Atlanta native Antwanette McLaughlin is the CEO of The Spice Group, a media production that specializes in music videos, commercials and film.
“Spice Group is pretty much adding spice, we take your seed [and] we make it blossom … We create, develop and produce content for commercial music videos, short-form content as well as experiential, immersive activations,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin knew she was creative before it was ever a job title, getting her start in the industry years ago in artist development. She would choreograph for artists and because of her familiarity with marketing and branding, could bring in stylists and videographers to put on a big Production. As she continued to learn and grow as a producer, more people reached out to her with more projects, which inspired her to create The Spice Group.
“[My] evolution is dancing to the photo shoots to the video productions,” McLaughlin said. “But then you’re getting bigger clients, you’re getting bigger asks, the ads from the clients are higher and bigger and grander and more money is at stake. So once you get in those conversations, you have to level up.”
The Spice Group has worked on projects such as AT&T’s 404 Campaign where the production company produced the content for 15 different influencers in Atlanta, including 21 Savage and former mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms.
They also helped redesign the Krystal’s on 14th St and The Trap Museum.
“I did all the renders and created a layout, the blueprint for The Trap Museum, then we brought in several different departments to come in and bring it to life, but from the ideation of it, and kind of just building it out with T.I. and his team, that was, that was me, Spice group,” McLaughlin said. “And then my company produced and developed the entire space.”
Despite some sleepless nights, McLaughlin is proud of herself and her team for how far they have come.
“I always believed that if I made it this far, it wasn’t invented,” McLaughlin said. “You have to trust the universe and trust the process.”
One of McLaughlin’s challenges is also one of her successes. Her business is continually expanded, which has been great, until the company began to grow outside of her realm of knowledge. When presented with problems she herself didn’t have the answers too, McLaughlin hired people who did. She now manages approximately 35 to 50 people per project.
In the future, McLaughlin would love for The Spice Group to continue to grow so that she can take on several large budget projects at once. She also wants to be able to put out her content as well.
“As much as I take these major brands like Puma and AT&T and Krystal and whoever that comes my way, I take what they want, I take what they don’t even know what they want, and I create such compelling content for their brands, but I also have compelling content,” McLaughlin said. “Because I’m so busy doing a job on demand that I neglect what’s in my treasure boxamazing, cool content, pushing the culture forward [and] sharing different stories.”