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I’m Rocky Bello. I ran the agency in the middle.
Six years at Krex Talents, sitting between creators and the brands paying them. I wrote the pitch, agreed the fee and read the contract before anybody signed it.
0
Brands I booked creators with
1,000s
Pitch emails I wrote
Brands I’ve booked creators with None of them endorse me, and I would be wary of anyone who implied otherwise.
Fashion Nova•SKIMS•Revolve•ASOS•Boohoo•True Religion•Naked Wardrobe•AKIRA•SHEIN•House of CB•
Fashion Nova•SKIMS•Revolve•ASOS•Boohoo•True Religion•Naked Wardrobe•AKIRA•SHEIN•House of CB•
NYX•Huda Beauty•Juvia’s Place•Elemis•DJI•RØDE•JOBY•Kraken•Steve Madden•Kurt Geiger•
NYX•Huda Beauty•Juvia’s Place•Elemis•DJI•RØDE•JOBY•Kraken•Steve Madden•Kurt Geiger•
Fashion NovaSKIMSRevolveASOSBoohooTrue ReligionNaked WardrobeAKIRASHEINHouse of CBNYXHuda BeautyJuvia’s PlaceElemisDJIRØDEJOBYKrakenSteve MaddenKurt Geiger
Background
Six years in talent, not six weeks on TikTok.
I founded and ran Krex Talents, an influencer marketing agency working across fashion, beauty, lifestyle and tech.
Not the brand. Not the creator. The agency in the middle, on the creator’s side of every conversation about money.
Before the agency my background was marketing and data, which is why the first thing I want from a creator is their numbers rather than their feelings about their numbers.
Based
Wherever the work is. Fully remote
Previously
Founder & CEO, Krex Talents
Background
Marketing and data
What the six years actually were
Five things I did, over and over.
Every deal went through all five, and all five were mine.
01
Found the creator
Somebody who fitted the brief, not somebody on a roster I needed to monetise.
02
Wrote the pitch
Thousands of them, on behalf of the people I represented. So when I tell you what gets a reply, it’s because I sent those emails, not because I was the one deleting them.
03
Agreed the fee
I argued about money for a living, with the person holding the budget, on the creator’s side of the table.
04
Papered the contract
Every contract that came back, usage terms included. A perpetual-usage clause is still the thing I most often tell a creator to walk away from.
05
Ran the delivery, chased the invoice
And chasing the invoice when it didn’t arrive. The unglamorous half, and the half that ends with the creator paid.
Why I stopped, and started this
The same conversation, over and over.
A creator would send me their rate and it would be wrong. Not slightly wrong. Wrong by a factor of three, in either direction.
Some were quoting far under what the work was worth, because they’d read a blog post written by somebody who had never invoiced a brand in their life. Others were quoting $4,000 with an engagement rate that couldn’t support $600, and then wondering why nobody replied.
Neither group had done anything wrong. That’s the whole gap. Not talent, not consistency, not the algorithm. Information, held by people with no reason to share it.
So I made it the job. Sitting down with a creator, going through their real numbers, and telling them what to charge and how to ask for it.
The five deals that made the point
78K paid $700. 120K paid $2,000. 333K paid $2,000. 410K paid $1,000. 552K paid $2,000. All real, all from my own records. The 120K creator earned twice what the 410K creator did, for the same kind of work in the same year. Once you’ve seen that spread you can’t take a follower-count rate card seriously again.
The rest of the table is on the work page. Your own number, worked out from your real figures, is what the Rate & Pitch Audit does.
In June 2025 I put the argument into a book, From Follower To Leader, on Amazon in paperback. This site is the working version of it.
I still book campaigns for brands, which is the reason the advice is current. I know what brands are paying this quarter because I’m negotiating it this quarter. Brands pay me to find creators. Creators pay me to get ready to be found.
Working with me
What I’ll do, and what I won’t.
The second list is the more useful one. A yes means more when a no is available.
I will
- Start from your numbers. Your last ten Reels, your audience split, your last three fees. If they don’t support the rate you want, I’ll say so, and we’ll work on the numbers.
- Send you documents. A rate card, a media kit, a pitch email, a follow-up. Files you can send the same afternoon.
- Tell you when to walk away. From a bad rate, a perpetual-usage clause, a brand that won’t sign anything.
- Pitch you to brands in my network once your rate card and media kit are ready. That’s access. It isn’t a promise that anyone says yes.
- Be the person on the call. Not an account manager who joined last month.
I won’t
- Teach you to edit or build a funnel. Better people exist for both.
- Be your content coach. If you want better Reels, ask a creator. That’s a sample size of one, but it’s their sample and not mine. The exception is where I’m selling the work or writing the plan: representation, and the written plans. There I’ll tell you straight what I’d do differently.
- Say I’ll place you with a brand. I pitch you. The yes isn’t mine to promise, and anyone promising it is guessing.
- Take a percentage of your other work. No exclusivity, no contract holding you in. You should stay because it’s working.
- Put you into representation because you asked for it. Different arrangement, own terms. Say so on the call and I’ll be straight about it.
What I’m actually for
Handing over the commercial knowledge that usually stays on the other side of the table. What things are worth, how to ask for them, and what to sign.
Where you started shouldn’t decide what you get paid. Right now it does, and most of that is information nobody handed over.
On the name
CEO ROCK’S isn’t a team. It’s me, which is why mentorship has a limit rather than a growth target. Straight answers are the whole offer, and that includes “your rate is too high” and “I can’t help you.”
About the business
Things worth knowing before we talk.
What does CEO ROCK’S actually do?
Three things. I mentor creators on the commercial side of their business: what to charge, how to pitch, what to sign. I source creators for brands running campaigns. And I represent a small number of creators directly.
The first two are opposite ends of the same deal, which is why I can do both credibly. Most people arrive through one door and never touch the others.
Do you manage creators, or is this only mentorship?
Mostly mentorship, and the distinction matters. A mentorship client pays a flat monthly fee. I take no percentage of anything they earn, there is no exclusivity, and they can leave whenever they like.
I do also represent a small number of creators. That is a different arrangement with its own terms, and I would not put you into it just because you asked. Either way, when I pitch you to a brand it is because you fit the brief, not because you are on a roster I need to monetise.
What was Krex Talents?
An influencer marketing agency I founded and ran for six years, across fashion, beauty, lifestyle and tech. Sourcing creators for brand campaigns, negotiating the fees, handling the contracts and usage terms, and managing delivery through to payment. The brands on the strip above are campaigns that came out of it.
Were you a brand, or a creator?
Neither, and it matters for how you read everything I say. I was the agency between them, writing the pitch to the brand, arguing about the fee, and reading the contract on the creator’s behalf.
Where in the world do you work?
Remotely, and I move around, so a call gets booked around your timezone rather than mine. The largest share of the creators I work with are in the United States, and campaigns have run across the US, Europe and the UK.
Prices are in US dollars because that is the currency most brand deals get quoted in. It means your rate card and my invoice agree with each other.
Next
Where to go from here.
Both of these are free, and I won’t pitch you on either one.