Pam Zapata

Zapata says she would sign a deal for an AI version of a client as a learning case study.

“know what? I would probably sign it as a case study. Yeah. Okay. Let's learn from it”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:06:17

Zapata says brands commonly complain about creators who miss deadlines and lack professional discipline.

“It doesn't really take much to just be responsible and respectful of people's time”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 50:55

Zapata criticizes brands that hand creators rigid scripts, arguing creators are hired to make content suited to their own audiences.

“You're hiring the creator to create something that works for their audience”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 47:13

Zapata says many creators with large followings earn little or nothing from their content.

“There's people with millions of followers, hundreds of thousands of followers that are not monetizing their social media”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 46:17

Zapata says a longtime Disney Channel casting director could not find work after layoffs because the industry has shifted to creators.

“you've been at Disney Channel for like 20 plus years and she can't get a job because the landscape has shifted so much”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 37:45

Zapata says talent managers are expected to generate two to three times their salary in revenue.

“Because as a talent manager, you have to make two or three times your salary in revenue to stay”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 36:05

Zapata advises creators to read contracts, exclude perpetuity, define scope, and hire an attorney.

“Read the contract. Make sure that perpetuity is not in the agreement. Make sure the scope is lined out and very clear”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:06:49

Zapata recounts clients discovering their images on billboards years after small one-time payments due to perpetuity clauses.

“I got paid two thousand dollars for this campaign one time eight years ago. And now they're using my image on a billboard”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 43:44

Zapata argues that granting usage rights in perpetuity is the costliest mistake creators make in deals.

“no one should have anyone's right or like right to use their likeness in perpetuity. That's just like bad business”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 43:28

Zapata says she wants Society18's legacy to be helping eliminate the pay gap between Black and white creators.

“I wanted to be known for a company that helped eliminate the pay gap with like black and white content creators”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:43

Zapata says she observed self-managed creators of color quoting far lower rates than managed white creators.

“these smaller creators, creators of color primarily, were self-managing and were coming in like a third or a quarter of the price”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 42:13

Zapata says hiring an attorney, operations lead, and second manager after burning out restored her personal life.

“that following year I hired an attorney, I hired an operations lead and I hired another talent manager and then I got my life back”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 53:29

Zapata says she quit her agency job and filed her LLC in the same week.

“that week I gave my notice. I handed in my computer. I went home. I filed my LLC and I never”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 45:07

Zapata says Ray J showed disregard for crew and production on a show she worked on.

“And he had just zero regard for crew, other talent, production”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 51:40

Zapata recalls recording Zendaya's Shake It Up audition as a Disney intern and sensing she would become a star.

“she had this presence to her that I was like, this girl's going to be a superstar”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 29:32

Zapata says her agency generated around seven figures in revenue in its first year.

“literally within my first year, we brought in like seven figures in revenue”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 18:04

Zapata says her agency has reached a point where it can run largely without her.

“and then it becomes easier and then you get to a place where for the most part, my agency can run like 80% without me”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 7:22

Zapata says she grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which she describes as having the most Dominicans per capita in the US.

“a city called Lawrence, Massachusetts, and it has the highest Dominicans per capita in the United States”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 19:19

Zapata argues Substack gives creators more ownership of their audience than social platforms.

“Substack is like an email list that you own, you own the audience, you can like measure open rate”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: She Quit Her Job and Built a 7 Figure Talent Agency | Pam Zapata | Coffeez Ep. 323 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 8:52