Power Moves: Michelle Le Fleur's Guide To Success In The Entertainment Industry

When you look up the definition of someone who wears many hats, Michelle Le Fleur’s name should rightfully pop up. No, literally. She is a mom, manager, registered nurse, a CEO, an entrepreneur, executive producer, and so much more. A BOSS is the title that suits her very well. She says what she means, and means what she says. If you ask her for advice on how you can make it in one of the most competitive industries in the world, which is the entertainment industry, she is going to be completely honest and transparent with you. 

When I mustered up the courage to ask her for an interview to not only tell her story, but provide any words of wisdom to those who are trying to break into the industry, she did not hesitate to put me in contact with her team to make this possible. From our phone conversation, I was immediately inspired to get to work on my own aspirations. It didn’t even feel like an interview; it felt like I was talking to a mentor who was giving me words of encouragement to stay committed to my goals. In fact, after we concluded our interview and I told her I was “trying” to build my brand, she told me to take the word “try” out of my vocabulary. She had me raise my right hand in the air, hold it there, and bring it back down. Then she had me “try” to raise my right hand again, and asked me what I did. I told her that I simply raised my hand. She asked me if the action of doing something and trying to do something is synonymous. Then left me with this…

“I would invite you to consider this...It's not trying to do something,” she said. “When you say the word try, it's a paralyzing word. There's no action. Most people will do what you did, raise it hesitantly. They're not quite sure if that's the action or not. They're still not quite sure of the action. Right? But when you're certain of the action, do you just, in other words, when you get ready to get out of bed in the morning you say, let me try to get out of bed. Or do you just get out of bed? You just do it. Eliminate try. Either you're just going to do it or you're not going to do it. “Try” is paralyzing. It means nothing. It is nothing. It should not be a part of your actions or your vocabulary. Just do it or don't do it. Make the decision and commit.”

In our conversation, we discussed her first role in the entertainment industry, working with Omarion, networking, and more.

What was your first job role in the entertainment industry?

-Yeah, so for context, my adult career started as a registered nurse. I'm still an RN. I maintain that license and that has afforded me the opportunity to take the chances in the areas that I just had no guarantees in, namely entertainment. If I knew I had a constant source of income I could go to at any time, then that was my break glass in case of emergency. So I transitioned from being full-time to part-time to just keeping my license current. And so how I got introduced into entertainment was when I moved to Los Angeles in 1987. My daughter was two, turning three, and my best friend's uncle was a talent agent. His name was James Bridges. His son is Todd Bridges. His wife was Betty Bridges. Betty had an acting school. James had a talent agency, and of course Todd was working on Different Strokes. And his brother and sister also acted. So they came down and really carved out a space for them in LA. So when they were visiting my best friend in San Francisco, they met my daughter who was two, and Todd's dad was like, “Hey, you should bring her to LA, she'll work.”

I had never even considered that. And so I was like, well, as I thought about it, I was like, well, I'm a nurse here. I can be a nurse anywhere. What do we have to lose? So I just started planning that move and we relocated and within six months she had her first national commercial, and she started off as a kid in entertainment. So my first introduction is once I got acclimated, I basically started working with other parents who had kids and basically carved out a pathway for them to get into the industry. I've always innately been entrepreneurial in my spirit. I did. Then that parlayed into extras casting and things of that nature. And so then when I was in San Francisco, I was a part of a gospel ensemble, and the music director for the ensemble also wrote music. So she reached out to me after I had moved and she said, “Hey, I was just wondering if you can get a song to Tevin Campbell.” Now, I didn't know Tevin Campbell, but I always took the position of if it's possible, then I'll figure out how to do it. 

And I said, “Yeah, let me hear it.”  She said, “Well, I'm still working on it. I can send you the verse and a hook.”  So she started saying the verse and a hook to me over the phone. I said, “That's a hit. Forget Tevin Campbell, send it to me.”  Now, I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew it was a hit. So about two weeks later, she sent me a cassette updating it, and I had a friend that worked for KACE, I think it was at the time. It was like  KJLH and a DJ friend of mine that worked for the station. I said, “Hey, I want to play you something. I want you to just give me your honest opinion.” I played it for him, and he had a poker face. His arms were folded and he didn't even bobbe his head or nothing while I was playing it. After it was done, he looked up at me, said, “You got something there.”  I was like, shoot, that's all I needed. So I took what I knew, which was the nursing model, and I just applied it. And so the nursing model is this, you start with assessment, you create a plan, you implement the plan, and then you reevaluate the plan, right? So that's how I took that model. And also the idea of team nursing, right? So there's a multidisciplinary team nursing, so the patient is the center, the nurse is the liaison to all of these different areas. Then you got your social worker, your physical therapist, your occupational therapist, your doctor, etc. Everybody's working for the patient. I took that same model and  just decided that I was going to do something with this song. This song is a hit. I have the golden ticket. This is what anybody in the music business wants is a hit song.

I got the hit song. So at the time En Vogue was hot, I decided I was going to create a mini En Vogue. I just made that decision and I rented office space in Hollywood at Hollywood and Vine, the TAF building. And at that time, the way you put stuff out for auditions was through the breakdowns. I put a breakdown that I was auditioning for little girls between 10 and 12 for a new singing group. I ended up putting the group together, and the group consisted of the twins, Tia and Tamera Mowry, when they were 12 years old,  LaPetra and Latoya McMoore, and Monique Wilson. The group was called Voices, and I basically got people, I got them sold on the vision. So I got producers, choreographers, stylists, people just to rock with me. And so we ended up having a demo, a video, the whole nine. And so then there was this thing that used to be on, I think it was 92.3 The Beat at the time. It was called John London's House Party. And Shirley Strawberry, who's still on with Steve Harvey right now, was a part of that morning show. And they had this thing called 15 Minutes of Fame. And basically you send them your music, and if they like it, they'll give you 15 minutes on the air in the Morning show. So I did that and they played the song, they interviewed my girls, and at that time when I got home, my answering machine was full of messages. Everybody was interested in my group. And this is where ignorance is not bliss. I took the first call, the first meeting, the first offer, just out of pure excitement. Wow. I got these girls a record deal not knowing I signed them to a freaking rock label that didn't even have r&B  infrastructure. They had to get it together. They had to hire an r&b person, a SVP, a promoter, etc. We didn't know what we were doing. We were just doing it, didn't understand deal structure. But bottom line is, I was right. The song was a hit, and it charted and the group was successful. But at the same time, the twin's mom introduced me to the lady named Irene Drayer that she said she thought could help the girls. Well, the real fact of the matter is she had signed a contract with me and a year later, she signed a contract with Irene Drayer to shop the girls TV show. Again, me being ignorant, there was a way to parlay the worlds, but I saw it as a conflict of interest at the time and literally gave those girls the way to Suzanne de Passe in my ignorance. I had the contract approved by the court. They were supposed to buy me out. Those girls are now millionaires, right?

I didn't know to do that. So a lesson taught.  A lesson bought is a lesson taught. So fast forward to Beyonce's Renaissance tour last year in Los Angeles. Tia attended that show, and Beyonce started singing, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Boy Makes Me Say, yeah, yeah” to Tia. That was the song, because they used to rehearse to that song. Destiny's Child rehearsed to that song when they were Destiny's Child. My group was their inspiration because they were four little girls. And so that was a full circle moment.

That was my introduction into the business, and I just parlayed from there. I ended up working with Jhene Aiko’s older sisters, Miyoko and Jamila. They were in the second iteration of my group. Fast forward, I had a final iteration of the group. I just had so many problems with kids and moms. I ended up putting my daughter in the group, and one of the original members from the first group, and her sister and I formed a group called Before Dark. I got them a deal on RCA and they ended up touring with Destiny’s Child and Christina Aguilera. They have what I would call modest success, because again not knowing, right? There were so many changes at the labels, knew you got to have a champion in the building. The person that signed just left and somebody else came, had a different vision, then somebody else came, had a different vision. So it was just like a comedy of errors, but, all along, these were lessons. These were all lessons. So then ultimately, the group dismantled and my daughter got a solo deal with DJ Quik, and then she got pregnant, and her husband decided, or she decided she just wanted to be a mom. So he bought her out of her contract. He was an NBA player, and so that was the end of her music career. But she has gone on to do amazing things as a philanthropist. She's the founder and general manager of the National Basketball Wives Association. She works with Baron Davis's BIG group. She's into venture funds. So she's all over the place. You know how when you get the first iteration of anything, the next version is better? She’s the better version of me. She's me squared. So I'm exceptionally proud of her. 

You’re the CEO of Omarion worldwide. How did this come about? 

- At that time, when I had that group Before Dark, I hired this 14-year-old boy that a friend of mine told me, “I know you are looking for background dancers, you got to come see this little boy. He's incredible. He's so cute, he's so good.” I finally came and I saw him, and I mean, this kid was incredible. He had the smile that lit up a room, the energy of a firecracker, and he was dancing his ass off. And the label refused to hire him because he was inexperienced. But I just knew he was a star. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to hire him. That was Omarion I gave him his first job as a background dancer for my group. That parlayed an avenue for him to come to be in the presence of Chris and the boys, and got an opportunity for B2K that he took. And so he went on to do amazing things, and we reconnected at my daughter's wedding and we reconnected because at that time I had a financial planning practice. He said, “Hey, I want to talk to you about some investments.”  So he became a client two years later. He said, “Hey, I'm thinking about making some changes with my management, and I'm just wondering if you could hold things down for me for a little while?” And I'm like, “yeah, yeah.” I had no idea how successful this guy was, how big he was, how busy he was. Six months later, I'm like, “Hey, how's that search for a manager coming?” He was like, “I'm not looking.” I said, “What do you mean you're not looking?” He's like, “I don't trust nobody.” So top of 2017, I became his manager full time, and we rebuilt his brand infrastructure and created Omarion Worldwide, created verticals and film, television, literary music, touring, and just really grew his empire. Right now, he's headlining the Millennium Tour and the first weekend sold out. That was my introduction, the abbreviated version of my introduction into the business. And I think the most important thing I would say of how I received certain opportunities is I didn't wait for them. I created them. And if somebody asked me if I could do something, I always said “yes” because I knew I would figure it out.

What advice would you give to those looking to break into the industry?

-The best advice that I could give is just believe in yourself. Believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, there is nothing in no one that can deter your path. Because what I know is that if you're consistent and persistent at whatever it is, that is your passion, you will succeed. You absolutely will. So let me give you this analogy, which I love. If you loved your grandmother's pound cake and your grandmother gave you the recipe for the pound cake, and you went to the store and you got all of the ingredients and you followed the directions, you're going to succeed in making the poundcake. Now, whether or not it comes out at grandma's, we don't know that, but we do know you will make the cake because you followed the program. You absolutely will succeed.

Now, success is measured in the eye of the beholder, right? There was a time in my life I thought, “Ooh, if I could make 40 grand a year, I'm cool.” And then when I started making 40 grand a year, I was like, “Ooh, if I could make a hundred grand a year, I'm cool.”  And I made a hundred grand. It kept changing. You know what I'm saying? So success is subjective.

So it's whatever your measure of success is. I'm just saying it’s unequivocally about your belief in yourself. Far too often, especially in this demographic today, you look to be validated by others. You seek approval from others. The only thing you should seek from others is if you needed some guidance in the area of expertise that they had. And even with that, it's just a gathering. I call it fact finding or master counsel. I don't ever want to reinvent the wheel. If I see a wheel maker, I’d say, “Hey, how'd you make that wheel?” And then I'm going to make note of that. Maybe this guy will be, “Hey, how'd you make your wheel?” I'm going to make note of that. I'm going to take the elements of those folks that I'm getting master counsel from, and I'm going to use my own discernment, my own judgment, and then now I'm going to make the wheel, but I'm not going to start from scratch.

How important is networking and what are some ways those who want to pursue a career in entertainment can network. 

- Entertainment is one of the industries that networking is essential. It is a business based on relationships. It is not what you know it is who you know. So I've been working with Omarion since 2016, and even my reach in this business only goes so far. So my thing is, okay, if I have an artist of a certain caliber whose needs exceed my reach, then how do I solve that problem? Well, I find someone that has that reach, that scope who can get him in front of those audiences, meeting decision makers, certain level executives, the highest level. If I'm talking to a senior vice president, I need somebody that knows the general manager. So that's what I sought out to do and that's what I did. So last year I partnered with two people that have access that is well beyond my scope, and now that has opened up new doors of opportunity. So it's never been a talent driven industry. Unfortunately, back in the day, that was what got the attention of somebody with your talent. Now it is your following, it's your influence. You could have zero talent, right? It's very different now. So the most important thing is networking. And I live by this, be careful of the toes you step on today, because they may be connected to the a** you got to kiss tomorrow.

So you treat everybody with courtesy, dignity, and respect, because I've actually seen that happen. Some young people that I've mentored are executives now, you know what I mean? And I guess what, I have the relationship, you know what I mean? And my relationships were established through their mentorship program that I've been in for the past four years. So it's incredibly important and it's just as important as believing in yourself, and don’t stop. Find every opportunity to network and just always be the person that is easy to work with. So if you have a personality that remains neutral, easy to work with, it doesn't matter how much talent you have, people in this business rock with you because they like you. And it's not about making people like you. It's about making working with you seamless, easy, that you're impeccable with your word, that you deliver what you say you're going to deliver when you say you're going to deliver, don't take on more. Don’t take off more than you can chew and then give excuses. Nobody wants that. And it's just like you got to put yourself in the mind of a consumer. Don't be the person that over promises and under delivers, right? And so just imagine if you hired someone to do a service for you. They were late, then they changed the price once they got there, and they didn't even do a good job. Would you use them again? Would you refer to them again? No. But if they showed up early, did a great job, the price was great, you're going to brag about them. You're going to say, "Hey, I know somebody yada dah." It works the same way in this business. It works exactly the same way. And you want to have a reputation of being reliable, efficient. When you take meetings, right? I'm meeting with executives, but I am courteous to the receptionist. I'm courteous to the assistant and so on and so forth, because at some point these people will get promoted, you know what I mean?

You are going to get out what you put in. If you really want something meaningful as an outcome, you're going to have to really put in some meaningful work. And it's not going to happen overnight. You have more days ahead of you than behind you. And as long as you can say that, then you should be working your butt off until you get to the point, like me, I got more days behind me than in front of me. Well, now I'm going to start cruising. At some point. I have done heavy lifting, but believe you me, in my younger years, I was nonstop, working two, three jobs for whatever I had to do. And only because I believed in myself and I wasn't going to stop till I met my goals. Period.