December 30, 2025 • 33 mins
🎊 NEW YEARS REWIND // Jamé Jackson is a community manager at LinkedIn, helping thousands of professionals amplify their voices and build their personal brands. But that’s just her 9-to-5. As the founder of TheBlondeMisfit and Misfit Creative Media, she’s an award-winning journalist, actor, and content creator who’s turned her side hustle into a global brand.
On this episode, Jamé shares how Black representation in media is evolving, why creators need to protect their contributions, and how AI is shaping the future of storytelling.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm with Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money.
Jimmy Jackson is a community manage. You're at LinkedIn, empowering
thousands to implify their authentic voices.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And strengthen their personal brands. That's just in ninety five.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
She's also a founder of the Blond Misfit Misfit creative
media and actor award winning journalists and content creator who's
transformed her a side hustle into a global powerhouse.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I want to talk about black content creators.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
You know, you see a lot of black content creation
and you are a black content creator, but a lot
of us are making a lot of mistakes when we're
trying to build a brand. What is one of the
things that you see, like, y'all should stop doing that.
We gotta stop doing this.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yea.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
I love that question.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I love that question a lot because it's almost like
when you're at the at the family cookout of the
reviews and you're hanging out with your cousins and them
and they're like, how can I step up better? And
you like, stop doing this? Yeah, yeah, and for all
So for all of my cousins out there listening, I
would I would say, I see we make the mistake
of don't we don't brag enough, we don't carry our receipts.
(01:06):
I think receipts are so important in today's job economy because,
if you think about it, a lot of people do
what you do. Right, Let's start there. I don't pull
any punches when it comes to this. A lot of
people are good at what they do. A lot of
people have your job title, they work at your company.
They want to be where you're at. But what sets
you apart is your unique story and the way in
(01:27):
which you tell your story, your narrative, and your ability
to answer the question will why meet. I think society
does a disservice because it's taught us, as black creators
that our blackness is not a superpower, and it absolutely is.
Being able to code switch, being able to speak English
(01:49):
and African American vernacular English right, or ebonics or whatever
you want to say, Like being able to straddle these
worlds is a superpower that other people don't have. And
so when I tell people all the time, like talk
your talk, I'm saying it from the sense of, like,
don't be cocky, right, because we all know that one
person who talk a whole lot but they can't fight
(02:09):
in the club, will.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Like they can't fight.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
But I mean, like, bring your receipts, show why you
are a unique value add show how your experience has
positioned you or your experiences have shaped you. You know
a lot of black creatives. We know what it's like
to juggle multiple jobs. We know what it's like to
have a non linear career path. That is your superpower.
(02:34):
And so really, when I'm talking to a lot of
our creatives, when I'm talking particularly even on like LinkedIn
and how you position yourself, don't get so caught up
in figuring out how to brand yourself as professional. Learn
how to brand yourself in the sense of if someone
didn't have you on their team, what are they missing
out on?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
And that is where your story and where that superpower lies.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
How do I know if my LinkedIn profile is me
opportunities versus creating opportunities for me?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I love that question a lot, because we always need
to be asking ourselves if we're losing out on the
money or if we're attracting it. I would say a
couple of things that you should think about is if
your LinkedIn is accurately portraying the person you want to
be seen as in the rooms that you want to
be in. We have a really dope episode on Let's
Talk Offline around personal branding, and I say on that
(03:26):
episode that you are a brand, whether you want to
be or not, Like we all are a brand because
rooms that you're not in, somebody is saying something about you.
And even though you can't necessarily control where people talk
about you, you can't.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Control what is said.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And so when you're looking at your LinkedIn profile, you
need to be asking yourself. Am I telling the proper
story here? Am I reflecting all of my experiences? Am
I utilizing my creativity? I'm always perplexed when I talk
to creatives and they're not being created, Like, see your
LinkedIn profile as an opportunity to be creative, And there's
(04:04):
so many ways you can do that. If you love
to write, You're about me section should be fire. I'm
not talking about that whole like it looks like you
just spin it out in AI and it just came out.
Tell a story. Who are you? Where did it start?
Where did your passions start? Where do you uniquely add
yourself to the conversation. If you like to write, you
can explore obviously your feed in posts, you can explore
(04:25):
your newsletters. But a really amazing format that we've seen
continuously grow at LinkedIn is short form video. Right I'm
talking like your two minutes or less vertical videos. It
doesn't have to be fancy, it can be shot on
the phone. Those are so great because you can still
provide professional insights, which is where LinkedIn is unique to
(04:45):
right like, but your professional insights are still through the
lens of how you see the world, and so like,
I always like to tell the story that, you know,
I was dealing with somebody in my life who I
looked up one day and I was like, bro, you're
a hater.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Like you're an actual.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Professional hater, Like you know, whenever something good happens for
me professionally, like you don't know how to show up.
And so I made a video about that and I
posted on LinkedIn. I'm sitting on the bathroom floor, I'm
doing my makeup, and I'm talking about professional haters, and
I'm sharing.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
How you need those people in your life.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
You need people who doubt you, You need people who
don't believe in you, because that builds character and it
makes you see who really has your back and the
good times and the bad. I looked up and within
twenty four hours I had gotten over a million impressions.
To date, that's one of my best performing videos on
LinkedIn with over three points some million impressions and more.
And that video alone showed me people want real. People
(05:38):
want real, people want authenticity. People can smell fake a
mile away, and that's on the platform too. So I
always say, find unique and creative ways to tell your story.
That's not gonna cost you a bag, it's going to
actually attract Because the type of opportunities that came after
that were great. People then really wanted to tap in more,
particularly with the podcast, because they were like, Oh, like
(05:59):
this girl just gonna keep it real.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
She's gonna be honest, she's silly.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And so I would definitely say like taking the time
to look and say, like, if I were a recruiter
or a hiring manager, if I was an investor, if
I was a sponsor, if this is all I saw
about this person and I didn't do my due diligence
to look them up on any other platform, which most
people don't, you got one.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Shot is this reflecting who they are?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
And I say, you got to you gotta know how
to do that professionally, but also in a way that
is true to you. Like I don't ever want anyone
to see any of my content and they don't see
my personality, they don't see what I uniquely bring because
at the end of the day, when I'm in that room,
I'm gonna bring it, you.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so I think like that's where a lot of
people make the mistake. They're not exploring the creative ways
in which they can tell their story and they're not
seeing themselves as a brand. The minute you start carrying
yourself like a McDonald's or a Coca Cola or a
Chapotle or any of these other household names, is the
minute that you can just control the narrative and you
attract the opportunities that want to tie to that narrative
(07:00):
as well.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, I want you to go further on that, and
I'm gonna ask you this from a different perspective. Is
because you talked about leaning into who you are, leaning
into your creativity, leaning to your culture, leaning into your blackness,
how has black representation in media evolved to allow us
to be able to do that and then not be
off putting.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, you know, I was privileged to go to an HBCU.
Shout out to Howard, shout out to all my Bison family.
It's all love no matter where you went, right, But
I always got to put a little extra on for
the Bison. I was very blessed that growing up, I
was taught a lot about my culture.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Being from like the Washington d C.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Northern Virginia area, I was always surrounded by that, whether
it was in the church or being an actor in
community theater, or then going to an HBCU and learning.
And I think what I've seen in media, particularly over
the years, is like it's not all just about telling
a certain narrative or a story. When we talk about
(08:02):
us not being a monolithic people, we're often talking about
it from the lens of Okay, we don't all come
from a major city, or we don't all come from
a certain socioeconomic background. But very few times are we
actually saying when we say black people are not monolithic,
we're also talking about a diversity of thought. We don't
all think the same.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Nowadays in media, you can find a little bit of
everybody on social right. You can pop out your phone
and you go and see the celebrity gossip sites, but
you can also, you know, find a podcast like yours
are Mine, where we're talking about other topics. Like I
like to show people I'm from round a way, as
our uncle Denzel Washington says, but I'm also a black
(08:41):
girl in tech who can show you that you don't
have to become anybody else to win.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
You are enough.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
And I think, like what I would like to continue
to see is more of our stories continue to take
over in media to show people, and especially this next generation,
you don't have to do certain things in order to
get ahead, Like you get to define your destiny, You
get to define your story and who you are is enough.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Because let me tell you something.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Well, when I first started out as a journalist and
then as a blogger, and I was working in fashion
and beauty, I was trying to paint myself a very
specific way because that's all I saw. I saw all
the other black girls in fashion move in a certain
type of way or act in a certain type of way.
Now one of them things. I couldn't do all that
because I wasn't as skinny as them. Okay, your girl
had hips, and I was like I ain't gonna be
(09:31):
able to do the no sample size is of nothing,
all right, And so I was like, Okay, now I
gotta find my own style. I gotta find my own flavor.
And I remember just looking up one day and I
was like, this isn't me. Like a couple of my
friends even called that out there, like who you paint
yourself to be online is cool and all, but like
that's not you. And it really kind of put a
(09:53):
battery pack in me to say I am robbing myself
and more importantly, the people who are assigned to me
by not being true to who I am. And I
just want more people to see that. I want people
to hear it. I want it to get deep down
in their spirit. Who you are is enough, and that
authenticity is what is going to differentiate you from anybody else,
any name of any day of any day of the week.
(10:15):
I don't have to be nobody else. Everybody else is taken.
As they like to say, Jamay is not. And I'm
gonna tap into Jamay because when Jamae is Jamay, can't
nobody else do Jamay, you know? And so I think,
like for for media, I just we're continuing to see
more of our stories take place. And you know, when
this opportunity came about for let's talk offline, I'm not
(10:39):
gonna lie.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
I was just like, y'all.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Want me, like you know what I mean, like like me,
like I don't know about that, you know, because I've
also been very open and honest about the idea or
interpretation of what black professionalism looks like. And I was like, Okay, cool,
I'll do this, but under the understanding, I'm not sugarcoating things.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
I'ma be honest, I'm gonna be real.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
And in a lot of our episodes, I talk with
my co host Gianna and I tell her, like, your
experience is yours because you're not black. You know what
I mean, And you know you might shake up the
table a little bit, but it needs to get shook, like.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
It needs to get shook because we're doing too much
of this.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Let's be sweet, let's be kind, like no, let's call
it for what it is, because at the end of
the day, I want the next generation of young Black professionals,
young Black creatives, young black entrepreneurs, change makers, thought leaders
to say, Okay, I know what's ahead of me, but
I also know that like me being true to me
is enough and I can open those doors.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, I want to talk about, you know, personal branding
on LinkedIn, because I think there's some value you can
help a lot of us with in regards to this.
You know, Sorry, there was some boards I used to
sit on and I remember going to those boards, and
those meetings would typically be at like the end of
the day, and everybody would come to the board being
with suits on and etc. And I'm like, after a while,
(12:03):
after going home to change clothes and put on a suit,
because I don't wear a suit to work every day.
I work for myself, and this is what I look
like going to work. I'm right, I'm not going home
to put on a suit anymore. Though I'm adding values
to this board. So I'm going, how I not going
to be appropriate, but I'm not going home to put
a suit on.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And so my question is.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
This, It's so often we have this view specifically on LinkedIn,
like when you said, you know you sitting on your
bathroom floor talking about professional haters, and I'm like a lot,
like many people will be afraid to put that video
on LinkedIn, and I'm like, Instagram's a place for that
TikTok's place for that whatever wherever, it's a place for that,
but on LinkedIn, like, oh, that's there's some guts right there.
(12:43):
And so I want you to talk about the misconceptions
people have about personal branding on LinkedIn, because in my view,
it was a lot like I'm going to be who
I am in this professional space because I know I'm
adding value. So I'm okay coming with you know what
I got on and not going home to put a
suit on, which is what I felt like so long
(13:04):
on LinkedIn. I gotta be this on LinkedIn. I can
be this over here on that other app, but over here,
I gotta be this.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, I think what you felt going into those meetings
and saying like, no, I'm ana stand tento's down on
who I am is exactly the same thing you should
have when you come to LinkedIn.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Now, don't get it twisted.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
I was sweating bullets before I posted that video because
now I'm thinking to myself, my manager is connecting me
on LinkedIn, like my coworkers connected like they gonna think
I'm talking about them, like and you know, at the
end of the day, you know, a hit dog will
holler whoever is for it's gonna pick right. But I
think I had to ask myself, is the.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Reward worth the risk?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Is the reward of who this piece of content can
bless or inform or help? Is that worth the time
imporary risk of feeling uncomfortable that I put it out there,
or that nobody is gonna vibe with it. That's kind
of the job of being a creator. You listen to
what you know you need to put out there, and
(14:11):
you put it out there with the hope that it
touches people. But whether it touches one or it touches millions,
you've done your job. What I would say, though, is
that if you ever are feeling like nervous about that,
like do a self check in. Are you nervous because
it's new and it's foreign, Are you nervous because you
think somebody is gonna judge you? Or are you nervous
(14:33):
because really, if you sit with it, you're like, this
is not an appropriate topic for me to talk about.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
And I didn't have that last one.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I knew that this was just uncomfortable because I had
never seen anyone talk about that particular topic on LinkedIn before.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Now the thing is LinkedIn is still a place.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Yeah, you go and you find jobs, right, But like,
it's so much more than that. And this is where
going back to one of your questions before about where
we're making a mistake. We are still approaching this platform
as a job search platform. Our counterparts are not doing that.
Our counterparts are showing up on this platform every day,
building community, networking with people, sending people happy birthday in mails, right,
(15:11):
like posting the video being okay with looking cringey or
like weird at first, as you learn how to hold
the phone or how you learn how to you know,
put b roll. People are becoming comfortable with failing in
front of people, and it's actually building the community that
is then going to give them the economic opportunity that
(15:31):
they need later on. And so what I would say
is still see this platform as a place where, yes,
you show up a certain way, right, Like I wouldn't
cut up on LinkedIn away, You're gonna see me cut
up on Instagram stories, right, Like brunch is not necessary
for this platform. But I have learned a lot of
(15:52):
the topics that we're thinking about. If it applies to work,
it can belong on LinkedIn. You just have to ask
yourself how do we analyze this? And this is actually
something that you know as we were really thinking about
our episodes, you know, because for like, for instance, like
let's talk offline, we're talking to gen Z and early
career professionals.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
But there's two things here.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
One, no matter where you are in your career, everybody
can learn something about navigating a toxic manager, right or
building workplace friendships, or finding a mentor or asking for
that first promotion.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Everybody can learn from those things.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
But you also are trying to figure out, Okay, how
do I do this in a way that doesn't just
feel like it's just scattered. It's so speaking to like
one individual person. That's where your LinkedIn profile comes in,
and that's where like you get to build this unique
audience of people who may follow you on other platforms too, right,
Like I've had some people who I've bought in from
my LinkedIn persona and then they come to my other
(16:48):
platforms and the like, you're the same person, it's the
same thing, will as like who you are around your
your parents might be different than who you are around
your grandparents, different from the church folk, different around you boys,
Like everybody gets a piece of you but it's not
that you're not being true and authentic.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
You just know how to move into each individual room.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So you got to ask yourself and think of that
the same way for your LinkedIn profile. But I would
definitely say we are underestimating our ability to know how
to tell our story and to still attract the people
that we need to attract. Get that fear out of it,
post it, take a walk, go get some coffee, Go
do whatever you got to do, get on the game,
rite whatever you gotta do, and.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
You'll start to see a little bit by a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Showing up authentically each day builds that audience and that
community people who come to respect you for just being real.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
So social media has social platforms, I should say, have
increasingly become like portfolios, you know, for creators. So how
should creators think about their body of work?
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Look, I always say receipts. Receipts are currency, you know
what I mean? You know, going back to this idea
of like why you If I'm a recruiter, I want
to see, like what have you done and what do
you have to offer that somebody else may not? And
sometimes those are the smallest deciding factors between you and
another candidate, whether you're looking for a job or you're
(18:12):
looking for whatever else. I've posted everything from short form
video clips. I obviously post the clips of the podcast
right because think about it, there's always gonna be someone
who that's the first time that they've ever discovered it,
and I love that idea. There's some I don't remember
who I was talking to the other day. I was
talking to somebody and they were like, you know this creator,
and they showed this creator to me on the phone
on their phone. The creator has millions, like tens of
(18:34):
millions of us will if that person had been walking
down the streets from New York, I would have never known.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
I'm been like, I've never seen this person a day
in my life.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And it was such a wonderful reminder to me that
we think everybody has already seen everything. No, you gotta
keep putting your stuff out there, and you got to
be very bullish about being your own marketing professional, Like
you got to get the stuff out there. So everything
from internships that you've had to essays to campaigns or events.
(19:07):
If you have a podcast, are you posting your clips online?
That's creating a funnel for people to go watch the
longer version. If you have it with video or if
it's just audio, are you constantly driving back people to
where they can find more of you? I think that like,
if you really sit down and you think about all
of the dope projects or the things that you've touched,
nothing is ever lost, right, And this also comes down
(19:29):
to transferable skills. Now, I'll tell you something as someone
who is also an actor, one of the things I've
had to learn is that how the industry was years
ago is not what it is today. Years ago, you
did the traditional I'm going to out keep auditioning, hopefully
I get booked, I get enough projects, I get an agent,
and then the agent takes over. Nowadays, there's so much
(19:54):
more people than the work. So going back to this
idea of how you're going to stand out, this is
why you have actors nowadays, who are scriptwriters, who are directors,
who are teaching all these other things. Because you can't
be a one trick pony anymore. And so this is
not just in the entertainment space. This is for everybody.
So if you're not getting the opportunities, create the opportunities yourself,
(20:17):
all right, you don't need all this fancy equipment to
start recording video. You don't even need all this fancy
equipment necessarily to start a podcast. Start, create the minimal
viable product, create a proof of concept, and show people
here's what I can do with this. Because if I
could do this with this, imagine what I can do
with a lot more. And I think this is where
the portfolio comes in.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
If you can.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Show people you already are that person, right Like I
always like to tell people, I was always that girl.
I just got a little bit more money, but I
was always that girl. But I proved myself to be
that girl when I was, you know, at a lower
place in my life, so that it only was natural
that as more opportunities came, I could continue to elevate.
You got to see the same way for yourself, in
(20:58):
the same way for your portfolio, and particularly for LinkedIn.
What I like about LinkedIn, and it's not because I
work here, it's because I've just genuinely seen it, is
that you can marry so many of your communities here.
If you like video, there's a place for that. If
you like audio, there's a place for that. If you
like to write, there's a place for that. Like I
have so many different communities in my LinkedIn portfolio quote
unquote that I really like, and I just think that, like,
(21:22):
we got to just keep tapping into that. But at
the end of the day, show goes, receipts, show the
receipts like that.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
What advice do you give to content creators who want
to advocate for themselves? They want to put themselves in
the position to have deals, brand deals get picked by
you know, these brands who want to engage but they're growing,
but don't know how to pitch themselves.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Man looks as an entrepreneur myself, I can tell you
I've pitched myself both good and very bad. Okay, I'm
very very thankful that I made a lot of mistakes privately,
because now when you get a little bit more public,
you kind of get a little bit more leery of
making mistakes. But I'm very thankful for that time too,
(22:13):
because I do think we all need a training ground
and stuff. I always tell people like, are you perfecting
yourself in the private because once he's public, what's the showtime?
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Is showtime? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Everybody wants something. Everybody wants this idea of what they
think success to be. But I always ask myself, are
you preparing yourself for that? Because you can get it?
But then what happens? Right, It's like the same thing
as people want the million dollar brand deal, but baby,
if you can't even juggle the five hundred dollar brand deal,
your deliverables are late, the product is trash. You have
(22:44):
poor communication skills. How are you preparing yourself for that
bigger blessing down the road?
Speaker 4 (22:49):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
And so when it comes to pitching, it comes down
to again the proof of concept, and it shows in
this idea of showing your receipts. It's also about being bold.
And you know, as I've gotten older, I've come to realize.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Like you just got to take the risk. You got to.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Take the risk, but calculated risks, right, Like I'm very
calculative in the sense that like, I'm not just going
to go into anybody's in anybody's room and ask for something.
I'm gonna come knowing that I have something to bring,
and here's where the value is. I would definitely say,
like being someone who is confident in what you have
(23:28):
to offer, but also being okay with being rejected is
good too.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Not all money is good money.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And I know people don't want to believe that, and
I know it's particularly when you're trying to.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Pay them bills. You really don't want to believe that.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
But sometimes saying no to things is actually a setup
for a bigger yes later down the road. And so
I always say, when you think of that pitch, ask yourself, like,
what are the biggest things that this person needs to
know about me?
Speaker 4 (23:53):
How can I show how I have already done this? Right?
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Like, how have I already operated in the space in
some way? And this is where transferable skills comes in,
Like what have you done that's similar to this that
you can speak to? And then lastly, how do I
position myself in a way where like I'm showing you
I am.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
The person for the job?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Right?
Speaker 3 (24:15):
We actually we actually talk about this in an episode too,
where we're like, someone, you know, how do you when
you when you first come out of college?
Speaker 4 (24:25):
And everybody is like, how do I get the job?
Speaker 3 (24:28):
And then we're all like, do I put the job
that I had at Starbucks?
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Do I put that down on the resume or not?
Speaker 3 (24:33):
And some people might be like, nah, don't put that down,
But like The pushback is, but if there were transferable
skills of you working. You know, I've had a lot
of jobs in retail, a lot of jobs in hospitality,
and let me tell you something that built me for
good customer service. That now as a community manager here,
I got to know how to talk to people because
sometimes people be.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Trying you and you can't just say whatever you want
to say.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
You know what I mean, So I just say, like,
use every opportunity and experience have had and craft the
narrative as to how that built you, but also how
you added to it. Numbers are always going to win,
So quantifying your successes, quantifying anything you can helps tell
a brand a story. But then also being a good
(25:16):
person also goes so far. People like to work with
good people, people like to work with kind people.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
So if you can present yourself.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
To be someone who is collaborative and fun and engaging,
who comes with creative ideas, but then also you have
those receipts to back it up, I think you're good.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
You know, you manage a community of more than seventeen
thousand on LinkedIn, you run your own side business also
more than ninety thousand people you serve there. How are
you how are you distributing your content making sure that
you're serving these folks? Well, are you cross pollinating your content?
Is the same content across places?
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Like?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
How are you doing that in two different directions?
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I always say, like, we all only have a certain
amount of hours in the day. So if if I
create a piece of content, everybody about to get this content.
Everybody's about to see this, and we gonna see it
a couple of times. I definitely believe in boundary setting,
particularly when it comes to work. So for me, like
even though my you know, teammates and the company and
(26:21):
everybody knows like the things that I work on on
the side, like, I do believe it is very important
for me to distinguish the jama Jackson brand from the
Jamaic Community Manager brand. And a lot of people sometimes
be like, no, merge, merge, merge, But I'm like, that's
where I think we have to also say, like I
have to have some type of ownership on something too right,
(26:41):
And so for me, I think, like creating content, I'm
always looking for what is the thorough line between my audiences.
My audiences for the Jamai Jackson brand are a lot
more black and brown creatives. It's people who have watched
me grow up through the ranks, people who saw me
move from DC to New York, people who saw me
try to go from fashion and beauty to then journalism
(27:03):
to now acting and then also working in tech. And
my LinkedIn audience is a lot more expanded, right, But
particularly it's like, okay, but you also have to figure out, well,
what is the thorough line here? Everybody is always trying
to figure out how can I be better? Everybody is
always trying to figure out what are the new trends
we're seeing, what are the new things we're seeing in
the job market?
Speaker 4 (27:22):
How do I stand out? It's a tough job.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Market, you know what I mean, And so I always
like to speak to what the commonality the differences are, Okay, right,
Like if you want to see me do like the
super blackly black combos, because that is what I'm going
to do. There's a platform and a space for that.
But when I also think about how can I service
my audience, I'm also thinking like where can I get
the most bang.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
For my buck?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
And for me, I find like the commonalities of helping
people show up authentically, figuring out how do you build
your personal brand, how do you build your own personal
mission statement? How do you build the confidence to take
up space that allows me to cast everybody?
Speaker 4 (27:59):
And sometimes that's what you me.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
You need people, You need the messaging that is going
to touch more people, because then that draws back people
are like, Okay, cool, I like it. Let me check
out what other content she creates, So let me see
what other things that she does. So yeah, I think
boundary setting is so important a particularly as a creative
ownership is important. But I also think that when you
(28:21):
just show up and you share the content that you
know is going to really matter.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
To people, then that kind of you make the cell there. Right.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
This is why I also tall because I work with
a lot of sales and marketing professionals and I'm always like,
stop telling people you got the best product on the market.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Stop stop because that doesn't do anything for me. If
you tell me you know, I have the best coffee
in all of New York. That's different than you telling
me like, half a cup of my coffee will keep
you up to finish that job proposal you've been working
on for three weeks or something like that. Right, Your show,
don't tell. And I think as creatives, we have to
(28:59):
show show your impact. You don't tell us your impactful.
Anybody can say that, but I show.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Me like that, Like that, I cannot get out of
here without asking you about AI. You knew it was
coming and is here, so I think about you know, well,
actually I'm just asked what kind of tools are you
using to help streamline your workflow?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Like are you using AI? What kind of AI are
you using?
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Like what do you suggest, based on the kind of
content you deliver people should be using to get you know,
to make more impact and do it efficiently.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I mean it's really cool because I'm seeing like so
much excitement for AI, especially around like gen Z and millennials,
you know, who are really thinking that AI is going
to help them progress in their careers.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
And I believe it.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
You know, I had the honor and privilege of attending
Afrotech for the second or third time a couple of
weeks ago, and AI and innovation with something we talked.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
About a lot.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
And it's interesting because I think that as much as
we're talking about it, so many people are still being
left behind because they're scared. I think we should embrace it,
and I think that we should explore how can we
start leveraging things like AI skills and AI learning. I mean,
one of the things I always tell people is, first
of all, LinkedIn has LinkedIn learning courses right what you
(30:14):
can sign up for and you can actually learn a
lot about AI. You can at least start to learn
the immediate jargon right of things that like you might
not know or like you might have questions about, to
just at least familiarize yourself with it. For me personally,
I like to use AI for a lot of things,
and so like, for instance, like when I'm mapping out
my week, I will use like a claud or a
(30:36):
chat GPT to say like, Okay, here are my biggest
priorities of the week.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
Help me prioritize based on X, Y and Z variable
yeah yah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
As a writer or as a creator, sometimes I'll even
think of like okay, here's the topic that I want
to touch on, and here are some key talking points,
like help me at least create an outline. Now here's
where I think people make the mistake. Will people are
using this AI and then they just spit it out
and then they just and you can tell I'm like,
now you have never been able to formulate a sentence
(31:05):
of Daniel life now all of a sudden, right.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Right exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
So I definitely say like the AI as a partner,
don't see it as as something that, like you know,
is going to take away from your creativity. It can
enhance your creativity if used properly. And I'm just kind
of continuing. I'm just I think that this is just
a skill that we're going to continue to see. The
great thing about AI, I think is that it doesn't
(31:33):
just touch the tech market, right, which I think is
a lot of people's mistake they think AI is only
touching tech. If you can start to familiar familiarize yourself
with AI large language models, what these what machine learning,
what all of these terms mean, and how you can
get a piece of it, you won't be behind the
wave when we see because we've already seen the first
(31:54):
wave of AI happen. But I think we haven't even
seen yet all of the possibilities of what's going to
happen over the next few years. This is where we
start to build when we talk about building that generational wealth,
when we talk about getting into these roles that are
going to set us up when we talk about how
we can be the pushers of culture, because we already
are as black people, we already push the culture, we
(32:16):
create the culture, but then we allow the culture to
then dictate what we do. No, if you know how
to move and if you know how to put yourself
in the rooms, you can dictate the culture, and you
can dictate the culture because at the end of the day,
it's not just about what you can do for you.
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself,
how can I use these gifts, talents and skills to
further my community and further other people who may not
(32:39):
have access to the things that I have access to.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Black Tech Green Money is a production to Blavity Afro
Tech on the Black Effect podcast network in night Hiart
Media and it's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well
Lucas with the addigital production support by Kate McDonald, Sarah
and Jaden McGee. Special thank you to Michael Davis and
Love Beach. Learn more about my guessing other Tech. This
stuff is an Innovatives afro tech dot Com. The video
version this episode will drop to Black Tech Green Money
(33:04):
on YouTube. So tap in Enjoy your black tech, green money.
Share us with somebody, Go get your money.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Peace and love,
I'm with Lucas and this is Black Tech, Green Money.
Jimmy Jackson is a community manage. You're at LinkedIn, empowering
thousands to implify their authentic voices.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And strengthen their personal brands. That's just in ninety five.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
She's also a founder of the Blond Misfit Misfit creative
media and actor award winning journalists and content creator who's
transformed her a side hustle into a global powerhouse.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I want to talk about black content creators.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
You know, you see a lot of black content creation
and you are a black content creator, but a lot
of us are making a lot of mistakes when we're
trying to build a brand. What is one of the
things that you see, like, y'all should stop doing that.
We gotta stop doing this.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yea.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
I love that question.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I love that question a lot because it's almost like
when you're at the at the family cookout of the
reviews and you're hanging out with your cousins and them
and they're like, how can I step up better? And
you like, stop doing this? Yeah, yeah, and for all
So for all of my cousins out there listening, I
would I would say, I see we make the mistake
of don't we don't brag enough, we don't carry our receipts.
(01:06):
I think receipts are so important in today's job economy because,
if you think about it, a lot of people do
what you do. Right, Let's start there. I don't pull
any punches when it comes to this. A lot of
people are good at what they do. A lot of
people have your job title, they work at your company.
They want to be where you're at. But what sets
you apart is your unique story and the way in
(01:27):
which you tell your story, your narrative, and your ability
to answer the question will why meet. I think society
does a disservice because it's taught us, as black creators
that our blackness is not a superpower, and it absolutely is.
Being able to code switch, being able to speak English
(01:49):
and African American vernacular English right, or ebonics or whatever
you want to say, Like being able to straddle these
worlds is a superpower that other people don't have. And
so when I tell people all the time, like talk
your talk, I'm saying it from the sense of, like,
don't be cocky, right, because we all know that one
person who talk a whole lot but they can't fight
(02:09):
in the club, will.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Like they can't fight.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
But I mean, like, bring your receipts, show why you
are a unique value add show how your experience has
positioned you or your experiences have shaped you. You know
a lot of black creatives. We know what it's like
to juggle multiple jobs. We know what it's like to
have a non linear career path. That is your superpower.
(02:34):
And so really, when I'm talking to a lot of
our creatives, when I'm talking particularly even on like LinkedIn
and how you position yourself, don't get so caught up
in figuring out how to brand yourself as professional. Learn
how to brand yourself in the sense of if someone
didn't have you on their team, what are they missing
out on?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
And that is where your story and where that superpower lies.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
How do I know if my LinkedIn profile is me
opportunities versus creating opportunities for me?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I love that question a lot, because we always need
to be asking ourselves if we're losing out on the
money or if we're attracting it. I would say a
couple of things that you should think about is if
your LinkedIn is accurately portraying the person you want to
be seen as in the rooms that you want to
be in. We have a really dope episode on Let's
Talk Offline around personal branding, and I say on that
(03:26):
episode that you are a brand, whether you want to
be or not, Like we all are a brand because
rooms that you're not in, somebody is saying something about you.
And even though you can't necessarily control where people talk
about you, you can't.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Control what is said.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And so when you're looking at your LinkedIn profile, you
need to be asking yourself. Am I telling the proper
story here? Am I reflecting all of my experiences? Am
I utilizing my creativity? I'm always perplexed when I talk
to creatives and they're not being created, Like, see your
LinkedIn profile as an opportunity to be creative, And there's
(04:04):
so many ways you can do that. If you love
to write, You're about me section should be fire. I'm
not talking about that whole like it looks like you
just spin it out in AI and it just came out.
Tell a story. Who are you? Where did it start?
Where did your passions start? Where do you uniquely add
yourself to the conversation. If you like to write, you
can explore obviously your feed in posts, you can explore
(04:25):
your newsletters. But a really amazing format that we've seen
continuously grow at LinkedIn is short form video. Right I'm
talking like your two minutes or less vertical videos. It
doesn't have to be fancy, it can be shot on
the phone. Those are so great because you can still
provide professional insights, which is where LinkedIn is unique to
(04:45):
right like, but your professional insights are still through the
lens of how you see the world, and so like,
I always like to tell the story that, you know,
I was dealing with somebody in my life who I
looked up one day and I was like, bro, you're
a hater.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Like you're an actual.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Professional hater, Like you know, whenever something good happens for
me professionally, like you don't know how to show up.
And so I made a video about that and I
posted on LinkedIn. I'm sitting on the bathroom floor, I'm
doing my makeup, and I'm talking about professional haters, and
I'm sharing.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
How you need those people in your life.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
You need people who doubt you, You need people who
don't believe in you, because that builds character and it
makes you see who really has your back and the
good times and the bad. I looked up and within
twenty four hours I had gotten over a million impressions.
To date, that's one of my best performing videos on
LinkedIn with over three points some million impressions and more.
And that video alone showed me people want real. People
(05:38):
want real, people want authenticity. People can smell fake a
mile away, and that's on the platform too. So I
always say, find unique and creative ways to tell your story.
That's not gonna cost you a bag, it's going to
actually attract Because the type of opportunities that came after
that were great. People then really wanted to tap in more,
particularly with the podcast, because they were like, Oh, like
(05:59):
this girl just gonna keep it real.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
She's gonna be honest, she's silly.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And so I would definitely say like taking the time
to look and say, like, if I were a recruiter
or a hiring manager, if I was an investor, if
I was a sponsor, if this is all I saw
about this person and I didn't do my due diligence
to look them up on any other platform, which most
people don't, you got one.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Shot is this reflecting who they are?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
And I say, you got to you gotta know how
to do that professionally, but also in a way that
is true to you. Like I don't ever want anyone
to see any of my content and they don't see
my personality, they don't see what I uniquely bring because
at the end of the day, when I'm in that room,
I'm gonna bring it, you.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so I think like that's where a lot of
people make the mistake. They're not exploring the creative ways
in which they can tell their story and they're not
seeing themselves as a brand. The minute you start carrying
yourself like a McDonald's or a Coca Cola or a
Chapotle or any of these other household names, is the
minute that you can just control the narrative and you
attract the opportunities that want to tie to that narrative
(07:00):
as well.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, I want you to go further on that, and
I'm gonna ask you this from a different perspective. Is
because you talked about leaning into who you are, leaning
into your creativity, leaning to your culture, leaning into your blackness,
how has black representation in media evolved to allow us
to be able to do that and then not be
off putting.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, you know, I was privileged to go to an HBCU.
Shout out to Howard, shout out to all my Bison family.
It's all love no matter where you went, right, But
I always got to put a little extra on for
the Bison. I was very blessed that growing up, I
was taught a lot about my culture.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Being from like the Washington d C.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Northern Virginia area, I was always surrounded by that, whether
it was in the church or being an actor in
community theater, or then going to an HBCU and learning.
And I think what I've seen in media, particularly over
the years, is like it's not all just about telling
a certain narrative or a story. When we talk about
(08:02):
us not being a monolithic people, we're often talking about
it from the lens of Okay, we don't all come
from a major city, or we don't all come from
a certain socioeconomic background. But very few times are we
actually saying when we say black people are not monolithic,
we're also talking about a diversity of thought. We don't
all think the same.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Nowadays in media, you can find a little bit of
everybody on social right. You can pop out your phone
and you go and see the celebrity gossip sites, but
you can also, you know, find a podcast like yours
are Mine, where we're talking about other topics. Like I
like to show people I'm from round a way, as
our uncle Denzel Washington says, but I'm also a black
(08:41):
girl in tech who can show you that you don't
have to become anybody else to win.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
You are enough.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
And I think, like what I would like to continue
to see is more of our stories continue to take
over in media to show people, and especially this next generation,
you don't have to do certain things in order to
get ahead, Like you get to define your destiny, You
get to define your story and who you are is enough.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Because let me tell you something.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Well, when I first started out as a journalist and
then as a blogger, and I was working in fashion
and beauty, I was trying to paint myself a very
specific way because that's all I saw. I saw all
the other black girls in fashion move in a certain
type of way or act in a certain type of way.
Now one of them things. I couldn't do all that
because I wasn't as skinny as them. Okay, your girl
had hips, and I was like I ain't gonna be
(09:31):
able to do the no sample size is of nothing,
all right, And so I was like, Okay, now I
gotta find my own style. I gotta find my own flavor.
And I remember just looking up one day and I
was like, this isn't me. Like a couple of my
friends even called that out there, like who you paint
yourself to be online is cool and all, but like
that's not you. And it really kind of put a
(09:53):
battery pack in me to say I am robbing myself
and more importantly, the people who are assigned to me
by not being true to who I am. And I
just want more people to see that. I want people
to hear it. I want it to get deep down
in their spirit. Who you are is enough, and that
authenticity is what is going to differentiate you from anybody else,
any name of any day of any day of the week.
(10:15):
I don't have to be nobody else. Everybody else is taken.
As they like to say, Jamay is not. And I'm
gonna tap into Jamay because when Jamae is Jamay, can't
nobody else do Jamay, you know? And so I think,
like for for media, I just we're continuing to see
more of our stories take place. And you know, when
this opportunity came about for let's talk offline, I'm not
(10:39):
gonna lie.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
I was just like, y'all.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Want me, like you know what I mean, like like me,
like I don't know about that, you know, because I've
also been very open and honest about the idea or
interpretation of what black professionalism looks like. And I was like, Okay, cool,
I'll do this, but under the understanding, I'm not sugarcoating things.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
I'ma be honest, I'm gonna be real.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
And in a lot of our episodes, I talk with
my co host Gianna and I tell her, like, your
experience is yours because you're not black. You know what
I mean, And you know you might shake up the
table a little bit, but it needs to get shook, like.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
It needs to get shook because we're doing too much
of this.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Let's be sweet, let's be kind, like no, let's call
it for what it is, because at the end of
the day, I want the next generation of young Black professionals,
young Black creatives, young black entrepreneurs, change makers, thought leaders
to say, Okay, I know what's ahead of me, but
I also know that like me being true to me
is enough and I can open those doors.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, I want to talk about, you know, personal branding
on LinkedIn, because I think there's some value you can
help a lot of us with in regards to this.
You know, Sorry, there was some boards I used to
sit on and I remember going to those boards, and
those meetings would typically be at like the end of
the day, and everybody would come to the board being
with suits on and etc. And I'm like, after a while,
(12:03):
after going home to change clothes and put on a suit,
because I don't wear a suit to work every day.
I work for myself, and this is what I look
like going to work. I'm right, I'm not going home
to put on a suit anymore. Though I'm adding values
to this board. So I'm going, how I not going
to be appropriate, but I'm not going home to put
a suit on.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And so my question is.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
This, It's so often we have this view specifically on LinkedIn,
like when you said, you know you sitting on your
bathroom floor talking about professional haters, and I'm like a lot,
like many people will be afraid to put that video
on LinkedIn, and I'm like, Instagram's a place for that
TikTok's place for that whatever wherever, it's a place for that,
but on LinkedIn, like, oh, that's there's some guts right there.
(12:43):
And so I want you to talk about the misconceptions
people have about personal branding on LinkedIn, because in my view,
it was a lot like I'm going to be who
I am in this professional space because I know I'm
adding value. So I'm okay coming with you know what
I got on and not going home to put a
suit on, which is what I felt like so long
(13:04):
on LinkedIn. I gotta be this on LinkedIn. I can
be this over here on that other app, but over here,
I gotta be this.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, I think what you felt going into those meetings
and saying like, no, I'm ana stand tento's down on
who I am is exactly the same thing you should
have when you come to LinkedIn.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Now, don't get it twisted.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
I was sweating bullets before I posted that video because
now I'm thinking to myself, my manager is connecting me
on LinkedIn, like my coworkers connected like they gonna think
I'm talking about them, like and you know, at the
end of the day, you know, a hit dog will
holler whoever is for it's gonna pick right. But I
think I had to ask myself, is the.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Reward worth the risk?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Is the reward of who this piece of content can
bless or inform or help? Is that worth the time
imporary risk of feeling uncomfortable that I put it out there,
or that nobody is gonna vibe with it. That's kind
of the job of being a creator. You listen to
what you know you need to put out there, and
(14:11):
you put it out there with the hope that it
touches people. But whether it touches one or it touches millions,
you've done your job. What I would say, though, is
that if you ever are feeling like nervous about that,
like do a self check in. Are you nervous because
it's new and it's foreign, Are you nervous because you
think somebody is gonna judge you? Or are you nervous
(14:33):
because really, if you sit with it, you're like, this
is not an appropriate topic for me to talk about.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
And I didn't have that last one.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I knew that this was just uncomfortable because I had
never seen anyone talk about that particular topic on LinkedIn before.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Now the thing is LinkedIn is still a place.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Yeah, you go and you find jobs, right, But like,
it's so much more than that. And this is where
going back to one of your questions before about where
we're making a mistake. We are still approaching this platform
as a job search platform. Our counterparts are not doing that.
Our counterparts are showing up on this platform every day,
building community, networking with people, sending people happy birthday in mails, right,
(15:11):
like posting the video being okay with looking cringey or
like weird at first, as you learn how to hold
the phone or how you learn how to you know,
put b roll. People are becoming comfortable with failing in
front of people, and it's actually building the community that
is then going to give them the economic opportunity that
(15:31):
they need later on. And so what I would say
is still see this platform as a place where, yes,
you show up a certain way, right, Like I wouldn't
cut up on LinkedIn away, You're gonna see me cut
up on Instagram stories, right, Like brunch is not necessary
for this platform. But I have learned a lot of
(15:52):
the topics that we're thinking about. If it applies to work,
it can belong on LinkedIn. You just have to ask
yourself how do we analyze this? And this is actually
something that you know as we were really thinking about
our episodes, you know, because for like, for instance, like
let's talk offline, we're talking to gen Z and early
career professionals.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
But there's two things here.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
One, no matter where you are in your career, everybody
can learn something about navigating a toxic manager, right or
building workplace friendships, or finding a mentor or asking for
that first promotion.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Everybody can learn from those things.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
But you also are trying to figure out, Okay, how
do I do this in a way that doesn't just
feel like it's just scattered. It's so speaking to like
one individual person. That's where your LinkedIn profile comes in,
and that's where like you get to build this unique
audience of people who may follow you on other platforms too, right,
Like I've had some people who I've bought in from
my LinkedIn persona and then they come to my other
(16:48):
platforms and the like, you're the same person, it's the
same thing, will as like who you are around your
your parents might be different than who you are around
your grandparents, different from the church folk, different around you boys,
Like everybody gets a piece of you but it's not
that you're not being true and authentic.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
You just know how to move into each individual room.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So you got to ask yourself and think of that
the same way for your LinkedIn profile. But I would
definitely say we are underestimating our ability to know how
to tell our story and to still attract the people
that we need to attract. Get that fear out of it,
post it, take a walk, go get some coffee, Go
do whatever you got to do, get on the game,
rite whatever you gotta do, and.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
You'll start to see a little bit by a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Showing up authentically each day builds that audience and that
community people who come to respect you for just being real.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
So social media has social platforms, I should say, have
increasingly become like portfolios, you know, for creators. So how
should creators think about their body of work?
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Look, I always say receipts. Receipts are currency, you know
what I mean? You know, going back to this idea
of like why you If I'm a recruiter, I want
to see, like what have you done and what do
you have to offer that somebody else may not? And
sometimes those are the smallest deciding factors between you and
another candidate, whether you're looking for a job or you're
(18:12):
looking for whatever else. I've posted everything from short form
video clips. I obviously post the clips of the podcast
right because think about it, there's always gonna be someone
who that's the first time that they've ever discovered it,
and I love that idea. There's some I don't remember
who I was talking to the other day. I was
talking to somebody and they were like, you know this creator,
and they showed this creator to me on the phone
on their phone. The creator has millions, like tens of
(18:34):
millions of us will if that person had been walking
down the streets from New York, I would have never known.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
I'm been like, I've never seen this person a day
in my life.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And it was such a wonderful reminder to me that
we think everybody has already seen everything. No, you gotta
keep putting your stuff out there, and you got to
be very bullish about being your own marketing professional, Like
you got to get the stuff out there. So everything
from internships that you've had to essays to campaigns or events.
(19:07):
If you have a podcast, are you posting your clips online?
That's creating a funnel for people to go watch the
longer version. If you have it with video or if
it's just audio, are you constantly driving back people to
where they can find more of you? I think that like,
if you really sit down and you think about all
of the dope projects or the things that you've touched,
nothing is ever lost, right, And this also comes down
(19:29):
to transferable skills. Now, I'll tell you something as someone
who is also an actor, one of the things I've
had to learn is that how the industry was years
ago is not what it is today. Years ago, you
did the traditional I'm going to out keep auditioning, hopefully
I get booked, I get enough projects, I get an agent,
and then the agent takes over. Nowadays, there's so much
(19:54):
more people than the work. So going back to this
idea of how you're going to stand out, this is
why you have actors nowadays, who are scriptwriters, who are directors,
who are teaching all these other things. Because you can't
be a one trick pony anymore. And so this is
not just in the entertainment space. This is for everybody.
So if you're not getting the opportunities, create the opportunities yourself,
(20:17):
all right, you don't need all this fancy equipment to
start recording video. You don't even need all this fancy
equipment necessarily to start a podcast. Start, create the minimal
viable product, create a proof of concept, and show people
here's what I can do with this. Because if I
could do this with this, imagine what I can do
with a lot more. And I think this is where
the portfolio comes in.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
If you can.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Show people you already are that person, right Like I
always like to tell people, I was always that girl.
I just got a little bit more money, but I
was always that girl. But I proved myself to be
that girl when I was, you know, at a lower
place in my life, so that it only was natural
that as more opportunities came, I could continue to elevate.
You got to see the same way for yourself, in
(20:58):
the same way for your portfolio, and particularly for LinkedIn.
What I like about LinkedIn, and it's not because I
work here, it's because I've just genuinely seen it, is
that you can marry so many of your communities here.
If you like video, there's a place for that. If
you like audio, there's a place for that. If you
like to write, there's a place for that. Like I
have so many different communities in my LinkedIn portfolio quote
unquote that I really like, and I just think that, like,
(21:22):
we got to just keep tapping into that. But at
the end of the day, show goes, receipts, show the
receipts like that.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
What advice do you give to content creators who want
to advocate for themselves? They want to put themselves in
the position to have deals, brand deals get picked by
you know, these brands who want to engage but they're growing,
but don't know how to pitch themselves.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Man looks as an entrepreneur myself, I can tell you
I've pitched myself both good and very bad. Okay, I'm
very very thankful that I made a lot of mistakes privately,
because now when you get a little bit more public,
you kind of get a little bit more leery of
making mistakes. But I'm very thankful for that time too,
(22:13):
because I do think we all need a training ground
and stuff. I always tell people like, are you perfecting
yourself in the private because once he's public, what's the showtime?
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Is showtime? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Everybody wants something. Everybody wants this idea of what they
think success to be. But I always ask myself, are
you preparing yourself for that? Because you can get it?
But then what happens? Right, It's like the same thing
as people want the million dollar brand deal, but baby,
if you can't even juggle the five hundred dollar brand deal,
your deliverables are late, the product is trash. You have
(22:44):
poor communication skills. How are you preparing yourself for that
bigger blessing down the road?
Speaker 4 (22:49):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
And so when it comes to pitching, it comes down
to again the proof of concept, and it shows in
this idea of showing your receipts. It's also about being bold.
And you know, as I've gotten older, I've come to realize.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Like you just got to take the risk. You got to.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Take the risk, but calculated risks, right, Like I'm very
calculative in the sense that like, I'm not just going
to go into anybody's in anybody's room and ask for something.
I'm gonna come knowing that I have something to bring,
and here's where the value is. I would definitely say,
like being someone who is confident in what you have
(23:28):
to offer, but also being okay with being rejected is
good too.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Not all money is good money.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And I know people don't want to believe that, and
I know it's particularly when you're trying to.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Pay them bills. You really don't want to believe that.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
But sometimes saying no to things is actually a setup
for a bigger yes later down the road. And so
I always say, when you think of that pitch, ask yourself, like,
what are the biggest things that this person needs to
know about me?
Speaker 4 (23:53):
How can I show how I have already done this? Right?
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Like, how have I already operated in the space in
some way? And this is where transferable skills comes in,
Like what have you done that's similar to this that
you can speak to? And then lastly, how do I
position myself in a way where like I'm showing you
I am.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
The person for the job?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Right?
Speaker 3 (24:15):
We actually we actually talk about this in an episode too,
where we're like, someone, you know, how do you when
you when you first come out of college?
Speaker 4 (24:25):
And everybody is like, how do I get the job?
Speaker 3 (24:28):
And then we're all like, do I put the job
that I had at Starbucks?
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Do I put that down on the resume or not?
Speaker 3 (24:33):
And some people might be like, nah, don't put that down,
But like The pushback is, but if there were transferable
skills of you working. You know, I've had a lot
of jobs in retail, a lot of jobs in hospitality,
and let me tell you something that built me for
good customer service. That now as a community manager here,
I got to know how to talk to people because
sometimes people be.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Trying you and you can't just say whatever you want
to say.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
You know what I mean, So I just say, like,
use every opportunity and experience have had and craft the
narrative as to how that built you, but also how
you added to it. Numbers are always going to win,
So quantifying your successes, quantifying anything you can helps tell
a brand a story. But then also being a good
(25:16):
person also goes so far. People like to work with
good people, people like to work with kind people.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
So if you can present yourself.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
To be someone who is collaborative and fun and engaging,
who comes with creative ideas, but then also you have
those receipts to back it up, I think you're good.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
You know, you manage a community of more than seventeen
thousand on LinkedIn, you run your own side business also
more than ninety thousand people you serve there. How are
you how are you distributing your content making sure that
you're serving these folks? Well, are you cross pollinating your content?
Is the same content across places?
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Like?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
How are you doing that in two different directions?
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I always say, like, we all only have a certain
amount of hours in the day. So if if I
create a piece of content, everybody about to get this content.
Everybody's about to see this, and we gonna see it
a couple of times. I definitely believe in boundary setting,
particularly when it comes to work. So for me, like
even though my you know, teammates and the company and
(26:21):
everybody knows like the things that I work on on
the side, like, I do believe it is very important
for me to distinguish the jama Jackson brand from the
Jamaic Community Manager brand. And a lot of people sometimes
be like, no, merge, merge, merge, But I'm like, that's
where I think we have to also say, like I
have to have some type of ownership on something too right,
(26:41):
And so for me, I think, like creating content, I'm
always looking for what is the thorough line between my audiences.
My audiences for the Jamai Jackson brand are a lot
more black and brown creatives. It's people who have watched
me grow up through the ranks, people who saw me
move from DC to New York, people who saw me
try to go from fashion and beauty to then journalism
(27:03):
to now acting and then also working in tech. And
my LinkedIn audience is a lot more expanded, right, But
particularly it's like, okay, but you also have to figure out, well,
what is the thorough line here? Everybody is always trying
to figure out how can I be better? Everybody is
always trying to figure out what are the new trends
we're seeing, what are the new things we're seeing in
the job market?
Speaker 4 (27:22):
How do I stand out? It's a tough job.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Market, you know what I mean, And so I always
like to speak to what the commonality the differences are, Okay, right,
Like if you want to see me do like the
super blackly black combos, because that is what I'm going
to do. There's a platform and a space for that.
But when I also think about how can I service
my audience, I'm also thinking like where can I get
the most bang.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
For my buck?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
And for me, I find like the commonalities of helping
people show up authentically, figuring out how do you build
your personal brand, how do you build your own personal
mission statement? How do you build the confidence to take
up space that allows me to cast everybody?
Speaker 4 (27:59):
And sometimes that's what you me.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
You need people, You need the messaging that is going
to touch more people, because then that draws back people
are like, Okay, cool, I like it. Let me check
out what other content she creates, So let me see
what other things that she does. So yeah, I think
boundary setting is so important a particularly as a creative
ownership is important. But I also think that when you
(28:21):
just show up and you share the content that you
know is going to really matter.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
To people, then that kind of you make the cell there. Right.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
This is why I also tall because I work with
a lot of sales and marketing professionals and I'm always like,
stop telling people you got the best product on the market.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Stop stop because that doesn't do anything for me. If
you tell me you know, I have the best coffee
in all of New York. That's different than you telling
me like, half a cup of my coffee will keep
you up to finish that job proposal you've been working
on for three weeks or something like that. Right, Your show,
don't tell. And I think as creatives, we have to
(28:59):
show show your impact. You don't tell us your impactful.
Anybody can say that, but I show.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Me like that, Like that, I cannot get out of
here without asking you about AI. You knew it was
coming and is here, so I think about you know, well,
actually I'm just asked what kind of tools are you
using to help streamline your workflow?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Like are you using AI? What kind of AI are
you using?
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Like what do you suggest, based on the kind of
content you deliver people should be using to get you know,
to make more impact and do it efficiently.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
I mean it's really cool because I'm seeing like so
much excitement for AI, especially around like gen Z and millennials,
you know, who are really thinking that AI is going
to help them progress in their careers.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
And I believe it.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
You know, I had the honor and privilege of attending
Afrotech for the second or third time a couple of
weeks ago, and AI and innovation with something we talked.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
About a lot.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
And it's interesting because I think that as much as
we're talking about it, so many people are still being
left behind because they're scared. I think we should embrace it,
and I think that we should explore how can we
start leveraging things like AI skills and AI learning. I mean,
one of the things I always tell people is, first
of all, LinkedIn has LinkedIn learning courses right what you
(30:14):
can sign up for and you can actually learn a
lot about AI. You can at least start to learn
the immediate jargon right of things that like you might
not know or like you might have questions about, to
just at least familiarize yourself with it. For me personally,
I like to use AI for a lot of things,
and so like, for instance, like when I'm mapping out
my week, I will use like a claud or a
(30:36):
chat GPT to say like, Okay, here are my biggest
priorities of the week.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
Help me prioritize based on X, Y and Z variable
yeah yah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
As a writer or as a creator, sometimes I'll even
think of like okay, here's the topic that I want
to touch on, and here are some key talking points,
like help me at least create an outline. Now here's
where I think people make the mistake. Will people are
using this AI and then they just spit it out
and then they just and you can tell I'm like,
now you have never been able to formulate a sentence
(31:05):
of Daniel life now all of a sudden, right.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Right exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
So I definitely say like the AI as a partner,
don't see it as as something that, like you know,
is going to take away from your creativity. It can
enhance your creativity if used properly. And I'm just kind
of continuing. I'm just I think that this is just
a skill that we're going to continue to see. The
great thing about AI, I think is that it doesn't
(31:33):
just touch the tech market, right, which I think is
a lot of people's mistake they think AI is only
touching tech. If you can start to familiar familiarize yourself
with AI large language models, what these what machine learning,
what all of these terms mean, and how you can
get a piece of it, you won't be behind the
wave when we see because we've already seen the first
(31:54):
wave of AI happen. But I think we haven't even
seen yet all of the possibilities of what's going to
happen over the next few years. This is where we
start to build when we talk about building that generational wealth,
when we talk about getting into these roles that are
going to set us up when we talk about how
we can be the pushers of culture, because we already
are as black people, we already push the culture, we
(32:16):
create the culture, but then we allow the culture to
then dictate what we do. No, if you know how
to move and if you know how to put yourself
in the rooms, you can dictate the culture, and you
can dictate the culture because at the end of the day,
it's not just about what you can do for you.
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself,
how can I use these gifts, talents and skills to
further my community and further other people who may not
(32:39):
have access to the things that I have access to.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Black Tech Green Money is a production to Blavity Afro
Tech on the Black Effect podcast network in night Hiart
Media and it's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well
Lucas with the addigital production support by Kate McDonald, Sarah
and Jaden McGee. Special thank you to Michael Davis and
Love Beach. Learn more about my guessing other Tech. This
stuff is an Innovatives afro tech dot Com. The video
version this episode will drop to Black Tech Green Money
(33:04):
on YouTube. So tap in Enjoy your black tech, green money.
Share us with somebody, Go get your money.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Peace and love,
Host
Will Lucas
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