Agency founders, leaders and creators reflect on progress, representation, and what meaningful change looks like inside the industry.
Earlier this year, SUMO published its first Talent Management Diversity Report, which formed the basis of Part 1 of this series. The report explored representation across UK talent management, highlighting that while creator rosters are often diverse, this diversity is not consistently reflected within the teams managing them.
In case you missed it:
Welcome to Part 2
Part 2 continues that conversation, this time we handed the mic over to agency founders, leaders, and creators.
Rather than focusing on data, we asked those shaping the industry what they’re seeing in practice – what progress looks like inside their businesses, what still needs attention, and how diversity shows up day to day.
Across their reflections, a shared perspective emerges:
Diversity isn’t just about hiring – it’s about development, support, and creating pathways into leadership.
The comments that follow offer a broad range of viewpoints, from intersectionality and disability inclusion to the value of lived experience and the power of female leadership.
“Female-led businesses in this space are sometimes assumed to be lifestyle ventures rather than serious commercial enterprises, despite driving major revenue. There’s still a need to educate some external stakeholders, investors, corporate partners, on the scale, influence, and sophistication of this sector when led by women.”
Francesca Scambler, Founder – District Global
On women driving the industry:
“I’ve worked in this industry for 12 years, and one thing has always stood out: women have been the backbone of multi-million-pound businesses, both on screen and behind the scenes.”
On challenges female founders face:
“In my experience, the core challenges haven’t been gendered, they’ve been the universal realities of building and scaling a business: breaking into market networks, earning trust, and navigating evolving platforms. I’ve never felt my obstacles were uniquely “female” in nature.
If anything, the bigger challenge is perception. Female-led businesses in this space are sometimes assumed to be lifestyle ventures rather than serious commercial enterprises, despite driving major revenue. There’s still a need to educate some external stakeholders, investors, corporate partners, on the scale, influence, and sophistication of this sector when led by women.”
On the future of female leadership:
“Female leadership naturally brings emotional intelligence to the forefront, skills like empathy, energy-reading, and active listening. These aren’t “soft skills”; they’re commercial advantages in talent management, where so much of our success hinges on understanding people beyond their words.
What excites me most is seeing more female leaders shift from competition to cultivation, nurturing not only their teams but even their so-called competitors. There are more creators than ever before, more opportunities to share, and the real goal is to elevate the industry as a whole: better content, better partnerships, better ethics, better media.
We’re moving from individual success stories to collective industry standards, and that evolution is being heavily influenced by women in leadership.”
“The future depends on building training ecosystems that prepare diverse talent for leadership early”
Tashan Dwyer, Founder – Franklyn’s Forum
“The biggest barrier is the gap between representation and readiness. Many agencies are diverse at entry level but fail to equip emerging talent with commercial literacy and leadership exposure.”
“Franklyn’s Forum was founded to challenge the idea that influence belongs to one demographic. We represent diverse creators and invest in their commercial growth by teaching them to negotiate, protect their rights, and build lasting businesses. Internally we apply the same principles through transparency, mentorship, and shared learning. By showing both creators and managers how to own their growth, we turn visibility into authority.”
“I would like to see transparent pay frameworks and shared mentoring programs between large agencies and smaller diverse-led teams. When the sector normalises education and accountability, leadership stops recycling itself.”
“Why does your workforce not reflect the diversity of the creators you represent?”
Georgette Olaiya, Director – Dundas Management
On representation:
“As the creator economy continues to expand, creating new roles across PR, influencer marketing, and talent management, there is, in my view, no longer any valid reason for ethnic representation within management teams to have stalled.”
Is this truly a gap in progression, or are the 87% still ignorant of the importance, value, and necessity of a diverse team? And yes, my words are a direct callout. The industry is growing rapidly; we’re being introduced to new creators every day from a wide range of backgrounds. To be frank, that 13% simply isn’t good enough.”
On change:
“Real change requires active support and accountability from the 87%, not silent acknowledgement from the side-lines.
As managers, especially those in leadership, it is our duty to challenge the glaringly obvious. How can we represent diverse rosters of talent without building diverse teams behind them, teams with lived experience and relatable perspectives? We are the ones with the duty to advise brands why approaching LGBTQ+ creators only during Pride Month isn’t good enough, why adding a single creator of colour to a press trip isn’t good enough, and why campaigns landing in our inboxes around events like Notting Hill Carnival that miss the cultural mark simply aren’t good enough”
On accountability:
“As for the role agencies should play in all of this, step outside of yourself. Look at the gap within your teams and ask your talent whether they feel represented by the people managing them. Do this without defensiveness or fear that it diminishes your skills or contribution; it doesn’t. But it does make a difference.”
“When content creators of diverse backgrounds don’t have diverse teams backing them, we’re often left to navigate a space that wasn’t built with us in mind.”
Stephanie Yeboah — Creator (client of Dundas Management)
“Having a management team that actually understands our backgrounds, our culture, and the unspoken stuff that shapes how you move through the world is incredibly important.”
“If your manager understands the microaggressions or systemic barriers we’re sometimes up against… we don’t have to waste energy explaining why something feels off; they’ll already know.”
“Having a diverse team means we’ve got people who can spot opportunities that others may overlook; whether it be brand partnerships that feel authentic or storytelling angles that actually resonate. They understand that not every mainstream strategy works for everyone, and they can help protect us creators from being tokenised or pigeonholed.”
“Disabled people are the largest minority group in the UK so if you’re not including them in your workforce and on your roster, please don’t say that you’re committed to diversity!”
Andrew Roach, Founder – DEIVersity Talent Management
On intersectionality:
“I think that taking an intersectional approach to DEI is key. None of us are one thing as humanity is a spectrum… if you consider someone who is ethnically diverse and disabled, you realise that their lived experience is going to have been shaped by their intersectional identity… they will have a wealth of experience and insights to share that will only help to make them successful in a leadership position and enrich a company.”
On disability inclusion:
“You can’t purport to be diverse without including disability. Disabled people are the largest minority group in the UK so if you’re not including them in your workforce and on your roster, please don’t say that you’re committed to diversity! There’s no place for performative alllyship and virtue-signalling. Real change only happens with proper investment and doing the work. We need to collaborate to create a groundswell of opportunities and impact seismic change when it comes to disability.”
On balancing advocacy and work:
“Being an advocate and doing the day job is extremely challenging… You often feel like you’re doing a lot of work for little reward… I don’t do it for the accolades or awards, it’s about wanting me to make real and lasting change.”
“Diversity is nowhere near represented well enough across talent agencies in general let alone at leadership level. It’s something we all have to work even harder at to ensure that our staff are as diverse as our client base.”
Alex Segal, Co-Owner, MD & Talent Agent – InterTalent
On retention and shifting workforce behaviours:
“There has definitely been a huge shift in how hard it is to retain employees. In the last 5 or so years we see people moving more frequently (both to us, and to other companies) than ever before. There are a huge number of our team who have been with us 6-15 years, and then a lot of people under 2 years. The amount of people who are with us 3-6 years has shrunk considerably.”
On diversity at leadership level:
“I discuss this often, and with the bosses of other agencies. Diversity is nowhere near represented well enough across talent agencies in general let alone at leadership level. It’s something we all have to work even harder at to ensure that our staff are as diverse as our client base. There is positive movement from everywhere, everyone really cares about making big changes so we all have to push harder to get there.”
On retaining diverse talent:
“We just have to ensure we do the best job we can, and put them with people where they feel supported, valued and understood. We always listen to our clients on the job we are doing, and how we can improve. It’s a relationship and we value all feedback. Some of the best improvements we have made to the company in recent times have come from our clients. If your clients feel listened, supported and understood they are more likely to stay with you for a much longer time.”
The creator economy thrives on cultural insight, storytelling, and an ability to understand audiences on a deeper level. These conversations show that when leadership teams reflect those cultures and lived experiences, talent feels more supported – not just represented. Collaboration becomes easier, communication becomes clearer, and the work becomes more authentic.
Representation behind the scenes doesn’t just influence internal culture — it directly shapes campaign outcomes, client relationships, and long-term creator development. A diverse leadership team spots opportunities others may overlook and understands nuances without needing them explained.
As more leaders focus not only on who joins their team, but how those people are empowered to grow, we begin to see an industry where diverse talent isn’t just included – they’re enabled to lead.
