Photo Credit: Tierra Carpenter |
"Bloggers and the Beat" was a five
panelists discussion, sponsored by SPC Lectures at SIU.
It was moderated by Madeline Smith, a graduate assistant at WIDB student run radio station and SPC TV.
The speakers on the panel included the following
people: Karen Civil, Brandon "Real T@lk" Williams, Tyece Wilkins, and
Tha Shipmates.
Karen Civil is an entrepreneur, and manager to
rappers YG and Nipsey Hussle.
Brandon "Real T@lk" Williams is an
artist, motivational speaker, and SIU alumnus.
Tyece Williams is the author behind the website,
Twenties Unscripted which she started in 2012.
"Tha Shipmates" is the name
for the music production duo, Breeze and Matcy P.
All five of these panelists had extremely
insightful things to say regarding how they managed to turn their passion into
their career.
Here is a list of ten things I learned from them.
1. Don't be afraid to
network, and make use of your contacts.
Real T@lk explained how important it is to
follow up with your contacts.
He gave a great example of how he was able to
use his contacts when he was struggling financially, his first two years after
graduating college.
"When I was going to different cities and I
didn't have hotels, I was following up with frat brothers, sorors, and people
who I met who were like, 'When you come to DC, follow up with me.' I'll call
you and I'm going to be on your couch," Real T@lk said.
2. Use your on-campus
resources to your advantage. You're already paying for them.
Breeze had the resources to learn music production the
entire time he was in school, but he didn't start until after he graduated college.
"There are three or four different
recording rooms in the comm building, but you don't realize that until you're
out of college and studio time is fifty- dollars an hour, Breeze said. "It
may not be to the quality you want, but at least you're still practicing your
craft."
3. Don't let anyone
underestimate the value of your time, talent, or services.
Breeze said if you have a skill that is worth
money, you should be charging for it.
"If somebody who wants to work with you can't get with that, then that's not somebody you need to be in cahoots
with," he said. That's somebody who's not really serious about work,
somebody who doesn't invest in their career, and somebody who doesn't care
about being too successful with what they're doing."
4. Don't stop, or even slow
down what you're doing, just because other people may not understand it.
Civil said her mom didn't fully understand her
career until she bought her an eight-bedroom home.
"Of course after I bought my mom her eight
bedroom home, she understands 'Oh, my daughter's an entrepreneur.' It's
unfortunate, but it definitely takes time for people to understand, and to see
the vision," Civil said.
5. Social media is not a
true representation of anyone's life. Don't feel like you have to rush your
success because of what you see everyone else doing.
Civil described how the use of social networks
affects people starting careers in media today.
"Now when you wake up you're seeing what
everyone else is doing and you're thinking 'I need to move quicker. I need to
know what's happening.' ... There's no set time on when you're going to be
successful. Oprah had her first big break when she was 30 or 31."
"I sleep for like two hours, then I wake up
and check my email, because I don't want to miss anything."
Matcy P explained that sometimes work has to be
nonstop.
"The minute you stop and take a break, you
miss out on so much. The more you keep going and learning, the better your
outcome will be," he said.
6. Sometimes with success, also comes
sacrifice.
Civil said one of the biggest misconceptions
about her job is that people underestimate how hard it is, especially because
social media only shows the good moments.
She recently had surgery and is supposed to be
on six weeks bed rest but isn’t, because she has to work.
She described how hectic a day in her life could
be.
"I'm usually in an office working six or
seven hours,” she said. “Then I have to go to meetings. Then after you go to
meetings, you have to go to studio. Then I have to work on personal things and
just so many different projects. It's a lot."
She also sleeps in two-hour increments, because
her clients are on the east coast, while she is on the west coast.
7. If you want to give back
to the world, sometimes one of the best things you can do is provide a good
influence.
Breeze used his fraternity background to show
how leading by example can be an effective way to give back.
Before he joined his fraternity, the members
made him want to emulate them, because they were always dressed nice, going to
class, and looking cool.
"I think that was a part of their giving
back," he said. "Their mentorship was just upholding themselves in
this light, where I would never let anybody look at me in a negative
form."
He took on a similar form of mentorship in his
life.
"If it's not me directly giving something
back, it's more of me just upholding a positive image," he said.
8. Sometimes as a black
woman, you may be looked at as something you are not. Therefore, it is your
responsibility to present yourself as a professional at all times.
Civil described what challenges she faced as a
black woman in her field.
"I felt like I had two strikes against me
which were being a woman and being a black woman," she said.
Civil said she had to dress and act a certain way to train people to take her seriously and show her respect.
"Before I would leave my house every
morning, I would do a mirror check," she said.
Civil made sure her clothes weren't fitted too
tightly and that she was not presenting herself too sexually.
Even doing all of that, some men still did not
respect her as a business woman.
She was asked out on dates which she had to
decline, because she knew her career would go farther than a romantic
relationship.
There was also one studio engineer who
completely ignored her presence, while he proceeded to greet both her business
partner and artist.
9. Don't let people know
every detail of your personal life, just because you're a personal blogger.
Wilkins explained one of the most common
misconceptions she receives from being a personal blogger.
"People read your work, and then they think
they know your entire life," she said.
She made a suggestion to anyone that may want to
have a personal blog.
"Have boundaries about what you're willing
to write and not write, but also with people," she said.
Wilkins said you should set your boundaries with people by
letting them know what you are not willing to talk about outside of your blog.
10. There are so many
female bloggers out right now, and that may make it harder for women to gain
and keep a following.
Wilkins described the current state of the
female blogging community.
"I think that living in this sort of very
over saturated blogosphere, and over saturated writing community right now is
amazing," she said. "It also makes it that much harder to make
yourself unique and to make your product something that people are going to pay attention
to. I think that's kind of a minus for me in the blogging community. As a woman
the same things that are working for me are sometimes working against me."
Clearly I took a lot away
from "Bloggers and the Beat". I have no doubt that what I
learned from these five creatives last night will help me become more savvy in
my media career.
This was another great event provided by SPC
Lectures. I am thoroughly looking forward to any events they present in the future.
Read Tyece Wilkins' Bloggers and the Beat Recap here: www.twentiesunscripted.com/bloggers-and-the-beat-recap-you-cant-be-afraid-to-fly/