We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jesse Leon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jesse, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My story is one of perseverance. I moved to California with dreams of making it in the music industry. I graduated with a degree in Business Marketing and felt that would help me get a foot in the door in regards to music business. After almost half of my life toiling away in random “jobs” I was able to get the position of Talent Agent for Breakpoint Booking. Since then, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster with the pandemic, but I have not looked back. At almost 37 years old, it just goes to show that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

My name is Jesse Leon, a Talent Agent for Breakpoint Booking, THE BEST boutique talent agency in the business.

It really all started when I moved to Long Beach, CA from Central Washington. Since I was an early teen I wanted to get into the business side of the music scene, whether it be as a manager, agent, or record executive. I knew moving to Southern California would be my best shot at achieving that. I majored in Business Marketing as I felt that was broad enough to teach me all sides of what I needed to learn to be successful. I had to have the business sense, as well as learn how to get myself/clients out there and seen or heard.

Now did I get into the music business right out of college? Absolutely not! The point is, I kept that dream alive and when I got the opportunity I jumped at it.

I began as an intern/agent trainee for Breakpoint Booking in October of 2019. I learned the business from my boss (he hates when I call him that) Isaac Gordon. After a few months of on the job training and learning the ins and outs of completing a booking, I was released and was tasked with booking shows on my own. By most accounts, I faired pretty well for a beginner. I got three shows confirmed in my first month! Unfortunately those didn’t get to play out because of the dreaded pandemic, but more on that later.

One thing about me, is that I’m very personable. I’m 100% an extrovert. I love talking to people, especially about things I’m passionate about. Music is definitely one of those things. Actually, the job post for Breakpoint was for a Comedy Agent. I impressed Isaac on how much I knew about his Hip Hop roster, that he called me back and informed me he wanted me on the music side of things. So when it’s time to pitch my clients or clients from our roster, I know how to get my foot in the door with good old fashioned manners and politeness. I was also a freelance writer so the gift of gab and portraying those thoughts from a keyboard are definitely my strong points. I’m honestly still learning the music business, so I have to accentuate my strong points and the rest will catch up.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I feel like this question is too easy, as we’ve all had to be resilient in these last two years haha. But I’ll elaborate.

I was released from my agent training in early February 2020. As I’ve said before, I wanted to be in the music business since I was like 14 years old. So I was pumped. I immediately got my first client, Memphis Soul artist Nick Black, and began pitching him. Within a month I had him booked for three shows, one in LA, one in Bellflower, CA, and one in Boston at Berklee College of Music. All of these shows were in March…

Of course, in middle March, the world was shut down and all of the shows were cancelled. I was beyond crushed! I did random jobs since graduating college: manager at In N Out, warehouse supervisor, sales, freelance writer. I finally get the chance to be happy with a career path, and I thought it was all over in one fell cough. My boss, Isaac, assured us that we wouldn’t be losing our jobs, but at the time, we had no idea how long this shut down was going to last.

Unfortunately, I fell into a deep state of alcoholism. There was nothing to do but put whiskey in my coffee in the morning and drink beer throughout the day, or so I thought. I tried to do other things to keep busy, our agency started a podcast where we interviewed our artists and that was great, I got to keep flexing my gift of gab. I started my own podcast on Twitch as well, which was equally satisfying, but ultimately I just kept getting drug back to an upside down bottle.

I began my sober journey on July 8th, 2021. I went to AA meetings, got a sponsor, and really took control of my life again, which was spiraling out of control. It’s no surprise that as soon as I started taking my life seriously, I began flourishing as an agent. The world started to open up again and our agency was ready for it. I booked my client, Matt Walden, on a 23-city nationwide tour. I helped book part of Boldy James’ first solo tour. I was able to get shows for some of my favorite artists, such as Elzhi, Slum Village, and Harry Mack. I am now over 16 months sober and in the best shape of my life. AA taught me a lot of great lessons on how to deal with everyday stress and managing those big life events that everyone goes through (I’ve gone through a divorce and recently involved in car wreck that totaled my car). Now I am ready to handle anything life throws at me.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

For me, being able to grow my clientele has been directly tied to getting to as many events as I can. It’s rare when I don’t attend a concert or networking event that’s in the Los Angeles area. I’ve met the majority of the artists I represent by meeting them in person.

My first client, Nick Black, emailed our agency and invited us to attend a concert he had in LA. I thought his music was good. It was catchy, the musicianship was on point, I wanted to see it live. It was a good thing I did because his live show was incredible! I saw something in him and immediately wanted to work with him. The next day we got on a phone call and I was officially his agent. Since then I’ve booked him for well over 20 shows, including an amazing showcase at Orlando’s Hard Rock Cafe.

I was asked to be a judge of a Hip Hop contest, by another one of my clients, 60 East. The winner of the contest got to be on the featured stage at his The Happiness of Pursuit Festival. I got to meet two Hip Hop legends in Ras Kass and Money B from Digital Underground (both of whom said they would like to work with us), but most importantly I got to meet Harry Mack, in my opinion the best freestyle rapper in the world. Granted, this was pre pandemic, Harry had 100-200k subscribers on YouTube and had done a few live shows here and there. We got to chopping it up and he had expressed desire in doing more live shows. In the next few days we got on a call with him and his manager and had him on the roster that day. Since then, he has well over TWO MILLION subscribers on YouTube and has sold out every single show he has done since the world opened back up. Right place, right time.

A few of the others I’ve brought in after witnessing a live show are 60 East, Trizz, and Landon Wordswell. I use the same pick up line everytime, “Do you have an agent?” Haha. But in all honesty, if you don’t put yourself out there, no one will ever know who you are. That’s why I make it a point to attend as much as I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://breakpointbooking.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesse.breakpoint/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesus-leon-22b39811/
• Other: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theleonlounge