2026 Women Of Live: Christina Shams

Christina Shams
Avesta Entertainment | CEO, Talent Manager & Producer

LIFE-CHANGING CONCERT |  “Mariah Carey’s Christmas concert, of course!”

Christina Shams, who manages comedy supernova Matt Rife, found her passion while working in local TV news.

“I interviewed lots of famous comedians during my internship at the local NBC News station and just fell in love with the live comedy business. There’s nothing like the sound of laughter and joy at a live show – a room full of strangers vibing high as one,” she says.

She started working at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, moving quickly from production intern to “running the club and booking talent almost immediately.” From there: The Gersh Agency, an MBA, AEG Presents’ comedy touring department and then becoming an agent on her own. 

“When my client Matt Rife’s career suddenly took off on social media, he recruited me from my job to manage him. I took a leap of faith to start a company doing exactly what I was always building toward and destined to do,” she says.

Shams sees Avesta’s independence as its greatest strength.

“I enjoy being an independent boutique company – I get to hand pick the cream of the crop to work with, talented good humans only, and we’ve been growing at such a fast rate – I can see so much potential already for even further growth,” she says. 

Avesta also has an all-female team and in that way, honors the woman pioneers and sets up the next generation.

“I love seeing the progress we’ve made by being pioneers ourselves, pushing through the barriers of entry and pulling up more women by giving them an opportunity in this space, whether that’s direct employment or recommendations or mentorship. It’s a very intentional move a handful of us have made, so now we are seeing the results one lady at a time,” she says. “The women who started out primarily at the administrative or entry level, who worked at the box office, or as a hostess have been given pathways to reach new levels of leadership so we’re seeing more women now at the mid to executive level. And although we’ve made progress, the challenge is there is still more room to grow – I still sometimes find that I’m the only woman at the table in the higher levels of representation and negotiations.”