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After earning a degree in public relations from Howard University, and spending nearly 3 years in CNN’s communications department, I landed my first music business-adjacent gig in 1989 at the Terrie Williams Agency. Terrie, still a great friend and mentor, had recently launched her PR firm & put me in charge of many of the agency\u2019s music acts.<\/p>\n
Once I left the\u00a0agency, I bounced around a bit, including stints back in TV and doing my own PR consulting. However, I never took my eye off another shot at the music industry.<\/p>\n
Around 1992, Motown PR chief Michael Mitchell offered me my chance to get back into the \u201cbiz\u201d and I joined the historic label as national director of publicity. Led by Jheryl Busby and Clarence Avant, I knew I was in the big leagues. And working with such acts as Boyz II Men, Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Johnny Gill, Zhane, The Temptations and many more made this a dream gig. But, as anyone knows who has worked in the music biz, it ain\u2019t gonna last forever. In 1995, I was laid off.<\/p>\n
It was at this point I began to realize being loyal to a specific industry may not the best route, and I began doing media consulting under my company, OneDiaspora Group, doing public speaking, writing and teaching on the college level. I had to take control of my \u201cbrand\u201d and define it based on the things that inspired me.<\/p>\n
A long-time client was Hidden Beach, founded by Steve McKeever and home to such acts as Jill Scott, Brenda Russell, Kindred the Family Soul & Mike Phillips. I headed up communications nearly 10 years but I never let my idea of personal brand take a back seat.<\/p>\n