ANTONIA.

Who are you? What do you do?

I’m Antonia Francis, a 19-year-old Talent manager and A&R from Reading. A future pioneer in the music game/creative industry and aspire to make a change positively. I manage an amazing Artist that I believe can secure a spot with the greats called Lenzo (@dop3boylenzo) who you can expect music from soon.

I’m currently still a student at a media college called Global Academy, studying a Level 4 course in Creative Enterprise which is teaching me how to start a creative business. I also spend a lot of my time supporting creatives, going to events, meeting with my mentors and doing everything I can to be seen in the industry.

What sparked the inspiration for your craft?

My story runs quite deep and there are many things, events, and people that inspired me to become a manager and an A&R.

I’ve always been a people person and started to build up a positive reputation for myself in secondary school but back then I never really had set goals I just knew I was interested in a whole lot of stuff from acting, presenting, public speaking, football, writing, becoming a therapist, photography and more. I didn’t really know anyone from Reading who wanted to take the creative route so when I used to speak to people it seemed unrealistic but I kept posting on Social Media and building connections, with people from different cities just by being myself.

Towards the end of Year 11, my friend Shamarah told me about a media school she applied to called Global Academy and when she explained it I knew it was for me. We both got accepted and took the leap from Reading to London.

The school taught us everything creative such as marketing, editing and presenting. I realised I was okay at everything but helping people make stuff happen, knowing how to talk to people and bringing different creatives together was what I was good at which led to me managing a lot of people's careers without even knowing what a talent manager was then I just went from there.

The feeling of knowing I’m helping someone pursue their dreams or even giving them the support to show that they can make something great of themselves is a beautiful feeling which keeps me grounded.

A lot of my friends and people I work with inspire me as when we see each other putting in the work and coming up with amazing ideas, it motivates everyone to go harder. I’m a strong believer in having great people around you who push you to do better whilst sticking to your morals is important so finding solid friends in the industry such as Shantae, Lenzo, Isaiah, Psychs and everyone else that keep me locked in is a blessing.

My mum is also a big inspiration of mine as I’ve always seen her work so hard to make stuff happen for me and my brother. She put her dreams on hold for years so that she could give me the best life possible and now that she has set me up for greatness she has now started working towards her dream job. When people see me working hard it’s all to give back to her and to live my dream.

The topic of inspiration is something I can talk endlessly about, but I’ll end it by saying I get inspired by a lot of people such as Jamal Edwards, as his whole career is based on his morals, my mentor DJ Semtex as he has been teaching me the game and a lot of the females killing in the industry right now like Komali, Zara, lashawna, Jess, Shanice, Tiffany Calver, Maya Jama and many more as they are proof it can be done.

Also big up my older brother AJ, as I grew up listening to whatever he was which has had a massive impact on the music I like to listen to and work on.

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about great Art and helping people, which is key when becoming a manager as it is said to be one of the most thankless jobs. Being a manager also means you don’t get paid until your artist gets paid so if you don’t have passion whilst trying to build up an artist from the ground up there’s no point as you won’t be making an income until they blow or enjoying yourself.

I could happily say I’m living the dream right now by going to events, working with artists, giving people hope and inspiring the next gen so once I start making an income from my passion it’ll be a bonus.

I’m also passionate about being living proof that you can win the right way without snaking your friends or having to do things that you don’t think are morally correct. Everyone’s definition of success is different but are you really successful if you went against your morals to make it?

‘Morals over business’ - Lenzo

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In 5 years I will be highly respected in the industry, have a job in a label, be educated in the music business, work with talented people and thrive in everything I put my mind to.

A message to your younger self...

I’d say just keep being you 100%, there’s no one like you and what makes you different is what people love when you grow up.

Everything will be okay just keep working hard, it's not going to be easy, you’re going to lose some people along the way and have to deal with a couple of hurdles but it’s nothing you can’t handle.

You’ll be one of the greats one day.

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-SynthSoul????