We were lucky to catch up with Michael Zimmerlich recently and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
After over 16 years of representing artists and interviewing over 150 creative professionals on my podcast, I discovered that the term “success” can have different meanings to each person. Overall, I believe “success” means happiness or satisfaction in the work that you do. It doesn’t necessarily mean you are rich, in fact many who have financial success feel “unsuccessful” in their personal life. Everyone’s desire and path are fundamentally different.
For me, success comes in two forms. First, is seeing success in my peers, friends and family. Supporting them and watching them succeed gives me far more joy than my own success. Second, is the happiness and satisfaction in the work that I do. I like to say that if what you do attracts not a single person, is it still worth doing? If the answer to that question is yes, that is success.
Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve been in the music industry for over 16 years as a record label and artist management. The label, 80/20 Records, pioneered the concept of 80% royalties to artists. Which at the time was extremely rare.
My current endeavor came from a passion of collaborating with brands, which I’ve been fortunate to work with so many including small businesses and multi-million dollar corporations. Omelette Prevail, which is a creative agency, partners with brands to collaborate with creators including music artists, podcasters, filmmakers, streamers, and influencers.
In addition I host my own podcast called Creatives Prevail, which tells the origin stories of creators, representatives, company founders, and more.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I showed up, it’s that straightforward. I went to shows when artists asked me to. I went to conferences to connect with brands and my peers. Attended networking events. Planned coffee meets. Showing that you’re reliable has gone a long way for people to want to work with you.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Communication and setting expectations. It’s important to not only have frequent communication with your team but have candid and honest conversations what is expected from everyone. When there’s a huge win it’s great to celebrate, but it’s more important how to handle the lows. I often say that the majority of what we do will fail, which whether that’s true or not hopefully sets those expectations when something does not go right. In addition, when something does go well I always ask “ok awesome, what’s next?”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oprevail.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativesprevail/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelzimmerlich/
Image Credits
Photo credit: RU for speaker image