YCAA: The Canadian talent agency making big waves by putting purpose and passion first

by Press Release
YCAA Founder and Managing Partner Jason Norris (left) with YCAA actors Meshach O'Brien (Center) and Michael Spina (Right)

Young Canadian Artists Agency (YCAA) is a talent agency that represents some of Canada’s most promising young artists in film, television, and theatre. But the story of YCAA’s founding is not your typical business origin story. In fact, it was a deeply personal experience that led founder Jason Norris to create an agency that focused on purpose, passion, and people first.

It all began when Norris’s daughter started to get serious about acting and pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. Like any supportive parent, Norris began looking at agencies and how they operated, hoping to find the right fit for his daughter. But what he found was a landscape that was more focused on numbers than on people. “Most agencies focus on numbers, even though they represent humans,” Norris says. “They often say ‘It’s a numbers game.’ But I quickly realized that there was a massive white space to improve the level of service offered in the industry.”

After many meetings with different agents and agencies, Norris decided to take matters into his own hands and create an agency that would put people first. He founded YCAA with a clear sense of purpose and passion, driven by a desire to support and nurture young talent, and to give them a platform to showcase their skills to the world.

This focus on purpose and passion has paid off for YCAA. In just a few short years, the agency has established itself as a major player in the Canadian entertainment industry, representing talented young actors like Prosha Hussein, Gabriella de la Torre, Hannah Lochner, Jeff Pangman, and of course, Sofia Norris (Jason’s daughter). And just like Ecobee, Shopify, Apple, Netflix, and Pixar, YCAA’s success can be attributed in part to their commitment to the same theory Simon Sinek wrote about in his book “Start with Why.”
So what does it mean to “Start with Why”? According to Sinek, it means beginning with a clear understanding of your company’s purpose and values and then building your strategy and tactics around that foundation. It’s a process of reverse engineering, starting with the end goal in mind and working backward to figure out how to get there.

For YCAA, this meant focusing on their core mission of supporting and promoting young talent. From there, they developed a range of services and strategies that aligned with this purpose. They invested in marketing and outreach efforts to raise the profile of their clients and the agency, and provided personalized attention and support to each artist on their roster. They also worked to foster relationships with industry insiders, from casting directors to producers, to help their clients get noticed and land roles.

But none of this would have been possible without a clear sense of “why” driving their actions. By starting with purpose and passion, YCAA was able to create a strong sense of mission and identity that resonated with its clients, industry partners, and the public at large. And this, in turn, helped them achieve rapid success and establish themselves as a major force in the Canadian entertainment world.

As Sinek himself says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” And for YCAA, their commitment to supporting young talent and giving them a platform to shine has been a powerful driver of success. By taking a page from the playbook of other successful and innovative companies, companies, YCAA has shown that starting with why can be a game changer.

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