On Might 17, Atlanta’s Previous Fourth Ward was buzzing with celebration as leisure govt and entrepreneur Ebonie Ward formally opened the doorways to 550 RMG, her firm’s new headquarters, eleventh & Co. The ten,000-square-foot multiuse house represents a return to her hometown and a daring funding in Black creativity, collaboration, and group.
“In all honesty, it actually means every little thing,” Ward stated of proudly owning the brand new headquarters outright. “You’re employed so arduous to attain a sure stage of success. I’ve been within the enterprise for 13 years, and I’ve rented loads of areas. I’ve partnered with loads of different firms and types, however to have one thing of my very own… it simply feels very totally different.”
Ward’s journey within the leisure business spans over a decade, together with managing rap superstars like Future, Gunna, DDG, and Flo Milli. As one of the influential Black ladies in music, she’s recognized for combining her sharp enterprise acumen with a deep dedication to group, tradition, and mentorship.
550 RMG is the brand new house of 5 Black-owned companies, together with eleventh & Co, the inventive company Six Levels, the manufacturing collective Genius Membership, the nonprofit initiative A Seat At The Desk, and the upcoming 9 Distribution, a brand new distribution firm set to launch in September 2025.
“It provides me so many capabilities to assist so many extra folks,” Ward stated. “Particularly different Black ladies who’ve an curiosity in being within the music enterprise, leisure enterprise, tv, music, movie… It permits me to open myself up and assist so many different folks.”
Ward has an extended historical past of collaboration with the founders of the companies housed at 550 RMG.
“I’ve labored with B. Wright[ Brian “BWrighteous” Wright] since 2011 when he was at Morehouse,” she shared. “I used to personal a sneaker boutique on Peter Avenue, and I used to be promoting his t-shirts. We’ve been working collectively for years, and this allows us to assist one another’s companies in a extra intentional method.”
The brand new facility can also be an area the place creativity and group coexist. Designed by Atlanta-based inside designer Annysa LaMantia, 550 RMG features a recording studio, enhancing and manufacturing bay, wardrobe showroom, open kitchen, patio, and a number of convention rooms.
“The studio is the place the magic is made,” Ward stated, although she additionally emphasised the significance of the house’s versatility. “I actually wished to drag vitality out of this house. I wished the flexibility of getting the open house for folks to collaborate and be communal, however even have an area the place folks might be centered and have some stage of privateness.”
The intention behind 550 RMG is deeply rooted in service. “To me, that’s actually what it’s all about—group,” Ward stated. Her nonprofit, A Seat At The Desk, lately hosted its third annual dinner celebrating HBCU scholarship recipients. “I’ve all the time been about music, artwork, philanthropy, trend, and finance. That’s what I name my large 5. However philanthropy holds such a close to and expensive place in my coronary heart.”
Ward’s dedication to group care is as complete as her enterprise acumen. From occasions supporting ladies who’ve skilled loss throughout Mom’s Day, to breast most cancers consciousness programming in October, to vital monetary funding in scholarships for younger Black ladies attending HBCUs, her work by way of A Seat At The Desk is altering lives. “I’m a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Integrated, and repair is all the time first. However extra so, service with a mission,” she stated.
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Constructing a staff of powerhouse Black ladies can also be a significant a part of Ward’s legacy. Whereas Ward serves as CEO, proprietor, and supervisor of the enterprise, her right-hand, Jenna Tyson, is chief advertising officer (CMO), Alexandria Kindle is 11th& Co’s chief monetary officer (CFO), Krishna Lee is EVP of Touring & Logistics, and Zita R. Brack is the agency’s in-house authorized counsel.
“I’m nothing with out them,” Ward stated. “As a lot as I’m celebrated, if I may put them on a pedestal—on each pedestal that I’m on—they might be proper beside me. I noticed it and I sought loads of them to come back in and work with me due to how unimaginable I assumed they have been.”
With the launch of 9 Distribution on the horizon, Ward is laying the groundwork for a extra equitable music business. “Independence is flourishing,” she stated. “You don’t should be signed to a significant label now to succeed, however to have the ability to function a enterprise, it takes a staff. That’s what we’re going to have the ability to do in another way—you’re capable of come into an incubated system the place every little thing is already working.”
550 RMG was born out of necessity as a lot as imaginative and prescient. “I wished a one-stop store,” she stated. “There wasn’t a facility or enterprise the place you have been capable of do every little thing multi functional.”
Whereas work commitments require Ward to journey commonly to Los Angeles, returning to Atlanta to construct 550 RMG felt important. “It’s important to be the change that you really want on the earth,” she stated. “If I’m not offering folks with jobs, with assets and instruments, then I’m not really creating alternatives. Black ladies have to see that it’s doable.”
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