Photo by Sonya Katarina
BBN Creative Management is a proud
IASB Member
BBN Creative Management is a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise
BLAIR BRYANT NICHOLS
Blair began his career in New York at the HarperCollins Speakers Bureau, a business he never knew existed. From there he had the privilege to helm the Hachette and Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureaus for GTN (now UTA Speakers), before moving west to work with Keith Ferrazzi (Never Eat Alone). He served as his Chief of Staff for 3+ years and learned how keynote speaking can be strategically positioned for corporate coaching and consulting, while also studying at UCLA-Anderson. After a few temporary roles during his last year of business school, he returned to the Speakers Bureau world post graduation. But after signing and establishing talent, growing and scaling valuable assets and businesses for bosses with nothing to show for it after leaving, he had enough.
He founded BBN Creative Management with a mission to serve diverse and socially-driven talent, to lift up the voices who aren’t heard as often, and to advance causes most aligned to his values. He has a deep expertise in developing speakers for corporate events, conferences, and other thought leadership opportunities, including internal and external communications. But more importantly, he helps his clients foster new strategies for operations, communications, business development and marketing across all appropriate areas to further develop and enhance their bottom line and brand. After 18 years in the industry, Blair knows that success as a speaker and entrepreneur will rise and fall. You need a business surrounding and supporting your speaking and pursuits, and you need the right strategy to make all the pieces fit together. That’s Blair’s sweet spot.
Blair earned his M.B.A from UCLA-Anderson with a specialization in Entertainment Management and a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Literature with minors in Communications and Gender Studies from American University in Washington, DC. He is also a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course, a summer course at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he’s not buried in emails or Google Meets, he enjoys traveling to new and distant places, reading, creating, and spending time at home in West Hollywood or Lake Arrowhead with family, friends, and his beloved rescue dogs Buttercup and Bambina.
Our Team
Samantha Sullins
With a background spanning executive assistance, office management, and administration, she’s the kind of person who keeps everything — and everyone — on track. As an operations manager, she thrives on organization, problem-solving, and the satisfaction of checking things off a to-do list.
Fueled by coffee, laughter, and a good system, she’s happiest when bringing order to chaos and helping things run efficiently behind the scenes. Outside of work, she loves exploring new cities, trying local coffee shops, snuggling her little one, and spending her downtime deep into a TV binge she’ll absolutely recommend to everyone.
Operations Manager
Sarah Kelly
Focused, approachable, and driven by results, our sales manager is all about building strong relationships. They help connect people to the right solutions—with clarity and care.
Strategic Partnerships & MarketingStrategic Partnerships & MarketingSarah Kelly
Sarah Kelly is a relationship-driven leader with more than 15 years of experience developing, representing, and connecting high-profile talent, celebrities, keynote speakers, and thought leaders with meaningful opportunities. Known for her ability to build authentic relationships and create strategic partnerships, she has spent her career helping talent, brands, and organizations grow.
Today, Sarah serves as Strategic Partnerships & Marketing at BBN Creative Management and is Co-Owner & COO of Scenthound St. Louis South County, the first Scenthound in Missouri.
When she's not working, Sarah can usually be found spending time with her family, watching a great movie, tending to her garden, or spoiling her two dogs. She believes the best opportunities and the best memories are built through meaningful relationships.
Creative ContractorNicole Kwik
A multidisciplinary designer and recent graduate of New York University, she brings a background in UX design, learning design, and graphic design. She enjoys creating thoughtful, engaging experiences across digital, branding, and content-focused projects, and is excited to support BBN Creative Management on a variety of creative initiatives.
Testimonials
“I’ve loved working with Blair. He is a terrific strategic partner and creative thinker with decades of insight, expertise and network of relationships. Blair offers concrete mapping of goals and steps to reach those goals along with encouragement and support. He’s also a very special human who genuinely cares about his clients and sees and celebrates what makes us special. “
— Cheryl Houser, Filmmaker & Speaker
“Blair and his team at BBN Creative Management have been phenomenal! They've helped me fine-tune my execution and strategy to generate more speaking opportunities, and more clearly position myself as a leading voice in the industry. Blair has become a strategic partner in helping me build on my existing foundation and plan the next phase of my speaking business. Most importantly, his expertise in managing the business operations, allows me more time to create. As a comedian and keynote speaker, more time innovating, learning, and creating, always leads to a greater impact - and that's what BBN is helping me deliver.”