Mary Bekhait

 The Business of Talent Has Changed. She’s Leading the Charge.

By Bonnie Langedijk

Mary Bekhait didn’t set out to lead one of the world’s most influential talent agencies, but her career has unfolded with a clarity of purpose that suggests she always knew where she was headed. Beginning as an assistant at a small boutique agency, she eventually joined YMU in 2012, where she swiftly rose through the ranks. By 2021, she was appointed Group CEO, overseeing the transformation of YMU from a UK-centric, TV-focused agency into a global, social-first powerhouse that represents elite talent across a wide range of industries.

During her tenure, the entertainment landscape has undergone a seismic shift, with the traditional agent model evolving into a demand for specialized teams that can effectively navigate the complex, multi-platform media environment. Under Mary’s leadership, YMU has not only embraced these changes but has also led the way, investing in a more diverse and dynamic leadership team while redefining how talent is supported in an era dominated by social media and global brand partnerships.

Her leadership is a reflection of the broader shifts within the industry itself—constantly evolving, questioning, and innovating. At YMU, Bekhait has fostered an environment that prioritizes authenticity, resilience, and forward-thinking strategies, ensuring that both the agency and its talent remain at the forefront of an ever-changing cultural landscape. It is this rare combination of vision, pragmatism, and deep industry insight, alongside a commitment to investing into women and building a diverse leadership team, that distinguishes Bekhait as one of the entertainment industry’s most influential figures.

We met the CEO for a power lunch at the NoMad hotel in London and discussed how culture is shaped today, the role of media and the future of the talent industry.

Bonnie: Talent management has evolved significantly. What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen in the world of entertainment and talent management? 

Mary: The needs of elite talent have changed over the years. They need a suite of advisors now. The days of the one man band saying, I can do the best book deal for you, I can do the best TV deal for you, I can be your brilliant social media advisor, it's just over. The media ecosystem has become much more complex. They need a team of people to help them navigate that effectively. Elite talent needs sector experts set around them, coalescing around them all feeding into one overarching strategy. That's how we work at YMU. We ask a talent, what is your North Star? What is it you actually want to achieve and do in this world? We help them with the positioning and then help them tell the narrative across various media or platforms. That strategy is then fed in with all of these different experts, whether it's literary, live, commercial, social, or tv. Social platforms and streaming has also changed the game in the most immeasurable seismic way.

How?

Mary: There used to be a very small number of gatekeepers at a broadcaster or at a record label who would be determining taste on behalf of audiences. That's changed completely now with the advances in social media. Anybody can pick up a camera, speak their truth through that camera and connect with the audience directly. That’s incredibly game changing. The other thing that's interesting is where talent comes from. Historically, it would've been three or four people making that decision. Now audiences are making that decision. They are deciding who they like, who they're going to support, who they're going to build community with, who's calls to action they're going to follow.

“The needs of ELITE talent have changed over the years. They need a suite of advisors now. The days of the one man band saying, I can do the best book deal for you, I can do the best TV deal for you, I can be your brilliant social media advisor, it's just over. The media ecosystem has become much more complex.”

The media used to be another gatekeeper of who gets to be part of culture. While that isn't their role anymore, I do think there's still a value for talent and media to coexist and collaborate. What role do you think media plays in culture today and how do you decide what media outlet is the right fit for a specific talent?

Mary: I think the media should follow culture and not try to set culture. Culture is such a fascinating space because what is culture? Who determines culture? Increasingly, I think culture is at the intersection of all of these different areas, whether that's sport, fashion, music, art, all of those things coming together. The people that are able to operate at the intersection of those spaces and help audiences converge and understand what that audience conversion means, are the elite talents that will springboard in and succeed. Pharrell's a great example of that. He's a hotelier, he’s at Louis Vuitton, he's doing a million things. The breadth is extraordinary.

Agreed. Do you think how culture is shaped has changed?

Mary: Culture is what’s happening in the streets, and that filters up in the way that it always has, but it’s much more advanced, democratic and global today. Social [media] is global. Streaming is global. We're no longer geo locked around these specific broadcasters. Your worldview can be expanded really quickly. Whether that's afrobeats, whether that's Latin American music dominating charts, which 15, 20 years ago, there's just no way that could’ve happened.

The cadence of how things became part of culture was different. What's interesting now is that I can be at a fashion show and there can be a celebrity with 15 million followers that I have never heard of. Before, because culture was shaped by traditional media, there were certain talents who defined a certain era. I remember that for me, for example, in music, it was the era of Britney, Shakira, Destiny's Child.

Mary: I love that era.

Me too. Today, there are all these little pockets of culture, which also makes it much harder to actually cut through the noise. How do you approach building the strategy around a talent?

Mary: It’s about us being really honest with ourselves when we first meet a potential client. We have to ask ourselves, do we actually believe in this person? Do we think they have longevity? They've got to have the resilience to go on a journey that’s necessary if you want to sustain over a period of time. Once we really believe that, then it's strategizing how we help them tell this story in an exceptional, but crucially, authentic way. There's a proliferation of platforms and media outlets that can help you do that. I think it's critical to have an overarching strategy, and then it's easier to know what to say yes and what to say no to. TV is still a huge shop window. With the right show it can be transformational for individuals.

I didn’t expect TV to still hold that power

Mary: It’s still an incredibly important part of it, but equally as important is their social presence. What are they saying? How are they interacting with fans? How are they building community? And they have to find the time to actually do it themselves. It's not enough to get your social media manager to do it. Audiences are smart, they can see through it. Then there are the slower, longer form opportunities where you can tell a story. A lot of our clients write books and that gives them an opportunity to share a slower, more detailed version of themselves with an audience. It’s about putting that all together into a giant jigsaw piece and recognizing what the right media outlets are, what the right times are and the cadence of the messaging. Once you have a team around you advising you to do that, then you can do an effective rollout.

There's also not one blueprint that works anymore. It seems like creating success used to be more formulaic. Over the years we've seen many celebrities partner with brands, which has been extremely lucrative for many. What do you think makes a partnership a successful one, and how do you balance protecting the authenticity of the talent while managing the expectations of the brands?

Mary: It's complex. Often the brand has a very specific agenda of what they're trying to achieve. The talent has their own brand, their own vision, their own values. How do you actually converge those two things in a way that feels comfortable and authentic? It starts with alignment on the audience, on values. It has to be a two way street. Then I think one of the really crucial parts of it is the creative. If you can find a way where the creative feels authentic and actually tells a story that connects with their audience and yours, then I think it works. For talent to ever succeed, every decision needs to go through the filter of how does this entertain or educate my audience in some way? Short-term it might look interesting to take the check but then you've ruined your chances with the rest of the market. More crucially, you've lost trust with your audience.

Exactly. Trust is a hard thing to build. You're leading one of the most important talent agencies globally. How would you describe the culture in the entertainment industry?

Mary: It's incredibly dynamic. You meet fabulous people. You have an opportunity to have impact and work with exceptional human beings. I've been very fortunate to meet some incredible mentors along the way. But it's also very fast paced and incredibly competitive. I would say the vast majority of any scaled talent agency, and indeed, most media businesses are still run by men. But that's the case in many parts of culture, it's nuts. 

There’s an interesting shift where women are earning more, there are more women graduating, more women in leadership positions. I really believe this is the time to create spaces where we actually help each other up and where we help each other get business. The narrative of women bringing each other down, is something that I’ve rarely encountered.

Mary: I think it’s because the opportunities are greater. Women have historically been pitted against each other with such a finite amount of opportunity and resource. Every woman should be lifting each other up. We have to think about how we can create spaces of opportunity for everybody, men included, but with a female lens as well. I think mentors are really key. Finding a female mentor who's been there and done that, who has your back and gives you great advice is really critical. Seeing it is believing it. Women need to stand in their power. You are in that building for a reason. You need to find your voice and cultivate courage to sometimes push yourself out of your comfort zone and take the leap, because trust me, the guys, they don't worry about it. 

I couldn’t agree more. You focus on many different industries. Is there a particular segment you're really excited about now? For example, for me, looking from the outside in, there's real momentum around female athletes. The WNBA, women's football is having a real moment.

Mary: I was in the States recently and you could see the passion and the advocacy and the communities building around female sports. I think that is a massive opportunity. Football is where we're looking at the moment. Secondly, I think creators—and I don't mean influencers—I mean creatives that can come up with their own IP and can connect with audiences at scale and with speed is incredibly important and exciting. The creator economy is going to be worth 500 billion in a few years. For me, it’s about how we find these incredible people that have this natural talent to be able to connect with audiences at scale, through a screen, or through listening to them or watching them.

I think consumers today gravitate towards conversations and media that mirror real life. Where you can have a very important intelligent conversation, but mixed in with funny questions that humanize the subjects. It's that duality that traditional media really misses.

Mary: People are complex. They're not one dimensional. I also think talent is dictating where so many different sectors go. If you think about film, TV, you have a great script, a great director, but so much of it is contingent on having amazing onscreen talent. Same with music, same with athletes. In many instances, some of these athletes are transcending the sports they're in. If you look at LeBron, if you look at Ronaldo, if you look at Messi, some of these people are bigger than the sport. Talent at the elite level is unstoppable. And the proximity to that from our perspective, is incredibly important and powerful.

Agreed. It's kind of what we've been talking about already, but it's just who shapes culture, how it is shaped. There are more different layers of culture now, where we used to have one stream of culture.

Mary: Culture is hard to define and it moves really quickly. You have to keep an open mind as to what, where, who's in charge of it, and where these movements and this originality is actually coming from. When you are in these high-end curatorial positions, you end up being trapped because you have to tick boxes that fit. It's so much about snobbishness. Taste is such an interesting concept.

Who even decides what's in good taste, what's bad taste? For me, it’s about conviction. I don't have to like it, but at least the brand or person should have a point of view. That's what’s difficult about our culture today. Everyone's trying to fit in. It’s become too easy to copy and paste—from what we wear to what our spaces look like. It's so easy to look “good” now, that no one takes a risk. 

Mary: Every generation needs a collective who come together or they do their own thing where they say, fuck this, fuck the rules. Those individuals are often the ones that change something. Whether you're looking at queer society with an Oscar Wild or a Quentin Crisp or Punk or Hip Hop...those people who actually had the bravery to be themselves. True courage is when you are willing to actually risk it all and still do it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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