From Temple to W&W: Aliya Crawford on 35 Years of Entertainment PR, Building Legendary Brands & Breaking Barriers: My Friends Are Better Than Yours

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From Temple to W&W: Aaliyah Crawford on 35 Years of Entertainment PR, Building Legendary Brands & Breaking Barriers  Join BIG CED of The Industry Cosign as he sits down with Aaliyah Crawford, Senior Vice President at W&W Public Relations and newly elected Vice President of the Recording Academy's Philadelphia Chapter. In this candid conversation, Aaliyah shares her journey from Temple University film student to representing icons like Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, and Patti LaBelle.  Discover the realities of entertainment PR, from managing client expectations to navigating social media's double-edged sword. Aaliyah opens up about the legacy of W&W founder Patti Webster, the importance of authentic brand building, and what it takes to succeed in an industry where rejection is constant. She also discusses launching her new podcast, "Team AC with Aaliyah Crawford," and becoming the first professional member to serve as VP in her Recording Academy chapter.  Whether you're an aspiring publicist, entrepreneur, or just curious about what happens behind the scenes in entertainment, this episode offers invaluable insights from someone who's been doing the work for decades.  Timestamps:  0:00 - Introduction & Welcome 1:03 - Aaliyah Crawford Introduces Herself 2:26 - How Aaliyah Got Into Publicity 3:11 - Early Interest in Entertainment & Education at Temple University 4:49 - Entry into W&W Public Relations 6:02 - The Legacy of W&W (Founded 1991) 6:49 - Remembering Patti Webster 8:02 - Patti's Impact on Industry Relationships 10:04 - The Importance of Professional Courtesy in PR 11:39 - Managing Inbox Overload & Following Up 13:04 - Dealing with Rejection as a Publicist 14:43 - Creating Effective PR Strategies 15:29 - Managing Client Expectations 20:11 - W&W's Impressive Client Roster 22:15 - What Makes a Good Client Fit 24:00 - Different PR Specialties & Finding Your Wheelhouse 26:03 - When Artists Aren't Ready for PR 28:15 - Average Campaign Length & Timeline 30:03 - What Makes a Successful Brand 31:39 - Navigating Social Media as a PR Tool 32:43 - Social Media: Gift and Curse 34:39 - Social Media vs. Traditional PR 36:47 - Recording Academy Vice President Announcement 37:08 - Breaking Barriers: First Professional Member VP 40:09 - Launching "Team AC with Aaliyah Crawford" Podcast 41:02 - The Creator Economy & Podcast Opportunities 43:01 - Going Viral: The Sign to Start Podcasting 45:46 - Authenticity in Content Creation 47:08 - The Importance of Public-Facing Business Leaders 48:48 - Minority & Female-Owned Business Representation 49:18 - Connect with Aaliyah & W&W 50:55 - Closing Remarks  Connect with Aaliyah Crawford:  Instagram: @aaliyahcrawford W&W PR Instagram: @wwrelations Website: w-wpr.com Podcast: Team AC with Aaliyah Crawford (YouTube)  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

Transcript

00:00good good well depending on when you watch this good evening good afternoon good morning

00:13good night whatever this is big said once again industry co-sign my series my friends are better

00:19than yours and as always i have great guests i have another one this evening well when we're

00:25filming this this evening but you know when you're watching whatever time it is but alia crawford i've

00:31probably known her for about two months now so um great entrepreneur um beautiful person very busy

00:46and um we'll start off by people always ask me how come i don't do intros anymore because i always

00:53flub over my words and stuff like that so i figure you're going to find out during the conversation

00:57anyway so i'll allow alia to introduce herself and then we'll take it from there ms crawford

01:03hey said thank you for inviting me to be on your show uh like you said my name is alia crawford i am

01:11an entertainment publicist also senior vice president at w and w public relations i am

01:19a film and television producer as well and i host a new podcast called team ac with alia crawford on

01:27youtube and uh do a number of other things too but that's a step out of me professionally

01:36welcome and um thank you for allowing me the opportunity to have a conversation with you

01:44no i appreciate you for just wanting to have this conversation and um like you said we've known

01:50each other for two months it's like you know we've known each other for over 20 years but

01:54so i appreciate you know working with you over the years and all that you have done for the culture

02:00and journalism and you know for w and w and our clients all the love and collaboration and support

02:07you've always shown over the years so in support of me you know and um my colleagues at w and w just our

02:13whole team and um yeah we just appreciate you we appreciate you said i'm gonna give you your

02:19flowers now i appreciate that so so let's let's not start at the very beginning but let's start at

02:25your beginning as far as publicity what drew you to doing publicity and how did you get into

02:33the field because you like you said you've been there a number of years so what led you to

02:38becoming a publicist well today nowadays there's so many things encompassed under that

02:43you know as opposed to 30 years ago but how did you get into it and um yeah it's it's publicist

02:50brand strategist you know brand manager um you know and it comes marketing everything and publicist

02:57you know they wear so many hats anyway just if you just use the title publicist when push comes to

03:03shove you wear a ton of hats with your clients but um how i got into publicity is i since i was a

03:10child was always interested in entertainment and always knew i would go into the entertainment

03:15business and i'm talking about a young child and so i went to school for film and media arts

03:22um went to temple um had my degree from temple university in film and media arts but while i was at

03:29temple as a student you know i worked in entertainment i had different internships at

03:34uh production companies and um a talent agency um did a program in la i also worked on because my major

03:43was film and media of course i you know was i am a filmmaker so made lots of films and worked on lots

03:51of independent films and i also worked at the radio station temple university uh public radio uh wrti

03:58at the time and um i was a producer and also a reporter on air talent so i was just you know like had my

04:08hands in a lot of different areas in the entertainment business and then once i graduated from school um i

04:15worked in corporate a couple different jobs and um but i was still freelancing and you know doing

04:21projects in entertainment and film and all of that stuff and got an opportunity through my cousin um

04:31you know i got introduced to w and w at the time um through um you know like i said through my cousin

04:40got introduced to w and w there was an opportunity for me to you know get an entry level position there

04:46as an assistant and that's how i started in pr i didn't go to school for pr i had taken pr classes

04:54and was always interested in the field you know taking them as electives so i knew you know i had

05:00some education in in pr and understanding of what it was and because of i guess you know certain

05:08qualities that i possess you know in terms of communication skills and all that i knew that i could

05:13i thought that i would i didn't think i knew that i could do well in the field and um it just ended up

05:22you know being a good fit for me yeah because i don't know the exact moment we we met but i knew

05:29like like i said i only know w i know you only know you from working at w ah w and w sorry i don't

05:36know why my lips are feeling this way i know sometimes and and for those that don't know um

05:43how long has the company agency how do you how do you because some people's an agency company brand

05:51like what do you label w and w um all of the above it's a pr agency company firm whichever you know i

06:00think all those terms are interchangeable but w and w was founded in 1991 by patty webster um i know

06:07you knew patty said and many people across our industry knew and loved patty but for anybody

06:13watching um that didn't know patty webster she was a legendary publicist and really a leader and

06:19visionary in pr and in in the entertainment industry and music industry um she was always say

06:26she was uh uh once in a generation type of individual you know and she really um made an

06:35indelible mark on uh our industry and on me and and you know she founded w and w and patty uh passed

06:43away unfortunately from cancer in 2013 so that's been you know that's going on 12 years now um and you

06:53know before the age of 50 so what i what i enjoyed about working with patty was patty was definitely

07:01the epitome of what a publicist should be and i of course i had already started the industry cosign

07:11and what i appreciated about patty specifically is like you know she's worked with everybody she's worked

07:18with god um steve i mean like everybody so it was like the type of client she had and even if

07:25even if the clients and i know that with publicity you got to match your client with whatever you know

07:31whether it's smaller or bigger and i never i never mind that but what i liked about patty is even if it

07:37was a a bigger artist or a bigger client even if they wouldn't come on the industry cosign or that

07:44was i'm not gonna for lack of a better word it was beneath what they were looking for for patty to

07:49do she always invited me out to whatever functions that comes out as an appreciation for the other

07:56things i've done and like publicists don't do that you know let me rephrase that let me rephrase that

08:03a lot don't especially the newer ones because back then it was definitely a different breed and she was

08:12probably the first person that i worked with that i had a sincere appreciation for because

08:19she didn't look at me on a level of like like what gets more views or whatever she looked at me

08:26as a person who's doing their thing and i appreciated that so that's and it's like it was kind of unfair

08:32for me to compare other publicists to how she treated me whereas when i didn't get that treatment

08:37i just didn't like them or i just wasn't dealing with them so i always gave her props and of course when

08:42she passed it definitely broke my heart as well and what i have to say is that y'all have continued

08:47that um tradition as far as far as like working with me and i and i always appreciate it because

08:53like i said i do understand it for being in the industry for as long as i have that you know i

08:58can't get everyone on everything and i get it but i do appreciate the fact that even if i'm not um

09:05on a client's wishlist whatever i still get to respect if i were to ask i know at the very least

09:12at the very least you'll tell me no for this reason but you just won't ignore me like a lot

09:18of publicists do until they need you but like i just want to put that out there because like i said

09:22patty meant a lot to not just me and you but to so many people in the industry so um i do it

09:29i do appreciate what y'all have done you specifically because i've always dealt with

09:33you because like i said you've been there from the inception from when i went you know when i was

09:38first introduced to her and i can appreciate and thank you for continuing on the things that she had

09:44and i wish that there was like even a tenth of the publicity firms that had this same mindset then

09:51i'd be a happier person but everyone knows i hate publicity yeah no i mean that's why i said earlier

09:56that patty was very unique and she was a leader not a follower and she was a visionary so sometimes

10:03when you're dealing with visionary type people their vision and the things how they can their

10:09perspective is a lot larger than other people's so they can see much bigger pictures so and that's

10:16something that patty um you know that's a mark that she left on myself and our other team members

10:25because it is about treating people fairly you know just getting back to people and that's why i

10:31always try to get back to if it's not a fit or if my client or you know client wants to pass on a

10:37certain opportunity let the person know just that's a common courtesy you know trying to get back to

10:42people and sometimes things fall through the cracks of course everybody's very busy but just trying

10:47to you know be courteous and then like you said sometimes you know um a certain media outlet may not

10:53be a fit for a certain person talent or what have you but again you let the person know and then you

11:02know it's just that maintaining that good relationship with them by including them in events

11:07because you're going to want a certain media outlet for another artist or another client you know

11:11so you can't always it's a two-way street to me and and i think it's really important you know that

11:19you just have that common professional courtesy and remember the same people who may be asking you

11:25for something on this day the next day you might be reaching out asking them for something so

11:30you just got to maintain that mutual respect and courtesy it's funny because after i started

11:36industry co-sign i started working with like vibe or the source or whoever i worked with all of a

11:40sudden the people that ignored me all of a sudden found my number and i'm like i get it but it's like

11:45there's a way to do things and and i know and i know specifically for me i get like 9 000 emails a

11:51day and i'm not exaggerating or maybe 8 500 so i i actually had to learn like you said that the like

11:59sometimes like i might not see your email until a month later not because i'm ignoring but i just

12:04didn't see it and i think that it is important to try to stay but i always say to people specifically

12:10like if i responded to each email i get sorry i got a problem if i responded to each email i got i

12:17would never have a chance to work so you know it is what it is but it is and sometimes you're not

12:24going to respond you may miss it the first time you may miss the email the second time but then if a

12:27person you know and i that's why we tell people in business when you know if i'm mentoring people or

12:33if anybody has questions like don't take stuff personally just follow up because when you're dealing

12:39with very busy people um a lot of times they may miss and if it's not a person that you speak to

12:45all the time or have never spoken to it's very easy that they could miss or overlook your email so

12:50do that follow up you should at least follow up you know i say one or two times at minimum

12:56with someone that you don't already have a relationship with or that you don't talk to regularly

13:01yeah so let's stay on that for a minute because i couldn't be a publicist because i i i can't accept

13:07rejection how how how do you like and like you said in the fact that you have so many outlets you

13:15deal with and then you have about 198 clients like how do you like how does it i mean how do you do it

13:24like how do you how are you able to like pitch to outlets that your client wants and then if you're

13:33not able to then you have to deal with a client that might not be exactly happy because they're

13:38looking to get in rolling stone and and you can't get them like like how do you function and then an

13:47hour later you have another client with another thing like how do you do it because i could i

13:52couldn't do it if i had one client yeah you have to have a thick skin first and foremost but i liken

13:58publicist to journalists because yeah you got to be able to deal with rejection because it's the same

14:03thing with journalists even if you're at um you know what is considered an elite media outlet right

14:10a magazine or television show even them they get rejected as well they reach out to certain talent

14:16and personalities or uh leaders and they may want to interview and um it's a pass so it's the same

14:25thing with us when we're pitching our talent but i think um an important part of pr and having a good

14:32strategy is making sure that you're targeting opportunities that are a good fit for your client

14:38and and that involves a lot of education too when you start working with artists um just having that

14:46communication and making sure that they understand like this is going to be our approach

14:50these are this is the strategy and these are the media outlets that are aligned with your brand

14:57your demographic etc etc so making sure that they understand that and here's our targets

15:03and that that target list is going to include uh media outlets that we know are going to be a like

15:11kind of a given for that particular client and then there might and there's also going to be some

15:17outlets that we know might be uh you know a harder a higher i guess what do i try to say

15:25it's going to be like it's going to be a loftier goal you know so um something's going on with my

15:35computer right now just something just popped on the screen um but it and that's okay and so you have

15:41to manage your clients expectations and you have to be realistic and again like you said it might be

15:48a brand new artist coming out and they might be hot their music might be really good they may even

15:52have a great machine behind them and they say you know they think they're going to be on the cover

15:56of rolling stone or new york times and you just again have to say this is something this is a goal

16:02this is what we're going to build toward and work toward and create momentum and um continue to

16:09increase your visibility so that you will one day obtain that goal but you have to be honest but

16:16then there are lots of people who aren't honest right they're um you know across the board there

16:21are people who are publicists there are some managers you know who aren't realistic and they

16:27are going to say no you know we're going to get this we're going to get that and they're going to

16:31promise and they may promise a lot of things that they can't deliver you know over promise

16:36and under deliver i would rather over deliver you know and under promise but again it's always about

16:43maintaining those continuous education continuous communication and again like you said if um just

16:50like you said patty would do if she was going to you know they if she had to decline uh your offer to

16:57interview one of our clients a client she explained to you why and it's the same thing sometimes

17:03explaining to um your client why a particular media outlet is passing or not interested at that time

17:12and and again that's what where good relationships come in because if you can have those honest and

17:17candid relationships with the editors and with the writers and with the producers so that you're getting

17:23real feedback that you can share with your client and and i've been i've been trying to get better

17:28at that well specifically for people that i know because i know that um somebody had told me a couple

17:33years ago that like sometimes if i respond in the email they can show that email to the client because

17:39that's the easier that's the easier way to say no as opposed to saying well he never responded or

17:45this is that another so i try i know sometimes i fail at that but i have a better understanding where it's

17:51like even if i could take two seconds it'd be like i'll pass it's really valuable and sometimes it's

17:58important because you know it might be a lot of things going on in the world in politics or you

18:02know and it's like um a lot of breaking news and then that's a real reason why some media outlets

18:09they have less space you know some of like the morning shows whereas they don't have as much space

18:14to deal with entertainment because they're doing they're doing more world news or current events than

18:20they normally yeah so it's like okay you're telling you're pitching an entertainment story but

18:27a war is breaking just broke out or we're dealing with the global pandemic and so the the music and

18:34or the television and the movies may not be a priority at that time so that's why that feedback

18:38is very valuable to publicists when we get that feedback from journalists to share with the clients

18:43yeah because sometimes like i'll either forget or i'm not thinking about it and then by the time i

18:48realized i'm like oops you know just like you just sent me something i said oh blah blah blah i was

18:54like you know let me make sure so that way you know because like i said when i have relationship

18:58with somebody i definitely want to make their jobs easier even if it's a for lack of a better word

19:03even if it's a rejection or i can't like you know especially when i'm i was always in the position

19:10to basically say yes or no to anything i don't have that anymore with one of the outlets i work

19:15with so it's like now i make sure that whenever i do say hey this is the reason why i can't i want

19:21to but contact this person because she makes the decision so that way like you said it's easier for

19:28you so that way if your client is like hey how come this that and the other well big said is an idiot

19:34but he said no let me stop oh so so i i get it now um tell some of the people like because like

19:43it it's got to be difficult sometimes to like the some of the clients you do have to actually say well

19:50you know big said is not really you know messing with you this time around because you have some

19:55clients that people can definitely like be like wow like stargaze like you can give some examples of

20:02clients that you either represent or you have represented in the past so people can know how

20:07big of a deal you are thank you said i mean we we've been really blessed and fortunate again

20:14throughout our almost 35 year history at w and w and uh again it was we it's a company that patty

20:22webster built you know and she laid that foundation and she had she was excellent at what she did and

20:28she had a great reputation and um through that reputation and we've been able to continue that

20:34legacy and just attract um great clients and um you know and through our work you know and through

20:41actually producing the results that people and our clients have been looking for so um one of our

20:47oldest clients is patty labelle she's still a client to this day and we represent the osby brothers

20:53and the otis redding foundation and rca inspiration and um a number of non-profit organizations and

21:03and brands and throughout the years we've had the privilege and pleasure of working with like you

21:09said you know household names like janet jackson and alicia keys and um steve harvey and athletes like

21:19chris paul and um dwight howard rashid wallace jermaine dupree bow wow um so many you know corporate brands

21:28from bet to diageo and coca-cola and sprite and holly robinson pete and the holly rod foundation

21:39aids healthcare foundation um clayton kershaw and kershaw's challenge uh just you know just

21:49tremendously successful people and brands and sierra kelly roland anthony hamilton uh ludicrous like

21:57you know it's it's amazing it's amazing as when you honestly think about it and um i'm grateful

22:03to have been a part of all of that history and to still be a part of you know the history continue

22:09making history now with um like going forward or just in general like there's somebody watching us

22:17like well maybe she can represent me you have no chance let me stop oh no

22:21um like what is it that um because of course like i said like you know the brand is definitely

22:31set in stone as far as the great reputation of what y'all do and the people you work with

22:37like like what is it that um what qualities or what characteristics would a client have to have

22:47at minimum well you know what that's kind of unfair because everybody's different and and i do get it

22:53but um when i what i guess the the question i i want to ask is like how do you determine because i know

23:02sometimes you might have somebody who might be this big but you might be like i don't know if i want

23:08those you know that's like a lot to deal with you know like representing somebody who's getting

23:15arrested every four weeks is not a joy to have you know like what what like is is there anything that

23:22that at a bare at a bare minimum um that's still unfair but what is it that you look for in a client

23:31when they do come to you to um ask for your services because i know like i said you're not just

23:36pr like you do so much branding you just do do so many things now television we're producing things

23:43like that so it's like you know the options yeah no i think it's all about being a good fit right you

23:51know pr is i mean pr at its core is like the same across the board you know it's a it's a part of

24:01marketing it's a um a division of it's under the umbrella of marketing and then you have your paid

24:08marketing like your advertising and all that stuff and then you have pr which is considered free or

24:14earned marketing where you get placement in media equivalent to the placement you get through an

24:20advertisement but you're paying a fraction of the cost that that ad would cost to your pr team or to a

24:26pr agency or to a publicist right so at its core pr is the same across the board and what publicists

24:34are trying to do and what their jobs look like however you have different types of pr agencies

24:40with different specialties and you know you have people that specialize in music and entertainment like

24:45we do in sports at ww then you have people who specialize in fashion you have people that specialize

24:51in corporate or tech or non-profit you know so you have all different pr agencies so i think that's

24:58the first thing is you know you want to make sure when you're taking on new clients that it's a fit

25:03and it's and that what they're looking for is in your wheelhouse right and so um that's the first thing

25:09and you know not just doing it for a check but making sure it's a fit and making sure you're going to be

25:14able to uh deliver the on the objectives that they have and then you know it comes with kind of just

25:21meeting and talking to the potential client and making sure that it's going to be a good fit in

25:25terms of your style because everybody's styles are different in how they do business making sure it's

25:30going to be a good fit in terms of are you going to be able to communicate effectively with this client

25:36and have that open and honest and communication and um also when it comes to like say a music artist

25:46everybody is not ready for pr you know sometimes people think that oh if i get a publicist

25:53i'm gonna you know they're gonna make me a star it's gonna blow me up like that's not how it works

25:58you have to have some foundation first and people don't realize how much of a foundation and how much

26:04work they see artists and they think they just burst on the scene these most of the times any

26:09artists that we see that you know has a hit record or hit album they come out they've been working at

26:15that for years they've been working independently for years before they even got any sort of deal

26:21with a label or anything like that they you know just been building up their fan base building their

26:26brand making music putting music out there so sometimes people aren't even ready for a publicist

26:32they need to to develop their business right or develop their brand before they can publicize it

26:40because they're going to need something they need a strong brand that the public is going to be

26:44interested in and be able to identify with and you also want work music or uh television or

26:52uh live performances you want something that the that you that the publicity is driving people toward

27:01the publicity that's being done the exposure that you're getting on television shows or that you're

27:07getting uh online or that you're getting through you know newspapers and magazines that exposure needs

27:12to be driving the public to something they're driving them to stream your music are they driving them to

27:18you know go see you on tour and go see your shows are they driving them to you know watch or listen to

27:24your your your movie or your show it has to it has to be a goal of what the pr is doing

27:31in order for it in my mind i know every every client has different needs and different um goals

27:40but what is like the average i mean but you have clients like like 70 years so you're good on that

27:47but what is the typical average like time frame for the average client when i say average client of

27:55course um like outside of like you know patting the bell she's been doing it for so long that you

28:01know of course she doesn't count because she's been a client for practically the whole time w w has

28:06been in existence so um like what would be the average like um campaign that's what i'm looking for

28:14what's like the average campaign for um like a typical client for you i think at minimum six

28:21months you know um or it could be a year or it could be something that's ongoing again depending

28:27on the client some people or some companies and brands need ongoing pr because they always have

28:34things going on and their pr is not necessarily um it's not necessarily surrounding a specific project

28:44right so but if you are rolling out a new album or a new movie you're going to need considerable

28:52lead time to set up all those opportunities that are going to coincide with the premiere of the movie

28:57or the premiere of the new tv show or premiere of a new season or the album dropping so you're definitely

29:02going to be setting up things um that are going to happen throughout the life of that project leading

29:10up to and throughout the life so usually if you take an album release and or a single release you

29:16know you're going to want to do advanced media and and you're going to got to set that up and kind of

29:22build a buzz then you want a lot of media coverage to be happening around the time of the release and then

29:29you want to keep that momentum high you know to keep to um create maximum consumption of that single or

29:38maximum consumption of that album and have the um shelf life be as long as possible right because

29:45the longer the shelf life the more revenue and money is going to be generated for that particular project

29:51what makes a successful brand just in general from your point of view

29:59well i think um the consumer whatever your target consumer is your audience you know you're having

30:08confidence in the brand right and i think confidence is built through consistency people knowing what

30:14they're going to get it's like at a restaurant people like to know that they're going to get the

30:18same level of service or the same quality of food every time they go so i think with any brand

30:24uh that consistency is going to make for success i think that um with confidence you know your

30:33consumers having confidence again in the brand that they're going to deliver a certain quality or

30:37have a certain experience i um you know just keeping those now i think just keeping that connectivity

30:45with the public helps make a strong brand you know people like to hear and see uh the the brands that

30:54they support that they love they like to stay in communication and contact and i think social

30:59media obviously is a great way to do that now and that's how you know even when people don't have

31:05projects out or there's no new developments just staying in contact with your audience and your

31:11supporters through social media is really important so i think those that that connectivity

31:16the consistency and also the um confidence that you know your brand that your supporters that your

31:27customers may have in you or your audience may have in you you mentioned social media now of course

31:35social media is much bigger now than it was when we first started you know there was no social media

31:42right for you know we predate that you know um and of course social media can definitely help because

31:49that's another avenue that you can utilize but what happens when it is not a good thing um

31:59i guess when it comes to more specifically with um maybe an artist or an actor or someone who

32:08is freely on social media and is freely about what they do but it freely messes up messes up what

32:16you're trying to do because you're trying to hold up an image but and of course this is all just

32:21not anything specific because you know but just in general like like how can

32:28i'm trying to figure out how to pull the question because i i know what i'm trying to

32:31i'm thinking but i don't know how to express it like how to navigate like how to yeah how do you

32:37navigate the the seas of social media well for good and for bad because of course you know

32:44there's both on social media yeah i mean it can be you know i think social media can be a gift and a

32:51curse depending on the circumstance or depending on the individual and i think people have to

32:57understand and respect the power of social media and i think also you have to understand

33:04how social media is going to affect you and affect like your mental health affects your confidence and

33:09all of that so some people and that's a a tough lesson that a lot of people have had to learn right

33:15because it can be hard like once you're a public figure and and you're trying to do the best you can

33:21and everybody in your world and around you thinks you you're great and you're doing a great job

33:26and then you have people that are you know saying whatever to you on social media or bashing you

33:31and you're like wow that can be like you know a hard pill to swallow seeing that stuff or people

33:37talking about your family people talking about your children or your significant other

33:41so i think that again it's all about i think just like you need strong and competent professionals

33:49around you in terms of managers or partners or your publicist you also have to have you know a good

33:56social media team that's going to help you navigate that or a good social media person and direct that

34:01because sometimes everybody doesn't have the bandwidth or they don't have the tolerance to be dealing with

34:06that one-on-one themselves but you have somebody you you know uh have that social media presence that strong

34:14social media presence that's probably the best thing and just understanding that it's a thin line

34:20between um i guess where you're everything is going well from a social media perspective and then that

34:28one thing that could do rail really derail you um in terms of that audience and so i think um i hope i'm

34:36not rambling on but i just think it's like you have to and and also understand that social media is not

34:44pr you know and it's not a a replacement for pr what social media is is another type of marketing it's

34:52a marketing tool and it's important talking about an overall brand strategy you have to have you know

34:59that has to include different types of marketing and it has to also include your pr and those are

35:04different and so it can be a headache sometimes you know if you have a person that you know goes off

35:09and they kind of like go rogue on social media or they're putting things out that you know there's

35:14supposed to be some sort of uh rollout plan behind it and they're not like adhering to that because then

35:20it's kind of like just disrupting the the plan but then you're just gonna have to adapt and figure out

35:25okay how can we get things back on track but yeah i like social media and i think social media is

35:32important and i encourage you know clients and artists and up-and-coming people you know you

35:38definitely want to have that social media presence because it's key but you got to also understand the

35:44potential dangers of social media as well it's not something that you can take lightly because

35:50we know you know it could it could rule you know it ruins careers it can ruin lives things that

35:56are exposed or put out there on social media you know it could be things that are danger potentially

36:02dangerous to people it's like so many different um dangers that exist with social media but there

36:09could be a lot of uh benefits you know in to using it you know and a lot of um opportunities that are out

36:18there as well when it comes to social media so you just gotta be you gotta be smart and you gotta be

36:25educated about you know these different tools that we have at our disposal these days definitely now i

36:32want to congratulate you because you've just um you you briefly mentioned that i think in your intro

36:38you were just elected as um vice president of the philadelphia chapter of the recording academy

36:49right i said that correctly right yes yes and not only that you you're the first professional

36:57would you like to discuss that and um you know yes um for anybody that doesn't know

37:03the recording academy is the grammys that's the organization that produces um the grammy awards and

37:10um we are an advocacy organization the recording academy advocates for music creators and those in the music

37:17community um it's made 12 chapters and i have been a member of the philadelphia chapter of the

37:26recording academy for mirrors i've served as a governor um on the board of that chapter i've also served as

37:33chapter secretary and then just recently uh just last month well a couple months ago i was elected but

37:43the um results of the election were announced recently and i am the newly elected vice president of

37:50the philadelphia chapter of the recording academy and like you said said i'm the first professional

37:55member because the recording academy is made up of voting members and professional members and

38:01your voting members are your artists your songwriters and composers your musicians um your producers

38:09engineers and people who are directly involved with creating um the records and then you have your

38:16professional members people like myself who are publicists attorneys label executives you know um journalists

38:24who make up the professional membership who work in music but they're not directly responsible for

38:29you know creating the music and so um recently um the um bylaws were voted on and updated uh because

38:40up until this year professional members were only able to serve as governors and as um up to the level of

38:48secretaries in in chapters but now um under the new bylaws professional members uh can serve as vice

38:55presidents and presidents of chapters so i ran for that seat and i won and that's it so i'm very happy and

39:05very proud of my service within the academy and proud to be you know the newly elected vp and want to

39:12continue to serve um you know our music community in the philadelphia chapter and as a whole so that

39:19means one of your clients to win their grand i definitely appreciate the time and i know that you

39:27know like like like you know we we as entrepreneurs we work so much that sometimes we don't realize we're

39:35working when we're working you rest so i don't want to take up too much of your time but i also want to talk

39:40about um you also have a blog that you're doing a new podcast podcast that's a blog why did i say

39:48blog that's because it's like what you just said like you know entrepreneurs we're always busy always

39:52you know wearing a myriad of hats and just got a lot of irons and a fire so it's all good it's all good

39:59i don't know where it came from though i'm like uh i'm trying to blog i guess

40:07but yeah i got a brand new podcast that i launched in april it's called uh team ac with alia crawford

40:15it's on youtube and um i just you know so in addition to my life you know as a publicist and

40:24uh svp at w and w now i decided to um you know step into this podcast world yeah me too i thank you

40:33which i think is great you know i think podcasting um i read something somewhere that said everybody

40:38should have uh a podcast and also um this like creator division like um it's the biggest

40:47it's the largest segment of small businesses currently in our country is like um the creator

40:54space i read that somewhere so um one thing i do enjoy about blogs is that basically anybody can do it

41:03and i think that there's an audience for everyone but the other thing is that everyone everyone's doing

41:11a podcast so you can't really catch everyone but i think if it's something that you enjoy doing in

41:15it's a passion because a lot of people think that because shannon sharp or joe rogan or so many

41:22people are making just a ridiculous amount of money it's not built that way and not everyone's going

41:28to make money as a matter of fact a very small percentage actually makes money so people like

41:35this is my third time actually doing a podcast because we did a podcast before people even knew what

41:39podcasts were like maybe 10 years ago but i think there's so many different ways that you can monetize

41:48you know out there you know beyond being paid you know receiving um you know revenue from the

41:55different platforms based off of your views you know you can promote your products in your business

42:01in your podcast it's a good way to market yourself if you are an entrepreneur if you know as a professional

42:08just that additional exposure that you get that could generate you know new clientele new opportunities

42:14um you know product placement so it's you can be creative and it could be a way that you know you can

42:21generate revenue um in it aside from just being paid you know by youtube or whatever for reviews

42:27so and what i like and what i like about this is rough you don't need a a big broadcast studio or

42:35the most expensive equipment if you have access to the internet and the computer even a phone i mean

42:41i i did an interview earlier for you know a couple people i've spoken to did it from their phone so

42:48learning because i'm brand new but um it's something that i have a passion for and it's something

42:53i'm enjoying i have been saying for years that i wanted to do a podcast because i you know um i had

42:59interviewed a couple of people and been asked to interview a couple people and then i've you know

43:03done a lot i've been interviewed a lot myself and so i had dragged my feet with it but then my sisters

43:10and i did a boots on the ground dance video on easter and it was just impromptu at my house and my niece

43:16taped it and this video i had posted it on my social media you know it got a lot of love and attention

43:22but i was like let me post it on youtube like let me just post it on youtube because they got the

43:26youtube shorts like i don't know the thing went super viral it went super viral

43:34it had like 500 000 views in a week and then it had a million views in two weeks and i went from having

43:4020 subscribers on youtube who were all people i knew like family and friends whatever just random

43:4620 subscribers and i went in and then the next week i had like 1400 subscribers and then i was

43:53almost 3 000 subscribers in like over a month so i was like this is my sign that i need to start my

43:59podcast yeah i mean and that's the thing because like most people know you know that one clip that one

44:06video whether it's 15 seconds or 15 minutes can definitely draw such a big audience that you know you're

44:14like hey it's the new avenue that i can use so and it was a gift just placed in my lap like i went

44:20you know like almost overnight and now i have an audience right i have subscribers so i was like this

44:25to me is a sign just stop procrastinating like you said it doesn't take a lot and when i started

44:33now i'm getting more equipment you know because my niece tells me all the time i need to set my game up

44:38with my look my visuals so i'm getting the equipment i need slowly but surely but when i first started

44:44i think you know i was just using my laptop and my phone and uh you know now i'm getting different

44:49things here and there so that i can be more professional but i actually have a um a mixing

44:58board a mic and i still haven't set it up i don't know what i'm waiting for but you know i have a mic too

45:05that i have never used yet because i bought a new webcam and it has a built-in mic so i gotta test and

45:11kind of see what the difference is if i should use other mic or just keep using like the webcam mic

45:19yeah i mean i i get it trust me i get it and it's like you know hey let's just do it and you know see

45:26the worst that can happen is nothing right right and again as long as it's something that you you know

45:33i think if you're being authentic about it something that you enjoy you have a passion for it again

45:39it's it's not harming anybody you know and i and that's i'm big on just authenticity like don't do

45:45stuff just to be doing it just don't do it because other people are doing it do it because it resonates

45:51with you you know and you see of it you have a vision or you have a purpose or you enjoy it and i think

45:59that's that's the thing too like you know because you you'll be successful with anything is if you

46:05had that vision you know that's why i was telling people i'm like i've been interviewing celebrities

46:11and executives for like years so that that doesn't impress me because like that's just a regular day for

46:18me but i'm like i got some dope people i know that does dope things so you know my friends are better

46:25than yours you know so why not and i get an enjoyment out of it because you know the you know

46:31my audience gets to meet new people and my friends get to express who they are and what they do to

46:38other people and i've had people that's like have made contacts because that's so like i'm getting

46:43that's what i'm getting out of it as opposed to trying to get three million views i mean if that

46:47happens i'd be happy but yeah if i get 300 views from 300 people that honestly want to be a publicist

46:54and they see what you're doing and it helps them job completed you know so and it's and it's like

47:00you said it's a tool it's education and people you know you can never have enough of a real education

47:08you know quality education and quality voices and also people that have been doing x y and z who have

47:15actually been putting in the work doing the work and they and they have a lot of valuable insight wisdom

47:21to share right so like you said you're doing you're doing a great thing and you never know how it's

47:27going to connect people together you never know how it's going to create an opportunity for you because

47:32we come from an era where a lot of us particularly in entertainment um you know where the executives and

47:40everything stayed behind the scenes but now because of social media i think largely and just

47:46um people's perspectives have changed it is important for business leaders to get out there

47:54because they're you know now they're expected to really kind of be public facing um and um

48:01you know people want to see who who are behind these different companies and who are behind these

48:05businesses so i think it's that's an important part of it too and now we see just not in entertainment

48:10but executives and everything across the board a lot the public is interested in hearing these people's

48:16stories they're interested in these different voices out here especially if they can if they can

48:23relate on a level that they want to like be involved or do what the person does and it's like oh okay well

48:31this person did it then i can do it and i think that's an important thing especially people of color you

48:38know right and then okay that's another thing i forgot to mention earlier because you you have a

48:43minority female owned business so that that that's one of the good things and like i said i want to help

48:49promote things of that nature because you know i know what helps you know for sure for sure

48:57but i think um i've taken up enough of your time um and i do appreciate what all the things that that

49:04you've um involved me with over the years um and good luck with any and everything that's upcoming

49:12and um oh if there's any way anybody can get in touch with you uh via social media or whatever

49:21yeah yeah and thank you again said thank you for inviting me to be on your show and sharing your

49:26platform with me thank you for all the love and support that you have given to w and w and our clients

49:30over the years through the industry co-sign and through the various media outlets that you have

49:35worked with um and just you know again always supporting and um you know lending us your sweat

49:42equity you know but as far as keeping up with me uh people can connect with me on instagram my instagram

49:49is aliyacrawford underscore a-l-i-y-a-c-r-a-w-f-o-r-d underscore they can connect with w and w at on

50:01instagram at ww public relations that's on instagram um you can also visit our website w-wpr.com

50:11and also please subscribe to my youtube channel team ac with aliyah crawford please subscribe check

50:20out some of the interviews there like and share definitely once again thank you everyone um who's

50:29stayed as long as we have um as i always say oh well first thank you aliyah for being involved

50:39and as i always say at the end of my programs my friends are better than yours and if you think that

50:44i'm wrong show me your friends and either they are already my friends or i'll just prove you wrong

50:49either way thanks for tuning in until next time um good night good day good afternoon however you're

50:57enjoying this and um check out aliyah as well thank you set i appreciate you no problem now i just got

51:05to find the end that's it thanks again so it's

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