Taryn is a regular commentator on the tech industry, entrepreneurialism and business and sits on the Boards of Tech Sydney and the Digital + Technology Collective (formerly AIMIA). She has achieved numerous award recognitions including being named a Tech category winner of B&T Women in Media Awards, Finalist in the B&T Hot 30 under 30, SmartCompany 30 under 30, Australian Institute of Management and Women’s Agenda Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.
Taryn’s involvement in the industry goes back to when she was fifteen and scouted as a model. She started her first business, WINK Models, at the age of 21 with $30,000 in savings, a response to the inefficiencies in working conditions for models and the lack of flexibility and quality service offered to clients. Ten years later the agency has flourished into a national business, named in Anthill’s Top 100 Cool companies, and represents over 650 talent with turnover in the millions.
Tell us about theright.fit.
theright.fit, which can be described as the ‘uber or airtasker’ of the creative talent and influencer industries, is a two-sided marketplace for social media influencers and creative talent (photographers, models, actors, stylists, makeup artists etc), making it easy, efficient and cost effective for brands to book campaigns.
It is an online matching service that allows you to find the right fit for your campaign, by matching your requirements with talent and all the professionals you would need to create a creative campaign. theright.fit makes it easy, efficient and cost effective for brands to book campaigns using the best and brightest talent.
Our clients include start-up businesses, PR agencies, marketing and creative agencies, and bigger businesses with regular campaigns. The most common uses are for advertisements such as television commercials, print campaigns, events and social media executions such as short videos or influencer campaigns.
We have over 6,500 talent on the platform and guarantee payment for all of them within 48 hours of a job.
What inspired you to start theright.fit?
I am founder and CEO of two businesses: WINK Models and theright.fit. WINK Models is my first business and is a model agency with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and a whole mix of ethnicities, ages, and sizes on our books. We were building an internal app for our WINK Model talent when I realised the advantages technology could bring to our industry by directly connecting talent with brands and agencies.
I decided to create an online platform that connected brands with creative professionals and talent. So if you are looking for more than models for your next campaign, for example, stylists, models, social media influencers, actors, makeup and hair artists, through to photographers and videographers, theright.fit is our online matching service that allows you to manage it all yourself.
Tell us about your career and background.
My involvement in the industry goes back to when I was fifteen and scouted as a model. I spent a number of years as a model and producer, and while there was so many things about the industry that I loved, I was frustrated by the redundant way agencies worked with models.
It was common practice for models to be paid late, not in full, or not at all, and jobs could be few and far between. I felt compelled to fix what I saw as a broken business model.
So at the age of 21, with the blissful naivety of youth, and $30,000 in savings, I started my first business: WINK Models. From day one it was company policy to pay all models within seven days, regardless of whether we got paid by the client. I am proud to say that to this day, we still pay within seven days. The company was completely bootstrapped; saw fast growth and we have just celebrated its tenth anniversary.
In growing WINK Models, I quickly realised how important technology was in allowing us to scale and successfully manage our talent in a way that was streamlined. We started by building the first industry app, which allowed us to integrate payroll, accounting, and live web updates. And that’s when the idea came for my current business, theright.fit.
theright.fit is a two-sided marketplace for creative talent and influencers that makes it easy, efficient and cost-effective for brands to work with talent and create impactful campaigns. theright.fit empowers a wide array of talent including models, influencers, actors, photographers, stylists, videographers, makeup artists to control their careers and build their brands online.
theright.fit gives talent the tools to build their brand profile online via the site, and connects them to jobs that they may have otherwise not found. For the clients, they really easily find a range of talent and professionals, and can book and pay for their entire campaign in the one place, knowing that they’re working with professional, fully screened talent.
Describe a typical work day for you.
I have handed over the day-to-day management of WINK Models, but am still CEO in addition to the daily running of theright.fit. So my days are pretty full and I’m quite disciplined in how I spend my time.
Up at 5.45am to hit the gym, then home to shower and jump on a stand up with our development team and NY team at 7am. Then I’m at my desk by 7.30am, eating breakfast while I catch up on emails from overnight. I then usually have a few meetings to run to, and the odd media interview. I catch up with my Managing Director at WINK over the phone, and touch base with our finance team and my mentor to chat through upcoming board meetings or strategic partnerships. I try to get out of the office around 7.30pm, and we usually have events to attend after work for our clients. I’m doing my best to ban using mobile phones in bed (which currently just involves my partner and I standing beside the bed until we finish catching up on emails!) and try to get to sleep by 10.30pm.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
You have as many hours in a day as everyone else. And that means that you need to be smart in how you use them. Even as an entrepreneur in the early stages of a business when you might feel like you have to do everything yourself, you really shouldn’t. Delegating or outsourcing major functions that require an expertise that you don’t have, will save you time and money in the long run. You also need to be protective of your mental capacity. Free your mind up from functions that are not your strengths, and streamline repetitive tasks and decisions, so you can dedicate to your brain to what only you can do.
Have laser focus. It’s incredibly easy to get distracted by new features, partnerships, new offerings, and more. Stay laser focused on your ‘why’ and ensure everything you do – your marketing, your spend, your time – is related to achieving that goal.
Be sure to also let people know about the wins as you never know who might be watching or listening.
And finally, get a mentor, and listen to feedback.
What’s next for you, and theright.fit?
WINK will continue to grow nationally and in the diversity of talent that it represents. Compared to even 4-5 years ago, brands are becoming so much more aware of what their consumers want, and that is to see relatable talent in marketing and advertising campaigns. WINK has such a wide array of talent from as young as 14 years to the eldest being 75.
theright.fit will be a global business with a strong presence in APAC, and will have transformed the way people book and manage their creative talent and produce campaigns.
