Tate Henshaw of Arc Business Management on Breaking Down Barriers

And the ability to translate 'number-speak'

Tate is a co-founder of Arc, which helps entertainers and athletes navigate their careers. With more than 15 years of experience executing programs for Grammy winners, record labels, music companies, athletes and tech firms, Tate’s clients range from multi-platinum R&B artist Ne-Yo to six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin.

Tate also serves on the boards of Georgia Music Partners and the Georgia Sports Innovation Coalition, helping build diverse business opportunities in his home state.

We spent two minutes with Tate to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired. 

Tate, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

Adairsville, Ga. Pit stops in Athens for college and Vinings (Atlanta) just after graduation.

Your earliest musical memory.

Listening to John Prine or Mel McDaniel with my dad.

Your favorite bands/musicians today.

Jason Isbell, Needtobreathe, The Steel Woods, Amos Lee, Chris Stapleton, Pony Bradshaw, The Lone Bellow.

One of your favorite projects you’ve ever worked on.

Helping a Grammy-winner build a system for manufacturing and selling merch before Shopify was a thing.

A recent project you’re proud of.

Helping Bryan Calhoun update the Music Business Toolbox. It’s exciting because there aren’t many practical how-to resources for aspiring artists.

One thing about how the music world is evolving that you’re excited about.

Breaking down genre barriers. You can see it with Shaboozey. Fans like what they like. They don’t need to be told what they like.

Someone else’s work, in music or beyond, that you admired lately.

Live2540 just opened a hospital in Liberia, providing free healthcare to children.

A book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.

Babel. The book was able to raise many important issues that are relevant today.

An artist you admire outside the world of music.

Ben Jones is a guy I went to high school with. While I knew him as an athlete, he’s now made a niche for himself with fine art.

Your favorite fictional character.

Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders.

Someone worth following in social media.

Being a lifetime Southerner, I love Matt Mitchell for simultaneously honoring and satirizing Southern culture.

Your main strength as a financial professional.

The ability to translate number-speak into something that creative entrepreneurs can understand.

Your biggest weakness.

Wanting to have 100-percent certainty before acting.

Something people would find surprising about you.

I’m an accountant, and people usually find it surprising that I am also a musician who’s played electric guitar for over 20 years.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in the music business.

Something in programming or data science that still had a creative aspect.