We often hear stories of artists slipping down the slippery slopes of addictions or other hardship after their brush with fame, but I thought it was time to share a successful story with you 'cos not everyone has trouble finding their way once fame decreased.
In the 90s UK girl group Eternal were one of the most successful pop-r&b groups around. Together with artists like All Saints, MN8, Mark Morrison, Beverley Knight, Ultimate Kaos, Damage and Another Level, they represented a globally successful run of UK soul music. It looked like the UK was the place to be for a great combination of mainstream pop with r&b influences.
Kéllé Bryan was one of the first members to join the group. Eternal had hits with songs like "Stay", "Power of a Woman", "I Wanna Be The Only One" (with BeBe Winans) and "Oh Baby I". After Louise's departure, Kéllé was the second one to leave the group after she was asked to leave via fax. Ouch! I guess that explains why there's never been any talk about a reunion like there has been with most of the other groups mentioned above.
However, Kéllé has moved on from all of this. Yes, she did attempt a solo career right after her departure from the group, but when health problems popped up, she was forced to rearrange things. Now, she's a business woman who takes on acting jobs, whenever she can, and, since recently, she's a TED speaker.
With all the experience she had gained within the entertainment business, Kéllé decided to start a creative artist agency targeted towards actors called Advocate Agency. Actors can follow workshops, or seek representation from her and productions can find actors through the agency.
The company has allowed her to master her presentation skills to the T. Already having presented for television, and led many workshops for actors, she recently made her debut as a TED speaker, which was pretty nerve wrecking according to her tweets about it. Her TED talk will become available on YouTube soon.
Altogether, the impression that she leaves me, is that she's a very good entrepreneur. Like many of us, she combines her strengths and is building a good name for herself. It may be far removed from her pop star days, but she found a new way to incorporate what she loves into a new life and, after all, she actually started out with acting herself.
