A One Man Show
Behind the world’s leading influencers, Samy Samandjeu most likely discovered them. At just 26-years-old – a leading man and an influencer – Samy is doing it all with the help of some very talented women.
Samy Samandjue
Samy Samandjue, his workweek seems very simple. Beginning on Sunday afternoon, he sits down to thoroughly prepare goal sheets for his roster, review all upcoming events and make sure the company is on track to check off all goals set the week ahead. Samy Sam skims his planner and digital calendar, a wakeup call at 5:00 a.m or 6:00 a.m — he claims depends on the season — involving the normal tasks: reading, working out, catch up with his assistant, and meeting with clients orchestrating the path of his impressive cast of talents. When researching Samy Sam, one word comes to mind: boss. With tailored suits on deck, this guy is stylish and charming; but make no mistake, he is not one for trends. “I was shocked to see how quickly ‘trends’ would fade and change. Everyone is in this unconscious competition that consists of getting the latest Vuitton, Dior, Off White, etc. Your image is everything you have in this world and people are attracted by people that look successful. I understand you need to be on top of your game, clean and trendy.” Acknowledging that, coming from a finance-based background and boarding school experience, the suit is just evidence. Moreover, structured wear has since become an extemporal piece that sends a clear message: smart, elegant, and trustworthy.
What most people do not know is that Samy is much like a self-titled psychologist. From problem-solving to ensuring his talents are in the best mental space, and with 70% of his day devoted to people management, he strives to ensure stability within a digital industry known for its instability. “I am extremely secretive in my private life,” stated the media entrepreneur. While never showing his family on social media, getting to know Samy, he is a family man through and through. When he is not consumed with managing, taking on meetings, and rushing across town to attend the latest fashion event, Samy is most likely spending precious time with his niece and nephews or watching football with his brothers. “What I enjoy the most is being with my people.” Born in Yaounde (Cameroon), Africa and raised in Paris, Samy has lived in variously prominent cities around the world. From Switzerland to Spain to the UK and the United States, Samy was just a normal kid, “[I was] passionate about football. Well, soccer. I would dress like football players when I was with my teammates and when I was at school,” grinned the chiseled faced Samy. With sports on his mind, he was not fully aware of his near future in fashion. “Working in the fashion industry just happened to me, it wasn’t planned.” Now at the thriving age of twenty-six, Samy Sam has accomplished more than many his age.
One being, launching London based talent management and content production agency V Management in 2017. As founder and managing partner, running the company’s internal and external business takes talent and brains. With a Master’s degree in Investment Management from Harvard University & CASS Business School, Samy’s interest in social media and debunking the algorithm has brought in new talents and progress. Defined as an agency that understands the codes of our generation, V Management is not your typical talent agency. While attending Harvard, the innovator noticed the financial freedom and success social media offered to his peers. After discussing a potential business plan, Samy recruited model and friend-turned-business partner Chloe Lecareux. Working on gaining experience, the two decided on the first step: managing a social media account. Lecareux’s account. Having gained valuable skills and success becoming then Social Media Manager, months went by, and the business grew from campus project to a global take over. “My brain couldn’t cope with the fact that some people could go to university for five years, be highly in debt, work ten hours per day and make five times less than today’s influencers.” After a couple of months, Lecareux’s friends joined the takeover and V Management was born. “No rush, only patience, countless mistakes and complete dedication to the agency.”
While traditional modeling agencies serve as the middleman between the talent and the clients, Samy Sam and V Management are stating that that is no longer the case. “Nowadays, thanks to Instagram and other social media platforms, clients can directly reach out to talents. Therefore, the ‘traditional’ agencies have lost their control over the talent. Due to this loss, the talent management industry became open to a new form of management and that is what we propose.” Moving to empower their superstars, this company works to allow all talents to be unique, diverse and pro-active. “Our focus is to invest our time, energy and resources into making them better talents.” Accompanied by a significant amount of exemplary women in office and in the client pool, Samy understands the view to the outside world exudes Hugh Hefner's vibes, but that is the least of his concern. “People think that you are Hugh Hefner, or people think that you are homosexual. None of those are true. Consequently, I learned to deal with it by smiling and laughing. As soon as you know who you are, what you do and where you are going, you can let people think whatever they want. It takes courage, discipline and a lot of self-confidence to lead such an amazing crew of talented women. I take this opportunity to shout out to all the amazing women out there.” Speaking of one amazing woman that keeps this businessman going, and motivating this manager to represent all women, the mother of all mothers, Diana Ross. “If I could, I would love to meet Diana Ross. Mrs. Ross demonstrated that not only can she be an amazing singer, but also a talented actress and a leading activist.”
As explained to his talents, “social media has become what TV was in the 80s and 90s. One influencer represents one TV channel for its audience. Influencers have to see themselves as entertainers that constantly entertain their audiences. This is amazing because TV programs are very wide and vague. They are created to touch the greatest number of people. On social media, you can follow 800 different profiles and each of them represents a part of your personality. You can wake up and be a highly dedicated performer who finds inspiration in Gary Vee, at lunchtime be a Football fan and get excited by Ronaldo’s skills and at nighttime be in a party mood by following Diddy. Everything is fast-paced and adaptable to each individual. One of the main downsides of this for me is the lack of accurate information. I was reading this choking statistic saying that 77% of millennials are checking news from twitter or Instagram rather than TV or newspapers. We need to make sure that future generations do not run after the news but after the truth. We need to take time to teach them how to look for answers, look at every side of stories and question everything they see or hear. Social media is not in real life. Most posts that you see represent one second in a day of 86,400 seconds. Ask yourself what happened during those 86,399 seconds that you don’t see,” encouraged Samy.
While working and residing in one of fashion’s leading destinations, in hopes of becoming a game-changer in today’s fashion industry, Samy’s greatest piece of advice: “You need to have a great understanding of who you are, or what is your product, and define it. When you know your values, you have no trouble showing them to the world; but first, define them. Be ready.” Carpe diem seems to be Samy Sam’s soul mantra, but even he knows when you want something you have to truly sacrifice for it. “Be ready to seize every opportunity and for the lack of sleep. From attending events weekly to established, global fashion weeks, do it all. Your outfits need to be on point and your phone charged,” he laughs before collecting himself more seriously, “You never know who you are going to meet and when you are going to meet them. Just be ready because sometimes you only need one meeting to play in the next division.
Wrapping up the final weeks of the month, on top of foreseeing what 2020 has in store, Samy relays the words of former San Antonio Spurs NBA player turned coach Tim Duncan: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.”
