Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Gross.
Hi Marcus, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
SADBrunch started in Baltimore in 2019 with a simple goal: to create exciting, high-quality LGBTQ+ experiences that brought people together while creating more opportunities for entertainers.
What began as local drag brunches quickly grew into something much bigger. We expanded into new cities, developed relationships with venues across the country, and began producing experiences beyond the traditional brunch format—including drag bingo, nightlife events, holiday productions, special events, and multi-city tours.
As SADBrunch grew, we saw another need within the industry. Talented entertainers needed more than individual gigs—they needed representation, stronger business infrastructure, and someone focused on building sustainable opportunities beyond the stage.
That realization led to the launch of Innova Talent Agency in December 2025.
Innova expanded our work from producing experiences to representing and developing talent. The agency works with drag and LGBTQ+ entertainers, including nationally recognized television talent, connecting them with venues, festivals, Pride organizations, corporate partners, nightlife events, and other opportunities across the U.S. and internationally.
In its first six months, Innova generated more than $400,000 in gross bookings, with talent opportunities spanning the United States, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Amsterdam. That growth reinforced something we had learned through SADBrunch: there is a real opportunity to combine queer creativity with strong, professional business infrastructure.
Today, the two companies complement each other while serving different purposes. SADBrunch creates and produces the experiences; Innova Talent Agency represents and creates opportunities for the talent.
The journey hasn’t been a straight line. We’ve had to learn how to scale, adapt, build better systems, take risks, and constantly rethink what is possible within queer entertainment. But throughout that growth, the mission has remained consistent: create memorable experiences, provide meaningful paid opportunities for entertainers and creatives, and build spaces where people can celebrate authentically.
What started with a drag brunch in Baltimore has grown into a much larger vision for queer entertainment—and we’re still building.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. One of the biggest challenges came during the period when proposed drag bans and other restrictions targeting drag performances were being introduced across the country.
For a company built around producing drag experiences in multiple markets, there was a lot of uncertainty. Certain markets, particularly places like Florida and Kentucky, became more difficult to navigate. We had to pay close attention to changing legislation, understand what venues and performers were comfortable with, and determine how to continue producing events while protecting our entertainers, partners, and guests.
There were also moments when the political climate affected how venues approached drag entertainment. Conversations that had previously been entirely about producing a great event suddenly included questions about legal risk, protests, security, and public perception.
That period taught us a lot about adaptability. Instead of pulling back from our mission, we became more intentional about where and how we produced events, strengthened our relationships with venue partners, and continued finding ways to create opportunities for LGBTQ+ entertainers.
Growing a business always comes with challenges, but navigating that period reinforced why spaces like SADBrunch matter. For us, drag has always been about entertainment, creativity, community, and giving talented performers a platform—and we remained committed to that even when the environment became more difficult.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At our core, we are in the business of creating opportunities and experiences within queer entertainment.
SADBrunch is our event production brand. While we started with drag brunch, today we produce a much broader range of experiences—from drag brunches and bingo to nightlife events, holiday productions, special events, and multi-city tours. We partner with restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, and other organizations to bring professionally produced drag entertainment into their spaces.
What sets SADBrunch apart is that we don’t look at drag as simply booking a few entertainers and putting on a show. We approach each event as an experience. From the talent and marketing to the venue partnership and guest experience, we’re thinking about how all of those pieces work together. We’ve also built a model that allows us to take concepts we’ve developed and successfully bring them into multiple cities while still incorporating local entertainers and communities.
Innova Talent Agency represents the other side of what we do. Innova is a talent agency specializing in drag and LGBTQ+ entertainment, representing both nationally recognized talent and emerging entertainers. We connect our roster with Pride festivals, corporate events, nightlife, universities, venues, tours, and other opportunities throughout the U.S. and internationally.
I think what makes the overall organization unique is the relationship between the two companies. SADBrunch creates the experiences, while Innova represents and develops the talent. Having experience on both sides gives us a different understanding of what entertainers need, what buyers and venues need, and ultimately what audiences want.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud of the fact that SADBrunch has grown far beyond one event or one city. Something that started as a Baltimore drag brunch in 2019 has developed into a recognizable platform that can enter new markets, build venue partnerships, create original concepts, and provide consistent paid opportunities for queer entertainers and creatives.
With Innova, I’m equally proud of how quickly we’ve been able to demonstrate that LGBTQ+ talent can be represented with the same level of structure, strategy, and professionalism expected anywhere else in the entertainment industry.
Ultimately, I want people to understand that we’re building more than drag shows. We’re building infrastructure around queer entertainment—creating experiences for audiences, opportunities for artists, and sustainable partnerships for the businesses and organizations that want to work with our community.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something that surprises a lot of people is that we are a Black-owned LGBTQ+ company. Because our work spans so many cities, entertainers, venues, and communities, that part of our story isn’t always immediately visible.
Through SADBrunch and Innova Talent Agency, we’ve built what we believe is one of the largest Black-owned LGBTQ+ creative, talent, and live entertainment operations of its kind, producing experiences across the country and creating opportunities for queer talent in the U.S. and internationally.
That’s something I’m incredibly proud of. Representation matters not only on the stage, but also behind the scenes—in ownership, production, talent representation, decision-making, and in who gets to build businesses within this industry.
We’ve grown significantly, but we’ve done it while remaining independently built and Black-owned. I want other Black and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and creatives to see that it’s possible to build something substantial, scalable, and lasting in this space.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://SADBrunch.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/sadbrunch
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/sadbrunch
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/sadbrunch
