Joe McGill- From Sports to Financial and Business Management

Entertainment, News — By Buddy Sampson on June 5, 2024 at 8:00 pm

By Buddy Sampson

Many people are under the assumption that managing money is easy. Consumers often see celebrities with lots of cash, and make judgements such as “how can he possibly be broke after all the money he’s earned?” “Why didn’t she have great financial management?” Business managers and accountants are often the unheralded heroes of financial success for athletes, actors, entertainers and business operators. Joe McGill, of Topline Management LLC is one of those heroes.

Joe McGill, who hails from Watts, California, is a principal  partner of Topline Business Management LLC, which is a “distinguished boutique business management firm for professionals and entertainers in the television, film and music industries,” as stated on their website, https://www.toplinebm.com. “We’re part of the team, part of the ride from where our clients were making nothing and now are making really good money,” said Joe McGill. ”To be a part of the journey with them is fulfilling.”

Some of his clients include talent agencies, law firms and record labels. In 2021 both Variety Magazine and Hollywood Reporter named Joe as one of the Best Business Managers in Hollywood. He represents some of the most varied, prestigious and established talent in the entertainment industry, including filmmakers and high-profile actors and actresses.

Joe McGill had a strong athletic background. While in high school, he was a great athlete and had a counselor that convinced him to major in Accounting, which turned out to be an informed decision. He discovered he had a knack for numbers He went to Cerritos College in Long Beach and received a scholarship to Utah’s historical Weber State University in Ogden. “Growing up, I played lots of sports, I was a three-sport athlete, for most of my career, through high school,” said Joe McGill. “I was good at football and basketball, and I got a football scholarship.” Joe had aspirations to play football in the NFL, as a cornerback at Weber State, but fate had other ideas.

“While I was attending school at Weber State, my knees just decided they weren’t going to cooperate with me,” he reflected on the effect that knee injuries had on his aspirations. “My right knee was showing signs of cartilage deterioration, and my left knee was already showing signs. I had to think about life after football more immediately than I thought I would.” However, his coach kept him on scholarship, even after the injuries, which proved to be a great experience. “Coach kept me on scholarship and put me to work,” he said. “Graduate assistant sort of tasks- helping out some of the younger guys on the team, trying to be a mentor to them.” He learned however, that well, coaching may have not been in his wheelhouse. “It was a great experience but it taught me that I didn’t want to coach,” he laughed. He graduated from Weber State with a degree in Accounting.

He relocated back to Los Angeles and landed a position at a prestigious accounting firm. The niche world of entertainment was attractive to him, and with his experience and knowledge of accounting, business management was a great career choice. After a decade in the industry, his entrepreneurial and competitive ethos motivated his desire to establish his own firm. Once he met a like-minded business partner, Topline Business Management was born.

After moving back to Los Angeles, he was hired by a prominent accounting firm. He was drawn to the specialized entertainment industry, and business management seemed like a fantastic career prospect given his background in accounting. His enterprising and competitive nature drove his desire to start his own business after ten years in the field. As a result, Topline Business Management was established after he connected with a like-minded business partner.

Joe McGill grew up in Watts. He mentors kids in Watts, because he feels a desire to give back to the community, the community in which he was raised. He has volunteered as a mentor at the Magic Johnson Foundation-Taylor Michael Scholarship Program and The Harold Robinson Foundation. He currently sits on the Planned Giving Counsel at Weber State and is a board member of the InsideOUT Writers Foundation. He recently joined the Advisory Board of Trusted Advisor offering guidance to leadership and new members of the organization. He is part of Diverse Representation, which offers a platform for members of the Hollywood community to break into the industry and find entertainment representation by people of color.

Much has been made of some of the violence that happens in Watts, however Watts has many of the characteristics of neighborhoods, of community. “Growing up in the city builds a lot of character,” he said. “But Watts has a lot of hard-working people, more blue-collar than white collar, they want the same things that people have in Ladera Park. Unfortunately, because of the area that you’re put in, or you’re living in, the support of the state or government is often not there. It sharpens you a bit for the real world.”

Many star athletes and entertainment personalities haven’t had the opportunity to learn about managing wealth. Joe feels that financial management should be taught at a young age. “I feel that the school system should be incorporating financial management for our kids,” he said of the importance of having financial goals and discipline. “It’s important to put those systems in place to understand the value of a dollar, and what does it mean,” he explained. He stresses, that in financial management, many consumers have a lack of attention for smaller purchases, which can add up quickly. “Sometimes it’s not about that big splurge using credit cards, it’s how often you use them,” he said. “Twenty dollars there, thirty dollars there, but when you look at your credit card statement it’s like ‘whoa, I spent this much in a month?’ So, it’s often about teaching our clients about the value of money.”

His firm, Topline believes in client satisfaction. The firm is noted for having great relationships with their client. ‘When a client chooses to work with us, it’s always an honor,” he said. “They’re saying, I’m going to unveil myself and I’m going to let you take part of my life and vice versa- we try to steer them in the right direction. We try to save clients from themselves. When a client tells me, or my business partner or anyone at our firm, ‘I couldn’t do it without you,’ that’s the best feeling in the world.”

While Joe McGill didn’t achieve his aspirations to be an NFL star, he still runs the field for his clients like the cornerback he was at Weber State, deflecting wrong financial choices while making a huge difference for the community.

If you’d like to learn more about Topline Management visit www.toplinebm.com. Be sure to leave your contact information on the website.