Backstage Blog: Bankrol Hayden

๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป

I thought Iโ€™d give you a local backstage story this week, but l๐™ค๐™˜๐™–๐™ก doesnโ€™t necessarily mean small. Iโ€™ve worked on many cross-marketing events where celebrities and fashion come together to help promote each other. Sometimes thereโ€™s big budgets involved and countless logistics with small turnouts, and sometimes youโ€™re not sure what you just got yourself into.ย 

I was at my hairdresserโ€™s one day when I overheard them talking about a local rapper that all the young kids were into, Bankrol Hayden.ย  His name was adorable and his young life was already a storyline for an after school special, not to mention he had an army of loyal followers. I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to work with a big company like Macyโ€™s. ย 

It turned out Hayden, himself, was also adorable and had his heart in the right place when it came to giving back to his community. We set up a meet-and-greet that correlated with National Day of Giving. Each attendee could bring a canned good to donate to a local shelter when meeting Hayden. As the day grew closer I tried to warn Macyโ€™s that this kid may be a big deal since his team, in fear of an uncontrollable crowd, didnโ€™t want to announce the event until the day before.ย 

I remember being backstage with him working on his handshake.ย  I am a big believer in a firm handshake, it says a lot about someone. Haydenโ€™s path to stardom was obvious and a serious handshake could send a message to industry vultures that he was young but not a pushover.ย  A few minutes later we were pushing our way through hundreds of screaming tweens, teens and there equally excited parents.ย  I spotted quite a few Hayden look-a-likes with similar fashion and curly crazy hair all singing his verses. ย 

Hayden posed and signed autographs for hours with a genuine humbled attitude. The crowd was polite however, mall security stepped in to help control the lines and eventually getting Hayden safely to his car.ย  Backstage he was a funny wide-eyed kid, onstage you knew Modesto was launching a global superstar. ย 

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