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00:02and we are back for another episode of detroit culture shifters and i'm super excited to bring
00:08this woman on the show because she's kind of like me she loves to yap and she also is a
00:15storyteller
00:15who dedicates her not only her business but her reputation her story who she is to help out the
00:22detroit community and we've got jazlyn lindsey here aka the jazz report hey how you doing i'm good
00:29how are you i'm happy to be here i'm happy to be here too because i've been following you and
00:33i've
00:33been seeing what you do and so many people also nominated you as well so you you have some fans
00:38as well so for the people who are meeting you for the first time though because they've been living
00:42under a rock and we're gonna fix that today who is jazlyn without all the accolades without the jazz
00:48report who is jazlyn who okay here we go all right so first of all jazlyn is just jazz let's
00:54just start
00:54there she is just jazz jazz is a east side girl through and through born and raised on detroit's
00:59east side um i come from a single mother household my mother was and has been an educator for literally
01:05my entire life um but my mother was also a hustler i grew up watching my mom go to school
01:10from eight
01:11to four teaching 30 to 40 kids within detroit public schools detroit charter schools and then coming home
01:17and literally slaying women's manicures and their pedicures and slaying their hair in our basement
01:22and still being an entrepreneur essentially in her own right um i've played basketball my entire
01:28life since i was at the age of 10 i've done dance i've done gymnastics really just involved in the
01:33culture in arts um went to wayne state university shout out to the warriors graduated from there
01:39um and then essentially from there went on to macomb community college and um well actually went to
01:46macomb community college first then to wayne state sorry um but from there yeah that's kind of what
01:52uh is the the foundation of just me just jazz jazz used to be a very timid girl i'm very
01:59quiet
01:59girl very shy girl um very much a girl who did not know her own voice didn't really know who
02:05she was
02:06and just the power that i had and just being myself right um when you're young you're growing up and
02:13sometimes if you struggle with confidence and things like that um and you kind of feel like you
02:18don't fit in um sometimes you really don't even understand how really you're like a unicorn you're
02:22like a diamond um so essentially that is really the root of where the jazz report really came from
02:30wanting to be a helping hand and letting someone else use their voice in a way that i did not
02:39know how
02:39to use my own until now so when was that moment for you because i feel like we have a
02:44similar
02:46um cadence at least with that for sure because i was definitely the more timid and shy girl didn't
02:52really talk unless it got to a point where i felt comfortable and then my true like personality that
02:57you see today came until i started growing into that confidence so before you got to the jazz report or
03:03was
03:03it the jazz report that allowed you to get to this point of being like wait no i have something
03:07to say
03:08okay and i want to help people say their stories too yeah well it kind of really started i think
03:13i
03:13want to say maybe like the age of 12 um obviously growing up as a 90s a 90s kid you
03:19heard so many
03:21negative things especially on the news just about detroit and your environment and i actually come from a
03:29very very great community i have a lot of males who were my coaches that were around me i was
03:35very much
03:36just involved in my neighborhood and the people that knew my mom and i have a huge community of just
03:42family supporters and i always saw like i'm like there are so many great things about detroit why am i
03:47always just hearing bad things um and so essentially that's kind of how it started and then i think just
03:57eventually as i got further along into my journalism career you start to begin to see
04:06kind of what your media outlets would focus on also myself working in a news station yeah so it's one
04:14thing when you're actually in a news station and you're in the meetings and you see what the agenda
04:19is versus when you are actually a person that is a part of your community and you really see things
04:26that are happening in your community you're like okay wait a minute hold on why are we missing this
04:29there this should be talked about this should be covered this person actually has a very very
04:37inspirational story that they're just uncomfortable with sharing because they don't feel like someone
04:41is going to listen to them those are the type of people and those are the type of stories that
04:46need
04:46to be highlighted and that need to be talked about so i think that is where that came from
04:52but what i'm realizing is even with me doing this and the further along i go with doing this
04:57this is also kind of just showing me the power that i have and just simply storytelling like you
05:03really have no idea when you walk in to do an interview with someone just simply just asking
05:09them about them how that makes them feel and just sharing their story like what that does for them
05:14whether it brings them customers whether it helps them you know with their business or even if it's
05:19just simply just showing them like hey i hear you i see you and your story deserves to be told
05:26so
05:26i'm just super super just grateful to even just have the experience and the opportunity to just
05:31essentially use my voice to kind of just help someone else share theirs i love that and you've
05:37said that there are so many detroit stories that aren't being told the way they should be
05:40so what what started the jazz report like what was that catalyst where you were like you know what
05:46i'm not going to let the news outlet to do it because they're not focusing on the stories that
05:50the community is seeking so what was that moment where you were like you know what i'm going to
05:54take matters into my own hands let's do this well first it started i want to say back in 2023
05:59i
05:59actually came back to detroit from working as a digital reporter out in jefferson city which is the
06:04capital city of missouri it's two hours outside of st louis and i was super super happy just for the
06:10opportunity to be able to work within the public safety departments here for my city as a social media
06:15manager and it was kind of there where i was like oh my god even with me working in public
06:21safety
06:22we hear so many again negative feedbacks about our law enforcement about our public safety
06:27maybe i can be the person to change that narrative and then just while i was there i was really
06:33really
06:33just blessed um to have a mentor to really kind of just instill the confidence in me and to really
06:39give me the motivation and to give me the tools to tell me like this is important and you can
06:45really
06:45do this on your own like i know you're you're probably scared you're probably anxious you probably
06:50don't think someone's gonna listen but like you can do this and so i think really just having the
06:55right people around you at the right time to really just feed into you i think that that is
07:01essentially what really just gave me the ultimate confidence to say you know what i'm gonna just i'm
07:06gonna just do it because what's the worst that can happen right literally what's the worst that can
07:09happen i just not do it which is what i've been doing so essentially it was just that i love
07:14that
07:14okay so when it comes to the jazz report are you a one-woman show is there a team because
07:19i feel like
07:19a lot of people would think that you probably got a whole like crew with you based off of how
07:25you've
07:25been running things girl you know what's so funny is it started out as just a one-woman crew okay
07:30it
07:31started out just that and again i come from journalism where when you first start out and you're
07:35trying to really essentially brand yourself as a news reporter what a lot of people don't know is
07:40you start off as an mmj uh-huh for those who do not know an mmj is a multimedia journalist
07:45which means
07:46when you get your first job at a news station you're not starting off in a detroit in atlanta
07:51in new york no you're going to a smaller market in a small town for me that was jefferson city
07:57i was
07:57i went from being a detroit city girl to being around farms and sheep and you know things like that
08:03and those newsrooms are not big so you literally have to learn how to operate as the reporter as
08:11the interviewer as the producer for your slot as the journalist as the videographer you have to do
08:18all of that on your own and then still meet your deadline so i think as much as a struggle
08:23that was
08:24for me in the beginning of my career that really paved the way to be able to come here and
08:30kind of
08:30just already know what i'm doing i know how to go out to an event with my tripod with my
08:36microphone
08:36by myself and shoot a story right now things have picked up so luckily um i have a person who
08:43helps
08:44me out all the time his name his name is ryan um and he is an amazing videographer and just
08:49again
08:49amazing creative person and he he really helps me a lot with um even just my direction and i love
08:55that because i'm very much a person like i can see things one way but i think in order to
09:00really
09:00be great you have to be open and receptive to receiving that feedback from everyone else and i
09:06think essentially that's just what makes it a you know a dynamic thing is when you have a collective
09:10of creatives who can put all their ideas together essentially that's what i just did as well i had a
09:16wba all-star um video that i posted because i was going to wba all-star weekend yes and i
09:23saw it one
09:23way he incorporated some of his ideas and then the rest was history and we're gonna get to that
09:30we're gonna get to that but when you are scrolling because first of all as a uh journalist myself i
09:36went to north planet ant so i understand they trained me all in the idea of what an mmj is
09:41so i
09:41give nothing but love and respect to mmjs because that is a hard job especially coming off of college
09:48like you're expected to know all of that and do it as a one woman or a one man job
09:53so for people who
09:54don't really know what it takes to start the conversation of being a storyteller to to get
10:01these stories out you're probably scrolling on socials you're probably out and about in the
10:06community how are you going about looking for a story because i feel like that's a lot of what people
10:11may not know is like what are you thinking of when you're going through your brainstorming and
10:17your storyboarding is it i need to tell people about this or are people coming to you like what
10:22are you doing in your process to make this happen i think at first it started off um again with
10:27my
10:28background being in journalism i am already accustomed to doing research and i think whether
10:33you are a storyteller whether you're a creative what a business owner whatever that is you have to
10:39know how to do research in order to produce anything that's good so i already know how to
10:44watch to see if i just see something interesting on social media if i'm out going to a grocery store
10:51i'm just going to something with just my family i know how to listen and be aware of just the
10:57things
10:57that are going on around me it's it's really just being aware of your community and so a lot of
11:04times
11:04that's how it started out with me just finding little trinkets of you know pieces here and there
11:10um but eventually the more consistent i became and you know the more i kept doing this people started
11:16reaching out to me and saying hey i don't know if you know this person but this is what's going
11:20on
11:20hey i have an event this is my first annual event i would love for you to just come out
11:26and so
11:27eventually it becomes a word of mouth kind of thing in in addition to obviously the broader audience that's
11:33seeing the work that you're doing so it it it works together so for you specifically what is a story
11:41because i feel like you're you've done so many including what you just mentioned the wmba but
11:46i feel like there's probably one story that has changed the way that you have thought about the
11:53jasmine the jazz report or reminds you that this is exactly why you started it is there a story that
11:59like no matter how far you go in your career is always going to like remind you this is the
12:05reason
12:06this is my purpose this is why i made the jazz report it's so funny i actually just had that
12:10kind
12:11of story i believe i just posted it maybe like a month or so ago um i did a story
12:15and i think i
12:16caught it before the major news the major tv news outlets caught hit it i know that's right
12:21um i actually had the opportunity to interview and to do a story with jawan howard who was the
12:26owner of the howard family bookstore who also nominated you oh my gosh um but oh my gosh that
12:35that entire just time that i was there speaking to him that entire story just represents why i
12:43literally want to start the jazz report in the first place you have a guy who grew up
12:47on detroit's west side who comes from puritan comes from probably you go over there you're
12:52probably going to be like oh this neighborhood a little sketchy and he literally took his
12:58grassroots and where he came from and he built something great within that same area and i love
13:05during our interview one time he even said he was like you know when you go to other cities outside
13:10of detroit you see bookstores you see you know coffee your mom and pop coffee shops all the time he
13:15was like you don't see bookstores on our streets he was like why not build that here and it's so
13:22funny because even during the time that i was there there was a young man who had to be i
13:25want to say
13:26maybe 12 or 13 who literally just came in his store and was helping him sweep the floors who was
13:31helping
13:31him mop who was just sitting there just watching us do our interview and even just in that moment even
13:36though the little boy wasn't a part of the story that was a part of jawan's story he built that
13:42entire space the garden the community event space the bookstore he built that for the next generation
13:50that's coming up behind him right in his community you have a young black man who came from puritan
13:56who's built something great and now he is literally an example for the next generation of black boys
14:02coming up behind him and that's what the jazz report is a jazz report is a platform and a business
14:08where i am amplifying the voices the businesses the events and the moments that are literally
14:13shaping detroit in real time whether it hits a major news outlet or not these are the stories that so
14:20many people miss about detroit that if you're not here you just don't know but that is literally the
14:28entire point of the jazz report and even as someone who is here a lot of the stories that i've
14:34found
14:34on your page has been like whoa i didn't even know about that i'm telling my co-host clay hold
14:40on we
14:40need to talk about this because jazz just put me on to something and i i love the way that
14:45you talked
14:46about jawan because he was our last dcs and i i commend you for being the one you know to
14:52bring
14:53his story to light but i i love that you said that he is an example for kids because i
14:57can imagine that
14:58little boy who was watching him being like wow yes he created all this like he's created this
15:03environment taking pride in it with his own self because you know sweeping yeah and being a part
15:08of the community but then watching jawan had that moment was probably such a pivotal moment for that
15:14kid you don't even know how that is going to affect and like trickle down yes too so with the
15:20jazz
15:21report you're platforming these stories you're highlighting these incredible individuals and
15:25sometimes really really devastating moments has that changed how you experienced detroit because i feel
15:32like as a detroiter you you saw what the true detroit is yeah so with these stories are you
15:39discovering your own city differently or are you just being validated to know that you weren't wrong
15:44about people having a misunderstanding of the city you know what's crazy it's actually um it's a little
15:49bit of both if i can be completely honest it is it's validating what i've always known about
15:54detroit is like detroit is a great city and it's not just now coming back detroit has been here
16:01so many of these people they never left you hear about so many people who who leave detroit after
16:07a certain point in time they don't come back but there are so many people who never left who stayed
16:12here and made our city what it is and i think that those are the people like jawan who who
16:19deserve
16:19to be highlighted um but it has also changed because i am still learning just how rich our city is
16:29just how
16:31amazing our people are but it is also helping me see where we also do still need change as well
16:37where
16:37we also do still need to put in more work as well what does still need more attention as well
16:42and
16:43that's why for me i am so serious when you know you hear the term content creator a lot all
16:50the time
16:50especially today and i am very quick to tell people i'm not a content creator i am a storyteller
16:56and a creative who does create content as well correct but i am the executive storyteller
17:03of the jazz report meaning i'm not just here to come to your event and just to get a video
17:10of just oh this is going on no i want to dive deeper i want to talk to the owner
17:17and say okay you
17:18have an amazing event but where did this come from why are you doing this what made you even have
17:24this
17:24thought that's how you take a story and you make it relatable to the people that are watching to the
17:30people that are listening you have to be able to connect your content with your audience and
17:36essentially i think that's also what a lot of the creators today are also missing um but again i give
17:43credit to just me having that journalism experience that that's where that comes from for me absolutely
17:48and i think that's why i created this platform because as a i won't say outsider i've been here for
17:54a
17:54little minute now but as someone who is not a native i wanted to not only learn about the city
17:59through the city's eyes but i just felt like there were people who are doing incredible things that
18:04i was not seeing the major outlets talking about like like juwan like yourself like there should be
18:10more coverage about people who are truly seeing the city in its beauty and its chaos because there is
18:17beauty in all of it yes what do you think is happening in the city right now that deserves way
18:22more
18:22attention is there you don't have to give me the scoop or anything but is there something that
18:26you feel like the city should be paying attention more to i think we have to really focus on the
18:33innovation of our entrepreneurs of our creatives and also of our youth and i'll use the young boy
18:41from juwan howard's family bookstore as an example him just initially coming in there to just sweep and
18:47mop floors right i literally could see the wheels in his head start turning as he's watching me
18:54interview juwan he started talking to ryan who was my videographer he was talking to him about the camera
19:00asking him questions and i think maybe that also has to do with me being a parent because you might
19:06miss that but so many of our youth here in detroit it it's so much more than just basketball and
19:13football it's so much more than just sports these kids have brains these kids are curious
19:20they're sponges but it's up to us to give them something to soak up and i think that that is
19:27just
19:28something that like i think our city is moving in the right direction with the different programs and
19:33things that are being offered and the the scholarships you know especially um with our
19:37community colleges and detroit public schools but i think we have to dive deeper i think it's really
19:42going to take for more people to really go to our youth and meet them where they're at and i
19:47think
19:47that's also content has a lot to do with that like instead of telling our kids hey you can be
19:52a content
19:53creator tell them how tell them what their salary can be like correct i thought entering into my career
20:01that i had to go 10 hours away from home to get my first job because i thought i only
20:06could be a tv
20:07news reporter i didn't know or at that time the option was not there that i could just go right
20:12to
20:13west grand boulevard and work at henry ford hospital and work in their media department still doing
20:17news still doing storytelling i didn't know that i could go down to the city of detroit and work in
20:21their media services department still being a storyteller i had no idea that your public safety
20:26departments who hears that you can go to your public safety department and work doing storytelling
20:32doing media but those are opportunities that 10 years ago they weren't there but now it's pivotal you
20:37can go to restaurants you can go to museums you can go any and everywhere be a storyteller be a
20:42journalist be a media person a photographer videographer whatever and to still fulfill your
20:46purpose but you don't have to travel outside of home unless you want to but you don't have to
20:51right to gain the opportunities that you need i feel like there's so many gems that like you're
20:57dropping not only for people who are getting into the media career because i feel like there's a few
21:02that i would have loved to know before i started my career but there's also someone who just loves
21:07the city i think that the one thing that i've just grown to love about detroit is how hard people
21:13love this city yeah and will not tolerate disrespect from somebody else right no no no we ride at dawn
21:18even if we button heads in the city let somebody else talk about it we can talk about our city
21:24but
21:25nobody else can talk about our city yeah is there something that you feel like is a part of detroit's
21:30identity that you have felt like you needed to protect and that you have wanted to uplift is it
21:35the youth is it the public safety of it all or i don't want to throw words into your mouth
21:40but
21:40what is that identity of detroit that you feel like you've chosen to really tackle and protect with the
21:46jazz report through the year that i've been doing this as an individual um i still hear a lot of
21:55feedback about um detroiters especially creators unfortunately are not easy to work with
22:03and i take so much pride in regardless of who i come in contact with regardless of who i work
22:10with
22:10that i want you to be able to have a pleasurable experience when you're working with me i want
22:17this to be enjoyable for myself but also for you as well i just take so much pride in just
22:23how people
22:24receive me um again i think maybe it also is the detroit in me as well because i know the
22:31preconceived
22:31notions that comes with the immediately as soon as you say that you're from detroit out of your mouth
22:35i will never forget one time when i was in missouri this was while i was on my first news
22:39job i went to
22:40st louis just with some friends and i was introduced to to a gentleman um and he was from memphis
22:47and he asked me where i was from and i said i was from detroit and the immediate look on
22:51his face was
22:52just like oh my god and i'm like wait a minute you from memphis how are you right how are
22:57you looking
22:58at me but i never forgot that as small as that moment was i never forgot that and i'm like
23:03if he's just
23:04one person that can look at me like that just solely off me saying i'm from detroit he doesn't
23:09know me from a canapé or anything then there are a thousand other people that do the exact same thing
23:14and so maybe i take pride in also just having this chip on my shoulder that like i don't want
23:21you to look
23:21at me and hear detroit and just go off of what you may have heard i want you to really
23:28get to know
23:28me and to know like oh wow like okay there are again amazing people and there's amazing things
23:35coming from detroit and also just like we grit we grind like we're hustlers like i'm not taking no
23:42for an answer like you're gonna get to know me one way or another in a polite way but you
23:46know just i
23:47think that's how detroit has essentially just just made me i love how proud you are of your city and
23:53not
23:53only that but your work too so what have you been most proud of throughout the conception of the jazz
23:59report to 2026 what has been the most proudest moment where you were just like yeah girl i did that
24:08is it the wmba you know let me say because i used to be a young girl who just did
24:19again just did not
24:20have confidence in myself i think first and foremost i'm just so proud of myself that i
24:26started this and i kept going and i did not let fear and i did not let anxiety stop me
24:32from having
24:33to walk into rooms by myself having to go up and shake people's hands that i didn't know um and
24:39i did
24:39it without having support around me i did this you know a lot of times people say like you know
24:46it's not
24:46about what you know it's who you know there was nobody around me that who you know everything that
24:50i've done everything i've worked for i've had to learn as i've gone on my own and i think that's
24:56why i'm just so confident now in it because this is me this is all me um but the most
25:03proud moment
25:04definitely has to be going to wmba all-star weekend and being invited to go out there and
25:08represent detroit as a detroit creator um oh my gosh that was just an ultimate dream control as a
25:15girl who's been playing basketball my entire life who loves basketball through and through who was
25:21a diehard detroit shock fan oh my gosh to be able to experience that and the funny thing is i
25:28actually
25:28went into journalism not to be a news reporter i actually wanted to be a sports reporter i used to
25:34crack jokes i always said like i'm gonna be the first girl in the nba as a sports reporter i'm
25:40gonna
25:41to not make it into sports the way i thought i was gonna make it into sports but nearly 10
25:49years
25:49later for it to come back to me without me trying that was just a full circle moment that i
25:58i will
25:59never i will never forget that i hope you wrote it down girl i did that's in my journal because
26:04we're
26:04going next year okay the announcement is today so i'm waiting on that i was gonna ask you what the
26:09detroit shock coming back next year right or is it 2029 2029 yes are you excited how are you feeling
26:16oh my god what is the vibe do you want the jazz report in there because one thing about this
26:20show
26:20i love to manifest so how do you feel now that you've had a taste of the wmba you're a
26:27basketball
26:27player through and through what's the vibe what do you feel like the jazz report can be a part of
26:32when
26:32the shock returns oh the jazz report is going to be the media partnership with the detroit wmba team
26:39that is we are going to be we're going to be the influencer and the host yes the detroit nba
26:43team
26:45absolutely um but oh my god i am just so excited because my generation um i grew up during the
26:51time
26:52of when it was girls high school basketball when it was between king persian and renaissance that
26:56rivalry and that was a big rivalry for years but my generation of girls basketball players being able
27:03to go to the palace and to watch swing cash who oh my god i got a chance to interview
27:08and meet and
27:09hug and touch and just feel her energy oh that was oh that's nothing i almost cried i did cry
27:14um because of that but to be able to see swing cash up close cheryl ford deanna tweedy nolan
27:20cara braxton who's no longer with us but still was a huge intricate part of that team
27:24um alexis hornbuckle bill and beer just that entire just organization for us to be able to
27:31experience that team and to again watch how that team went from last place to first place
27:37multiple times and for us to be able to just experience what that was like
27:41there are so many girls now because we don't have that who that they're missing that and one thing that
27:47i do know is that you have to be able to put yourself in a position to where you can
27:53physically
27:53experience something to know what that's like like i'm grateful that my mom even though my mom
27:58wasn't the biggest basketball fan my mom never limited me from being able to have opportunities
28:03and experience certain things um and i know that there's just a new wave of young girls who like
28:08basketball who love it but they've never been able to probably make it to a college game they've
28:13never been able to see wba in person so now our girls and our basketball community here we get to
28:20have that back and i think it's even better now because now it will actually be in detroit like
28:25we don't have to travel you know to the suburbs to be able to experience that i just think that's
28:30just so amazing just for detroit and just for like our women's sports community and i'm really really
28:34hoping that with the return of them detroit also has a women's hockey team now that was just announced
28:40this summer as well um i think and i'm praying and i really do believe that this will start to
28:46really bring the girls who really know sports not just the ones who you know we want to be cute
28:51and
28:51we want to go to games and you know i just want to dress up you know we want to
28:54go sport you know
28:55like no no you know and it's nothing wrong with that but for those of us who know sports who
29:01play
29:01sports we can sit in the room with any guy we can still talk sports with you all day long
29:05i really
29:06really feel like this will start to build our community for just women in sports and that's what
29:12detroit needs that's what we're missing and i know that that's what's going to come back i feel like
29:15the synergy just around since the announcement like there's been something bubbling yes and now
29:21i've just gotten really excited myself to be like oh my god yeah whoa yeah something's moving yeah and
29:26i'm excited yeah so now that we've manifested that you are going to be the host and the media sponsor
29:32yes for the detroit shop great what have you learned about yourself through creating the jazz report that
29:40you didn't expect i know that you talked about the fact that you gained confidence that you gained
29:45your voice but what is something that throughout this process throughout this this journey that
29:50you've been on that you didn't actually expect to learn about yourself i honestly did not expect
29:54for people to gravitate to it the way that they have um when i made the announcement that i was
30:00going
30:00to wma all-star weekend i literally i made a post about this that i literally cried multiple times
30:07just from the amount of support and feedback and encouragement and just the kind words that people
30:13gave me as i went out there it was just an overwhelming feeling because just again a year
30:19ago this i did not expect for this to happen not this fast not this soon like this um so
30:27i think
30:27that's just one thing that has stuck out to me is that it's very easy especially with being a creator
30:33in detroit because detroit is also very small it's a big city but it's also very small um that there
30:39is so much power in being yourself and being authentic and being original you know you have the
30:48trends you have the popular things like i know the pilates is a popular thing the going to events
30:53that's a popular thing um but being able to identify a lane that is completely open that no one has
31:01touched yet and being able to stand in that regardless if it is deemed as popular or it's
31:07trendy or whatever but being able to just be original be authentic and just who you are and what you
31:14do
31:14that is what i'm just most proud of about myself because when you really stay true to who you are
31:21that just it blossoms like the the blessings they just they begin to overflow with just trusting the
31:27timing of it so that's just what i'm most proud about and i can imagine that like you said the
31:33love that you received from so many people was also another full circle moment within the full
31:37circle moment yeah because it was like the city was loving you yeah and i i i as someone from
31:43dc it's
31:43always very hard to get that love back sometimes and i can only imagine that detroit they don't they
31:51don't play so they're not gonna hype you up if there's no reason to hype you up no so the
31:56mere fact that
31:57people were just so excited for a moment that is literally just for you yeah was probably such a
32:03even special moment within that special moment that you had it was and i i even mentioned as
32:07well in my post i said you don't see things like this happening especially to people coming from the
32:13east side of detroit every day like i know there's the conversation of the east side versus the west side
32:17you know east side is better um but man coming from the a girl coming from the east side detroit
32:23from a
32:23single mother household this you you don't see this this is not what's supposed to happen to me
32:30it's not statistically that i'm not supposed to be here i'm not um but to be able to to have
32:38that
32:38happen to me um that again i just i just keep saying that that was genuinely just a blessing and
32:46again a girl who not only came from the east side detroit but who didn't have a voice in herself
32:51who
32:51wasn't confident standing in my own truth and in my own shoes and being able to now be invited
32:58and people wanting to collaborate with me because of that that that's truly just a testimony and so
33:05i really just hope that if there's anyone that maybe you feel awkward about yourself or you maybe
33:10you just feel like maybe what you think and how you feel just isn't important it is but it starts
33:16with you you have to believe in yourself first before supporters will before anyone else is and
33:22then once you begin to do that you gain the respect and then the acknowledgement comes and follows along
33:27behind it come on now give them the gems yes also be educated don't just be going out here and
33:33not
33:33knowing your your history you have to be educated yes okay and now to wrap up the manifestation of it
33:39all yeah what's the bigger vision girl because you've already had this big moment we talked about
33:44the media sponsor like what's the vibe what what is something that you are looking to do is there
33:50something that the the city can help you with because i feel like a lot of times people especially
33:55people that i've met throughout this journey of the shifters is that they give so much to the city
33:59and i want to know what can the city do back for you so what do you see as the
34:03bigger vision for
34:04jazz report and is there anything that the city can do for you that could probably help you get there
34:08we need to invest more into our media students there is so much about media and journalism that
34:15our students just do not know because it's not they're not exposed to it until you're thrown out
34:22there and you're there in the headlights and you're beginning your career so you have the nabj
34:26conference that happens annually you have culture con that happens annually the bet awards you have
34:32so many things that our aspiring professionals are missing but it's really key for them even
34:40knowing okay wait maybe i don't want to do this or oh my god like okay so this is what
34:46i need
34:46to do in order to get here our youth again need exposure and so with all this that i'm doing
34:54the jazz report essentially i want for this to be a also a career pipeline i want to be able
35:00to
35:00connect our young media professionals to the platforms to the companies to the businesses
35:06where they can start their career and so we need for our universities here our cmus our michigan
35:12states our u of m our wayne states our detroit mercies we need for our universities to come together
35:17to be able to start having these conferences and these conventions here we shouldn't be waiting
35:23oh you already have to be a creator once you're grown no one thing that my mom being a teacher
35:28always taught me is that you have to catch them while they're young my mom has been a kindergarten
35:33and first grade teacher forever and she's done middle school and high school but she says she loves
35:37catching the younger kids first because that's where it matters and that's where it's the most important
35:43and so we have to be able to just provide our youth with those opportunities i would love to be
35:50able to
35:50have a scholarship to where i can sponsor two students a semester to be able to attend culture
35:56con to be able to attend essence fest to give them that first-hand exposure of traveling and being in
36:03these rooms seeing people from other states who are doing what they do but they're doing it different
36:09that feeds into your creativity that feeds into your ideas that feeds into just your processes and
36:14your procedures and just your strategy that was probably the biggest thing that i just took away from
36:18being um going to wma all-star weekend was being able to be in room with other women's sports
36:24creators but seeing what they're doing feeding off of what they're doing getting their advice getting
36:30their feedback and again to be a successful just not even creator but just person in general you have to
36:37be able to have a community around you and you have to be able to receive feedback and i think
36:43that is
36:43what's missing in detroit we need a better community and we need more exposure and the only way to get
36:50that is to build that i love that i love everything about that because the first i think nabj that
36:55i
36:56ever went to was actually the one that was here 2018 correct it was in detroit correct that was the
37:00first time i ever heard about it attended anything yeah and that was my first time ever coming to detroit
37:05i remember taking a picture in front of the motown museum and not realizing that what 10 years later
37:12or something like that not 10 maybe like six yeah something like that years later i'd be moving here
37:18yes and that moment was so pivotal for me because at the time kelvin washington who's now in la
37:24he told me that you always have to stay ready no matter what yes and literally put me on the
37:30spot and
37:30he was like if you want to be in radio you should be able to front sell this song that
37:34i'm about to give
37:34you right now so do it in front of everybody in this conference room right now go yeah and that
37:40was the most pivotal moment of my career that really changed the game for me i was like oh
37:46i will never be caught slipping i i know now that i love this yeah so i agree i think
37:53that more kids
37:53and more just younger people deserve to have those same moments and deserve to have them in their home
37:59because sometimes that's the that's the one thing that they don't have they want to go to them but
38:04they don't have the access to getting there or they don't have the capital to pay these bingo
38:09high ticket prices to get in there bingo yes or there's not something within that space that is
38:15created for them to get that taste of you're supposed to have all these prerequisites before getting this
38:20job but how do i prerequisite when i just got here there's no there's nowhere that i can get that
38:24how do i how do i give you a highlight reel when i when i don't even know what a
38:28highlight reel is or i
38:30haven't been anywhere to cover anything or i don't even know how to how to even start to make a
38:35highlight because you could make one right now with your phone and then some people don't even realize
38:39that they're probably making them right now without realizing that that is a highlight reel yes it is so
38:43i i implore you to take this movement and run with a girl however i can help if i can
38:50be one of the
38:50little mentors let me know once the scholarship gets up let me know yeah because i i truly think
38:56that that is something that not only detroit is missing but i think just the media space is missing
39:03as well and as we are coming to the end it is always right for us to give flowers to
39:09the
39:09people who are doing incredible things within the area that's the reason why i created this show
39:14so who are you nominating as the next detroit culture shifter oh my god hands down um i am
39:21nominating uh joe darby she is a creative director here in detroit but um also a photographer a videographer
39:27and really just a complete genius just when it comes to creativity uh she was one of the pivotal mentors
39:34that i was able to meet um and that really helped me understand what it means to really strategize
39:40to write things down and to know that you can really build off of what you want she's had her
39:47hand in so many different pots from detroit public schools community district to the city of detroit to
39:52black tech saturday she's done so much of this she's also an artist a musical artist music is fire
39:57um truly if when we talk about culture shifters and people who are really about their community and
40:03people who are really making a difference she is one of the first people that comes to mind for me
40:08hands down
40:09well joe i'll be contacting you thank you very much and i just want to say thank you for what
40:14you do
40:15i feel like a lot of times with reporters for storytellers there's not many times that we get
40:23that moment to really get that love back yeah and i hope that this wmba experience gave you that but
40:31i
40:31pray that it's more i pray that it's more moments where you feel that love from your city and that
40:37that
40:37love fuels you yeah because i think that what you are doing is incredible thank you the fact that
40:42literally three people were like if you don't get jazzed on this show i don't really know what you're
40:46doing told me everything i needed to know i was like okay well let me hit her up real quick
40:50i just
40:51want to say thank you for being here thank you for taking a chance on coming on this show and
40:55for
40:56continuing to being an outlet and a supporter for all people and being a champion for the city of detroit
41:01because i know detroit marine love you down yeah yeah but thank you so much for even just um for
41:08giving us this platform um and again from myself jaron you know people like us who are community
41:15builders and community people we don't do it for recognition we do it because we genuinely want to
41:20see the greater good for those that are around us um so just thank you for also just seeing us
41:26and
41:27just recognizing us as well thank you well thank you for being here let them know your socials
41:32because they need to stay up to date with what's going on with this jazz absolutely so you guys can
41:37follow me on instagram at the jazz report that is jazz with one z please um and that is where
41:42you will
41:42catch all detroit stories sports and culture and moments that are just making detroit what it is i know
41:49that's right thank you thank you