Arjun Banerjee

What are the qualities that a celebrity manager should have to succeed? 

As long as you have done your basic education, you can join this profession. That’s what I have done. But most importantly, I feel anybody who’s going to be joining this profession or who wants to be a part of this, should be really, really passionate about their industry. Now whether it’s India or abroad or, in America or Europe or wherever, you just really need to be passionate about the business, because at least for the first four or five years, the investment will not be worth the return. The number of hours, the time commitment that this job will require — sometimes 16 hours upwards every day — and you’ll have to be available on a call, on e-mails at all times, and sometimes even go beyond your job role in participating or helping out the celebrities in their personal lives. So, unless and until you’re really passionate, I wouldn’t suggest you do this. Because from personal experience, the first five years, the kind of money that you make is nothing. And you will end up asking yourself the question that why are you doing this, especially if you’re really, really well-educated and you’ve done a lot of degrees, etc. So, like I said, it’s a job for people who are passionate about it. I think one of the things that I have — and a lot of my colleagues and friends who’re really good at this or have been doing this for over six or seven years — is that you need to have very high EQ [emotional quotient], and you need to have a lot of empathy. I think these are the two basic attributes that you need to have in order to see things from another person’s perspective, even if sometimes they’re not being rational. You need to try and understand why a person is saying [things] a certain way. And sometimes, they will have certain issues about doing or not doing certain things, which you will not understand — they will not be logical — so unless and until you have a lot of EQ and a lot of empathy, I do not think you will be really able to do it. You may be great at sales, but as a celebrity manager, you may not be great at it. Also, you need to be really energetic and you need to be on the ball. You can’t be lazy. These are the two or three most important things. And yes, patience and temperament — those are also very key essentials. Personally, I would rate EQ and empathy at the top.