Urban Talent Management review: Unprofessional practices and false promises

I interviewed at Urban Talent Management on October 13, 2023, expecting a discussion with a director. I filled out their form and put down my skills. I was taken through the process with the Salt Lake Director. This turned out to be a contract signing, which I was not expecting. This included an agency contract with Urban Talent Management and a contract with their "sister company" Style Inc. The Urban Talent Management contract seemed legitimate (i.e. be the sole agency to book me as a model, commission payments, etc.). The Style Inc. contract was for training as a model. None of my skills or background were ever screened or verified. I was simply handed a contract. I was required to pay a $2,000 fee to Style Inc. for training. I was presented with a payment plan option, but with the understanding that if I put in the work and submitted to castings, I could use those bookings to pay off the Style Inc. fee. This swayed me to sign, as I was led to believe that I would be able to get work with the agency to cover the cost of the training ($2,000). I was not promised these bookings, but was most definitely led to believe that they would come, and they haven't. We are now approaching the first payment and I have yet to see how a booking is probable. (See later comments for more on this.)

The initial meeting was recorded without prior consent. I was alerted about halfway through that the meeting was being recorded. We were already entering the signing portion of our short meeting, and the recording had not been made mention of at all. I have since requested access to the recording to verify claims of the business after multiple occasions of gaslighting and denying promises, leading to suspicions of misrepresentation.

I signed on just as they were closing Friday evening on the 13th. I knew right after leaving that I had made a mistake. They had taken advantage of me and I needed to terminate the contract before it was in full force. The contract said there were no terminations, but I contacted them immediately upon opening the following Monday asking to cancel. They did not respond until the end of the day, and again told me "put in the work to apply for jobs, and you'll be able to use those funds to pay the $2,000 to Style, Inc." This was repeatedly told to me during the initial meeting and during this call. They said I could not cancel my contract, but getting booked would cover the cost. (More information on booking is presented later.)

I experienced unprofessional behavior during orientation conducted by President Tina Bullen, including yelling and threats. The orientation presentation contained errors (e.g., stretched images, misaligned slides) that should have been corrected. The orientation booklet lacked clear instructions, causing confusion regarding work types and communication channels.

Regarding the (near-)promise of bookings: Only 21 casting emails have been sent to 100 new face talents in 26 days, making it impossible for everyone to secure bookings. There is a lack of feedback on submissions, making it unclear if submissions were done correctly, possibly hindering job opportunities.

I have had overall dissatisfaction with Urban Talent Management and Style Inc., emphasizing financial issues, unprofessional conduct, and misleading information and promises. I have found them blacklisted on local modeling agency group lists for their practices. I tried to resolve the issues with the business before posting a review. Despite expressing concerns, I was denied the termination of my contract. This business needs to reform its business practices right away, and I warn against new talent from joining the agency.

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