How This Boutique Sports Agency Is Beating Billion-dollar Giants At Their Own Game

William Morris Endeavor (WME) was precocious weighted astatine $13 billion, and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) astatine $7 billion. Zac Hiller, laminitis and CEO of Loyalty Above All (LAA) Sports and Entertainment, believes his boutique agency has nan imaginable to spell nan adjacent billion-dollar talent powerhouse.

"Why not?" Hiller asks. "We're already competing astatine that level."

Control nan gaps

Hiller landed his first customer — four-time Pro Bowl moving backmost Dalvin Cook — by doing what awesome agents do best: filling successful nan gaps wherever needed. The 2 met astatine a business gathering successful 2017 erstwhile Hiller, past successful his early twenties, was eager to break into nan sports industry. Having done his homework, Hiller came prepared pinch a mobility to make himself guidelines out.

He had noticed 2 Twitter accounts nether Cook's name, pinch nan existent 1 distinguished by a "4" astatine nan extremity of nan username.

"The Dalvin Cook 4 narration only had astir 4,000 followers, while nan clone narration had 30,000," Hiller recalls. "The clone narration was tweeting, telling group to meet him places, and sending crazy DMs."

Hiller brought it up astatine nan meeting. "Cook went off, saying, 'Yo, this personification pretends to beryllium me. It's truthful annoying,'" Hiller shares. When Cook admitted he couldn't get it removed, Hiller jumped in: "I conscionable said, 'I'll get it done.'"

Within minutes, Hiller tracked down a Twitter worker connected LinkedIn, DM'd them for connection and sewage nan clone narration taken down. Reflecting connected nan moment, he says, "I'm 24 aliases 25 years old, managing a superstar up for nan Heisman astatine Florida State, and I'm thinking, really is cipher taking attraction of this for him?"

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Move nan chains

That hustler mentality is nan backbone of what Hiller has built astatine LAA — a boutique agency that competes pinch manufacture giants while offering nan personalized attraction clients petition to succeed. Nearly a decade aft that pivotal meeting, LAA has evolved into a powerhouse, representing top-tier NFL talent for illustration Pro Bowlers James Cook and Zay Flowers alongside rising draught prospects for illustration Shemar Stewart.

Left to right: Zay Flowers, James Cook, Zac Hiller

Image Credit: Loyalty Above All

At conscionable 33 years old, Hiller is still 1 of nan youngest agents successful nan game. While immoderate whitethorn position his spot arsenic a business successful landing awesome clients, Hiller sees it arsenic a chopped advantage.

"In this connection of work, peculiarly pinch NIL, you're dealing pinch athletes arsenic young arsenic 15 and up to 21 aliases 22 erstwhile they're entering nan maestro level," Hiller explains. "Being personification successful spot makes it easier for maine to subordinate and nexus pinch them."

As his company's punishment suggests, Hiller powerfully emphasizes 1 halfway principle: loyalty. "Loyalty, to me, intends pursuing done connected your word," nan LAA laminitis explains. "If you opportunity you're going to do something, you must backmost it up."

That cognition has made a beardown belief connected LAA clients, including Dalvin's comparative and Bills prima moving backmost James Cook. "You ever petition a reliable squad down you — a squad that's dependable and will instrumentality by your broadside nary matter what," Cook says. "I consciousness for illustration nan group I personification astir maine are precisely that — they're dependable and personification stood by maine done dense and thin."

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Huddle up

While immoderate mightiness deliberation that loyalty becomes analyzable erstwhile clients compete for akin roles — for illustration nan NFL moving backs connected LAA's roster — Hiller believes nan opposite. "Every connection is different, and each 1 is looking for unsocial pieces to complete their puzzle," he says.

Furthermore, players tin thief raise each other's salaries. "That's not collusion," Hiller says. "While teams aren't allowed to collude, players are free to activity together to summation their value." James Cook feels nan same. "You personification to understand that my position is ever valuable, moreover if it doesn't get each nan attraction it deserves," Cook says. "That's why it's truthful important to support moving difficult arsenic a group and leaning connected each other."

None of this would beryllium imaginable without nan cardinal ingredient: trust. "When a customer trusts you, they cognize you're doing what's successful their champion interest, not conscionable cutting a woody to support yourself from getting fired," Hiller says. "If I trim a deal, I get paid. But if you occurrence maine while nan woody is still being negotiated, I don't get paid. So, will I conflict difficult for that past dollar for you, aliases conscionable move connected to nan adjacent opportunity? That's wherever we abstracted ourselves."

Some unscrupulous agents mightiness unreserved to adjacent a woody conscionable to unafraid a committee earlier their customer realizes their incompetence. Hiller takes nan different approach. "Clients cognize we'll conflict for that different dollar," he says. "Even though it mightiness only beryllium a mates of pennies to us, it intends a batch to them, and that's nan difference. You must beryllium observant to guarantee your agency useful connected your behalf."

Along pinch taking down clone Twitter accounts, Hiller builds spot pinch his clients by simply being unfastened and disposable to them.

"Once I get my ft successful nan door, it's astir making them consciousness comfortable and letting them cognize I'm ever location for them," Hiller says. "It's not conscionable astir being location while they're playing their sport; it's astir building a family. I'll beryllium coming for them forever, conscionable for illustration I would for immoderate of my ain family members."

The communicative of really Hiller landed Dalvin Cook arsenic his first customer defines LAA arsenic an agency. This was pre-NIL erstwhile Cook wasn't seeing a dime of nan millions Florida State was raking successful disconnected of him. They were speedy to discarded number 4 jerseys, but erstwhile it came to supporting nan prima jock pinch a pesky imposter, location was nary help.

"At that moment, he mislaid belief successful nan afloat system," Hiller says of Cook. "Despite being surrounded by people, nary 1 stepped up. He needed personification he could spot connected — personification who would get things done." That's what Loyalty Above All intends to Zac: erstwhile they opportunity they'll do something, they make it happen.