Green Room Creative

Anise Onyando's entrepreneurial journey began long before Green Room Creative. As a first-generation Indian-American kid, he discovered hip-hop as a vehicle for storytelling and identity. At 16-17 (around 2006), he recognized the digital revolution in music and started leveraging MySpace, iTunes, and direct-to-fan strategies. His high school music ventures generated "probably a couple thousand dollars a month," and by his early twenties, he was managing the group Green Street, touring nationally 60% of the year, securing brand deals (like a $5,000 licensing deal with Marlboro), and building what he describes as a "$250-ish thousand" annual business—with his personal take-home around $40,000-$50,000.

At 24, while planning a two-month tour to India to work on a Bollywood film, Anise received a diagnosis of end-stage kidney failure. Doctors told him he had three months before needing dialysis or a transplant. Rather than cancel, he flew to India anyway, driven by purpose and mental fortitude. "I believe in you know mental strength. I think Trump's all physical, you know issues that we have," he explained. He pushed through dialysis at 24—an experience he describes as "extremely difficult" for an active person—until his father, recognizing the gravity of the situation, offered one of his own kidneys. The transplant was risky; his father wasn't fully medically cleared, but Anise's father chose to take the risk. After about a year of recovery, Anise regained his health.

Inspired by his father's sacrifice and his desire to honor his family legacy, Anise shifted gears. He founded Green Room Creative as a "digital growth agency" focused on early-stage and mid-sized companies. Unlike traditional agencies chasing impressions and reach, Green Room prioritizes conversions and bottom-line impact. The team synthesizes creative production, paid media strategy, and consulting in a holistic, cross-functional approach. Anise and his brother run the agency together.

Green Room's growth has been rapid but challenging. Last year, the agency did $700,000 in revenue; this year (at the time of the interview) they projected "north of one point five million dollars." Anise acknowledges that scaling a traditional agency model is "extremely difficult." He's experimented with equity-only deals but found them unsustainable for maintaining staff. One major win: the Daily Beast became a client, though they didn't take equity.

Anise has also considered a VC arm—taking equity positions in companies while providing growth services—but is proceeding cautiously, taking "smaller pieces" until revenue goals allow for broader deployment. He's also seen headwinds as companies move marketing in-house, but he believes the agency's creative problem-solving and external perspective will remain an advantage.

At 29, Anise is running a thriving agency projected to hit $1.5M+ ARR this year—more than double last year's revenue. He maintains extraordinary energy levels despite sleeping only 5-6 hours nightly (he describes energy as his "biggest gift"). He's in a long-term relationship with no kids yet and continues to draw inspiration from his survival, his father's sacrifice, and purpose-driven work. His philosophy: "Play to your strengths and don't try to do everything and be everything to everybody."