00:00The ability to do something even though I'm scared is what keeps me confident.
00:07My name is Paris. Right now, I work at RCA Records. My role is Senior Urban Artist Manager.
00:16I do a monthly show on Represent Radio. This was the very obvious choice of a platform without
00:21feeling like I was trying to take a whole different path. Aside from having a crazy love
00:27for music and music always being around me and when I was growing up, I really thought that there
00:32was going to be a career when I was about 16 and I started writing for different platforms.
00:38And before I knew it, I had this network of people that kind of worked in music.
00:42I decided that it was my time to help artists myself and I decided to set up my own digital
00:47PR company.
00:49Once I finished uni, I applied for the Sony Music internship and my mum shouted at me for
00:56applying for one job instead of like 10. I got it, luckily.
01:04The reason why I shaved my head was I just got to the point where I was just like,
01:07I just need a big change in my life and it was just about like new energy.
01:10And as soon as I did it, it was literally the most liberating thing I've ever done.
01:14I just feel like I'm just more in tune with like the masculine side of myself.
01:18Ever since I cut my hair off, how I wear makeup has changed like drastically because you see my face
01:24straight away. My favourite colours are kind of orangey, glowy. I use like highlighters and like
01:30a bit of blusher and mascara. When I'm growing up, it was always like this thing that my mum did
01:34and
01:35it was like very exclusive to like women, but actually, I feel it's important that you see
01:40a lot of different people wearing makeup. My style is definitely comfort first. As long as I'm
01:45comfortable, I feel like myself.
01:53I started at Sony four years ago on the intern project. The first time I walked into the building,
01:57I was overwhelmed, but it also felt weirdly familiar. I started as a TV intern and then I got
02:04switched to a press intern. Then I became the press assistant. From there, that's when I became
02:09urban promotions manager and then into my role now. Every role I've had post being an intern has
02:16been created solely for me. My role being created is a nod to us going in the right direction as
02:24an
02:24industry. I look after artist strategy as a whole, what things we should be doing to promote the artist,
02:30what we should be doing in the marketing team, what they should be talking about on socials.
02:34I'm in a very, very rare and fortunate position to be able to see people's careers progress and see
02:40these teams win. You're part of something that's bigger than you, which I think is the main thing
02:44for me is creating something that will outlast me. I doubt myself all the time, but I think it's just
02:50the ability to overcome that doubt, which is the thing that I'm like, I'm going to be all right.
02:55I know what the long term is. I know I'm going to be president of a label. How I get
02:59there,
02:59I've got to figure out somehow. But just knowing what the end goal is, is the main thing.
03:07From when I can remember, I've always loved music, but it actually never occurred to me
03:11until after uni that I was like, oh yeah, I can do this and make money.
03:16Like, and also like starting it for yourself and like just going, I don't really know how I'm
03:20meant to do this. Let me just start doing it. And then I'll, that's actually as simple as it is.
03:25Like I just imagined like music as a thing where you were a performer and if you weren't performing,
03:32so we move on. Being a black woman in any industry, but especially the music industry,
03:37is a very different experience than anybody else will have. I want to see people who look like me
03:43get opportunities. We're all coming up together through the ranks and we're making these friendships
03:49and it's in days to come, we're going to be the people hopefully at the top. For me just to
03:54have
03:54like a group of young black women around me that are just like absolutely killing it. Like Jeanette,
04:01who works at Black Butter Records. Natty has this insane talent to be able to like balance exec life
04:06with this freelance journalist life. And then Abby, she works in publicity at Columbia Records. She DJs on
04:13my monthly represent show. We all understand where we're coming from. We all understand what we go
04:18through every day. When a lot of people first come into the industry, for them it's really important
04:23to network upwards. When actually, if you network sideways to your peers, you create this insane
04:32force. You want people next to you who can pull you off. I just like the fact that we have
04:37this like
04:37network that will have outlasted just music.
