Ep.7 From Radio Roots to Podcast Heights w/Jazmine Henley-Brown
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DescriptJ.Henley-Brown Final
[00:00:00] Jazmine Henley-Brown: The first thing with getting into the podcast industry is really understanding what roles are available to you. I know for a lot of Indies, they think you can only be a host or maybe a producer, but they don't know like you can be a researcher. Um, you can do distribution. Like there's so many other roles that you can take on.
[00:00:20] Sidney Evans: Tune in. As we give flowers to black men and women making waves in the audio industry. I'm your host, Sidney Evans. And this is Beyond the Threshold.
[00:00:43] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Beyond the Threshold. I'm your host Sidney Evans and award winning audio editor, mixer, and producer. For those of you who don't know on this show, I interview black men and women working in the audio industry, highlighting the lessons and experiences it takes to achieve success in the field.
[00:01:00] And as always, uh, we got another great interview or episode in store, and we're going to keep the thing of, uh, having a previous guest to lead to another guest I was introduced to today's guest or, uh, made aware of today's guest by, uh, Melissa deep months. I reached out to her and she was willing to, uh, Hop right on and join me.
[00:01:24] Um, so we're going to hear her story, her experience and her lessons from working in the industry to give a little bit of a background on her. Uh, she's a writer, executive podcast, producer, media personality, and sit down comedian. She's worked for Sirius XM and Sony music entertainment, creating an executive producing award nominated podcast, such as new warrior mall.
[00:01:47] And reality with the king and most recently created an executive produced 90 day. The last resort sessions for TLC Warner brothers in 2017. She founded the Milwaukee podcast festivals to showcase the local audio talent in her hometown. Without further ado. I would like to introduce Jasmine Henley Brown.
[00:02:07] Welcome to the show jazz.
[00:02:09] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Thank you so much, Sydney. Good to be here.
[00:02:12] Sidney Evans: Thank you. So, uh, quick question. Do you, you do podcast a lot? I'm just curious.
[00:02:16] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Oh, so I guessed, I don't want to say quite often, but I guessed a good bit. That's why I put like the media personality added that to like my bio, because, uh, one of the shows that I co created was reality with the king and I PR on there pretty often as a guest to talk about like reality TV and then obviously doing things like this.
[00:02:38] Some people want to discuss the industry. Um, I used to be a correspondent on a radio show to just talk about like, uh, pop culture and like politics. So yeah, pretty familiar with the, with the guest spot.
[00:02:49] Sidney Evans: Okay, cool. Uh, so Swiss, Swiss army knife, so to speak, Jack of all trades. I'm, um, obviously I'm in front of the mic now, but, uh, I'm usually behind the scenes.
[00:02:58] So this has been a interesting transition. And I guess the biggest thing has been. Uh, getting used to the sound of your own voice, getting over that hurdle. I think I'm, I think I'm there now that I don't recorded a good amount of episodes, but I, I've delayed editing actually because of that reason. Cause it was just so cringy to me.
[00:03:17] Jazmine Henley-Brown: It used to, it used to bother me a lot too, actually when I was younger. So you hear my voice now, right? It sounds like a mature woman's voice, but I've had this same voice since I was in like elementary school. And so like, my voice is considered deep. Like imagine a child calling your house and like their voice sounds like mine.
[00:03:36] So I actually used to get made fun of for my voice when I was younger. And like, people would say I sounded like a boy and like all of this. And so I was really insecure about my voice for a really long time too. And then once I started to hear it, like. early, you know, my early years in the podcast industry, I started because I have started my own podcast.
[00:03:53] So I'm with you. Like the first few times I heard my own voice, I was like, I hate it. But then people started to compliment me and be like, Oh my gosh, I love your voice. Like it's so great. And so now I'm really confident in it. But said all that to say, I feel you on getting used to hearing your own voice.
[00:04:08] Sidney Evans: Well, yeah, you're, you're in the right space because that's the, you do have like a full like tone, just a rich tone of your voice. So in this space, um, it's appreciated. So we're not gonna talk about those who don't appreciate it anymore.
[00:04:21] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Right. Um, so yeah,
[00:04:23] Sidney Evans: uh, I know you just kind of jumped into it a little bit, but, uh, could you just share more about your background and kind of like, what was your, Inspiration for taking this career path and, um, yeah, kind of your experience, what you got there.
[00:04:37] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Yeah. So my like intro into audio period was through radio. Like I grew up listening to the radio. I wanted to work in radio. So, um, Um, way back in the day, day, day during my intern days, um, I interned at the Breakfast Club and I thought I wanted to be like a radio personality. And through the internships, I was a production intern.
[00:04:59] Through that internship though, I was like, Oh, I actually like the behind the scenes aspect of this, like producing the show. And so, uh, I started producing radio. I left New York. I moved to Atlanta. Um, I started working at a digital radio station and that was really cool. Then I ended up leaving Atlanta the first time because I've lived there twice, but that was the first time I left Atlanta.
[00:05:18] And it was like right around the time when Serial The true crime podcast serial was like really, really popular. Uh, and I was listening to that all the time, all the time. And I just got inspired to do my own podcast. It was not a true crime podcast, but it was called the 20 something series. And it was just all about like the last couple of years in my 20s and how weird it was.
[00:05:39] And I had friends come on and we would just talk about like different experiences in our 20s. But through that podcast, Uh, and then working in media period. Um, a lot of people from my hometown of Milwaukee would hit me up and say, Hey, like, I know you have a podcast. I know you worked in radio. I have a podcast.
[00:05:57] Can you listen to it? And so I was listening to random people's podcasts from Milwaukee and I was like, Oh, it's some like talent there. Right. And like, Milwaukee is not a city that people think of. When they think about creatives and also Black creatives, they do not think of Milwaukee as a city. And so I wanted a way to showcase that.
[00:06:17] And so this was like the end of 2016. So early 2017, I came up with the idea for the Milwaukee podcast festival, which was a one day live event where we showcase like, uh, six or seven local podcasts. And then we had a headlining podcast, which was the brilliant idiots, which is, uh, hosted by Charlemagne, the guy and Andrew Schultz.
[00:06:41] And like I mentioned, I used to intern at the breakfast club. And so Charlemagne and I had kept a professional relationship over the years. The breakfast club was syndicated in Milwaukee. So I knew even if people in Milwaukee didn't quite know what a podcast was, they knew who Charlemagne was and they will come to see something that Charlemagne was in.
[00:06:57] And so, yeah, um, I started planning that, um, in the, The earlier parts of 2017 and then October of 2017, uh, we did the Milwaukee Podcast Festival and it was amazing. Uh, everybody liked it. Um, we did a lot of things wrong in it, but we did, you know, enough right that the, the event actually happened. And so yeah, after that, that kind of catapulted me into like the world of podcasting in a big way.
[00:07:22] And I was consulting and just helping independent creators with their shows. And then 2020 happened. Um, I ended up, uh, working as a partner manager for Sirius XM and I was quickly promoted to an executive producer. They had this, uh, podcast label called More Sauce, which was their cultural vertical, um, and More Sauce was a podcast label to showcase, um, Uh, shows for like black millennial and Gen Z audiences.
[00:07:47] So I was the executive producer over more sauce. That's where I started working with Rory Amar. Um, Rory Amar were actually my first really big podcast acquisition in that role. Um, so I was executive producing their show. Um, there were some other shows that I inherited, which is how I met Melissa. Cause one of the shows that I inherited was Tamar Braxton under construction.
[00:08:08] And Melissa was the, um, I'm sorry, not Tamar. I inherited Tamar, but, um, the salon with Lala Milan, who's a digital influencer, Melissa was producing, um, she was one of the producers for that show. And so, um, because I became the EP of that label, I then started working with Melissa on that show. One of the other shows on the label was, um, for real with Portia Williams.
[00:08:29] Um, And then, yeah, into that role, like I said, acquired New Royal Mall, co created, uh, Reality with the King with Carlos King, also oversaw Lovers and Friends with Shan Bludram, um, and really just re imagined the Morsos brand as really like a cultural brand for Black and Brown podcasts. Unfortunately though, just due to, I think, you know, some internal things, uh, within the company, you know, more sauce, it got a lot of support in the beginning, but I think toward the end I was kind of looking for more support with it.
[00:09:00] Um, and I wasn't, I wasn't really getting it. And so I, uh, was offered a role at Sony to be an executive producer of entertainment podcasts and I took it. Um, and so I went over to Sony.
[00:09:11] Sidney Evans: All right. Let me jump in real quick. Okay. Before you get, before you get to your experience at Sony, uh, cause you've been, you've been throwing around the word executive producer and EP a lot in our world, we understand what that means or not.
[00:09:24] Depending on like, you know, the, the, the producer, executive producer, like, I know I'm, I'm very aware that a lot of people may like, may not really know, Exactly what the Intel. So before you dive further into your executive producing experience, just kind of break down what exactly an executive producer does.
[00:09:45] Jazmine Henley-Brown: That's a great, that's actually a really good place to stop because I did, I was like, am I talking too much? Cause I feel like I was just going on and on, but yeah, that's a great place to stop. So you're right. The, uh, title of executive producer is really vast and it could mean so many different things, even within the same company.
[00:10:02] Um, the way that I've been an executive producer is largely in like creative oversight, show development. People management, um, being like a cross functional team leader. So working a lot with other teams within companies like sales, PR, marketing, advertising, all of that. And so I would say it's, think of a project manager, really, um, and how they kind of just have to keep Uh, every project, they have to oversee multiple projects.
[00:10:32] They have to oversee the teams on each project. They have to oversee timelines. They have to offer oversee resources and budgets. I essentially do all of that with the added benefit of the creative development. So I get to, I've created shows and launched them. I've been able to source a lot of talent and book a lot of talent.
[00:10:50] Um, I always was in like the. pitch meetings, leading pitch meetings, or setting up pitch meetings for myself. So that's what I did as an executive producer, but I know other executive producers who are very technical in their production. So they are the ones that are getting in and they're cutting tape and like, you know, pro tools, that's their best friend.
[00:11:08] Right. Uh, for me, I was able to oversee the team who was doing all of the technical production. So that is, um, the way that I was an executive producer.
[00:11:17] Sidney Evans: Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that, uh, explanation. You also, you hit on something, um, That I haven't really talked about on the podcast, you talked about people management and based off a lot of the shows that you have mentioned, um, these people have kind of, you know, they're kind of known as far as the name, you know, you got, you know, Charlemagne, Andrew Schultz, obviously you work with them in the festival.
[00:11:38] Um, but you said Tamar Braxton and a couple of other people who, you know, have made a name for themselves outside of podcasts and then kind of made their way over to podcast land. So, um, Just kind of talk about your experience, like with working with people, um, who are kind of have a name or, you know, within everything working with people who, you know, they podcast and maybe their introduction to the world to working with people who, you know, podcast is something that they crossed over from, uh, you know, whether it's acting or music or whatever, not more so your experience, but what is your approach?
[00:12:14] I would say.
[00:12:16] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Um, So my well, I'll clarify something when I said people management, I meant like managing a staff. Um, that's what I meant by people management. But yes, talent management is what you're referring to. And that's also a huge part of my job. And the approach there really, I mean, you know, I think I'm in a unique spot.
[00:12:34] I've been working in the entertainment industry for over 10 years now. I've, I've worked around, you know, celebrities or like people with a name for themselves for a while. So I, my approach is really to just approach them like they're regular people. Like I don't get starstruck, um, at this point in my career, I approach everybody, especially if I'm approaching them to, uh, be talent on a show that I'm going to be overseeing.
[00:12:58] I just approach them, um, as creatives from a creative to a creative. Um, and yeah, obviously a lot of respect. I think. people in the industry, particularly when you're working with high level talent, they appreciate when people approach them as if they are, you know, essentially on the same level. Um, because that's really, you know, what you would be if you're an executive producer of the show, you are the boss of the show, like you run the show.
[00:13:24] So, um, it's always important to like establish those, um, those roles right away. And yeah, the approach is always to just act like You know, creative to creative. We are all humans at the end of the day. I
[00:13:37] Sidney Evans: appreciate it. Gotta keep it, keep it professional. Um, but yeah, I just wanted to, I just wanted to touch on that piece about executive, uh, being an executive producer and, and all the, you know, response roles and responsibilities and entails and your experience with that.
[00:13:50] But, um, I know you were about to dive a little bit deeper into your, uh, time with Sony and beyond. So, uh, you can continue down that path and then, uh, you We'll go from there.
[00:14:01] Jazmine Henley-Brown: You know, the story, the Sony story is pretty short. Um, I, I started there in January and then by September they laid off their entire production team.
[00:14:10] Um, and this was September of last year. So, I mean, I worked on a few shows. Uh, the coolest show that I worked on at Sony was, uh, 90 Day Fiancé, The Last Resort Sessions, which was a partnership between Sony and TLC Warner Brothers. for TLC's like most popular show, 90 Day Fiance. So that was a really cool project to work on as an EP because they actually sent out an RFP.
[00:14:33] They wanted people to pitch, they wanted multiple companies to pitch ideas for a 90 Day Fiance podcast. And the idea that I pitched is the idea that won. And so it was really cool to work with such a huge, like, legacy, um, television company and also be able to, you know, bring some revenue into the company by way of, of, um, getting them the, the deal to work on or to produce that podcast.
[00:14:57] And so, yeah, that's kind of like where things left off with me in terms of like corporate podcasting. Like I said, they laid off the entire production team back in September of last year. So it's been about a year. Um, and I am working on, I have some stuff like in the oven. It's just not ready to come out yet, but, um, I am going to be happy to be, you know, making some announcements on my next move very, very soon.
[00:15:19] So that's, you know, my career in a nutshell.
[00:15:22] Sidney Evans: Okay. That's cool. Um, The last thing that you touched on that, that stood out to me was the pitches part. Um, obviously, you know, you've worked, you've worked in corporate, uh, podcast production environments, um, but there is a, a huge market out there, people who do stuff independently and kind of pitch and, you know, to get their podcast made or give resources to support the ideas that they have.
[00:15:47] So for those who may be interested in, you know, whether it's going the corporate route or maybe pitching their own show, because they have a great idea. Like what, I guess, what would you have learned as far as. process of doing pitches and like, what's the most effective route or, you know, tips or tactics to try to, uh, yeah, in fact, get, get that support from having people, uh, pick up your pitches.
[00:16:12] Jazmine Henley-Brown: I think, uh, for independent podcast creators, to, like, either, uh, podcast production companies or just going straight to, like, large corporate podcast companies, you need to have a proof of concept, at least. Um, I've been pitched ideas where it's just You know, like a creative deck with like a wishlist of guests.
[00:16:35] And while decks are great to have, you need to have some type of tape that accompanies that pitch. Because the podcast market is very competitive. And you know, if I'm keeping it a hundred large podcast companies, uh, if you notice some of the deals that they've been doing lately that they've been announcing lately, those are with like, you know, the top one or 2% of people in podcasts, right?
[00:16:59] So that's people who already have established. podcast brands or people who just have established presence. And so if you are an independent podcast creator and you don't have a large audience that's coming with you, you are not like super notable in terms of being like high, um, high level talent. I think the best thing is to just start producing your show.
[00:17:23] On your own and starting to create your own audience. And then once you grow your audience, leverage that audience to try to get a podcasting deal. Um, that's the most realistic advice that I can give. I don't want to tell people, you know, come up with a deck, shoot a pilot episode, and then, you know, send it to Sony and they're going to take a look at it because they're, they're not at this point, um, Um, but if you come with them and you say, Hey, I have this show and I have, you know, 50, 000 downloads every month for the last three months.
[00:17:55] I'm not saying that's a guaranteed deal, but I think that's a lot stronger coming in and they are more willing to take a look at it on the flip side of that, those smaller, Podcast production companies are looking to break talent. So instead of trying to go straight for the Spotify's and the Sirius XM's and the Sony's, look for, uh, podcast production companies or independent podcast networks who have a slate of other shows that don't have these massive audiences yet because they are more likely to take on new shows to help develop them and then to help you grow your audience in that way.
[00:18:29] Sidney Evans: Okay. So yeah, that's, so that, that, that's definitely helpful advice. What advice and what skillsets should they focus on for people just trying to get roles in podcasting in general? Like you do, you're an executive producer. I work, you know, I edit and produce, you know, as engineers, there's a lot of things in between as people who write for podcasts, um, as far as just like getting in the door, cause.
[00:18:51] Uh, creating this platform, not only did I want to create a, create a, uh, a platform that supports people who already are working in the industry. Uh, for those who may be interested in working in the industry, this is something that I wish was, you know, out there in the world and available. When I started, you know, I could have avoided a lot of the, the, the, the things that I went through, um, which I learned a lot from, but, you know, as the saying goes, a smart person learns from their mistakes, a wise person learns from other people's mistakes.
[00:19:20] So. I guess what would be the approach, the mindset and what were some of the skills that you think are most valuable for those wanting to break into the industry?
[00:19:28] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Um, this, a lot of the questions you're asking, I told you, I have some stuff like baking in the works. A lot of your questions actually, uh, relate to what I have coming up, but still very happy to answer them.
[00:19:40] I think the first thing with getting into the podcast industry is really understanding what roles are available to you. I know for a lot of Indies, they think you can. only be a host or maybe a producer, but they don't know, like you can be a researcher. Um, you can do podcast marketing. You can be, you can do sales.
[00:19:57] Um, you can do just distribution. Like there's so many other, um, you could be an engineer, right? An editor. There's so many different roles that you can take on in this industry. So the most important part is to
[00:20:15] So, if you know you're really good with the research, um, you know, maybe you've done a lot of academic research or something else, you know, you can be a podcast researcher. And so I think just making sure you are highlighting your skill set as a researcher, you can go out and look for jobs that involve research.
[00:20:32] There is literally. a role called, you know, podcast researcher for me, uh, I just have like a lot of like natural leadership qualities, natural creative qualities. I'm very entrepreneurial, entrepreneurial as evident by the podcast festival, right? Like founding a podcast festival is like, I'm still getting opportunities based on the fact that I was able to found this podcast.
[00:20:56] This festival, because that tells people again, I have a, an entrepreneur spirit. I'm a self starter. Um, I'm very proactive. I know a lot about operations. I'm able to project manage, right? So I think really, if I'm just making a long story, less long, the biggest skill that I leverage is the, is the project management piece.
[00:21:18] I know how to oversee multiple things, multiple teams, and also. Be a natural leader. And so those are some of the skills that I make sure to highlight. Um, and so if you're a person like that, then, you know, production is probably a really good place for you because you can eventually become an executive producer and oversee people, but there's so many other roles within the industry outside of just hosting.
[00:21:42] Sidney Evans: That's a good point you make because so far the people that are, most of the people that I interviewed are all of them have been more on the production side. But like you said, there are people who do research, there is sales, there is marketing. Um, so there might not be, and to be honest, you can kind of be more valuable in those roles because you can kind of apply that to the whole, a whole lot of, I guess they call them verticals.
[00:22:04] So it doesn't have to be podcasting. It could be, I don't know. But you can work in a lot of different industries and definitely transferable. And, you know, like the, you know, working in this industry, like it's cool. It's, you know, it's, it's entertainment, uh, for the most part. But, um, there are a lot of things that ups and downs and waves of, you know, opportunities and, or lack of opportunities in media.
[00:22:27] So if you're able to like, you know, and, and the times where it may be a little more difficult, which is kind of, I feel like the time that we're in now in order to be able to, uh, You know, to consistently find work. And, and, um, if you have those other skills, you can kind of just, you know, float and, uh, do other things when, you know, a certain field may be, uh, drying up and whatnot, but I think that kind of takes me into my next point.
[00:22:54] Because like, like I mentioned, for me, you know, I would start off as an editor and then I, you know, my last role was an associate producer. Obviously I'm producing this podcast and coming from behind the scenes. But, um, I feel like this may be true for a lot of other industries. Like just having the skill of a, in a particular field right now, it's really kind of not enough.
[00:23:18] Um, one that really, really comes to mind. It's like, You know, artists and music producers, like they're, they're becoming whole brands. Um, and maybe like 10 years ago, like, and especially in the era, you know, that I grew up in, in the nineties and two thousands, like a lot of the times you never saw the producer, you know, it was just so solely focused on the artist, which it has kind of flip flop now, because, or they're kind of on the same level because they have to produce content to build their own brands and just try to.
[00:23:46] You know, but the, you know, with music going digital, it's, you know, it's not as much money from, you know, record sales and all that type of stuff. And I know that you are like, obviously you, you, you executive produce, you, you really get a product project management, but you also mentioned that, um, in your bio that you, uh, are sit down producer.
[00:24:07] I saw that you do like, you know, social media commentary. So you do other things as well. It was that kind of a thing that just happened. Um, Organically, like based on your interest or was it kind of more of a calculated play to like, okay, I gotta do something else. I have to, you know, get in front of the camera, have to let people know, like all the talents that I have in, in interest that I have in order to just kind of, you know, make me more valuable in a sense to possibly attract other opportunities.
[00:24:38] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Yeah, I mean the sit down comedian thing. I just put that in my bio as like a funny thing Like it's actually an inside joke between me and my sister because my sister's like you're so funny Like not stand up comedian funny, but like you're funny. So a sit down comedian is just a joke there
[00:24:52] Sidney Evans: I actually did think it was a joke, but I looked it up and it really is a thing though So I was like, oh, I don't know.
[00:24:58] I don't know if she's uh I, my initial reaction, I was like, Oh, this is funny. But then I looked down now, I looked it up and I was like, Oh, she might be serious. So let me approach it in a serious way. But I, you know, I, I mean, obviously this is our, this is our first time meeting. So I didn't, I didn't know the tone of that.
[00:25:14] So I feel like it's easier to take it serious and pull it back to come in. Like, you know, Uh, taking it as a joke, you're like, no, I'm dead serious. So
[00:25:22] Jazmine Henley-Brown: yeah, this claim. Yeah, no, yeah, no, it's, it's, it's totally supposed to be a joke. Like when people read my bio, I actually want them to just laugh at that part because it's like, I'm, I don't build myself as a comedian at all.
[00:25:35] Um, but anyway, yeah. So, but in a lot of my commentary, right? Like the media personality bit of my bio. Is like a real thing for me. And that's like always a thing that people say is like, Oh, I want you to talk on this because you're funny or you're insightful and stuff. Um, that just kind of happened organically.
[00:25:53] Like me being a media personality. Like I said, when I got into audio, I wanted to be a radio personality. Um, and so I think it was just always something that I had in the, in my arsenal as another skill. Um, I. You know, I love to talk. I'm a, what's the new word they're calling a yapper. I'm a yapper. But yeah, so I, um, you know, I love to talk about various things and I'm like a person who knows a little bit about everything.
[00:26:21] And so that's come in handy. And so, yeah, I'm just leveraging those skills. Cause like you mentioned, it is a hard time regardless of what your title is to work in audio. Just. You know, the media landscape period is all over the place. And it's been really hard for me to pivot if I'm being transparent, um, outside of audio.
[00:26:37] And so, yeah, I have to leverage the other skills that I have, those leadership skills, um, those, you know, um, on air skills and the writing skills that I have.
[00:26:49] Sidney Evans: Okay. Uh, Can you touch on the, the, your writing experience? Cause we kinda, I don't know. We can't, I guess that kind of got lost in the sauce. Like, how did you, how did, how did you start writing?
[00:26:58] Is it something that you relied on? Did you, as a kid, you were like a creative writer or I don't know. And then it kind of evolved into something more, uh, career focused or what did you begin doing it as a. a result of having to, you know, take on tasks during the process of, like, building your career.
[00:27:17] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Yeah, I've actually been a writer, like, just since I was a kid.
[00:27:20] And you said it exactly. I just used to write stories. I mean, I've always had a really active imagination. And yeah, I will write stories and tell stories when I was younger. So writing has actually, like, I think writing is probably the most natural ability that I have. Like, I just naturally understand grammar and words, you know what I mean?
[00:27:41] Like it's, it's like, it's, it's a thing, um, that I just naturally know how to do. Um, and so yeah, it's always been a part of everything. I mean, even outside of entertainment, like I've worked in real estate too, because entertainment is fickle. And when I'm not making money in the industry, I'm still needing to make money.
[00:27:59] Right. So I've worked in real estate, writing comes into play there as a producer. And It comes into play a lot because I'm having to, you know, write pitches and write, um, show descriptions and episode descriptions and come up with titles for things. So, um, writing has always been something that's been a huge part of my career and Yeah, I've written, um, for publications.
[00:28:23] Like I used to, I wrote for a vibe magazine way back in the day, day, day. I wrote some meditations for this app called shine, which is now owned by headspace, I believe. I wrote original meditations for that also voiced the meditations. Also, I wrote some episodes for a scripted podcast called district queen, which was really fun.
[00:28:42] Cause that was my first time, like actually writing. Um, like screenplays, so I wrote, yeah, some episodes for, um, yeah, District Queen and then I wrote a short film called Black Girl Training, um, with my friend Santana, who I'm now working on another TV project with, but I wrote a short film with her, and, um, the producer's name is Emily, but that was my first time writing a short film, and that, um, short film ended up winning like a local award in Milwaukee.
[00:29:11] And then that short film is actually they're working on developing that into a TV series. I'm not the writer for the TV series, but to see that a short film that I wrote is, you know, getting that much interest that it might become a T a TV series is huge. So yeah, writing is, you know, like it's a huge part of of my career.
[00:29:30] Sidney Evans: Yeah, that's a, that's a, uh, man, I because I appreciate people who are writers creatively in general. I just want to give you your flowers for, you know, being a great writer, because I think that, I don't know, it's just one of those skills that if you can write well, you can, you can make a living for yourself.
[00:29:47] Whether it was a thousand years ago or whether it was, whether it's a thousand years from now, um, like that's the foundation of media. Like, you know, it starts on a piece of paper was something that someone wrote. And, you know, for me enjoying, like, more of the production and technical side of things. Um, uh, when you mentioned that writing comes the most natural to you because, you know, you pay attention to, you know, words and pronunciation and things like that, that doesn't necessarily mean that someone is a good creative writer and writing for story consumption, because I'm good to those two things that you mentioned, but I'm not good at creative writing.
[00:30:26] Like I can write, but it's going to be, it's like very cut and dry. It's not, you know, I'm still trying to. Work on, you know, writing in a way and I struggle with this like doing my social media posts Thank God for the power of editing because by the time y'all have seen it I have edited a lot because it was very like cut and dry and didn't have no flavor personality Now I got to try to sit and figure out how I'm going to in fact make it that to where it's just easily digestible So do you
[00:30:54] Jazmine Henley-Brown: read a lot of books?
[00:30:56] Sidney Evans: I do read a lot. Um,
[00:30:58] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Like non fiction or fiction?
[00:31:00] Sidney Evans: No, I'm more of, I do more, uh, non fiction.
[00:31:03] Jazmine Henley-Brown: See, I, like, that's actually a thing that I point out. I have been reading, that's, that's one of the reasons I'm able to be a good creative writer. Cause I read a lot of fiction books. Like, from the time that I was little I was reading fiction.
[00:31:18] fiction books. My mom was an avid reader, so she would give me books that she read. So I was reading like a lot of mature fiction content. But I think that's a, you know, that's probably a reason why I am able to write creatively versus technically, right? And it's only because my imagination has been, um, you know, just broadened by reading fiction books.
[00:31:39] So I would say if you want to become a better creative writer, Read some, read some fictional stories.
[00:31:45] Sidney Evans: Yeah. I mean, obviously as a kid, like that's all we read is like fiction, like biographies and. All that type of stuff is not appealing to a kid. But as I become older, cause because I'm so curious and I want to know why and how everything happened, I kinda, I got more into reading nonfiction.
[00:32:00] Um, but I'm glad you mentioned that because my girlfriend, uh, all she reads is fiction and all I read is nonfiction and she's definitely more creative than me. So I don't know why they made a correlation. Um, so I need to get back into that. Um, well anyway, um, so before you mentioned that, uh, But just social commentary that you, you have a lot of interest.
[00:32:22] Um, so I think this will be a perfect segue into getting toward the end of our conversation. The last, uh, portion, which is, I'm going to ask you, uh, some questions about, and learn a little bit about your taste and your favorites. So, um, we're just going to jump into it. So first one, and most of these are audio related or they're all audio related.
[00:32:42] So what's your favorite, your favorite album of all time? Because I've had some debates from previous guests about the difference between best and favorite. Let's just go with favorite. So, because nobody, you can't, nobody can argue what your favorite is. So,
[00:32:57] Jazmine Henley-Brown: so these are not, not any. Not any shade to you.
[00:33:02] These are the hardest and my least favorite types of questions to answer because, like, just like who I am as a person, as a creative, I'm a multi hyphenate. I have many different skills and talents. I have so many different tastes. Right. So it's like, if you ask me what my favorite like pop album is, I can tell you that you asked me what my favorite hip hop album is.
[00:33:23] I can tell you that. But like, if I have to just think of my favorite album of all time, that's so hard.
[00:33:31] Sidney Evans: Let's make this contextual. Since this, this podcast is specific to black people. So what's your favorite album made by a black artist? Because since you have multiple different tastes, and I know that can go across genres and they may not have helped at all.
[00:33:47] I'm so glad you said that
[00:33:48] Jazmine Henley-Brown: because I was gonna, I was gonna like list, uh, Christina Aguilera's, like, Genie in a Bottle album as like one of my, one of my favorites, but you know, by a black artist, um, Ms. Girl is not black. So, um, Hmm. Gosh, that's, that's still hard. Lauryn Hill, um, The Miseducation. I think that is a lot of people's favorite.
[00:34:11] It was just, it was so good. Um, Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday album, like her, her debut album. That's one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time. Um.
[00:34:23] Sidney Evans: Yeah, Moment, Moment for Life is one of my favorite songs.
[00:34:25] Jazmine Henley-Brown: It's so good, right? Yeah, that's a
[00:34:27] Sidney Evans: very very very good song.
[00:34:29] Jazmine Henley-Brown: It is, it is. So yeah, Pink Friday, um, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
[00:34:34] I feel like I'm forgetting like some huge ones that I'm gonna regret. Oh, Never Say Never by Brandy, uh, one of my favorite albums ever. And then The Blueprint by Jay Z. That's another one of my favorites that I can I'm naming albums that like, if you start them track one, I can listen to without skipping a song.
[00:34:55] Oh, Drake's Nothing Was The Same. I'm gonna stop right there.
[00:34:59] Sidney Evans: Okay.
[00:34:59] Jazmine Henley-Brown: But those are some of my favorites. I mean, but the list is really long and I know there's some that I'm missing. I just, my phone is right here. I was going to look at my Spotify, but I know we don't have that much time, but yeah, those are some of the albums that come to mind off the top of my head.
[00:35:12] Sidney Evans: Yeah. Those, those are all the ones you mentioned are pretty high up on my list as well. So, um, so this next question, uh, maybe even more difficult than the last, but, and it's basically an extension, but favorite music producer.
[00:35:27] Jazmine Henley-Brown: I guess. Rodney Jerkins, for sure. Um, Brian Cox, Brian Michael Cox, right? B Cox. Um, I don't, I don't think I, outside of, I mean, Timberland, I love Timberland.
[00:35:43] I think he's really good. Oh yeah, if we're getting into that right, Timberland, um, Just Blaze, for sure. Swiss beads. Those are like, I mean, I know those are the most like popular names. So, I mean, I'm not like super, I'm sure there's like songs and albums that I love and like, I probably just don't know who was producing what, but like, those are some of the people, the names that come to mind that have produced like some of my favorite songs for sure.
[00:36:09] Sidney Evans: Next is favorite film score or soundtrack.
[00:36:12] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Uh, Love Jones. Uh, Waiting to Excel.
[00:36:16] Sidney Evans: Mm hmm.
[00:36:17] Jazmine Henley-Brown: I'm also gonna add the Love and Basketball soundtrack. I liked that one too. So, Love and Basketball, Love, Jones, and Waiting to Excel, three really good, uh, movie soundtracks.
[00:36:26] Sidney Evans: Okay. Um, favorite TV theme song, and this is my first time saying this, but you cannot say First Prince because everybody says that, so you got to give me something else.
[00:36:35] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Favorite TV theme song, oh, Jamie, The Jamie Foxx Show.
[00:36:41] Sidney Evans: The Jamie Foxx Show?
[00:36:42] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Yeah, for sure. I like that one a lot.
[00:36:45] Sidney Evans: Okay. That's, that's, um, it's really short. So I was, I was surprised by that. It's like, it's usually the longer ones kind of get more love. Um, so it's
[00:36:54] Jazmine Henley-Brown: the one that comes to my mind first when I think of like theme songs that I, that I love.
[00:36:59] And it's, his is the first that comes to mind, but there, there are others, but his is just the first one. What's yours? That's
[00:37:05] Sidney Evans: crazy because that was the first one that came to mind, but I, cause I don't, that's just the most memorable cause it's really like, like. TV theme songy, um, but I don't, because of, I'm trying to think of some other ones and nothing else is coming to mind.
[00:37:21] So I'm going to just go with Family Matters because that was the first one that popped in my mind.
[00:37:24] Jazmine Henley-Brown: I like, uh, Full House. Full House is the one. That's the one. Whatever happened to, mm, mm, mm, mm. Milky and the Paperboy. Yeah, I like Full House. And they
[00:37:35] Sidney Evans: had like, I think they had some crossover. I think Urkel was in a couple episodes of Full House, so that might have had the, it might, it could have been composed by the same person.
[00:37:44] Um.
[00:37:45] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Because their, their songs sound similar, right?
[00:37:47] Sidney Evans: Yeah, it's very, those are very similar. Um, but yeah. Okay. So yeah, good times is
[00:37:53] Jazmine Henley-Brown: like memorable.
[00:37:56] Sidney Evans: Oh, the Jefferson's Jefferson's.
[00:37:58] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Okay. I'm gonna go with the
[00:38:00] Sidney Evans: Jefferson's favorite moving on up. We moving on up. That's Yeah.
[00:38:07] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm, I'm trying to think, you know, my memory, my memory is just not as sharp as it used to be.
[00:38:14] So these questions you're asking me, I feel like I'm going to get off and I'm going to remember some things that I should have said. And I hate that. Um, but yeah, I'm gonna lock my answers in.
[00:38:24] Sidney Evans: Okay. That's cool. Um, well, yeah, I, uh, I think that brings us to the end. We, uh, thank you for, for sharing all the details of your story and experiences really got in there.
[00:38:34] Really? You got really philosophical about these questions at the end too. So, uh, I appreciate it that I enjoy talking about stuff like that. Um, yeah, but, but before we wrap up. I mean, you mentioned you're working on some things, but you, you can't really share, but can you at least say like, people can find you on social media, um, how they connect with you, um, online LinkedIn and things of that nature.
[00:38:58] Yeah. They just kind of want to support what you're doing. Or, uh, you know, connect.
[00:39:04] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Yeah, for sure. So one of the projects that I can talk about, um, is called Camp Inner Child. And it is going to be, uh, unscripted TV series that follows a group of burned out millennial women to camp for a week in an effort to like watch them reconnect with their inner child.
[00:39:21] And right now we're just building the community for Camp Inner Child. So any women who are millennials who are listening, you know, to To this and you want to join the community, just go to camp inner child. com and you can join our sign up for our newsletter. And then that way you'll stay up to date. We do like virtual events.
[00:39:38] We're about to do our first in person event. We're doing a bonfire in November in Milwaukee. Um, and then we will hopefully start shooting the actual TV series at some point next year. We're just in the funding phase for that. For that. So that is one project that I can't talk about. Um, and I got some other stuff coming.
[00:39:54] So yes, follow me on social media to be able to hear the announcements for the other things that I'm working on. Um, I'm on LinkedIn as Jasmine Henley Brown and that's Jasmine with a Z. So J A Z M I N E H E N L E Y dash Brown, like the color. And then on all other social media platforms is just at J Henley Brown.
[00:40:13] So it's at J H E N L E Y B R O W N. Um, and yeah, that's how you can find me.
[00:40:19] Sidney Evans: All right. Uh, I appreciate it. Oh, and I remembered another point that I skipped that when I lost my train of thought, um, have you ever considered doing voiceover?
[00:40:29] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Uh, yeah, I would love to break into that industry. Like I told you, I, uh, when I wrote those meditations, I did the voiceover.
[00:40:37] I voiced them too, and that was really fun. I just, I don't know how to find voiceover opportunities. I don't have an agent right now, so I don't know how to do it. But yeah, I would love to do that at some point in my life.
[00:40:49] Sidney Evans: Do you, do you know, do you know Ashley Hobbs?
[00:40:52] Jazmine Henley-Brown: That name sounds familiar. We might be connected on LinkedIn.
[00:40:55] Sidney Evans: You might, but she, um, she was actually the, she's going to be the first, uh, episode that I've released for the whole podcast. Um, but she recently, I think she, I think she did like a, Incubator or one of them words to get into VO. And she's, she's been posting about her getting into it as well. So if you actually do want to, um, consider breaking into the field, I'm sure she can, you can, can connect you with like agents and agencies and all that type of stuff.
[00:41:22] So, um, Yeah,
[00:41:23] Jazmine Henley-Brown: I would love that. Do you, you think, you think I got a shot? I
[00:41:26] Sidney Evans: think, I think you, uh, yeah, I think, I think you're a natural. Um, obviously it's just tricks of the trade and, and little things that you got to pick up on, but for sure, you know, as for raw talent, I think you got the gift, um,
[00:41:39] Jazmine Henley-Brown: that means a lot coming from a producer cause you know, your expertise is in sound.
[00:41:43] So I'm going to take that one to the bank.
[00:41:46] Sidney Evans: Oh, yeah. I would
[00:41:48] Jazmine Henley-Brown: love,
[00:41:49] Sidney Evans: I would love mixing your voice. Like it was just, uh, it would be, it would be beautiful. We
[00:41:54] Jazmine Henley-Brown: got to work on something.
[00:41:55] Sidney Evans: Yeah, we do. Um, but yeah, I, I, I think that's a wrap. Um, like I said, appreciate you coming on. Um, yeah.
[00:42:02] Jazmine Henley-Brown: Thank you so much for having me on.
[00:42:04] I think, you know, your concept here is really amazing. I can't wait to personally hear from other professionals in this industry on the show. So thank you again for having me on.
[00:42:13] Sidney Evans: You're welcome. Like I said, thank you for joining me. Um, for everyone listening, I'll catch you on the next episode.
[00:42:22] Thank you for joining us on today's episode. Please don't forget to subscribe to the show and leave us a review. If you'd like to work with me or connect, please go to soundbitesit. com and schedule a call. There you go. You can also check out the full list of productions I've worked on. If you'd like to connect on social media, my handle is soundbysaid.
[00:42:43] com on Twitter and Instagram, and I'm Sidney Evans on LinkedIn. Don't forget to follow Beyond the Threshold on Instagram as well. I'll catch you on the next episode.ion text goes here
In this episode of Beyond the Threshold, I am joined by writer, Executive Podcast Producer, Media Personality, and creator of Podcast Creator Academy, Jazmine Henley-Brown.
A few of her accolades include working for SiriusXM and Sony Music Entertainment, creating and executive producing award-nominated podcasts like New Rory & MAL, and Reality with The King.
She also created & executive produced 90 Day: The Last Resort Sessions for TLC/Warner Bros and in 2017, she founded the Milwaukee Podcast Festival to showcase local audio talent in her hometown.
In this episode we discuss:
- How her aspirations as a radio personality lead to a career in podcasting.
- The definition of an executive producer and the responsibilities involved.
- Leveraging existing skills and tips on pitching to production companies.
- Exploring podcasting roles beyond hosting and producing.
Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!
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