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Meet Wayne Banks of The Limelight Internet Showcase in Southwest

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Wayne Banks.

Wayne, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am Wayne Banks, first generation college grad, the founder of The Limelight. This is my post-graduate journey. I hope someone is able to take something positive from me sharing my story. 

The Limelight began as a showcase. It was 2014, and I was about to graduate from Morehouse college with a degree in economics. I was working with a group by the name of Goldshades, an up-and-coming Atlanta based jam-band trio.

I had an idea of creating a platform for talented singers, songwriters, and hip hop acts. I wanted to do a showcase, the #AUCShowcase. I wanted to find the best talent in the Atlanta University Center, and connect them with the resources they’d need to jumpstart their careers, so I reached out to everyone I knew and a lot of people that I did not know at all. I, honestly, didn’t get the support I thought I would from the people I thought would support me, but I learned a very powerful lesson. A lot of people who say that they will have your back will not, when you actually make a request. Oftentimes, initial support comes from strangers; your journey will provide all the connections that you need to walk in your purpose. In the end, God came through and helped me to connect with some amazing industry people who have since become like family.

Sesac came through; they provided giveaways and information that our attendees and performers found helpful; big or small, they had no idea who I was, but they came through. Period. An Atlantic Records rep, Curtis Harris came out, Mitch from the Wondaland Arts Society came out, and Steve Boykin from Street Execs Management also came out and delivered invaluable feedback to our performers to help them to reach the next milestone in their journey. It was my first glimpse into what I would do when I graduated; in addition, I was able to find a few incredibly talented artists that I knew I would want to represent, Zay’Marie, Goldshades, Bobby Cork, Geoffrey Golden, Jerronelle. Yup. That Geoffrey Golden. Geoffrey and I studied Economics together at Morehouse; during one of our finals study sessions, he asked if I could help him with his music. I said I would see what I could do. Now, did I know that he would go on to win Sunday’s Best…? I will just say I can spot talent a mile away. And yes, that Jerronelle; an incredible vocalist and songwriter who later went on to do very well on the Four. 

One of the biggest take-aways from my experience is that even with an absurd amount of talent, it takes time and the help of a team to develop an act. Don’t expect it to be easy or overnight. Expect and welcome the grind; it is what refines your talent into greatness. It also build the foundation that is necessary to maintain that success.

Trust The Process.

After I graduated with honors in Spring 2014 with a degree in economics, I was homeless by November 2014.

Yup. You read that right. Let me tell you about the struggle. Prior to go to Morehouse I lost my mother, while at Morehouse I lost my father. A few months after graduating, I lost my grandmother. I had just come home with an offer to be a management analyst for the Department of Commerce. I chose to come home as I waited for the background check, to get my clearance, and prepare for my move; at this point I wasn’t prepared financially. Life comes fast, though. Even though I had no criminal record, I graduated from a great school —with honors, I still was put in this situation. Let me be an example; life will test you; everyone has these assessments, pass or fail, sink or swim, it’s a rights of passage into adulthood; in these moments a person is defined. To myself —at the time— and many others, this appeared to be failure, but it was not.

This was a catalyst for my evolution. Pressure can burst pipes, but it can also help to form diamonds. It is all about what you are made of that will define what you will become, when the pressure arrives. And no matter how sheltered you are, at some point, the pressure and tests of life will come. I was forced to adapt. Tress that don’t bow with the wind will soon break. I had the Pursuit of Happiness experience. I slept at a local shelter of Providence Baptist church until I was blessed with a better opportunity. I am an Army veteran, and being a vet, they have an amazing program called “Swords to Plowshares.” This is an organizations that exists to assist US veterans who are going through transition. They gave me a place to live, as I studied for the GRE—and got accepted into grad school, and taught myself to code, and got a job at Adobe as a backend engineering intern, followed by another internship in product management for Photoshop Lightroom.

I lived through this, and I am so grateful to God for allowing me to have a story to tell. Many people would be ashamed, but it is important to see that it can happen to anyone, whether you’ve made poor decisions or not, and it’s important to see that you can come back from any setback with God and a good attitude. The only limits that a person has are the ones that they allow to exist. You have to believe in yourself enough to know that you deserve more, despite what you are currently surrounded by. Adversity can be a superpower, you have experience that few others have; it’s a way of being prepared for the worst, simply because you’ve experienced it. Also, it’s important for others to see that they are not the only ones that are being tested in this way. People should see that success has ups and downs; it’s a common perception that you have to do everything right; you have to go to the best school; you have to come from the best families, but there are outliers who have championed adversity and achieved their goals for life and success, despite being dealt a bad hand. It may be harder, when you have to deal with the unfortunates of life, but it boils down to your mental makeup. I hope to be an example to someone to never give up, no matter what life throws your way.

After my internship with Adobe, I knew I wanted to be more hands-on with product. I had already started working on an idea prototype of The Limelight app, but it wasn’t until I worked in product that I would learn how I would put it together. If I had not gone through this hardship, I would not have gained the insight into how to ship great products, work with team, gathering user signal and validating assumptions, road mapping, and managing a backlog with a team of engineers; this something you learn through experience. I took a brief break to study full stack javascript, prior to applying to work for Facebook in 2017. 

I began a dream role in tech, but wasted no time in continuing the development of my own product. At this point, I had the necessary resources to help support an incredibly talented up-and-coming singer-songwriter, Zay’Marie. I had been promoting her music since college, and saw potential in the way she could impact the music industry. I worked all day for Facebook, and built the Limelight, managed Zay, and promoted Limelight Present concerts in the evenings, days off, and holidays. Yes, I could have taken the trips with my co-workers. I could have gotten the Tesla that I still want so bad. It’s a personal choice what you do with your time and money. I chose to invest in me. I believe in what we are building. It is a blessing to get those highly sought after tech roles with the big salary and perks, but don’t lose your focus. You can’t just give up on future goals and become a slave to your lifestyle that’s being provided by your current employer. I remember doing almost every venue in Atlanta, and wanting to get booked for Eddie’s Attic. They were they type of venue that caters to a more seasoned act, so this performance would help to brand and validate our client. I tried email, to no avail; then, I moved on to LinkedIn, and I got some traction, but still was not able to successfully get a hold. My plan was to fly out to Eddies,  the week of my show, and speak to the buyer directly. I went, and he wasn’t in, but I left a note saying I was in Atlanta and wanted to have lunch. The next day, he replies on Linkedin; shortly afterward, we met and had lunch at the Buckhead. We got the booking. We have played the Buckhead twice since. It’s all about what you choose to do with your time.

March 1, 2019, we put together our first concert at the 1,800 capacity venue. I partnered with a major label artist to bring more visibility to the event, I learned a very important lesson about business and making sure that you are on the same page as those that you are partnering with.

Overall, the event went well, but do to a contractual disagreement, I was forced to pay back 10k; losing 25k of my own money on my first concert. This was one of my lowest moments in years, but it was this moment that I was able to identify a flaw in the talent booking and contracting market. I saw how someone may risk a large amount of money, and might not have the right person or team for their project. When you spent as much as I did, you want to have more clarity and security about the service and deliverable that you will be receiving; this is what led me to build the Limelight Music Marketplace. The app is for bookings of creative professionals; it allows those who are looking for creative service providers to connect with on our site, book services, and rate after, so that others have an idea of who they should work with and who they might want to avoid. It’s hard to find the reliable talent you need, as a consumer or a small brand, and there are many incredibly talent professionals who need this type of platform for the visibility into what talents they offer, and the functionality to get them paid. It’s been quite a journey, but the process of developing and scaling this idea led me to leave Facebook and commit to developing this idea full-time. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a Wework Veteran In Residence, for the Bunker Labs accelerator. 

This program gave me a next step; they provided the roadmap of what needed to be accomplished in order to be able to build and scale my business. It’s more important than receiving funding, it’s how well you can execute and reach each milestone you set; many companies who are funded fail fast, because they can’t gather traction, they have not validated their ideas, they don’t understand their markets, competition, or their “users” either. 

One of the first speakers we were able to meet with was Bruce Cleveland of Wildcat Ventures. We reviewed his book, “Traversing The Traction Gap,” and he provided insight into the VC perspectives of what they are looking for, specially; moreover, he asserts that a young startup should pay as close attention to their market engineering as they do their product engineering.

As founders, we adopt the “if you build it, they will come” philosophy, but this is not the case; there are a myriad of variable that should be considered in market engineering; a lot of which should have taken place during your go-to-product and market research phase.

This is just one example of the value that was delivered during my cohort. We were given a blueprint of each step that we needed to take to ensure that we were building the right product, at the right time, with the right teams. Each component is imperative to success. We were given access to ask questions, and the perfect environment to figure it out. I definitely was able to refine my idea and more clearly identify what I needed, personally. 

I was able to make 4 hires, two summer interns who killed it! One co-founder, and one admin, all due to the wealth of resources and branding provided by this opportunity. I made tons of connections and extended my family. This was and is a great opportunity for anyone lucky enough or brave enough to participate. Thank you, Eric, Bunker Labs, WeWork, Ronnie, and Todd Conner. The experience was life-changing!

As I complete this next challenge, I welcome all experience and know that all of my adversity was God preparing me for what I am doing right now. I am thankful. The next time you’re experiencing adversity, don’t think why me; let Him work in your life.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Limelight Internet Showcase – what should we know?
The Limelight was created to build tools that would break barriers and help to empower artists and creative talent.

We help artists and entertainment professionals to establish a brand, while being paid for what they do, through our newly-developed music marketplace;

We help to highlight the best freelancers in the world to help complete your next creative project;

We have created a rating system that will help to identify the best local creative professional for your job or project while helping you to avoid booking someone who might not be the best fit. Sometimes, it’s not about money; sometime there just are no do-overs; you don’t want to chance your special occasion and bet on an amateur who isn’t professional. And no one has money to waste in a situation like this. We help to find the right person for the job, the first time.

We are the first company to create a platform that is inclusive to all talents, not just artists and instrumentalists; we are seeking the best graphic designers, PR pros, marketers(social media/ in-person), photographers, lighting techs, production crew, AV, film and videography, as well as the traditional pianist, drummer, DJ, producer, singer or rapper—and more. We want to provide a resource where you can go and get that missing team member and birth something amazing into the world. Some creative professionals don’t have a location where they can go and be given an opportunity to do what they love and be paid for what they are already good at doing. The Limelight was created to build tools that allow individual artists to behave in ways that only that a team would traditionally been able to, by representing the best talent in the world; we provide access to that team that you’ve been missing. What can the Limelight do for you?

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
My connection to God has to be my TOP characteristic that is leading towards the success that I prayed for. Through God, I am able to exercise a type of discipline and tenacity that keeps me focused, despite the situation that I might be currently dealing with. I have been through worse, so I know that there is a way through whatever I encounter. These characteristics are what establish the foundation for success in whatever you do; if you begin with God and stay disciplined, you will eventually reach any goal that you create.

Pricing:

  • Bookings range from ($10 – 10k) a night

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Elizabeth Murray, ( Zay’Marie)

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