Laura Hutfless is the CEO and Co-Founder of FlyteVu, an award-winning creative agency that connects brands with culture in bold and unexpected ways. Following a 15-year career as a talent agent at WME and CAA, she grew FlyteVu into a rapidly expanding, industry-recognized agency known for culture-shaping campaigns honored by the Emmys, GRAMMYs, Cannes Lions and more.

Under her leadership, FlyteVu has been recognized on Adweek’s Fastest-Growing Agencies list and Chief Marketer’s Top 200. She also led the creation of the FlyteVu Fund, which has donated more than $1.2 million to charitable causes through employee-directed giving.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a military family, so we moved every couple years. Because of that, I was introduced to a lot of different types of music based on the preferences of the community or where we were based. In high school, I was introduced to country in West Virginia. So when I went to college at NC State, I found the country label and the country radio station that was there and I interned. That’s how I started in music.

What did you do for the radio station?

Promotion. I tried hosting one early morning show, and that was a disaster [laughs], so I decided that was definitely not for me. I worked with the record labels and the artists coming through town hosting listening experiences for fans and worked a lot backstage. That’s where I got to know a lot of managers and production managers, and I started to network.

Did you always want to work in the music business?

No, I started in college in a graphic design and art design major, thinking I wanted to be an animator. Then after a few internships in that space, I decided that was not for me. I discovered that there were art directors at record labels, who made the designs for albums and tour posters, and that’s what I wanted to do.

Who were you designing for?

When I moved to Nashville, I picked up some freelance gigs from different orgs in town, including labels, but I was still young and I needed a full time job. My first job was as an assistant at WME on the desk of the first agent who was doing sponsorships. I got that job because I could make PowerPoint presentation, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to learn the business and design skills, and we know how much that part of the industry has taken off in the past 20 years. I just got in at the perfect time.

Did you move right from Nashville right out of college?

I may have moved before graduation [laughs]. I moved without a job. I worked at a little boutique called Flavor. All of the stylists and artists would come to shop there. Networking was the name of the game then, so I worked retail for the first six months of being here.

Where did you go after WME?

The company I was working for after WME was acquired by Ticketmaster, and during the acquisition, the department I was working in essentially disbanded. In that process, a lot of the clients I was working on were represented by CAA and they pursued me, but it took me a while to take that role because I was making great money on my own.

I really liked my job, but I was still in my early twenties and I realized I still had a lot to learn and CAA was an amazing training program to understand the music industry and beyond. It was music, TV, brand deals, marketing, gaming…and the networking there—there’s nothing else like it. I’m really grateful I ended up taking that role because it really did set me on the road that I’m on today.

How did you go from CAA to starting FlyteVu?

About seven years into CAA, quite a few of the brands who I was negotiating with on behalf of my talent roster started to bloom. This was right at the time that social media was coming onto the scene. Influencers and brands navigating the music space, they did not understand the rights. So they would make a deal with the label, but they didn’t understand that they didn’t get better appearances, or they would make a deal with the talent director that didn’t understand they had to clear music with the publisher.

So I was helping them as an agency navigate that. They wanted me to come work in house. I didn’t want to work for one, but it’s really interesting to craft deals and campaigns and partnerships from the onset. That sounded like the next challenge for me, so I decided to start FlyteVu because I could then take them all on.

What was the journey like to start FlyteVu?

Jeremy Holley and I put together a business plan and ultimately decided to bet on ourselves and fill a gap we were seeing in the industry.

We had the support of CAA and Warner and we had the business, and unlike a lot of entrepreneurs that are starting from nothing, I feel like we really shaped off their base. We were really blessed right out of the gate from day one to have enough business to start the company.

Who were some of your first clients?

American Red Cross, Cracker Barrel and a fitness brand called Snap Fitness.

What’s been your personal journey with the company throughout the past 10 years?

When we started, I was doing everything. Selling, creating, managing, activating, hiring, managing people—all of those. I mean it’s chaos, but entrepreneurs thrive in that environment. As the company’s grown, it moves. My role has shifted from doing the work in a founder-led mentality, taking big risks, to now CEO of the company, which is accomplishing work through others while maintaining the same quality and value system that the company was founded on. To me, that is much harder.

It’s also now steering the shift, but understanding that any pivot that I would have made as a founder to be fast has a significant effect on everyone else. You can’t make quick decisions like you used to as a founder. You have to have a lot more thoughtful strategic insight as you lead people. I still really love the creative. I think that’s just my skills and my passion, so I still sneak into the creative meetings. [laughs].

Looking back on the past 10 years to now, what are some major milestones that you guys have hit over the past 10 years?

Definitely producing our first Super Bowl campaign. Surviving COVID was a milestone for any agency, entertainment or live event—and we adapted very quickly for our clients. Surpassing 30 employees and having employees in LA, New York and Austin, opening hubs in other markets. I’d say the last milestone was selling for eight figures. I’m still the CEO and that has allowed us to grow very quickly, continue expanding, but also develop our own AI tools, which we will roll out next quarter. It is really exciting to elevate our company in tech and AI.

Tell me more about the Super Bowl ad.

It was for Bumble. It did not start off as an ad, it started because the founder of Bumble wanted to work with Serena Williams and I helped broker that multi-year deal. In the course of growing that partnership, we decided to launch it at the Super Bowl. The problem is we decided that eight weeks before the ad took. It was wild and chaotic because that process had 20% of the time that it normally would’ve taken.

But I love that because that’s the mentality of FlyteVu. We’ll figure it out. That’s the mentality of any successful entrepreneur. You also have to have a team that rallies behind you in those moments because everyone has to be on board,

What’s the best advice that you’ve ever gotten?

Don’t take no from someone who doesn’t have the authority to give you a no. Virginia Bunetta told me that. Another one is you need to build the life you want, not for the life you have. That one was helpful personally and professionally because a big part of my story is that I adopted my daughter on my own, and that was during that season making some tough decisions. You have to build your life around what you want to have and start investing in your career and your lifestyle and making space for what you want—not just where you are now.

How do you balance motherhood and your career?

I just have priorities. I planned my life. I intentionally planned the chapter of life to support the life that I wanted in those challenges. For example, I did not start a company when I had a young baby or child at home. I started the company first, which gave me time to build the company up, have financial freedom and have a team now that can run the company where I’m now in the senior role, not the founder role. Now that puts more flexibility in my schedule. I could adopt a little girl and be able to prioritize her more than I could have if I adopted her when I was 25.

Who have been some of your mentors?

Virgina Bunetta has been a friend and mentor. Lou Taylor, she taught me how to read my first PNL. Rob Light at CAA—I didn’t get to talk to him often because he was in LA, but every time he did speak to me, it was direct and it was honest, and it wasn’t always what I wanted to hear. To me, that’s what a mentor does. They make their time impactful. They’re willing to bring light to blind spots at the risk of however you might respond because they care about you and your future.

Lastly Jennifer Cooke. She manages Amy Grant. She was one of the first female managers in town. She was also the first person I knew in Nashville to approach motherhood on her own.

What’s a moment that your little kid self would be proud of?

I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, so Amy Grant was the only artist that I was allowed to listen to. At CAA, she was on my roster and I sold and negotiated some sponsorships for her. That was a little surreal, to work with the artists that you grew up listening to.

The second one was selling a company for eight figures. I would never have thought when I was little that I would build something and sell it. It’s not just about the money—the money is financial freedom for my family, but it’s not what I place my own worth or value in. Never did I think I could build something from scratch and then someone else would place that level of value on it.