Grow Where You're Planted™ is a WOC panel conversation and community-building experience on starting where you are, using what you have, and growing your ideas.
First Year Project hosted its first GWYP at Warehouse XI, including an amazing panel of women with work from Columbia Records, Hubspot's INBOUND, The Rolling Stones, Pernod Ricard, the startup community, and more.
Roles: Owner, Event Producer, Creative Strategist, Host
Also worked extensively in securing sponsorships, onboarding (creative team & vendors), panel curation, interviewing, end to end event production, and more.
Click here to watch the recap video. You can also find the social media photo series A Digital Tour Through GWYP and the GWYP Digital Lookbook online.
First Year Project is a podcast sharing the stories behind the good, bad & integral aspects of first years.
I produce, host, and edit audio and written content for the First Year Project podcast and website. Media kit here.
WORK SAMPLE
Role: Owner, Producer, Editor, Host
Project: Season 1 (15 Episodes)
Listen:
S1 E10: How Do You Eat an Elephant? (with Haasan Barclay)
Project Description: Season 1 of First Year Project had the general focus of highlighting the early years of creatives, artists and entrepreneurs. Sharing these stories of vulnerability, struggle and achievement was the driving force behind Season 1 of First Year Project.
Episode Context: On Season 1 of First Year Project, I sat down with Haasan Barclay. We talked about his first-year experiences as an artist/producer/instrumentalist, the Boston hip hop music scene, and his project Heaven is Your Last Dream.
photos shot by @LivSlaughter
Season 2 of First Year Project was all about storytelling. I talked to creatives about transitions. I grew more intentional with crafting questions that would result in more conversations about the stories behind these experiences. I also drew from my very own experience with tough transitions—being displaced by a fire in my apartment building (blog post here).
Click here to listen to the Season 2 Trailer.
WORK SAMPLE
Role: Owner, Producer, Editor, Host
Project: Season 2 (12 Episodes)
Listen: S2 E3: Go Through It All (with Jozen Cummings)
Context: A fan of Twitter Moments, VIBE Magazine and Bleacher Report’s new Snapchat? If so, you have Jozen Cummings to thank for many of the great work that you know and love. In this episode, Jozen and I talked about perseverance, patience, and money.
Interview Focus: Jozen Cummings is a media professional, and California native based in New York City, who has been at the forefront and end of some crucial shifts in media culture. He was at VIBE Magazine during the abrupt closing, years later followed by starting Twitter Moments with its founding team. My main focus during this interview was to craft questions that would get Jozen to share the stories behind these experiences. Listeners got to hear the stories behind the day VIBE closed, the greatest lesson he learned about money, and so much more.
Photos shot by Liv Slaughter
Role: Editor (Contract)
Clients: Refinery29 & Spotify
Project: Good As Hell | Link to show
Description: a podcast series on women in Hip Hop hosted by Lizzo
CREATIVE PROCESS & DECISION MAKING
Refinery29 hired me to do an edit for the Good As Hell podcast in partnership with Spotify. I decided to focus on editing the episode in a way that went deeper into the complex relationship between tough life transitions, vulnerability and one's creative best. What happens when you realize that you do some of your best work when your personal life is at its most dysfunctional? Grappling with that question is something that both the host and guest are transparent about in this conversation. I included a lot of their conversation around that theme and other moments that aligned well with the concept of the show.
The audio was long and needed significant cuts, so I had to make some tough decisions around leaving out certain parts of the conversation. My recommendation to the client was to take some of what was cut out and use that tape in audiovisual clips to share with the audience on social media.
My favorite part of the conversation is that there aren't too many of the typical questions about what it's like to be a woman in Hip Hop. My suggestion to the lead producer & editor who I worked with was to keep going in that direction with the interview questions. That approach allows a variety of unique experiences to come out more authentically as artists share their stories.
Content partnership with the Red Sox and a local event production agency called NYA Boston.
I wrote, produced, and edited the audio piece and some video content. Click here to listen to the podcast episode.
The event, Afropolis Boston, is part of the Red Sox’s diversity and inclusion efforts.
An event series of live one-on-one interviews.
WORK SAMPLE
Role: Producer, Editor, Host
Listen: FYP Live with Latrell James
Description: FYP Live is a live interview event that I produce and host. I was responsible for strategizing the event end to end, selecting and booking the guest, and securing the space and sponsorships. In addition to hosting the interview, my work involved curating a guest list with key influencers. I recruited and onboarded a team, including a videographer, photographer, DJ, and co-producer. The co-producer secured volunteers, created the invitation visual, and helped to execute the day of the event logistics.
Context: Latrell James is a Massachusetts based producer and artist. The Boston-native and Brockton-based artist/producer has a variety of production and feature credits with Cousin Stizz, J Cole’s label, Dreamville, and many more. His project Twelve released in May 2015, solidifying his exceptional musicality and intentionality.
Interview Focus: Shortly before the event, Latrell’s new and nationally syndicated Cheerios campaign was released. Latrell was getting a lot of interviews with outlets specifically about the commercial. I wanted my live interview to stand out, so I structured my questions to focus more on him as a person as well as his creative process and development. We talked about how he got his start, how he knows when a project is complete, the lessons that have taken him the longest to learn, and more.
video by @malcolmdigital
Listen: Master Yourself, Master The World The J Prince Story
Additional Links: Soundcloud | Social
Role: Owner, Producer, Editor, Host
Context: During his book tour, I sat down with Hip Hop legend, business mogul, and manager to some of the greats, J Prince. Prince is the Founder and CEO of the Houston-based, legendary Rap-A-Lot Records.
J Prince is known for grooming some of southern rap greats, such as, The Geto Boys, Bun B and Pimp C of UGK, Z-Ro, Big Mike, and others—along with being Drake’s longtime mentor.
We talked about his memoir, The Art and Science of Respect, how he deals with failure, how he created the Geto Boys, and what separates him from the pack.
Some newsletters and blog posts that I've written and curated.
I write audio scripts, interview questions, blog posts, and social media copy. I also design visuals for digital and online content.
Click each visual on this page to check out the entire post.
For more newsletters and blog posts, click here.
original photograph shot by Kelsey Masters
Visuals that I’ve produced and/or edited, including photographs, videos, and audio visuals.
NextShift Collaborative, LLC is a mission driven consulting firm that builds strategic partnerships for collective wealth generation in communities that have been marginalized by traditional economic development.
Content/Production/Design
Based on NextShift's needs, I was tasked with designing, launching and producing/managing content for the firm's website.
Content Marketing & Strategy
I developed the firm's 12-month strategic content and communication plans.
I redesigned and produced the infographic resources from originally complex policy documents, and produced and managed much of the firm’s original web/digital content.
