EO Charleston Member Spotlight: Trey Myers
In every facet of event planning, there are certain keys to ensuring a successful product. This could include anything, from booking the right music to fit the crowd, having an efficient production setup, or as simple as knowing your audience. Trey Myers, a talent agent and band manager, founded Turnipblood Entertainment with this vision in mind.
EO Charleston is proud to highlight Myers and his entertainment booking company as well as his experiences working in the entertainment industry.
The Birth of Turnipblood Entertainment
Myers got his start as a booking agent, negotiating tours for regional bands. While he initially sought to book his talent as openers for larger artists on tours, he lacked the clout in these early days to do so. That’s when an idea struck!
Like many entrepreneurs, Myers scaled back his initial vision to build for long-term growth. His new target audience, however, was not as traditional. Myers turned to a crowd that’s always eager for entertainment – fraternity parties.
“Private events pay more than ticketed events,” he said. “So it was a means of manufacturing that clout.
He had been a talent buyer and booking agent in the music industry previously in his career, as well as a full-time manager for his wife’s band. Armed with knowledge from these experiences, his commitment to entertainment booking was born of a noticed need in the industry.
“When I realized there was this underserved market of fraternity guys that wanted to throw parties and there was no real understanding of that world from the major agencies, that’s when I knew we stumbled into something good,” Myers said.
Growth and Expansion of Turnipblood
While Trey carried industry experience through his professional passions, the adjustment to catering a business centered on production proved to be a bit of a learning curve.
“I had experience in talent buying. I had experience in brokering deals on behalf of artists as an agent,” he said. “But I’m not a technician, so I had to learn a lot about sound, light, staging and other things that go into live events.”
Balancing learning new things as well as maintaining a personal life can be hard on occasion, but Trey says that his experience and the backing of an entire team helps him enjoy the little moments with his family.
Based out of Nashville, Turnipblood Entertainment has grown exponentially over the last 13 years, expanding from their roots in Georgia to five different offices across four states. Their values focus on sticking to the STU: Stress-free, Transparent and Under-budget booking.
They’ve especially established a core market in Greek life, with sectors for fraternities, sororities and formals.
Inspirations of the Past, Present and Future
Myers discussed on all of the inspirations he had in his professional journey, with Michael Burcham, president and CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, being his biggest.
“That was where I was able to take a catalyst course, which was what helped me bridge the gap to become a member of EO,” Trey said. Burcham taught that course, which Trey took twice.
Now carving his own professional path, Trey says that the best advice he can give young entrepreneurs today is to focus less on school and more on practical skills.
“School is there to get a job,” he said. “If you’re going to be a doctor or a lawyer, you’ve got to do that…but if you can get a job without the schooling, stop wasting your time and money and go pursue that job.”
Trey backed up this stance with his own experience working on Capitol Hill, a path secured through connections that he was able to achieve without completing his bachelor’s degree.
Trey said he hasn’t looked back since starting Turnipblood and has personal goals that are always going to be attainable.