College students and recent graduates often think that their first job will determine their career path for the rest of their lives. That mindset can cause stress and paralysis because they don’t want to make a mistake…as if there is only one perfect step to the rest of their lives.
But, as Darnell Strom's career journey proves, a starting point is just that, a starting point. Where you begin is not where you end, and opportunities can come in the most unexpected ways.
Strom is a Partner and the Head of the Culture and Leadership Division at United Talent Agency (UTA), a leading global talent, sports, entertainment, and advisory company representing artists, athletes, storytellers, and brands whose voices and vision define culture and shape our world. But he got his start in politics. So, how did he end up in the entertainment business?
“I was a political nerd. I loved politics. I thought it was really interesting,” Strom reminisced in a recent Leadership Talk with FUTURE NOW Founder & CEO, Peggy Kim. “I remember watching my first Democratic convention when I was seven years old. My parents were active, voted, and knowledgeable of all that was going on and made sure we were as well.”
Strom was plugged into politics ever since, but he also kept up with pop culture. “I loved TV, I loved film, I loved music, I loved sports…growing up in the 90’s…the Michael Jordan era…I was fascinated by all of those things.” But, he never imagined a career in media and entertainment.
When it came time for college, Strom chose to study Political Science and Government at Florida A&M University. He was active in student government and college democratic politics.
He was later accepted to Berkeley Law School, but deferred his studies to do a fellowship in President Clinton's office in NYC, researching and fact-checking for Clinton’s autobiography and supporting the fundraising team for his presidential library.
One thing led to another, and he deferred law school again to work for the Democratic National Convention as an assistant to the COO.
"That was the year that State Senator Barack Obama gave the speech that kind of put him on the map, and I was very fortunate working for the chair of the Convention committee that we had seats on the side of the stage, and the spouses and families of whoever was speaking on stage would sit next to us. And so, you know, Michelle Obama and Sasha, Malia, who were very small then, were sitting right next to us, watching their dad deliver this speech that would literally change their lives."
Strom’s hard work eventually led him to become the director of the DNC chair’s office.
After the DNC, Strom—only 23 at the time—became Director of Operations in Florida for John Kerry’s presidential campaign, working 17-hour days. Storm joked that he was a “double loser” since Kerry would lose both Florida and his presidential bid.
But, Strom's star was on the rise, and he got a call from the Clinton office to be his Deputy Director of Scheduling.
For the next three years, Strom traveled the world with Clinton, interacting with world leaders and political figures and the titans of industry, people in media and entertainment, sports, and business.
"And, it was where I really kind of saw how all these worlds collide and came together. And so, even to this day, when I work with a range of different types of clients, it does kind of remind me of what those rooms would look like back in my days of traveling with President Clinton.”
Strom learned to navigate high-powered rooms with skill and ease. "I would never externally show that I was kind of overwhelmed with the experience, and I would always try my best to feel like or seem like I was comfortable in any situation that I was in, even though I was probably secretly having a panic attack inside."
The values instilled in him by his family, particularly their emphasis on the importance of “seeing everyone in every room” became a cornerstone of Strom’s approach to leadership and connection, shaping his trajectory as he moved from politics to the worlds of philanthropy and entertainment.
“I was always really good at connecting with people and always wanted to. I am always fascinated by people’s backgrounds, people’s stories. I also had a very deep self-awareness of who I was, how I came off, what I was good at, what I wasn’t good at… It was always this kind of really delicate balancing act.”
During his time with the Clinton Foundation, Strom met Hollywood powerhouses like Jeffrey Katzenberg, Casey Wasserman, and Richard Lovett, the then-President of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which would eventually lead to a career pivot from politics to entertainment.
“I would shake people down for money to donate to the [Clinton] Foundation, and that led to conversations like, ‘Maybe you should be an agent. Maybe there's something you should be doing in this business. because I think they were also kind of surprised by my knowledge of the business just because I would read about it and found it interesting.”
CAA offered Strom a job…not in the mailroom, but on the foundation side, where he was a kind of social impact agent for clients like Dwayne Wade, Katy Perry, Will Smith, and others, helping them figure out what they wanted to do in the social impact space.
Strom also joined the White House Entertainment Council. “So anytime there were clients that wanted to do something with the White House or the White House was trying to tap into the entertainment community to help push an initiative or something. I would help be the go-between on this committee to connect those dots. So I was able to use my experience to, you know, immediately kind of impact clients and high-profile clients of the agency.”
As he worked to connect top talent with meaningful projects, Strom was voracious in learning every aspect of the business.
“So if you know Dwayne Wade, I wanted to know how his basketball contracts work, how his shoe deals worked, and how Katy Perry's touring worked, and you know every element. The thing that I was most surprised about when I got inside of an agency was just how much they do, and how many areas they have.”
He began to notice a growing trend—the convergence of culture, fashion, sports, media, music, and film were increasingly overlapping, and he realized that no one was connecting the dots effectively.
Strom saw this as his opportunity and niche. “It’s the smart dot-connecting that will lead to the coolest projects.” He became fascinated by collaboration possibilities across industries, particularly with the rising influence of non-traditional voices in pop culture.
Knowing how lucrative President Clinton’s books and speaker fees were, Strom helped spearhead CAA’s speaker division, signing clients such as Malala Yousafzai, then-VP Joe Biden, and Gayle King.
After nine years with CAA, Strom moved to United Talent Agency (UTA).
“What I would love to do,” Strom remembered saying to UTA, “is represent some of the most interesting people in culture and then…build out opportunities for them to really grow their platforms…and make money…and I think that expands not only into individuals, [but] expands to brands and beyond.”
“I became a partner about for years ago, and touch everything from our culture and commerce division, but also work in our luxury and fashion division that we continue to grow, and then I also oversee our UTA speakers division, which reports up to me, so I have my hands in a lot of things,” he explained.
Strom joined UTA in 2019. The next year the pandemic hit, George Floyd was murdered, and protests shook the nation. Then, the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes followed in 2023. It’s been a rocky time in the media and entertainment industry. However, Strom retains a positive outlook.
“Yes, you need to be thoughtful about what you say to people and how you come off,” he said, “and that makes the workplace a better place for everyone…. It’s a very challenging time in the business, specifically in the film and TV business. But I’m super optimistic about times like this.”
“There’s all these other opportunities that are popping up that are interesting. I think there’s really cool opportunities at the convergence of sports and fashion. I think there’s really cool things in art. I think there's all these other businesses that we’ve all had access to before. But now we're really leaning into like, how do we drive these and make them bigger businesses?”
So what does the future hold for Strom?
“I’ve definitely planned it out,” he admitted, “but I think a lot of the moves that have happened in my career weren’t necessarily planned…. You want to have an idea of where you’re building towards. You want to know what your general interests are, but you also want to be open to opportunity happening.”
For students who may be stressed about their own opportunities and plans for the future, Strom had some words of advice. “One of the connections that I see that’s similar between the entertainment business and in politics is that they’re both relationship businesses, right? It’s about the relationships that you build,” Strom told attendees.
“I don’t love the word ‘networking,’ because ‘networking’ sounds very transactional.” Instead, he encouraged listeners to attend any young professional entertainment events in their area of interest—including ones like this FUTURE NOW talk—and go there to make friends. Use those friends to “start filming your own stuff, you can start distributing, you can start building your own audience and fan base” with YouTube and TikTok. “You don’t need to wait for Hollywood!”
He did warn attendees that the “word on the street” is that Gen Z doesn’t “want to work as hard,” and encouraged everyone to fight that stereotype. “You’re not entitled to anything in life. You have to work towards it, and you have to earn it, and that is something that I think is extremely important.”
“What it comes down to is how do you differentiate yourself from everyone else? How do you work harder than everyone else? How do you make yourself useful when you do have those opportunities, when you are in spaces that could be beneficial to you in the future?”
Strom then summed up his advice in three easy-to-remember words: “Make yourself undeniable.”
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