She’s the fairy godmother behind your favorite fashionista and lifestyle guru, working in the background to ensure they get their fair share of fortune. Her wings carry her from one digital space to another, sprinkling her fairy dust on those who deserved of their Cinderella moment.
The woman with the magic wand is Shannae Ingleton Smith, her kingdom is Kensington Grey, and her mystical power lies in influencer management.
In under five years, the agency has bridged the gap between the ever-evolving content creation space and the talented Black creators hovering in the fray. Launched in the spring 0f 2019 with a humble roster of just a few influencers, it has since grown to house more than 100 clients, and is one of the most preeminent firms for creators in North America. Better yet, its specifically, solely, emphatically dedicated to Black and Brown talent.
“And that’s not ever going to change,” Ingleton Smith tells ESSENCE. “I don’t see us venturing outside of that niche just because the need is there. That’s the lifeblood of our organization and how we started and where we started.”
She’s right about that ever-present need for champions in the BIPOC influencer management space.
PR firm MSL found that racial pay gap between white and BIPOC influencers (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) sits at 29%. That chasm jumps to 35% when taking a look at the disparity between white and Black creators.
There was a brief period a reconciliation during the social justice uprising of the 2020 in which brands were more eager than ever to tap Black talent to represent them in the digital space. But as soon as the Black Lives Matter chants quieted in the streets, so did their rabid support.
“We definitely saw an uptick in business during the height of the pandemic and during the Black Lives Matter movement,” Ingleton Smith admits. “But then things dropped. However, we kept the momentum going and have continued to grow and continue increasing revenue year-over-year because we have focused on just being the best, period. Not just the best Black agency, but just the best. We just want to be the best at everything that we’re doing and provide top tier service in everything that we’re doing.”
That looks like advising their client roster to consistently produce high-quality content no matter what. But make no mistake, their agency will continue to prioritize Black talent.
“For them, it’s icing on the cake that we happen to look like them because there’s a special just feeling of comfort, safety, and trust that exists when you are working with people that reflect your culture and community,” she tells ESSENCE.
One of her core focuses is ensuring her clients get as big of a piece of the billion-dollar influencer marketing pie as their white counterparts.
49% of Black influencers in MSL’s report shared they believe their ethnicity contributed to a lower offer, below market value.
“I started all of this by helping influencers avoid getting low-balled, which is extremely prevalent in the space,” Ingleton Smith explains. Before launching Kensington Gray, she counseled content creators in a small Facebook group she’d started after constantly receiving questions about fair pay.
“This is how you reach out to brands and get loans for clothing,” she shared, pointing out some of the ways she provided support. It eventually evolved into brand deal negotiations, rate setting and image building.
“Starting out, I was told that nobody else was doing this for Black creators in the way I was.”
And honestly, they still aren’t.
“In this industry there are the three big agencies that focus solely on influencer talent,” she explains. “And I feel like there isn’t one that’s Black. Rather than being absorbed or acquired by those bigger entities, we want to be the first to build something from the ground up for us. That’s why we do what we do in the way we do it. And we always will.”
