Israeli entrepreneur and founder of FYI Brand Group Tammy Brook has been securing collaborations between celebrities and brands for years.
Today, she works with some of hip-hop and basketball’s biggest stars on social impact, weaving together her communications and brand strategy expertise with her Jewish values and her desire to give back.
Last year, Brook worked with artist French Montana to build a hospital in Uganda with Global Citizen. Today, more than 300,000 women can safely deliver babies because of their efforts.
Her team also worked on a campaign for 21 Savage, who gave out bank accounts to children across the country and created an online financial literacy course for them as well. “We don’t know how to pay our taxes or how to save money,” she says. “21 Savage is changing that, and together we’re creating a much bigger platform for this school year. We’re recruiting and creating job opportunities for kids.”
She campaigns hard for her clients, even when it comes to legal issues. When ICE sought to deport 21 Savage, Brook created the #Free21Savage human rights coalition that helped him get out of deportation.
Brook, whose client list includes Jhené Aiko, Pusha T, Steve Aoki, Russell Westbrook, Odell Beckham Jr., et al., partners with platforms like CNN, Now This, and Mic to create original content and short documentaries that bring these unique social impact stories to life.
Like many other entrepreneurs, Brook has maintained a strong set of values along her path to success. In particular, she says her Jewish values have been the most helpful. “I believe in doing good for people and doing mitzvahs and postponing gratification. That’s the biggest thing about being a Jew. You’ve got to put in the work. There are no shortcuts,” she says. “Family is everything. And I’m very thankful to be raised by a family that taught me to leave this world with a mark.”
Brook, who grew up in Brentwood as a member of University Synagogue says “being authentically yourself is a part of being a Jew because we’ve been ostracized for so many years and our culture is so unique.”
And as she’s gotten older, she has learned to be comfortable with being authentically herself. “I’m going to be who I am. And if you don’t get my personality and if you don’t get my sense of humor and you don’t get my aggressiveness because I need things to be just and morally correct then we’re not for each other.”
With her newfound sense of self, she intends to work on finding peace in the Middle East through music.
Yes, Brook is Israeli, but her clients come from all over the world. DJ Khaled, for example is Arab, but political views don’t separate them. In fact, Brook and Khaled use their joint platform to bring people from both sides together.
“I have a platform to align with people that you would normally think we would stay away from as Jews,” Brook says. “We create peaceful moments together. And that’s all we’re saying. We’re role models together. We’re showing that Arabs and Israelis can work together.”
Her main goal? To spread love, change the narrative, and create unity. “It’s showing Blacks and Jews and Arabs and Israelis that we can change and we can really have a profound impact if we’re just all together using our platform to showcase and be deliberate with messaging that we’re all human,” she says.
Still, Brook says she receives a lot of comments on social media from hate groups, but that only fuels her to continue doing the work she’s been doing. “I don’t live in fear of posting that I represent people that are not supposed to be aligned with Israelis. I just don’t let it hold me down. I mean that’s what being a Jew is: keep going. You don’t submit, you don’t surrender to people writing comments that are terrorizing you.”
As Brook spearheads new projects to improve communities around the world, she emphasizes the importance of public relations as a crucial component to these causes. “When we’re done with all the magic we’re making and the content and the campaigns, we lift it through media and social media,” she says. “And the reason why it’s so important to have our agency aligned with a brand for strategy and management is because everything in the end lives in the pipeline of social media so there has to be a consistent story with what you’re doing.”
This year, Brook closed campaign deals with Saint Laurent, Acne Studios, GAP, and Tumi Luggage.
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