Echo Hattix

TEXT AMANDA ROBERTS

VISUAL LABKHAND OLFATMANESH

Most folks, if asked, are able to write down their top five areas of interest with some ease. Careers and personal interests run side by side, but very infrequently do they intertwine. For many, passion stands separate from our professional lives. Then there are people like Echo Hattix, so committed to interests and passions that they place every element of their lives — personally, professionally and intellectually — into building an empire. 

Powerhouse Echo Hattix is the figure behind the full-service campaign management firm Echoing Soundz. Over the past 16 years, she has represented some of the music industry’s most intriguing artists, such as CeeLo Green, Trinidad James, The Game, Eric Bellinger, E-40, MC Lyte, V Bozeman, YG, and Xzibit, just to name a few. A whip-smart and business savvy leader, she moves through the world with a tenacity clearly sourced by her history. Crafting her clients’ public image through social media, on red carpets, and by dissemination of their works of art has provided longevity for clients and her business. 

“I am never looking for artists, they come to me. What I am looking for when they show up is a feeling, a vision, and a sound. Once I identify those components, the very next thing is recognizing a fearless disposition in that artist, their own willingness to do what they have not done before, and the trust to allow my team and I to go to work.” 

While many would perceive this type of work as challenging, when asked about the difficulties working with creative types, Hattix brushes it off with a steadfast commitment to an artist. 

“I realized a few years ago that it was going to take more than just publicity to make an artist relevant, famous, and sought after. My team and I were already doing the marketing, creating publicity stunts, producing red carpet events, conceptualizing full-scale activations for our clients all over the country, underneath an outdated title of publicity. So my business partner, Moses Hill, and I rebranded the company as a campaign management firm, handling artists needs from A to Z.” 

To aid this new infrastructure, Hattix developed an internal client introductory program entitled ES Odyssey, which is an eight-consecutive-hour, phone-free course with the purpose of gaining the maximum clarity of the wants, hopes, and dreams of her clients. She says that sometimes it would take months for a client to say what the real end-game was for them, and by the time they got comfortable enough to do so, both time and money were wasted. 

“The fame game is tricky. Most people are almost always embarrassed to say the words “I want to be famous,” however that’s exactly why they hire me. The ones that admit it usually attach a disclaimer or a good reason about why they should be famous. So what I did was design a mentally intensive course that unapologetically reveals the deep-rooted desires of the client for the purpose of targeting and securing the best campaign results. It’s a big commitment for these brilliant minds, and we are very serious when we take on this activation of not allowing them to even have their phones during this time period, just to maintain the purity of what we gain — uninfluenced and interrupted by real-life happenings.’ 

From the very beginning, it was Hattix’s love and passion for music along with her initial dream to become a world-renowned classical pianist, that served as the bridge for her career inside the music industry. However, that early dream ended after a failed recital where she recalls all of the piano keys turning mentally into water. “I said to myself, ‘if I can get myself to play this Mozart one last time properly, I will never, ever play again’ — and I didn’t,” says Hattix. 

But her driven spirit didn’t stop there. As an on-air personality at her college radio station and as a PBS TV producer in college, the mass communication major shifted her love into a different genre. She decided she’d stay close to the music and become a music video director. Those dreams also went south once she recognized the almost-certain future of spending countless days, nights and even years in what she describes as “living on a deserted island alone in a cold room editing videos.” 

These moments did not deter Hattix from moving forward. She shifted her focus multiple times before finding, entering, and successfully working in a field she can now call her own. It takes an impressive degree of agility to contextualize pivotal moments like these: moments when one must brush off missteps and learn something new in the process. 

Today, Hattix is an unbridled source of wisdom. Her triumphs inside the music industry have opened doors for her in the world of gaming, technology, wine & spirits, as well as in brand management for nightlife venues around the country. Her company has produced elaborate red carpet events for pop-culture favorites Blac Chyna, Snoop Dogg, Amber Rose, Nick Cannon, DGK, Scott Storch and many more. 

When asked what helps her hold everything together, she explains, “I have a solid spiritual anchor, because the way this entertainment industry is set up, your relationship with God will be your saving grace.” 

Beyond this sage advice, she offers an additional bit of wisdom for young women interested in beginning a career in her field. “Be a student of your craft with the intention of mastery. Learn the essence of timing and physically write your wants down on paper.” 

Echo Hattix is not a savior to her clients, she is not a martyr. But she most certainly is a consummate expert and a powerhouse, recognized by her clients as The Oracle.