What Can't He Do?

The Warner Bros. Store in Austin, Texas will forever be a place where minor history was made. Jeff Zannini was working just another shift as a sales representative when he met Jess Harnell, the man who would turn out to be what some would call a “long-lost brother.”

Harnell, voice actor and rockstar, was signing autographs for The Animaniacs, a witty cartoon from the early 90s, when he met Zannini; a sales associate who had been waiting his entire life for a big break. Zannini was a college student at the University of Texas, Austin and had dreamed as a child of being an “A-list actor because they have a platform to do good things.”

He initially approached Harnell because he saw the long, curly dark hair and leather jacket; mistaking him for the lead singer of the band Firehouse. Once he realized he was mistaken, they introduced themselves to one another, and from that moment on they were the best of friends.

Harnell gave Zannini the opportunity to book a live show for his band, Rock Sugar. Their label wasn’t booking them often so there wasn’t much to lose, and with that Zannini hit the phones. After hundreds of calls trying to figure out the right thing to say to promoters, he finally overcame the learning curve and booked a show. When he told Harnell about his triumph, all he got was “That’s great buddy! Now book another one.” Harnell hung up the phone.

Over two decades and 400 clients later, Zannini now owns a successful celebrity management company, Celebrity Talent Booking, and still talks with Harnell nearly every day.

Harnell would describe Zannini as a sarcastic, talkative guy and said that he’s been like that since the day they met. “What’s changed is that he’s finally found the right field to excel in,” said Harnell. “He’s always been ambitious, always been an exceller, always given it his all. He works really hard and that’s why he gets the rewards he does.”

It wasn’t always private jets to Canada and free trips to Hawaii for Zannini though. “I worked any crappy job you could possibly ever have, from a dishwasher, expediter, waiter, merchandise sales, manager, regional director,” said Zannini, “I worked for a lot of different companies and hated every job I ever had.”

Zannini worked his way from the bottom to the top, but being at the top comes with the price of never-ending work.

As the owner of Celebrity Talent Booking, Zannini is in charge of everything. From finding the shows, to booking the clients, to networking with promoters, to making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible at all times. He has employees who help, but a majority of the work is on his behalf and he excels at it.

“I have street smarts and book smarts,” said Zannini, “Not everybody has that and I’m lucky because it allows me to have the job that I do.” His family jokes about how he could sell ice to an Eskimo, but if it came down to it, he would find a way.

“The best part of my job is all the traveling I get to do,” said Zannini, “I’ve seen and done things all around the world that most people will never get to do in their lifetime. I’m very lucky for that, I know. Traveling is also the worst part of my job because it takes me away from the people that mean the most, which are my kids”.

Although he didn’t capture his dream of becoming an A-list actor, Zannini still gives back to the community like he dreamed of as a kid. “We donate autographs, money and time to charities such as St. Jude and the ASPCA. Children and animals are, in my opinion, two of the most helpless things out there, so I feel that they should have the focus of the help.”

From being a dishwasher to a sales associate to a father to a business owner, Jeff Zannini climbed his way to success and doesn’t plan on stopping soon. With new and exciting projects coming up all the time, Zannini is constantly on his toes and is enjoying every minute of the ride.