business. But now, corporate clients are getting more
involved with the cost of things." Everyone works harder, longer hours, says
Lantz. Clients are more frugal in paying overtime and travel expenses,
sometimes even dictating rates. "And then their attitude can be, `take it or
leave it.' Often they'll go to smaller agencies and get cheaper rates. But
then they find that doesn't work out so well, since service and talent are not
on a par with the larger agencies."
Indeed, competition is heating up in cities across the U.S. Many small
agencies are springing up to provide local talent to local advertising
agencies and department stores. "Modeling is getting to be quite a business,"
observes Lantz. The regional shops, typically launched by former models, are
also a source for new faces for biggies like Zoli, which pays agencies
commissions for budding talent.
While their incomes today are considerably higher than what they earned as
bookers, Lantz and Pribble enjoy other rewards too. "The most important thing
is we're working for ourselves," says Pribble, who dabbled in a variety of
jobs. Her first was a statistician's job for Continental Oil. It didn't last
long. One day she came to work dressed in a miniskirt and was sent home to
change. Realizing she wasn't well-suited to the conservative company, Pribble
decided to move on. She eventually worked at the Wagner Modeling Agency, where
she met Zoli. She helped start the men's department at Zoli, and today directs
the scouting division.
Lantz too has had many jobs: hairdresser, sometime model, fledgling actress
and marketing director for Faberge. Today, she manages the agency's finances,
decides policy and negotiates contracts. Aside from massaging models' egos,
what are the hassles? "Controlling the environment," laughs Lantz. "Half the
staff says the office is too hot, half say it's too cold. The fights are too
dim, the lights are too bright."
The atmosphere at Zoli's East Side Manhattan headquarters is best described as
hectic. Twenty-five bookers answer phones that ring constantly, models are in
and out, young men and women wait to be interviewed. Zoli currently is looking
to move into larger offices downtown, where many ad agencies have relocated.
In what direction is Zoli headed in the 1990s? "Up,up,up," Lantz replies. "We
want to continue to grow in status, to represent top people." They'll
accomplish that goal, the entrepreneurs say, by continuing to offer quality
service to both clients and talent.
Risk, an entrepreneurial supplement, makes its debut with this issue. Risk
will cover women in business for themselves - entrepreneurs who are just
starting out as well as those already reaping the rewards of independence.
Doreen Mangan, a former editor at Venture magazine, contributed articles for
this section. Cover illustration: Nick van der Grinten Joan Delaney, Editor