“It’s about treating people on the same level playing field and that's just so important to do, I think"
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Liam Heeley and Molly Ball are behind the HEADS agency which helps creatives secure big opportunities
Liam Heeley and Molly Ball are behind the HEADS agency which helps creatives secure big opportunities
At the age of 16, Liam Heeley decided to quit college in Ashton-under-Lyne and got a job at Selfridges. Fashion-forward, the job gave him the chance to afford to buy the latest clothes, which he would use in outfit pictures he’d share with his followers on social media.
Now, almost ten years later, Liam has managed to photograph the likes of Lady Gaga and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and has started his own agency in Manchester where he helps other creatives get their head start in the city.
“I just saw people posting outfit pictures on social media,” Liam, 24, says of what sparked his career change eight years ago. “They were building brands for themselves and going to events. I didn’t really understand any of it, but I knew I wanted a piece of it.”
Quickly being invited around the world, and setting up residency in Hollywood, Liam was invited to lavish events, star-studded previews, fashion shows and product launches where he was able to capture footage for social media and beyond. After seven years, he moved back to Manchester.
“Three years ago, I realised that I basically achieved everything I wanted to achieve as a photographer,” he explains. “So, I began looking at what my next steps could be. I knew that I wanted to put all my content skills to good use and the idea of creating a magazine just came about.”
Liam Heeley and Molly Ball started HEADS three years ago
Liam Heeley and Molly Ball started HEADS three years ago
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With his partner Molly Ball, Liam launched the HEADS magazine in July 2002 featuring images of 30 people across the city. Later that same month, an exhibition was also held featuring the photographs. It started something that has been continuing ever since - and not just through magazines.
“We just fell in love with doing these sort of events and meeting all the creatives in the city,” Liam explains. “We realised we could do something that celebrated people through social media, meet-ups, events and photography and give people opportunities to showcase their work.
“We basically made our own art gallery with people who were basically shunned away from having their work exhibited in the top galleries for whatever reason. We basically started to build up our pillars around that whole principle.”
Liam (centre) has been able to help book creative talents for adverts and campaigns from top clients like Manchester United and Popeyes
Liam (centre) has been able to help book creative talents for adverts and campaigns from top clients like Manchester United and Popeyes
Now a creative agency, HEADS has worked with local brands like Black Milk Café, Joshua Brooks, and Leven, alongside big international names like Manchester United, adidas, and Popeyes, giving filmmakers, models, content creators and performers opportunities they might normally have had a chance to get themselves.
HEADS also holds regular meet-up sessions where creatives can meet one-another and make use of some of the city’s best studios, event spaces, and venues to create their own content.
“People started using our magazines or events to book talent for their adverts or campaigns,” Liam says. “All of a sudden, we’d have the likes of Manchester United coming to us directly asking them to help them find people for their shoots. Through HEADS, these people have now been able to say they have modelled for Manchester United.
One of the Manchester United campaigns that HEADS helped booked talent for
One of the Manchester United campaigns that HEADS helped booked talent for
(Image: Manchester United)
“A lot of creatives don’t like talking about themselves or spreading the work. But we’re trying to create this ripple effect of giving people a helping hand, and letting them network and build on their connections.”
And the fact that Liam has been able to do this, whilst securing his own headquarters office in the heart of Manchester with his partner, getting to work with world renown brands, certainly hasn’t put him out of touch with the prospects of the creative industry today.
“I’m still only 24,” Liam says. “So, I’m in a position where I’m still getting advice from other creatives and learning how things work. I sit in boardrooms with these top clients and different directors now, but equally, I know that it’s important to show exactly the same amount of respect to an artist who has never had their work exhibited anywhere before. It’s about treating people on the same level playing field and that's just so important to do, I think. “
Liam said he wants other creatives to be given opportunities to make the most out of their careers
Liam said he wants other creatives to be given opportunities to make the most out of their careers
Asked where that mentality comes from, Liam says it's just from being able to work with A-Listers around the world and craft his skills. “In seven years of shooting, I had worked with every celebrity I could have imagined shooting with,” he explains. “So, by this point, I’ve seen all of that, I’ve experienced things that most people just don't get to experience.”
And Liam knows fully well, in fact frustratingly well, that what he and HEADS does is something that others could easily do. Figures released last year by the Equity union found that funding from national arts council bodies across the country has been cut by 16pc from 2017 to 2022.
Across the North West alone, more than £30m in arts council funding has been lost in the same period of time - meaning photographers, actors, musicians, artists and other performers have had reduced opportunities to showcase and create their work.
“It actually p***** me off that I started this when I was 21 years old when there’s people who have more than 20 years experience than me who could be doing something,” he explains. “We self-funded all of this, we just did what needed to be done and to give people a starting platform and it’s frustrating.
Liam quit college at the age of 16 to pursue his passion for photography and fashion
Liam quit college at the age of 16 to pursue his passion for photography and fashion
“I’ve had to sacrifice a lot for this. There were times I wasn't able to pay the bills, and it’s just now that people are clocking on that this is something that can help people boost their careers?
“I think a lot of the things we do at HEADS could quite easily be done by the Government. There’s just so many talented creatives out there, not just in Manchester but across the country, that could be given these starts in their career.
“There could be all sorts of initiatives to help local artists, give them platforms to perform. Music and the arts is literally in the lifeblood of the city but it often doesn’t get the credit it deserves or the support it needs.”
But, despite the clear frustrations, Liam says he is happy to be the one that is helping give people in the city the creative pathways they might not always find themselves heading towards. And in fact, running HEADS and helping others has also seen Liam fall back in love with the very thing that started it all in the first place: his photography.
HEADS also organises meet-ups and gatherings where creatives, like photographers and models, can work on content together
HEADS also organises meet-ups and gatherings where creatives, like photographers and models, can work on content together
“I actually get excited to do my photography now,” he explains. “The pressure has gone and it’s nice stepping back into it with a new perspective. I feel like I can come at it differently now.”
And that’s the kind of reaction Liam says he wants HEADS to have on other creatives in the city - refuelling their love for what they do, being able to go out and achieve their goals and make a success out of it.
“There’s a guy called Cameron Halstead, who performs spoken word and produces music under his stage name of Cigs,” Liam recalls of one person that stands out to him as an example of HEADS in motion. “We met him like two years ago through some projects together and now I see him on Instagram where he’s modelled for United and done a spoken-word piece for them.
“He also did a custom rap for MediaCity, and his whole persona has been transformed because of the projects and the opportunities he's had. He’s just had his own headline gig in London because of what he does.
Liam said that starting his own business has also helped refuel his love for photography and his own creative projects
Liam said that starting his own business has also helped refuel his love for photography and his own creative projects
“That, to me, is just one example of the ripple effect that can be caused through the stuff we do. These sort of opportunities always mean so much to the creatives and really helps boost their reputation and career.
“It also makes them believe in themselves and that they can do it. Many of these creatives have been shut down, told they aren’t good enough or told they can’t do something, whereas projects like ours champion them and tell them that, actually, they’re really good at what they do and capable of so much.
“It really does just elevate them and it makes them think on a bigger level as well. It makes them believe that they can do it. That’s what we always wanted to achieve with HEADS.”
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You can follow HEADS on Instagram here.