Joe McGill shares his journey and how he co-founded one of the elite business management firms in Los Angeles!

Cox: Joe McGill, I’m excited to speak with you today! You have such an amazing company and story with your work in business management for clients in industries such as entertainment. Tell me about yourself and how you go into it.

McGill: I was born to two teenage parents in Watts, California. It was definitely difficult growing up there, but I was blessed that my parents instilled in me the discipline of sports at a very young age. My father especially pushed for excellence all around which translated and resulted in good grades in the classroom because I didn’t want to let him down.

McGill (contin): Growing up in the inner city I saw a lot of gang activity. It was something I knew I didn’t want to do and sports was the perfect outlet for me. I was fortunate enough to be athletic, so I could play different sports and stay busy. Football and basketball were the main sports for me, but in high school it was football that led me to receive my scholarship. The scholarship was to the University of San Diego, but for some unknown reason I changed my mind and went to Cerritos College.

Cox: So, what at Cerritos College sparked your interest early in financial management?

McGill: I took my first ever accounting course there and I thought to myself “oh this is pretty easy,” and balancing things out made sense to me when it came to debits and credits.

Cox: You transferred later and that’s when life took a turn for you.

McGill: Yes, I’m always that person who wants to take things to the next level. I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to Weber State University. While I was playing there, I had a major knee injury. This sidelined me for a while and all I could do was focus on my school work. But the longer I stayed off the field my college career plan was in jeopardy. I had to make a life changing decision at twenty-two years old to forfeit my athletic career to solely focus on academics. I made this decision because the team doctor informed me, after much rehabilitation, my left knee looked fine, but they discovered that my right knee was in a condition that would later be long term complications for me on and off the field.

Cox: So how did you transition from that college football dream to knowing that business is where you were headed?

McGill: I knew that I needed to set myself up for success after college so I got into understanding how to network with different people. At that time, I didn’t know the organizations I joined and events I attended were actually showing me how to communicate effectively to other people.

Cox: Now school is over and you are back in the city of Los Angeles.

McGill: So, I return to LA and this was the time of the Enron scandal. The accounting world was going through it and funny enough all of my connections made were in Utah. I got a job in Brentwood at a midsize tax company doing auditing work. I actually thought that was the career path for me. It wasn’t until these two men came in who introduced themselves as managers. They explained what they did and what types of clients they represented. That’s when it clicked in my head that that’s what I was going to do.

Cox: How and when did Topline Business Management come into existence?

McGill: I started working my way through companies and learning from major corporations. In 2017 Brian Meyers (who now is my business partner) called me to inform me that he had clients at his current company who were willing to leave if he wanted to ever start his own company. I had to really think about it because I was in a good position. But there was this entrepreneurial spirit in me that wouldn’t let it go. I spoke with my wife about the opportunity and with her support and blessing I went for it.

Cox: What were your next steps to building Topline Business Management?

McGill: The good thing was Brian and I had worked with each other and known each other for seven plus years. We had the same thought process when it came to things so we hit the grounding running. People knew who both of us were individually, so our goal was to get in front of people to introduce them to Topline so they knew what it was about.

Cox: Your business was still in an early stage when the pandemic hit. Was it negatively impacted?

McGill: You know actually it wasn’t. It was the opposite because we actually grew with our clients. We were able to help them navigate through the pandemic. Our work ethic stood out which resonated with our clients because while a lot of industries were on pause, we were on calls championing for our clients to make sure they were in good positions.

Cox: Present day Topline represents a lot of companies and high-profile individuals in the entertainment industry. Why is it important that those in the entertainment field, especially Black people, have a management company like yours handling their business affairs?

McGill: I think representation is one of the most important things because right now we are in a time where people want to be represented by others who look like them. There are just certain things we get without even having them spoken. It’s just a different feeling and level of understanding they desire and receive from us.

McGill(contin): There are these shared experiences we understand professionally and personally. It helps that we can approach them in a professional voice, but also, we can switch to a more relaxed delivery. We can talk to them in different ways that make them more comfortable. This ultimately leads to them having a deeper level of trust.

Cox: Describe to me that first meeting with Joe after I’m a client?

McGill: I really spend the first two to three months getting to understand my clients’ spending habits. This gives me the opportunity to get a full view on what I need to do for them and the parameters that need to be set for their goal. So, I work my way back looking at all of their expenses over those couple of months to see what was and wasn’t necessary. I do this because my biggest question is why is my client spending like this? I need to understand them at the core.

Cox: Now before we end, what’s something Black entertainers should focus on when it comes to business management, especially with money.

McGill: That you need to be involved in everything. It doesn’t matter who you go with, just be involved and don’t just let them tell you anything. Ask questions if you don’t know something or are unsure. The best clients are those who are involved and ask questions like why what’s this for right?

McGill(contin): I stress to them that there are so many ups and downs in this industry so you have to build really great money saving and spending habits. This is why we build parameters for our clients to better understand their present and potential future financial situations based on information. The light bulb comes on once they see what it all takes to get them in a good position. They know that it’s about if they can’t afford it, but what are the consequences of that purchase.