My Friends Are Better Than Yours Featuring Chanel Rae Pettaway

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Chanel is a Public Relations, Branding, Events, and Media Specialist for top brands across multiple genres, including music, fashion, and technology. She is the co-host of a new podcast for the millennial mom, “Our First Time; AMommyCast, which has been mentioned on Hot97, Bossip, VIBE magazine, and more. She is also a writer for Mirren (an advertising consulting firm) and was the recipient of the Essence of a Woman award from the Queens chapter of the NAACP (March 2012) and named Top 45 Publicists you Should Hire (May 2014).  Chanel has worked in music, media, fashion, entertainment, and now government. Though Chanel is known for breaking artists in the music industry including rockstar Cardi B as well as today’s emerging artists like Zeddy Will and Honey Bxby, now you can also catch her in politics as she is now part of the PR support for Newark NJ’s Mayor Ras Baraka as he campaigns for Governor of New Jersey.  Chanel was named AllHipHop’s Powerful Women and Urban Magazine’s Executive Power in 2018. She was featured in Black Enterprise for the brand alignment between Dipset, the NBA, and Bleacher Report in February of 2020. She also secured a spirits and wine partnership between Jim Jones and Luè/JADE in September of 2023.  Chanel was highlighted on Urban Magazine’s Executive Power (March 2019), AllHipHop’s Powerful Women (March 2019), and Bossip as one of the Baddest Publicist Baes In The Game in 2021 and 2022. She was part of Sway’s list of 15 Black Women Making Waves in Our Culture (FEB 2024), and has now been added to XXL’s Awards Board (Feb 2025).  Chanel has worked alongside WWE, Hot 97, Jimmy Jazz, Shaggy, Cam’Ron, Jim Jones, Dipset, Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, Salaam Remi, Joell Ortiz, Chinx, Fatman Scoop, Chrissy Lampkin, Michael “Blue” Williams, Smack White / URLTV, Embassy Lounge NYC, Hitmaka, Torae, J1, DJ Juanyto, DJ Drewski, DJ E. Stylez, Pretty Lou, DJ LilTaj, Kinship Apparel, Yay Apparel, and more. Her goal is simply to “save brands."  Connect with BIG CED:  https://www.youtube.com/@bigced328?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.instagram.com/bigced328/  https://www.facebook.com/bigced328  https://x.com/bigced  https://bsky.app/profile/bigced328.bsky.social  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bigced/  https://www.twitch.tv/bigced328   https://open.spotify.com/show/35yBW0BTd4c7HvCnh9dVXz?si=HvZeE8RfTJGH6YjvHBiYzg&nd=1&dlsi=a147a471e6ab4c5c  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-industry-cosign/id1638654676  https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-industry-cosign-105171601/  https://theindustrycosign.com/

Transcript

00:00Hey, hey, hey, and hey. Good day, everyone. I say day because you might be looking at it

00:17a different time than when we're filming it. So once again, big sad, industry co-sign.

00:22My friends are better than yours. I have someone that I respect dearly, and one of the people that

00:30I decided to definitely reach out to when I decided to do this series. For those tuning in

00:35for the first time, I've been a journalist for about two months, and I've gotten sick of...

00:44I'm not going to say I've gotten sick, but from now on, I prefer to give platforms to people

00:51I actually know that are doing things or have been doing things as opposed to just a typical

00:57celebrity or executive. And not to say that I don't do that, but if I have to spend my time

01:02and my time, I'm going to do it with people that I honestly like and respect. And one of

01:07them is here today, Chanel Ray, and the Legion Media Group. I've worked with her for so long,

01:16I can't even remember when we met or how we met, but I'm glad to have you here. I guess

01:23you can give a little brief intro, and then we can just get right into conversation.

01:28Thank you, Seth.

01:29Hi. Well, thank you, Seth, for thinking of me. It's really an honor. You're someone I looked

01:35up to in the game for a very long time now. I'm a writer first, as I always say, and I am a stand for the

01:46writers. And you are definitely one that I've always admired, not only your work, but again,

01:53just you and your professionalism, how you carry yourself and how well-respected you are. So it's

01:59an honor and a privilege to be here. As for me, I'm Chanel Ray. I dubbed a few names in the industry,

02:06came up as, again, a young reporter on the other side of the red carpet, working at In Touch Weekly

02:13and so on. And they called me the red carpet hero. And then within the last decade or so,

02:21have more so found my niche in what they consider culture PR, AKA, I know a lot of Black media,

02:30and they're finally getting it that they need us. They just don't know how, right? So that's been my

02:40niche in entertainment, but also touching other spaces, most recently in politics, retail and other

02:51entertainment corporate entities. But the majority of my clients have been under the entertainment

02:57umbrella for sure. Definitely. Now, I don't know if I knew this. And then of course, as I'm like,

03:02you know, reading your bio again, that you were from the Bronx. I don't know if you knew that,

03:06but you know, I definitely have an affinity for all my Bronx peoples.

03:10I didn't realize that was in the Bronx. So, I mean, that was in the bio. I grew up on Long Island

03:15and anybody hearing this from Long Island, they would definitely be like, she's not from the Bronx.

03:20I was born in the Bronx. I grew up in central Iceland, Long Island. However, I remind even my

03:27sister a lot of times that she still lives there. And she was like, girl, you live here. You don't

03:31remember where such and such is. I'm like, I'm a woman of a certain age. I moved out of our parents'

03:37house at 17 years old. I spent most of my adult life not on Long Island. So, forgive me if I don't

03:44remember where the McDonald's is in Smithtown, because no, I don't remember. So, yes, I spent most

03:53of my adult life in the Bronx. And now I live on the other side of the river in Jersey, you know,

04:01trying to give my child a bit of that suburban life that I had on Long Island.

04:07But still have close proximity to the city. So, I'm a New Jersey girl.

04:12I'm always going to claim the Bronx, even though I'm on the other side as well.

04:18But, you know, I guess because typically, like most of the people I do talk to on this platform,

04:26like I said, however I met, it's not always particularly the music industry, but it's mostly

04:31music industry because that's like my whole career and what I've always done. But I know that with me

04:37growing in the Bronx, hip hop and baseball was definite things because Yankee Stadium was like

04:44nearby and hip hop, of course, originated in the Bronx. So, I always tell people that like I had to be

04:51become involved in hip hop. But what I want to know from you is being that you are actually,

05:00I don't want to say trained, but you're an actual writer,

05:03you know, and I guess your goal since you went to school for writing, your goal was to become a writer.

05:11What led you down to that path of wanting to write?

05:15Well, I didn't know that I liked writing until my mother forced me to take journalism

05:24as an elective. And I didn't really understand because in high school, it was called computer

05:31journalism. And I didn't really understand what the concept was and all that. And then I found out

05:38that my track coach was the teacher for it. And my mom is, you know, she's from a Caribbean family,

05:46from Belize. And, you know, we come up with, we come from the thought of everybody has to be a doctor

05:53or a lawyer. Like there's no in between. So, she was on me, on me in school and made sure that I took,

06:01you know, certain electives that would help. And excuse me, my biggest job is being a mom.

06:07And anytime I'm on one of these webinars or calls, that's when my son wants to come right here.

06:13And like, I need you to go do something somewhere else. And if you're in the living room,

06:20I need you to keep it quiet, please. Thank you.

06:24He heard a buzzing in his ear.

06:28I think he just wants to be on screen, y'all. You want them to interview you?

06:33See, he said, sure. It's the Leo in him.

06:40So anyways, yeah. So I was forced to take an elective and it was journalism. And I liked every

06:50part of it, not just the, you know, the writing part, the talking to people, putting it into words.

06:57And at that time, I was a junior in high school. So I was also taking like, at that time, AP English

07:07and understanding that, oh, wait, I liked how to write essays too. And like the creative writing.

07:11So all of this was like, you know, I'm finding my words and how much, you know, and how beautiful

07:18I can put them together and, you know, in an eloquent way. And I just liked the storytelling

07:23element of it all. So that's when I was like, oh, well, maybe I'm going to be a writer. And

07:29simultaneously, um, in my, and I'm dating myself here, but, um, a young lady who used to be the

07:36first lady, um, she was running for Senator of New York and she came to speak at my school.

07:43And I was one of the two that got to interview her when she was, you know, came to our school

07:49to do her campaign visit. And so here I am taking pictures with, uh, Ms. Hillary Clinton. And, um,

07:57and, and I was so excited. I dropped all of my notes as I stood up to ask my question.

08:02And she came over and she helped me pick them up. You know, if there was, if there was social media,

08:09then we would have went viral. Like it was a moment, you know? Um, so anyways, it was that

08:15she was my first ever, um, you know, celebrity interview and to have, you know, the, the first

08:22lady, uh, who, you know, was after that became Senator, um, you know, having the chance to interview

08:30her that really set the mark for me of like what my capabilities were. Um, and so I focused on that

08:37in college as like, Oh, I'm going to be a writer. And, um, and in college, uh, even though I became

08:45a writer in my school paper, I learned quickly that everywhere wasn't as, uh, diverse and, um,

08:56you know, culture friendly as my hometown. So when I got to the school paper and I'm, you know,

09:03as light as I am, I'm still the darkest one on the paper. Um, and I didn't get an,

09:09an editor position. Um, I was news writing up until, uh, my junior year and there was an editor

09:17position open. And the only, only editor position open was the, um, and I was the last to get picked

09:24as an editor. And the only one space left was the entertainment section. And so I said, well,

09:30I'm going to show them this is going to be the best section of the paper. And with that,

09:34I started meeting people in the entertainment business. Um, all the record label people

09:40were pitching me and wanting me to write, you know, or have my writers write for the

09:45entertainment section and whatnot. And so now I have relationships at all the labels,

09:50especially Def Jam. And I meet, um, Mike money who was under Rob love at the time. And he's like,

09:57oh, you should come be an intern for me this summer. And so I did. And then again, each of these,

10:05these things lead to other internships in the entertainment space. I've entered,

10:10I've interned at ABC for one life to live. I was like, okay, TV is interesting, but I don't know if

10:17this part is for me yet. Um, I interned under Wendy Williams. So learned radio and said,

10:24this is interesting. Not knowing if it's for me yet. Um, again, interned at Def Jam. This is

10:31interesting. Not sure how it all is piecing together. Um, after college, I, um, I started writing for

10:39advertising age and in touch weekly, um, because, uh, my temp at the time at, um, at advertising age,

10:50she was, she was working, um, after she stopped being my temp. And for those of you who don't know,

10:56attempt is like an assistant and she was only attempt for a few months, but we could build a

11:01good rapport. She ended up going to write for in such weekly and she, um, her editor, her boss

11:09have went on maternity leave and never came back. So she got the editor position and she was like,

11:15Chanel, you want to come right for me? And I was like, hell yeah. So here I am writing for ad age

11:20and in such a weekly in the evening, you know, this is my early twenties, like right out of college.

11:26And, um, one summer, and again, aging myself, um, it, the NAACP is having their centennial.

11:35Um, and at that time, I'm sure you guys remember another senator, um, who, uh, was the senator of

11:42Illinois, was also running a campaign. Um, and he made a stop at, uh, at this, uh, centennial. And we

11:51were my partner, Ian and I, um, who were friends in college and we had started a new, um, sorry,

11:57a magazine in college. Um, the NAACP calls us that summer and was like, Hey, do you guys want to, um,

12:04to put together one of those fashion shows that you had put together to promote your magazine,

12:09but you want to do it for our centennial for the youth and college division. And we're like, again,

12:14young out of college, you're like, this is an easy check. I said, I'm writing at in touch. I know a

12:18couple C and D list celebrities. I know some writers. I could put together a little fake red

12:24carpet. And we did that. And I did PR for the fashion show and the fashion show got more press

12:32than a, you know, more press attention than the senator that came to speak, um, at the time who

12:39then becomes our, you know, first black president, but that neither here nor there at that time,

12:44no one was caring is the point. Um, again, dating myself, but by that October, um, the stock market

12:52crashes, um, books are starting to close left and right. I get laid off that adage. Um,

12:59I stopped getting that many assignments from in touch. Um, hold on one sec.

13:03This is why I don't have any children. Like I see you guys hear it. I, I said it nicely,

13:14like three times guys said it nicely. He only goes upstairs. And when I, so when I started yelling,

13:19I hope you need it. So anyways, yes. So books started closing left and right. Um, by, um,

13:27I got laid off from adage and I, so, and I say to Ian, I said, maybe we should start that, you know,

13:35people wanted us to do PR. I said, maybe we need to take this PR thing seriously. So we bring in

13:41another partner. Um, at the time, her, um, her name is Sasha Thompson. Sasha came in and kind of

13:47cleaned us up at the time she was doing PR for Brooklyn museum. She was the one to start step.

13:53Was it first Sundays or was it? Yeah. I think first Sundays at the Brooklyn museum. And, um,

13:58she doesn't do PR anymore, but she came in and kind of, you know, cleaned up our, our act per se,

14:03and showed us the rope and, and kind of cleaned up our organization. Um, and ever since then,

14:09one client led to another client, led to another client, led to another, and predominantly by word of

14:14mouth and referrals. That's good. Um, I mean, that's always how it starts where nothing is what it

14:21supposed to be, but it ends up the way it needs to be. Right. It's a good thing.

14:27And, and what I did learn is that PR encompass all of the things that I liked from each of those

14:34internships, you know? Um, and that was the surprise for me. And I wish that again, I knew about different

14:43options of career because maybe I would have pieced together all of that sooner, but again, things happen

14:49the way they were meant to happen. I was going to say, yeah, but if you had done it that way,

14:52then maybe you would have gone in a different direction then. Right. You may have been an

14:56engineer right now. No. So, um, being that like we, we work in an industry that's so fickle and so

15:07not, um, well, even, well, back then it was a little, it was a little more steady when it comes to like

15:12jobs and things of that nature. So when you started, um, I, well, I think I'm, I'm probably

15:19about a couple of weeks older than you, but when I first started in the industry, like being with hip

15:24hop, we didn't have jobs like that. So we basically all became entrepreneurs in such a way where we did

15:30our own things because what we were doing wasn't being done before. So as, as an, as an early

15:36entrepreneur, um, going into a field that you had no idea you were going to go into, how are you able

15:43to navigate? Um, of course, getting the clients was probably one of the easiest things because

15:49of your connections, but as far as navigating the business aspects and just, you know, the making

15:56mistakes, the, I'm not going to do that anymore. Oh, this is how we do it. How are you able to navigate

16:01all of that and still stay sane? If you stay sane, because a lot of us don't stay sane.

16:08I definitely have my moments, right. Um, you know, but you, you become numb to the pain and,

16:16and all of that sometimes, and sometimes it's a coping mechanism. Um, but, um, yes,

16:22it is definitely a learn as you go, but I am, you know, I'm proud of the entrepreneurship mindset that

16:29not only, you know, myself had, but the people around us, I was actually just on another speaking

16:34engagement and brought this up. Like I come from the time where starting in this industry,

16:40there was no hashtag. I was one of 20 people on Twitter and we would literally start trending topics

16:49just for shits and giggles because we were on lunch break and, you know, at jobs at our entry level

16:55jobs and we're messing around on, on Twitter and to see, you know, people have whole careers and president

17:03titles of social media now. And it's like, we made this possible for y'all. And, you know, and, and my,

17:11my blogger crew friends is, uh, you know, um, I'm sure they are referenced, um, from your generation,

17:19because we came right after y'all. Um, and the, the cool kids of the blogs, you know, we all got

17:27really cool jobs now just from messing around on social media. So do I understand, you know,

17:36the now, again, I consider myself the middle child of the industry where I learned from the greats and

17:44had amazing mentors, even if just in my head, but then understanding why I have, you know,

17:50I'm the first to celebrate Akai Sanat and what he's doing with the streaming university and all that,

17:56because like, I understand how it all ties in and can see and understand how I need to, you know,

18:07consistently learn from the younger kids about what's going on. If I'm truly marketing or publicizing

18:12anything, you know, um, and then still having the, the structure and the calmness of the generation

18:22before me. And so again, for me, it is, you know, it's a little bit of both.

18:30Well, I guess it's just a matter of like, um, adapting because of course, just in general,

18:37you have to adapt to the environment and particularly in entertainment, it's always,

18:42it's like, there's going to be something new tomorrow and we're going to have to adjust to

18:44it anyway, because you know, it's going to adjust to us or take us out. Um,

18:49Every two, two to three years is what I say.

18:52Yeah. So my, my question to you is when it comes to, you have like over the years, you've had

19:01many different types of clients. Like, it's not as if like you fit under one box and you only have

19:05one, one type of clients. So you've had like many, my question is being that you've dealt with the

19:13clients that you have in the different fields, because I know it's been in music, um, acting,

19:20politics, things of that nature. How are you able to, um, spearhead the correct campaign

19:30for people that even if you have seven clients at the same time, having the mindset or the creative,

19:38the creative fortitude to figure out what's best for the client. So that way, uh, whether it's one

19:46client, whether it's a hundred, so that way they can get what they came to you for and you can

19:51provide the services and everyone's happy. It's not always happy, but just in general, but it's

19:57definitely, it's understanding that every campaign is different and should be treated as such. I don't

20:02care if they were all the same client. Right. Meaning look how many male rappers I have. Right. But to me,

20:08they're all different and they are, so they should be treated that way. Meaning the same way I rep a

20:14bunch of DJs, but all of those DJs, they even work for the same company and every single one of them

20:20are different. They have different, um, you know, different tastes, different styles, different,

20:24you know, what they like, what they don't like all of that. And so it's always about getting to know

20:29the client so that you can sell the client. And I mean that in your messaging, your, you know,

20:34your strategy and what aligns more authentically with that, because the difference is the consumers

20:40today are much more smarter than, you know, than, than the consumers back then. It's why, you know,

20:47um, our parents and grandparents fall for the okie doke on the scams on text and all that,

20:53and Facebook and links and all that, because they come from the, like the basic advertising world and

21:00they buy into that. They, they are attached to these brands because they're, you know, they're,

21:05they're prism told them that, no, this was good. We were taught to be skeptical about everything

21:13just because they told us that, you know, an apple a day will keep the doctors away.

21:17Uh, we're smart enough to know that the apple industry made that phrase and to say, okay,

21:24like somebody is making money off of this. Right. So it's not that look how long milk's been good for

21:30us. All of a sudden now it's not like, oh, so that means like, again, we're just, we, we are very more,

21:37um, skeptical, skeptical with the, with what brands we aligned ourselves with. And I'm sure

21:44my son, uh, who just, you know, was here making noise. I'm sure he'll be even more in tune with the

21:51ads. You know, these kids have an iPad from three and four years old and they know to skip the ad.

21:57They, they know they could tell right away what the ad is and they couldn't even,

22:04Chase couldn't even talk, but he knew to skip that ad.

22:07Well, I do, I do give, give you props for, um, being able to navigate having to not only have

22:18the amount of clients you have and the different types, but also with the publications, because I'm

22:23pretty sure you, your, your, your list of publications is just like enormous, but then

22:30having to figure out which clients are good for which publications. As a writer, what I hate is when

22:36people pitch to me and they don't even know what my site is about or like, you know, pitching something

22:41to me that I would never even not only not cover, but not even read myself. So my interns, like before

22:51you even think about pitching something and I mean, pitching it to me, much less to a journalist,

22:57you have to have taken a look at, you know, if it's a, if it's a blind pitch, meaning you don't know

23:04the person and you're just pitching the outlet. Have you looked at the site, the, the, the TV,

23:10the program, the platform, whatever it is. And matter of fact, not even do I do that with my

23:16interns. I'm making sure that, you know, what you're pitching is something that can easily

23:21plug and play to what the outlet or the writer is already doing. But even on the other side,

23:28when the client teams ask me, Chanel, can you get, you know, especially when they know your brand

23:34alignments, Chanel, can you get how 97 to repost this? I said, I, I, I said, I said, sure. I will

23:43go ahead and ask. I said, but do me a favor. Can you go on the platform on that and find me something

23:51that they just did similar because then that's easier and they never come back to me. Why?

23:57Because what they're asking me is so beyond the scope of what the platform does. And it's like,

24:03I need you to see how ridiculous that is. Like I'm good, but I'm not God. Yeah.

24:08Like I asked the client teams now, not just the interns.

24:15No, but I know, like I said, it's just, um,

24:19like I've actually been offered to be a publicist years ago. And one thing that I couldn't, and I'm

24:26pretty sure I would be an excellent publicist because I'm a people person.

24:29Are you good at begging all day? Cause that's what I do all day. I'm good at asking for shit.

24:35I was going to say, how do you handle rejection? How do you handle like,

24:38because I have a lot of publicists or people that's contacts me and I'm oblivious because

24:45I get 3000 emails a day and I'm, I'm slightly off, maybe about 2,500, but.

24:51I can imagine because if like, I've been on the webinars for the last hour and 45 minutes

24:56and I'm scared to look at my email right now, like I'm probably like 300 in right now.

25:02I get used to it because I tell people like, if I'm supposed to see it, I'll see it. That's the

25:08only way I can look at it because like, there'll be certain trips that like will just pop up and

25:14I'm like, Oh, I want to go here. Now I'll miss other trips because I missed the email.

25:19But then I always say to people that, um,

25:20that's why subject lines matter. Yeah. Subject line. If you get the most prominent information,

25:28first off, I like structure. So if you get an email from me, it says what it is. If it's an invite,

25:33you know, it's an invite. It's like, if it's an interview request, it'll say interview request.

25:37If it's a, like, I cannot stand when people don't have structure in their subject lines because to me,

25:45what, and, and why are we talking about multiple things in one email third? That pisses me off thing

25:51too. Every single thing. And again, it's about time management and efficiency. I don't need to

25:57search through emails to figure out what we were talking about. And if I'm getting pitched in that

26:02way, I'm respectful of the people that I'm pitching and, and understanding that the more,

26:10the quicker read something is in the fastest, like to know if they're interested in or not,

26:15that's what it needs to be. I do know that I've had to learn over the years that,

26:22because like, like I said, I get so many emails that I can't, if I took the time to respond to

26:27emails, I wouldn't have time to do what you're asking me to do. Right. So I, I, I, I try my best

26:35when I do get an email and I have no interest to try to immediately respond because I know that

26:40your effort is still your time as well, because I might be getting the emails and just not seeing

26:45it. And I might want to for that. Um, because sometimes people don't understand my job is the,

26:52is the relationship and the ask after that is up to the content to deliver. So if someone is passing

27:00on something, I rather them say pass because then I can go back to show the client. Oh, look,

27:06they pass. I I've had to learn that because I like when people ask me and I'm like, ah,

27:11I'm not, you know, whatever. And then somebody actually spoke to me. It was like, well, this,

27:15that I had to tell the client, this, I'm like, yeah, I've reached out to you five times. You

27:19responded, but then this, that, then they're going to, I'm like, okay, so now I get it.

27:24I'm a little better, but I also have, but, but it's also a matter of my relationship because

27:29if you're asking me something, I'm more than likely to respond to you because

27:33we have a relationship already, as opposed to people that's just like contact me out of the

27:37blue or people that get mad at me because I say no to something. And then maybe the next time I'll

27:43say yes to something. And I think it's like, I couldn't, I couldn't do that because one,

27:50I would hit too many people. I would pull up to that spot and be like, I don't like the way you

27:55respond to me in that email and we're going to have a discussion. I think people just need to,

27:59maybe putting, putting yourself in other people's, in other people's shoes. I think for me,

28:06it is understanding that maybe it's because I rep a lot of media people too, right? Like

28:11rep a lot of jocks and understand how they get pitched all day. And the same way as me being a

28:17writer and remembering what it was like when people were pitching me stuff for intern, you know,

28:22in touch and understanding that you can't say yes to everything you got people to answer to,

28:27and your bosses have people to answer to. So, you know, it's understanding that,

28:33that on both sides. But for me, it is, it's also in the approach, meaning the approach for me, even,

28:41even certain things I have to pitch my clients to on behalf of another client. But if I know that

28:49they aren't ready for them, and by all means, like, I can give you guys an example. You know,

28:54this is not, it's not a secret. So today, after we're done here, I'm going to get my son out the

29:02house and we are going to, Peter Rosenberg is finally interviewing Zeddy Will. And I say that

29:08finally, because this is, again, they're both my clients. Rosenberg, I'm sure he would have done it

29:16as a favor a long time ago. But to me, Zeddy wasn't ready for him. Drewski, you know, is his

29:24job to cover emerging artists. And, you know, and he, yeah, so there is a difference there of that

29:29support. And this is what I mean about two clients being, you know, very similar and being at the same

29:35company, but drastically different in their, in how you approach them. So to me, if, if Zeddy wasn't

29:42ready for Rosenberg, then I have to be mindful of that. I can introduce them and say, Hey, you know,

29:49this is Zeddy. You need to pay attention. He's not ready for you yet, but please do.

29:53It's just saying the same thing about, you know, think about it as a TV. I can, you know, have a client

30:01walk red carpet on the BT awards, but that doesn't mean they're ready for the today show.

30:08You have to realize what you're pitching and not only what you're pitching, where your client is,

30:14what stage is more realistic. And if you're not ready to have that conversation

30:20internally with yourself before you send out a pitch, how can you do that with your,

30:26with the client teams? And at some point you got to have a backbone if they're asking for things that

30:32just, you know, just does make sense because you will get that pressure, especially from the more

30:37seasoned teams. They, they, their expectation levels are so dramatically high and you have to

30:44dumb it down and say, sorry, this client is not there yet. Here's what makes sense. And that will be

30:53on board. And as they do that, I can use this to then pitch something else and we can repurpose it.

30:58It's easier to, you know, whatever, whatever.

31:01Now I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm being cognizant of your time because I know you, you know,

31:06as you said, you have things to do, but, um, I I've realized that over the years, because PR,

31:13you know, there's, there's, there's, there's marketing, there's PR, there's just so many

31:16different things that encompasses like, you know, just life in general realistically. But with your

31:22company, you actually do branding, PR events, um, bowling. No, let me stop. I know you do so many

31:31things. Um, how are you able to actually be able to not necessarily focus because like I said,

31:39it is many different things, but how are you able to determine what goes with what and when

31:47just because you are just who you are? Hmm. That is a good question. Um, you know,

31:55we can, uh, this is definitely some plugs for a lot of my clients, but somebody like honey, baby,

32:02honey, baby recently had her first event. If we were doing this a year ago,

32:08or two years ago, when we first started, you know, helping with her development,

32:13she was not ready for an event. What good is having a party if nobody comes? And yes, could,

32:19you know, I fill a room if I got some open bar, I'm sure there are people, right? But the difference

32:25between her party, um, just having a full room compared to her party getting picked up by People

32:34Magazine, timing is everything. You have to crawl before you walk. Um, so it, it, it's the same

32:41principles. Um, you've come to a lot of my media introduction dinners. Those are more realistic

32:47and, um, and more, um, on brand for an emerging brand of any type, whether it's an author, me showing

32:55you a book, uh, you know, um, we've had one for a book a few months ago and, or, you know, a new,

33:02um, a new liquor company with, uh, you know, a tasting or something like that. Um, I think you

33:08have to do a full brand assessment and, and the first thing, ask yourself, would you come to this

33:14event? And if so, why is it, is it for just the, the, the, just, is it just the free alcohol or

33:27is it, you know, are you really engaged with whatever the brand is?

33:31Now, um, damn, I just, I hate when I do this because it's like there and then it leaves me,

33:40but, oh, you know what? I'll make it simple for me. What advice or suggestion would you give to

33:46anyone that wants to do what you're doing or come into the line of work that you're doing?

33:50Find, find numerous mentors. Um, even at this stage of my career, I'm still reaching up and,

34:00and, um, asking for guidance. Um, it may not be in the traditional settings of like,

34:05you know, an hour a week, but it is, you know, small coffee or, or, you know, in what, what the

34:11pandemic has taught us is that we can do these things virtual. I don't need to pay $18 toll to have

34:18a conversation with somebody. Like we, we can, you know, pick up on FaceTime if it's necessary or Google

34:24me or make it work. The point is, is that, you know, it's just reaching out and asking for advice

34:31or expertise on one topic that you're dealing with. And again, as you grow in your career,

34:37you know, still, still do these things. Um, you know, right now I'm having internal conflict with

34:45a client and I'm probably going to reach out to one of my, um, one of my mentors and, you know,

34:55and ask how do I, how do I reset this relationship with a client in a professional, but understanding

35:04what type of entity I'm dealing with, you know, and doing it with grace. So don't be afraid to ask

35:10for advice basically. Now, um, for those that, even though I've been in the game for, you know,

35:18a couple of months now, I do know that there are times when there are campaigns and like, you know,

35:25what is the typical average? Now I know that there's sometimes you may have a project that you'll have

35:31literally for years, but then you may have a project that might be short term. What would you say

35:36is the average or at least the average for you when it comes to working with a client?

35:40And a lot of people don't understand like some of the three months, three months, three months is a

35:46collective campaign. Um, you know, that's your standard. And depending on the relationship,

35:54you might stumble into a relationship where you're, you just have someone on retainer or, um, in a lot of

36:01cases for me and, you know, it's having them and having them on my roster, but they may not be

36:09active at the moment. They aren't active until they have a campaign that we're, you know, literally,

36:15uh, you know, coming up with a strategy to, um, publicize whatever project they're working on.

36:22So it could be a DJ where, you know, there isn't much news for a DJ per se. So they're on my roster,

36:29but am I creating moments for them? Oh, you know, we're going to do a full concert or festival around

36:36your brand. Now you're, this is your entity. So now, yes, there is a campaign attached to that,

36:42or they're, you know, they're putting out, um, their own, um, their own body of work where,

36:48you know, they're, um, executive producing a body of work with select artists and so on, but it's

36:55their project. So yes. And then you, that, um, so then there, that would be considered its own

37:00campaign. So there's a lot of instances that instances where that happens. Someone is on your,

37:06on your roster list, but they're, they don't have an active campaign. It's kind of like, oh, well,

37:11you know, such and such, uh, this media outlet is looking for a producer. Oh, this is a good fit for

37:18Salam or hit maker or, you know, something like that. How do you, um, since you rep, since you rep so

37:26many brands, because I know nowadays people are brands out and since you rep so many brands and

37:33they intersect, how often do you get the chance to, um, as not as a connector, as a friend or,

37:43but as a business, how often do you get, or do you often get the chance to, you know, connect

37:50your brands together for the sake of whatever campaigns going on? What I've learned is that all

37:56my clients are like, it's like, I'm the mom and, and they're my children. They don't mind, you know,

38:03siblings don't mind being together and doing stuff, but they all want individual mommy time.

38:08Um, they all want to be your favorite. They all, you know, want you to pay attention to them,

38:14them, them, them, them. Um, and it, you know, and it becomes, you know, competitive in its own right,

38:20just like say a bunch of artists at, at a label, right? Everybody's fighting for the label's time.

38:28That makes sense. What, um, let couple, okay. Um, what is, what is, what is the, the most difficult

38:43thing about your job? Like what, what, what is it that when you have those days where you just want to

38:52choke somebody or everybody or whatever, like what would be the worst thing that can get you

39:01I've never seen you in any mood outside of like you being happy or focused. So, you know, I don't

39:09know if I want to see it, but we're all you say that. I don't think my team would say that.

39:14That's the reason I'm saying it's like, I got to base it on my experience because I don't work with

39:20you. When I do work with you, it's conditional for this client or whatever. So I'm not there for

39:27the daily or the even weekly thing. So that's what, and that's what, um, I want to say where my

39:34need of mentorship is, is understanding how to be the best manager, if that makes sense. Like,

39:44not that I, I can't still grow in the outreach space and, you know, in specifics, but in order

39:50for my company to grow, certain things have to happen. And what I have to remember is the same way,

39:58you know, my mom was, or my mom would say she didn't raise everyone. I have to remember that

40:06people don't think the way I think they don't move the way I move. And that even isn't within

40:12my own team. So I have to be more conscious of that and be mindful that sometimes even what I think

40:21is annoying and that I shouldn't have to tell people, you can't assume that they would do it like

40:27you would. And that is even internally. So even though I'm annoyed, I still have to tell someone

40:36to do X, Y, and Z. And that is frustrating for me. And I have to learn how to deal with my emotions

40:45around that. Um, because in my mind, if I'm focusing on other things, you have a team for a reason and

40:55they should know to just do, especially those of them who've been there for that long and they

41:02shouldn't be, I don't, if I need to tell you, if you're finished with this, go ahead and do that.

41:10Or if you know something is coming, this is not a new rodeo. You should be getting started. So

41:15again, though, that's the learning for me at this stage of how best to manage,

41:20um, manage others is very, um, that's a, I'm still a work in progress in that without,

41:29I guess, losing my emotion of it. Um, and then, you know, and we say this all the time,

41:34we're so used to men being, you know, rah, rah, rah in leadership positions. But anytime a woman does

41:43it, it, everyone's taken aback, you know, uh, you know, my son's dad could yell to his blue in the

41:51face probably, or even a stepdad and wouldn't think twice about it. But the minute I raise my voice,

41:56it's mommy's in a mood. What? But it's in principles in business.

42:06I'm going to wind down because I want, I want you, is there anything that you're working on

42:10or you're about to work on that you would like to talk about? Of course, something that you're not

42:16going to or, you know, but is there anything? Um, for me, it is just advising everyone to,

42:23one, to keep, um, keep reinventing themselves. Don't put all your eggs into one basket. Be careful

42:32of the logos that you attach yourself to and understanding that they're just like any other

42:37relationship, right? Like I have friends that have lost their positions over, you know, the past few

42:43years that have been with these companies for so long. Um, and, and even while you're good,

42:51making sure that you're doing just enough to keep your profiles, your resumes, your everything up to

42:56date so that constantly you could be the one in demand and not out being the, you know, searching.

43:04So that means if you, you know, you're just in, in any, any job, just making sure that you are, um,

43:11following that rule of thumb and to make sure that you are always, you know, spreading out and,

43:18and having multiple streams of, of revenue because in these days, nothing is promised.

43:27Well, thank you. I appreciate your time. And, and even though I only got to like 14 on a list, no.

43:35Like we can do a part two. We definitely, we definitely need to talk here. Cause like I said,

43:41there's so many things that I know that people would want to hear, you know, coming from you and

43:46what you've done and what you're doing. And, and like I said, I, I definitely want to use this form

43:51to make sure that, you know, if nothing else, like, I don't care about me in that essence, when,

43:56when I do these, I want people to recognize who I'm talking to, because there's a reason why I'm

44:01talking to you and, um, that's basically. I appreciate it. I really, really do. Um,

44:06you know, I remember there were times, you know, I just wanted to be respected by the use of the world

44:13and to now sit across from you. It really, really means a lot. Um, and I don't take that lightly.

44:19Like I, again, I beg for ish all day. So the minute you ask for something, I get like, yes, absolutely.

44:26What are we doing? I get, you know, um, so I really, really appreciate, you know,

44:31you recognizing me and I'm still out here working, man. I got, got much more, uh, ahead of me.

44:39I want to start even branching out into other things right now. I'm still a connector of sorts.

44:45Um, some, I will share with you privately and then hopefully we can share it publicly on your platform.

44:51So there's even that. I look forward to it. And then I say, thanks for your time. Oh,

45:00is there any way that people can get in touch with you if they want to get advice, work?

45:06Um, you definitely can DM me. Um, just, you know, no, I do respond, but I don't respond immediately.

45:15Just give me business day or two, but I, I'm not that girl. I will respond. Just, I have one rule.

45:21Don't be a weirdo. Don't be a weirdo. Um, but yes, you can find me on social, um, all social at, uh,

45:29at PQ Chanel, and you can definitely email me. This is LinkedIn. You can message me here.

45:34Like, uh, again, I respond just not right away, but I, I do respond. Um, you know,

45:40it's my job to be in touch with people. You're much better than me because I might respond. And

45:46if I respond, it might be two months later, not on purpose, but you know, I, I respond. I, I'm not,

45:54what they say. I'm not that light skinned. That's what they say on social. This is LinkedIn. We got to be

46:01more focused. I'm professional guys. I promise.

46:04Well, once again, thank you for your time. Um, good luck with any and everything. Of course,

46:10you know, I, I got your back. If I can do anything, I will. And for those watching now,

46:16as I've always stated, my friends are better than yours. And if you think you have friends better

46:20than me, introduce me and I bet you that I will, I will prove you wrong. As a matter of fact,

46:25I will say that your friends that you think are better than my friends are part of my friends already.

46:29Until the next time, big sad dentistry co-sign Chanel Ray, the Legion media group. And, um,

46:37everyone enjoy the rest of their day, night, whatever you're watching this. Enjoy. Until next time.

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