In fashion and entertainment, departures from major agencies are treated like classified events. The language is vague (“creative differences”), and exits are orchestrated to look inconsequential. Talent walks out on day, a press release never happens, and the underlying assumption hangs in the air: They’ll be back.

Representation has long been structured around this belief; that talent is replaceable, agencies are essential, and independence is a cute idea. We are told it’s a sacred system not meant to be questioned. Big agencies are positioned as the gatekeepers of visibility, credibility, and opportunity. Step out of line and you step out of the industry. Or so the myth goes.

Before ALTI, before the headlines and brand campaigns, Tiffany and Shannon were already functioning as strategists, advocates, and crisis managers. The industry simply didn’t have a name for what they were doing yet. 

They were watching, in real time, how opportunities worth taking were dismissed for being too small, too new, or outside the mold. Over and over, the rise-averse system revealed itself. But Shannon and Tiffany kept seeing what others didn’t: the long runway behind early-stage opportunities, the value of exposure over immediate cash, and the career-defining potential in unconventional creative risks. 

Those “small” opportunities turned into momentum, not because Lexi fit the agency mold, but because she didn’t. The industry framed that as a liability. ALTI used it as a thesis.

When the Woods broke off and built ALTI, it wasn’t a clean separation. Once they were fully behind the wheel, they finally saw the pattern most talent never gets to see. Which brand emails got deprioritized, which categories were gate kept, which opportunities were deemed unworthy of a “big agency roster”. 

ALTI didn’t reinvent Lexi’s career. They removed the ceiling. Her breakthrough wasn’t accidental, it was the result of Tiffany and Shannon’s willingness to take strategic risks that traditional agencies simply don’t have the incentive or time to take.

As Tiffany put it, “We went after opportunities that didn’t make much money at first but offered huge exposure. The agencies wouldn’t have touched those,” but those seemingly small potatoes deals became turning points. 

To understand ALTI is to understand what it rejects. Legacy agencies run on scale; rosters so large they become ecosystems. ALTI runs on intimacy, a roster intentionally small by design. 

Their job is not to “place” talent into predetermined categories. Their job is to build careers around individual identity. 

This is where Lexi’s story shines: she is the proof of concept the industry didn’t think existed. Her trajectory is what happens when the people representing you actually know you. Not as a headshot on a server, but as a person whose instincts, strengths, and journey deserve to shape the strategy. 

Brands can feel that difference.

 In Other words: boutique isn’t niche, it’s efficient.

The Woods describe their shock when they finally saw the inside workings of big agency systems. “How often decisions were driven by making money quickly,” they said. “Not by building the talent’s career.”

This is where the tension lies between the old model and ALTI

Old system: play it safe, repeat what used to to work, maximize volume.

ALTI: take smart risks, build long-term equity, personalize every move.

The truth Lex’s rise exposed is that traditional agencies weren’t holding her back maliciously, they were holding her back because they didn’t have the bandwidth or incentive to advocate for her with intention. 

ALTI replaced scale with stewardship. And the results speak for themselves. 

Going up against the most established agencies in the world comes with psychological collateral. Pressure. Doubt. Imposter syndrome.

“It can feel intimidating,” Tiffany admitted.

But being a family unit gave them the foundation agencies couldn’t replicate: total alignment, total trust, and the ability to make bold decisions without hesitation.

This wasn’t a career move as much as it was a collective leap. One that is actively altering the trajectory of talent management. 

If legacy agencies rely on hierarchy and volume, ALTI relies on clarity and connection. 

Their model centers transparent deal terms, control over one’s image, mental wellness, flexible contracts, aligned incentives, and genuine partnership. These values aren’t revolutionary. What is revolutionary, though, is practicing them at scale. Or, in ALTI’s case, refusing to scale at all. 

“In five years, we’ll still be boutique,” the Woods said.

ALTI isn’t trying to replace traditional agencies. They’re proving that the system can work differently. And that proof, embodied by Lexi’s trajectory, is what makes their model dangerous to those still toeing the line of the old system. 

It’s easy to misunderstand the ALTI narrative as the story of one model’s success. The real story is the force behind the scenes. The two women who saw a ceiling, questioned it, and built a new structure entirely. Ceiling-free. 

Lexi is the case study. Shannon and Tiffany are the architects. Together, they’ve exposed the flaws baked into traditional representation and presented a solution the industry didn’t believe was possible. One built on actual advocacy, not the illusion of it. 

Their rise doesn’t challenge the legacy model.

It calls its bluff. 

And for the first time, the industry is asking the question it never thought it would need to: If ALTI can do this with one model, what happens when our talent notices?

ALTI is redefining representation, see how at altitheagency.com and @ALTIworld