How She Got There: Kristi McCormick, Founder of MATCHBOOK

Name: Kristi McCormick

Job Title & Description: Kristi is a mother of triplet daughters, a casting director and the founder of MATCHBOOK, a talent buying and consulting firm that matches people to brands.

College: Boston University, Political Science Major

HC NYU: What is the best part of your job?

KM: I love meeting people. We’re in an era now where nobody meets anybody. Everybody is talking on the screen. Everybody texts one another. Nobody picks up the phone anymore. My favorite part of my job will always be one on one face to face, whether it’s a client, a model, an actor, a dancer, doesn’t matter to me. I will give my time happily because I always get something out of it.

HC NYU: What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?

KM: I was an environmental planner before I worked in the entertainment business, so when I got out of school I really just looked for a job to cover my rent. I wasn’t really about my massive career goal, I was like I’m living on my own now I did not move home after college and how do I make sure I can pay my rent and not have to call my parents for money.

                  “I made enough of an impression for her to say to somebody else there ‘I have the perfect girl to come and work as your assistant’ and that was how I broke in.”

My first job in NY was working for Next Model Agency, I was an assistant to one of the owners of the agency. How I got that job, that was through a photographer, my aunt, who helped me get in because she made a call and said would you interview my niece, she’s looking to break into this business as an agent not as a talent…The owner, still owns the business now, and I thank her because she saved my papers. I didn’t get hired on the spot it took six month later, and then there was a position that was open and she remembered me because again you have to make an impression when you meet these people, quick impression. I made enough of an impression for her to say to somebody else there “I have the perfect girl to come and work as your assistant” and that was how I broke in.

HC NYU: What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?

KM: Be very curious. During my first month [working at Next Model Management], I met every single person in the office. There must have been fifty people. I knew everybody’s name, I knew what everybody’s job was because I asked a lot of questions.

                                              “I care about every person I meet, every job that I do.”

HC NYU: What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?

KM: I definitely have more than one mistake. You have to make mistakes in order to learn how to do things better. I think one mistake I made when I was younger and I first got into this business is I took it very personally. So if something didn’t happen my way I thought it was my fault and that was a mistake I made because it’s not. At the time I cared so much about what I was doing that when it wasn’t going my way or things weren’t happening the way they should I was so upset and so disappointed in myself where it’s not related at all. On a related note though, when you care about what you do, it shows in your job, so that mistake I made made me better at what I do because I truly care about what I do. I care about every person I meet, every job that I do.

HC NYU: What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?

KM: Go in for every job interview whether you think it’s for you or not. Every job interview I went on was not an interview, it was just a meet and greet that turned into a job.

HC NYU: What’s the one thing that’s stood out to you the most in a resume?

KM: Work experience, more than school. Yes, I’ll look because I graduated high honors so I do look and see did they do well, but most of the time I’ll look at where they’ve worked, and I don’t care if they worked at Starbucks. I want to see where they’ve worked and how much they have worked. I think sometimes I’ll get resumes that’ll be more like volunteering, which is again always good, but I kind of look at like what was the job. For example, even like I mentioned Starbucks, they had to deal with customers, they had to deal with money, they had to deal with timing, a deadline, and all of that, so that’s a good job to me. I hired somebody, they were a waitress every summer. I brought them in, I said you know what it’s like. You’re on your feet, crazy hours, complaining customers, it’s a good job for you.

HC NYU: What do you like to do in your free time?

KM: I’m a mother, so it’s different for me as opposed to people who don’t have children. When I didn’t have children, I traveled the world and I loved meeting people from around the world and learning as many languages as I could along the way. As a mother, I’m with my kids now, so they’re my priority. When I’m not dealing with my kids probably looking for new books to read or watching too much television or a have a separate business that represents costume designers with film and tv, so I try to watch as much television shows of their work as I can. I do love walking around and exercising. New York City is so great, you walk around it’s like entertainment. You can sit on a park bench and be there for hours and not even know you’re there for hours.

• how she got there