Full Sail音乐商业毕业生哈维·西蒙斯(Javi Simons)在奥斯汀做调酒师和服务员, 一次开车去机场的经历改变了他的职业生涯.

“One of my friends was a show promoter, and he asked me to pick up a drag queen from the airport,” he says. “I didn’t know who the drag queen was. At that point, I wasn’t even watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. I ended up picking up [successful Drag Race alum] Alyssa Edwards from the airport.”

After meeting Alyssa and witnessing that night’s drag show, 哈维知道他想进入娱乐圈.

“第二天我打电话给我的朋友，我说，‘嘿，我真的不知道你每周都是怎么做到的. 这太让人筋疲力尽了，太耗费精力了，你必须为此付出很多. So, count me in any time you need me,” he remembers.

Javi’s friend took him up on the offer, 哈维成了在奥斯汀地区表演的变装艺术家的非官方司机. Today, Javi books drag talent and music acts through his company, King of Queens Entertainment, and works as a Booking Manager for Drag Race performer Shangela’s company, Say What Entertainment.

作为一名司机的开始对Javi来说有很多好处:他通过帮助变装皇后在后台工作，观察他们的管理和场地之间的物流，对这个行业有了第一手的了解. 他还与亚历克西斯·马特奥(Alexis Mateo)等变装皇后建立了关系, Yara Sophia, and Cynthia Lee Fontaine.

在后台与女王们的谈话中，辛西娅请哈维帮她拍电影 Drag Race 《OG官网》——正是这盘磁带让她得以出演该剧的第八季. 当辛西娅拍完电影回来时，她请哈维做她的助手. 第二年，他和她一起去了美国和拉丁美洲的演出, where he got more firsthand industry experience.

“我开始看到她的经纪人发给她的合同. I used to look through the emails, I would see how they would negotiate, what rates and fees they would pay, what necessary expenses I had to go through,” Javi says.

Javi因为是表演者和娱乐场所的可靠来源而名声大噪, 他逐渐开始在德克萨斯州的场馆和经纪公司之间谈判合同. His commitment to drag artists also continued to pay off.

“One day, me and [Drag Race alum] Tatianna had a conversation. 塔天娜死死地盯着我的眼睛，她说，‘你在浪费生命. I'm going to talk to [The Benedetti Group] agency tomorrow. 你得到公司来赚点真金白银.’我说，‘不，我根本不知道什么是预订.’她说，‘我认为没有人知道在这个行业该怎么做. I'm going to do it.’”

Tatianna was true to her word, 几天后，哈维接到了贝内代蒂集团负责人的电话. 他开始与经纪公司合作，并在德克萨斯州预订演出, the western half of the United States, and Latin America. 他还利用他正在发展的关系建立了自己的附属机构, King of Queens Entertainment. 随着哈维开始与“四大”人才经纪公司的人建立联系, like Creative 艺术ists Agency and United Talent Agency, he realized that many of those agents had college degrees. 当现场表演行业在疫情期间关闭时, 哈维决定在他的职业生涯中迈出下一步，获得一个在线学位 Full Sail’s 音乐 Business program.

“这些(其他特工)都上过大学，很多人都有硕士学位. Even though I was right there with them professionally, it would just look a lot better if I had gone to college,” he says. “在《OG官网》之前，我对(预订和人才购买)的了解才刚刚起步. When I came out of Full Sail, 我能够理解为什么我在做我正在做的事情, and how to enhance those things. 品牌、营销、粉丝留存、物流和提前预订是关键. I owe that to Full Sail, a hundred percent.”

Getting a degree, staying focused on relationships, 和他的艺术家们一起旅行对Javi的事业发展至关重要——他最近为丹佛骄傲乐队预定了头条表演, WeHo Pride, and Las Vegas Pride. He also booked pop band Aqua’s first US tour.

“我已经能够在全国各地的许多节日中获得排他性, just because I've been able to show up with my artists. It does go a long way... The next time you book an artist [at that venue], the occurrence of having errors is minimal, because now they understand how you work, and you understand how they work,” Javi says. “At the end of the day, 我正在努力把(表演者)塑造成一个可靠的艺术家，把自己塑造成他们可以依靠的人，满足他们的任何预订需求. Relationships and networking are everything in this business.”

Thanks to those professional ideals, Javi has plenty to do. In addition to working with talent through King of Queens, 他最近成为了尚格拉经营的精品经纪公司Say What Entertainment的预订经理, a Drag Race 也是HBO艾美奖和皮博迪奖真人秀系列的明星之一 We’re Here.

贾维的人生道路充满了熬夜、长途飞行和深入交谈. 他说，每天投入工作是在这个行业取得成功的关键.

“如果你想进入娱乐圈，想着自己会成为百万富翁，那么一切都会自然而然地发生, that is the wrong approach. This is a job, just like any other job. Not everybody in the business is a millionaire. 但如果你充满激情，尊重你的工作，你就会在这个行业做得很好.”