032: Scaling Smart - How One Agency Built a Custom AI Playbook for Brand Deals

In this episode of The Contract Playbook, host Casey Handy-Smith talks to Mia Cunningham, co-founder and director of talent at Alora Society. Mia shares how they use custom AI playbooks to speed up contract negotiations and secure the best deals for their creators, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is helping scale their agency.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to The Contract Playbook
Casey introduces the episode and discusses the power of AI in scaling agencies and improving contract negotiations.

00:21 - Season Overview: AI in Contract Review
Casey explores AI's role in transforming contract review and management for creators and talent agencies.

01:03 - Interview with Mia Cunningham
Mia shares her background, journey into talent management, and how she co-founded Alora Society with her partner, Kaylea Nicole.

01:16 - Mia’s Background and Journey
Mia recounts her experience transitioning from working in social media and PR for a national brand to managing Kaylea’s brand and eventually founding Alora Society.

01:59 - Founding Alora Society
Mia explains how Alora Society focuses on long-term, relationship-driven influencer management rather than transactional partnerships.

02:11 - Alora Society's Operations and Philosophy
Mia describes their agency's mission to advocate for creators, ensuring they get the best deals while maintaining strong ethical standards.

10:28 - Challenges in Contract Management
Mia discusses early challenges in managing contracts manually, such as repetitive tasks and the time it took to review contracts.

11:54 - Integrating AI in Contract Management
Mia shares how they began integrating AI into their contract process to improve efficiency, especially as their agency scaled.

13:51 - Custom AI Playbooks for Agencies
Casey and Mia dive into how Alora Society created a custom AI playbook tailored to their agency’s needs, allowing them to streamline contract review.

37:06 - Training and Scaling with AI
Mia discusses how Alora Society is using the custom playbook to train new team members and scale the agency while maintaining consistency across contracts.

43:08 - Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Mia reflects on how AI has transformed their contract process, saving time, increasing efficiency, and allowing them to scale with confidence.

Key Takeaways:

• Scaling with AI: Alora Society has effectively integrated AI to scale their agency and improve contract efficiency. AI helps speed up redlining and ensures consistency.
• Custom AI Playbooks: The agency built a custom AI playbook, allowing them to automate repetitive tasks and apply consistent terms for their creators, including clauses for late payments and termination fees.
• Efficiency in Contract Review: By using AI, Mia can review contracts in a fraction of the time it used to take, reducing the cognitive load and ensuring accuracy.
• Ethical Agency Practices: Alora Society's philosophy centers on maintaining integrity and advocating for creators, ensuring fair negotiations with brands.
• Empowering Teams: AI enables the agency to scale by providing a system for training new team members in contract review and keeping everyone aligned on contract standards.

Resources:

• Alora Society
• Follow Mia on LinkedIn
• Connect with Alora Society on Instagram

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