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GONE are the days when talent alone could propel various individuals to success. In today’s competitive market, a strategic approach to achieving success in any sector is essential. This shift has given rise to a new breed of talent managers, such as Diana Elisha Nheera, who are dedicated to exploring the symbiotic relationship between artistic brilliance and brand development. These managers shed light on the strategies that empower artists to translate their creativity into commercial success. Recently, The Entrepreneurial Magazine had the opportunity to sit down with Diana, an award-winning talent manager, as she shared her insights on the key principles behind transforming dreams into reality.
During the interview, Diana emphasized that framing dreams goes beyond envisioning artistic masterpieces. It involves sculpting a brand identity that resonates with audiences, captures attention, and ultimately drives success. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Crafting a Legacy Diana Elisha Nheera’s backstory
I went from Polytechnic Training in Information Technology (IT) in Mutare, Zimbabwe to Johannesburg soon after graduating with a National Diploma. My first job in Jozi two weeks after relocating was IT Lecturing at a town college. 3 months later I got an opportunity as a Technical Recruiter in training and i was to become a remarkable (as my then Boss would put it) Technical Recruitment Specialist for the next 7yrs. This experience pretty much shaped up the Professional that I am today. From working in a small organization operating among the biggest multinational companies in South Africa, from interacting with candidates at entry level in manufacturing, engineering as well as commercial spaces all the way to high level management and directors. I however got retrenched in the year 2015, and fell back to my Creative skills set which i had kept growing as a side gig. I found not only comfort but passion in the Creative work as a Digital Marketing Specialist – so I self-taught on multiple skills as i ventured into Creative Agency work for structure and development. My eventual relocation back to Zimbabwe in 2018 presented a further opportunity to broaden my scope of development from Creative for Corporate to the Arts, Sports and Entertainment industry as a Talent Manager. And so, here I am, Award Winning Talent Manager, Certified Life Coach (much needed education), Social Photographer and still quite a renowned Digital Marketer.
Guiding lights and influential figures who shaped her journey
My biggest inspiration has been PEOPLE at large. Individuals and collectives alike. The women in my family definitely take center stage in moulding me from watching them maneuver life since childhood when most of their actions did not even make much sense to me: My Grandmother praying multiple times every single day without missing a single day, declaring things she wanted to see and in the same breath speaking off things unwelcome, she would speak into our lives individually according to our personal strengths and weaknesses. My mother going through pregnancy with my siblings and the whole family’s rather intense attention and apprehension about the later stages towards childbirth. The hushed tones around death and funerals. The glee and encouragement around education – school and away, employment and entrepreneurship! Then of course how they handled hygiene, beauty and fashion, dating and marriage (all the way to parenting and the random divorce case.) As I grew and began to understand these women better, I realized I knew exactly the kind of woman I wanted to be and to not be, and most importantly I had been equipped with how to be her. Coupled with my own education and experiences and influences from external people… I became astute on how to draw the right kind of inspiration from each person I encounter and work with, directly and indirectly.
Debunking the myth of talent management and its broad application
I chose Talent Manager for my title instead of just Artist Manager because the term covers the nurturing of any form of talent really. I have worked with Sportspersons, Tv/Radio Presenters, Thespians, Musicians (the most visible of the talents) and my favorite BUSINESS Talent. As a mother i do the same for my children in terms of education. A Talent Manager grooms and guides the talent in their line of expertise, builds a brand for them and places the brand and products in the right position in the community, industry, business and nation to convert the effort into financial success. The Manager has to oversee day to day business activities of the talent, provide advice and counseling on professional matters, and all the affairs that allow the career to thrive.
Of rising to the challenge and perspective on being part of Nutty O’s winning team
Being part of Nutty O’s team winning team has been all surreal and all confirmation that talent, strategy, hard work, determination and above all dreams and prayers get answered and rewarded. It’s a journey that started from far back as 2018 when all we had was his gift, courage and aspirations and our(management team) belief in him, skills sets which we all combined and channeled into a vision that was dubbed Ability Xtention: The never ending pursuit of growth. We thus grew into the success story that everyone acknowledges now because we believed we were winning even before we tangibly received the wins. All thanx to the Highest and the words Nutty O sang in his earlier songs such as Bugatti, Boom Shelele, Bless My Hustle and. They were the prayers I personally had to refer back to and project into the future as we took on the work in a highly competitive industry, with minimal resources until the name Nutty O grew into a household brand. That is the experience that grew me into a fearless leader in the Music Industry: the fearlessness comes from the confidence that virtuous work added to faith the size of a mustard seed, love, trust and respect of one another, selflessness, knowledge, wisdom and understanding can transcend a Talent/Brand into a Champion.
The intersection of professionalism, self employment and entrepreneurship
Loosely speaking I do consider myself an entrepreneur but a one seminar with Vusi Tembekwayo shed more light on these terms and their functions when he shared on the 5 Levels of Business Maturity being
5. Founder
4. Entrepreneur
3. Business Owner
2. Self Employed
1. Professional
Looking at this I operate somewhere in between Professional and Self Employed as well as get the exposure of a Business Owner through my Clientele. The beauty is this lesson also came with a description of each level and how to grow up to the higher level. It is definitely more lucrative to be an entrepreneur as the purpose, workforce and sphere of impact is higher. It also allows one to grow a business that is able to attract larger scale deals and to sustain even in one’s absence. Being an Influencer is working as a professional and the advantage is one gets to choose the work one is passionate to do and also get exposure in different industries with access to different markets and teams.
Distinct challenges and opportunities for female entrepreneurs in the creative industry
Being a Female Entrepreneur aside from the regular business challenges means at times being treated as a woman instead of the professional that you are so human nature can compel some of the opposite gender to launch on unrelated pursuits… Where this happens as a woman you have tough choices really, to let go of the whole prospect and maintain your space, or to address the issue directly and request to keep things only professional. Either way, you risk losing the opportunity to unwarrantable intrusion into personal matters. To overall pre-tackle such, I personally strive to present myself in a clear professional manner at all times AND to actually equip myself with the valuable knowledge and expertise in my role such that i cease to be regarded by my gender but purely by profession RELEVANTLY.
Cultivating IT driven precision for effortless content creation
My IT Training and how seriously i took it from Day 1 means I have an added advantage in maneuvering the highly technological advancing world of today. It has allowed me to adapt and adopt the new technologies that have become the norm. Being a Digital Marketer and professional Graphic Designer as well as Photographer makes the content creation a smoother process for us with the Artists as we know exactly what needs to be done whether we do it inhouse(reducing cost) or outsource from other Creatives.
Milestones
I actually won a Zim Community Trailblazers Award for OUTSTANDING ARTS TALENT MANAGER 2023 earlier in January this year!!! Fancy! And this is in addition to every music project I have been part of releasing in the past few years, we also have 2 NAMAs, 3 ZIMAs, 6 Star FM Awards, 2 AFRIMMA nominations among many other gongs with Nutty O between ‘22 and now.
…Of work and family balance
I am not sure about the BALANCE bit, but these two co-exist simultaneously in my life. Being a Freelancer allows me the flexibility to work from home on some days of the week and that adds to how much I interact with the family. I also still do morning school runs and try and do all office work during the week keeping the weekend generally free, save for some late night music performances.
Gender equality and equity…a distant goal or achievable reality
It’s a difficult concept considering there are two things running parallel in doing so: fixing the ills of the past and fixing the healthy path of the future. It is easier to deal with the technical aspects like in business, legislation and education… but it is harder on the moral ground, culture and socialisation, as these tend to be passed on as heritage. A lot of progress has however been made over the years so we will reach more healthy spaces of the equity and equality aspects in gender.
March is Women’s month and this year it is celebrated under the campaign theme, #InsipireInclusion. In brief, what does the theme mean to you?
To me it simply means making it possible for the next woman and the people in her environment, to reach their aspirations in any form or fashion. It means doing everything that I do with the consciousness that it will impact the next woman, so it has to only be in a positive way.
