Greta Valenti is an American entrepreneur and artist. She is a documentary filmmaker, producer of the television show ''

Live From Daryl's House ''Live from Daryl's House'' (simply known as ''Daryl's House'' and often abbreviated as ''LFDH'') is an online music series that debuted in the autumn of 2007. The show features singer-songwriter Daryl Hall performing with his band and various gu ...

'', founder and CEO of Grow Vision creative studios, and the lead singer of the bands Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse and Well Hung Heart.

Life and career

Greta Valenti was born in

Covington, Louisiana Covington is a city in, and the parish seat of, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 11,564 at the 2020 United States census. It is located at a fork of the Bogue Falaya and the Tchefuncte River. Covington is part of ...

. From the age of four, she performed on stage and in commercials and performed off-broadway at the age of 13. Valenti graduated school early, emancipated herself at the age of 17, and moved to California to join the touring performance group

The Young Americans The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral ...

. Valenti performed in four national U.S. tours with The Young Americans and appeared in over 30 stage productions from the age of 4–17, ranging from musicals to Shakespeare. She studied acting at the

Lee Strasberg Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, a ...

and comedy at

Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques ...

in Los Angeles with fellow actor

P.J. Byrne Paul Jeffrey Byrne (born December 15, 1974) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff in the Martin Scorsese film '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013) and Bolin on Nickelodeon's animated s ...

. In 2003, while being a performer and musician, Valenti started her business career working for

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

working her way up from Administrative Assistant to Art Director in the Creative Department. Her creativity for marketing was discovered by then CMO

Greg Creed Greg Creed (born c.1958) is an American businessman who was the CEO of Yum! Brands, from January 2015 until December 2019, when he retired, remaining on its board of directors. He was the CEO of Taco Bell, from February 2011 until January 2015. H ...

, who asked her to join the marketing think tank team. As part of that team, she helped develop nationally recognized PR and marketing strategies such as the World Series Target in Left Field for Free Tacos. In 2007, while working at Taco Bell, Valenti began her side hustle, her own company Grow Vision. In 2010, Valenti became a creative contract talent with the Taco Bell Creative Team. Along with internal leadership, Greta helped form the basis for Taco Bell's social media and the creation of the online content the brand is known for today. In 2012, she left Taco Bell and transitioned to Grow Vision full-time. Taco Bell became the company's main corporate client, while the team also produced the show ''Live From Daryl's House''. In May 2019, after developing her luxury edibles concept brand, Greta was hired by B2B soil to oil and B2C cannabis retail startup People's as the Director of Marketing for the company. Greta left People's in May 2021 to return to Grow Vision full-time. As of July 2021, Valenti is a full-time director, creator, writer, and touring musician.

Film & Music

Grow Vision

Valenti is CEO and Creative Director of Grow Vision, a full-service boutique creative agency and production company. Valenti formed Grow Vision as a web design company in 2007 and grew it into a fully fledged production company when she partnered with her now spouse Robin Davey. The two grew the company and now produce content for corporate clients such as

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

Dine Brands Global Dine Brands Global Inc. is a publicly traded food and beverage company based in Glendale, California. Founded in 1958 as IHOP, it operates franchised and corporate owned full-service restaurants including two restaurant concepts, Applebee's Ne ...

Educational Insights Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

, and

Irvine Company The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more ...

. They produced the television show ''

'' for

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

Network for two years, as well as music videos for

Jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. After ...

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

and many more. In 2017, Valenti began directing music videos and films. Released in 2019, Valenti's first feature-length documentary, co-directed by Robin Davey, ''

The Unbelievable Plight of Mrs Wright ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'', has won over 67 film festival awards.

Grow Vision: studios

In July 2021, Grow Vision Studios opened as a Motown-inspired retro recording and livestream studio in Southern California.

Grow Vision: music

In 2011, Valenti's Grow Vision launched its record label and publishing company to sign and manage their musical project, Well Hung Heart. Since that time, the label has five album releases for Well Hung Heart and Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse.

Well Hung Heart

Valenti performed with various bands in the

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, area before she formed the rock trio Well Hung Heart with Robin Davey in 2011. With Well Hung Heart she has released three albums, ''Young Enough To Know It All'' (2013), ''Go Forth and Multiply'' (2014), and the self-titled EP ''Well Hung Heart'' (2016). Well Hung Heart won the 2014 Best Live Band award at the OC Music Awards as well as Best Music Video. Well Hung Heart continues to tour extensively in both America and Europe and was one of the headliners on the Axis Entertainment stage at the 2015

Rocklahoma Rocklahoma (also known as Rock Fever Presents Rocklahoma or Rock Fever) is an annual American three-day rock festival held in Pryor, Oklahoma. The festival features 4 official stages, as well as many unofficial campground parties and performing a ...

Festival in Oklahoma. The band continued to tour and release music. At their November 2018 show, the band surprised fans by getting

William Hung William Hing Cheung Hung (; born January 13, 1983) is a Hong Kong motivational speaker and former singer who gained fame in 2004 as a result of his unsuccessful audition singing Ricky Martin's hit song "She Bangs" on the third season of the ...

to sing

All Star (song) "All Star" is a song by the American rock band Smash Mouth from their second studio album, ''Astro Lounge'' (1999). Written by Greg Camp and produced by Eric Valentine, the song was released on May 4, 1999, as the first single from ''Astro Lo ...

Smash Mouth Smash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass). With Harwell's depar ...

with them on stage. In Fall 2017, the band had a couple of opportunities to open for Orange County legends

The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guita ...

. In May 2018, Well Hung Heart played the second stage at Rocklahoma opening for

Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his pseudonym "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thomps ...

. In August 2018 Well Hung Heart played the main stage at

Buffalo Chip Campground The Buffalo Chip Campground is an event venue in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The campground is a place for motorcycle enthusiasts and music festival visitors each year, and has been since its founding in 1981. Host to a 10-day Conc ...

, opening for Foreigner.

Beaux Gris Gris and The Apocalypse

In 2017, Valenti along with partner Robin Davey created the New-Orleans-influenced blues band Beaux Gris Gris and The Apocalypse. The band features a variety of well-known musicians from the British Blues scene, including members of

The Hoax ''The Hoax'' is a 2006 American comedy-drama film starring Richard Gere, directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallström. The screenplay by William Wheeler is based on the book of the same title by Clifford Irving. It recounts Irving's elaborate h ...

, King King, and

Joanne Shaw Taylor Joanne Shaw Taylor (born 1985, England) is an English singer and guitarist. She was discovered by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics at the age of 16. Taylor's albums via Ruf Records, ''White Sugar'' (2009) and '' Diamonds in the Dirt'' (2010), p ...

bands. The band has released a sampler EP called ''The Appetizer'' and a full-length album called ''Love & Murder''. Valenti directed them and edited the music video for their single "Heart Breaker". Their single "Louisiana Good Ride" was featured on the

Cerys Matthews Cerys Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s. Matthews programmes and ...

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

Blues show. The band has toured the Uk, Europe, and select cities in the United States. As with many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the release of their second album and subsequent European tour to early 2022.

Writing

Valenti has written articles and essays for several publications from ''Classic Rock'' magazine, Muse by Clio, LouderSound.com, and more. Notable articles: * "No Girls Allowed" for Classic Rock/Louder Sound * "Canna-Censored: The Challenges of Cannabis Marketing" for Muse by Clio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenti, Greta Living people American women rock singers Year of birth missing (living people) The Young Americans members 21st-century American women