Brilliantly Black Podcast EP 73 – Just Play Entertainment

Leia Avery, founder of Just Play Entertainment, is the "Queen of Fun"!

For the past decade, Leia has brought families, friends and corporate teams closer via fun and games. Adult life is hard enough...sometimes, we all need a little fun.
Just Play Entertainment was rated 1 of the top 10 businesses to celebrate special occasions during the Pandemic.

Learn more about Leia's story of success as she shares with Jasmine, on the latest episode of the Brilliantly Black podcast.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Putting the spotlight on chicago Lands growingblack businesses. iHeartMedia Chicago presents the Brilliantly
Black Podcast. Here's our host,Jasmine Bennett. Hey everyone, welcome back
today. I'm here with Leah Averyof Just Play Entertainment. How are you
doing today? That's amazing. Howabout yourself? I am doing well.
Thank you so much for joining metoday to talk about your business, Just

(00:23):
Play Entertainment. So I am dyingto know. You have to tell me
more about the start of this businessand what even inspired you know, the
idea of Just Play Entertainment. It'scrazy because I was very, very shy
growing up, so shy that mymom maybe go to a summer school before
high school started, just so Ican get friends. But before that,

(00:44):
my I used to love fun experiencesand playing games that can always help me
get out of my shell. Irecall when my dad created a swing in
the backyard using attire, and thatgave me the idea to have like a
mini carnival in my backyard and chargemy name twenty five cents to play games
similar to the Bozo Show, likethrowing the ball in the bucket. So

(01:06):
I always have like a event anentrepreneurial spirit, and my dad's side of
the family they were all entrepreneurs.So I know that's what I wanted to
I know, I wanted to bemy own have my own business. It
just took me a while to figureout that it was going to be,
you know, and play and hostingevents. It's crazy how your biggest fears,
you know, me being shy,can once you battle those fears.

(01:29):
It's crazy how it it uncovers yourpurpose, you know. So I'm blessed
to I'm blessed to have gotten thisfar and appreciate the opportunity. Yes,
and that's a beautiful thing. Imean, I always feel like, no
matter how old we get, weare always gonna want to play games,
like that's just it. We're gonnawant to have fun because we're human.
It doesn't matter how old we are. Definitely, And you know, life

(01:51):
is stressful as it is, rightand I always try to tell people,
you know, it's having fun experiences. It's just as important as drinking water
is to live for your mental stability, you know. So it's always good
to just forget about whatever problems youhave and just indog in whatever whatever makes
you happy. Doesn't have to befun necessarily. It could be you know,
getting your nails done, you know, just just taking care of yourself

(02:13):
and some type of stelf care isvery important, absolutely, and we will
get into that self care tip alittle later, but first I want to
know the mission of just playing entertainment. Yeah, So our motel is an
experience nostalgic fun. I'm Leah Airy, the Queen of Fun. Yeah.
We started started out with a cardgame I created. Now it's called Hip

(02:36):
Hop's Urrais. Back then it wascalled Catch by Drift. We were in
local malls, Ford City and RiverRoaks having kiosks selling the games. It
was flying off the shells. Andfrom that we started to host game nights
every once in a month and peoplewould always say, well, can you
do this? Can you bring usto my job? So we ended up

(02:59):
you know, pivoting and hosting alsocorporate team building events and offering a variety
of other fun field games outside ofhipopshar Raise. Of course, we have
our virgion of family few called America'sFavorite game Show. We do trivia,
minute to Win It games, solove how. Our clients include Gale Deloyd,
Microsoft, you name it, andwe're not just in Chicago, but

(03:22):
we're also located in Nashville as wellas Atlanta. So it's all about breaking
the fund, creating fun field experiencesand yeah, and creating those moments that
are last a lifetime. That's amazingand you guys are doing so well.
So between the expansion and let's goback a little bit to the beginning,
like what were some of the challengesyou guys faced when you were first starting

(03:44):
out and how did you come toget past those challenges. Yeah, we
had a couple of them. Sowhen I first came up with the idea
to create a card game, wegot a manufactured overseas in China. So
that was one challenge just with thelanguage barrier and understand and being the communication
back and forth. So one wehad an error on our on our games.

(04:05):
We had it was two versions.We had the original version, then
we had an additional expansion deck forfor the adult version that had like explicit
phrases on there. So we toldthe manufacturers to make sure you put a
label on the card boxing it's youknow, adults only, but they put
that on the Wrongs box, theyput that on the family friendly box,

(04:28):
and of course we didn't notice thatuntil it arived, you know, a
thousand games with the wrong label onthe box. So we had to just
you know, create some tape withour tape. But yeah, pretty much
create a label and cover it up. So it was, it was,
it was. It was pretty youknow, a little a little ratchet look
get up in the beginning. So, uh, that was one lesson learned.
And then when we first got ourgot our our first shipment of games.

(04:54):
It's set in the in the basementfor about a good three months because
I was just big, you know, I had to tell my stuff like
Leah, y'all, get over theshaft stuff and just get out there and
come up with a pitch and justdo it, and I'll find I finally
found the opportunity to, uh,to pitch my pitch my game. It
was in Chicago, and it waslike a long line outside in front of

(05:16):
the FEMA building. Everyone was waitingin line to get their check and it
was like a huge line. Isaid, you know what, these people
are tired in the sun. Theywere left entertainment. So I went out
there and brought some games and playedthe games in the line that came up
and earned about two hundred dollars withinwithin ten minutes. So that was my

(05:36):
Wow, that was my That wasmy sign like okay, okay, you
got this, Riya. Yeah,like you can actually do this exactly exactly,
so that that Yeah, I haven'tstopped since then, and you shouldn't
so starting out, you know,any advice you could give to someone that
is thinking about maybe making their owncard game or getting into the entertainment business

(05:58):
in the game aspect, definitely,I would say go to trade shows.
That's They have one actually in Chicagothat I go through every year. It's
called the Chicago Twin Game Expo.Now they allow us to uh to come
and and host our and have atable and bring a diverse crowd out there.
I've been working with them for awhile Mary Cousins. So they offer

(06:21):
these, they offer these during theexpos. They have these seminars. They
can teach you the inn and outuh how it you know, what it
looks like to come up with thegame and design tips and and all that
great stuff. And there's a nice, a nice community of black game creators.
Now ever since COVID, uh,ever since ever since COVID. So

(06:42):
uh we're we're a whole community,and I would say reach out to other
game creators. We offer consultation alot of a lot of a lot of
inspired game creators have have reached outto me and you know, will help
them with their pitch. We'll traveland go to trade shows together and you
know, and split the booth rentand things like that to help them become

(07:05):
more comfortable with their pitch, withtheir setting, with the decoration and all
that stuff. So we have theaccess to help aspired entrepreneur aspire game creator,
uh come up with their game ideafrom start to finish, from doing
play testing playtesting to the design andgetting in manufactured. Wow, that's amazing.

(07:27):
And you know, we always sayon this podcast, there are so
many resources that you can use.So I am so happy that you brought
that up, like going to theexpo and just you know, always being
a student and not being afraid tolearn and reach out to other people in
the same field because you know,it doesn't always have to be a competition.
Chicago has that bad sometimes, youknow, yes, yes, and
it's like it's enough money for everyone. And I realized what helped me grow

(07:53):
is by partnering with other people,hosting with other people with even comingland and
creating a product together. So youknow, closing out don't get fair.
And I realized a lot a lotof the times we heard ourselves just by
not seeking up, you know,yes, exactly. And now I want
to talk about the team behind JustPlay Entertainment. A lot of business owners

(08:15):
they struggle with, you know,finding that good team and everyone that shares
that same vision. So how didyou go about creating your team for display?
Yes, it was a struggle myselftoo, because for a while,
you know, you get stuck inthe run of doing golf things and thinking
that and thinking that that's the wayto go, you know, and when
you don't have a team, itreally slows you down for your success and

(08:37):
making more money and thinking big becauseyou can't do everything right. So the
way the way I found my teamwas pretty much just just getting outside and
hosting events and hosting trivia and Iand those people were actually would come to
me and say, hey, youknow, I like to do this,
I like to do that. Youknow, this is over the time I

(08:58):
realized we have a lot of brandambassadors and they consist of mostly actors and
comedians, but they already have thatentertainment entertain their personality, they already have
a following, so they make theperfect party hosts or game hosts. So
that helped out a lot. Andthen as far as like our CEO and

(09:18):
are at me and they're pretty muchjust my business bestings, people that had
their own businesses and they they wantto invest and be a part of of
Just Play Entertainment just by you know, seeing what we've done and how you
know, how people feel after theevent and all the all the testimonies that

(09:39):
we give. So people have toactually reached out to us and that they
wanted to be apart and that helpedthem grow. So that was that's been
a blessing absolutely. And now youmentioned earlier about the self care and how
that's super important. And I knoweveryone says that, like you have to
find time for yourself and you gotta. It's hard to turn the business aspect
off, but it's like you haveto sometimes. So how do you manage

(10:01):
work life balance? You know,I've had trouble managing that as well.
I remember when I had one ofmy mentors was talking to me and she
was like, well, what doyou like to do for fun. And
I like to really say, iswhat I normally do is play tennis and
you know, and I host theevent. She said, well, you're
hosting events, you're working that you'renot having fun, You're working for a

(10:22):
check. So it gives me aminute to realize, like, you know,
I really don't, you know,practice self care for myself. And
I worked entirely too much, youknow. So now I've changed my whole
routine, and it's it gives meso much more clarity. Like in the
morning, I wake up, Imake sure that I say my affirmations,

(10:43):
meditate, stress, and I takebath at least like once or twice a
week, you know, like allthose things are are really important. And
then you know, if I havesome stress going on or I need to
cut my mind, and it's alwaysgreat to go out and go into our
doors and take a walk and justenjoy enjoy living in the present moment.
So those are some of the thingsthat I really make sure I take time

(11:07):
out for because usually I'll just getup and go straight to the laptop,
you know, without anything. Andsometimes your brain can be cluttered when you
just work work, work, work, work, and you don't have any
type of structure. So taking sometime out to just sit down and breathe
and just appreciate being in the presentmoment and just taking care of yourself is

(11:28):
vital for your succept Yes, absolutely, And talking about that how you know
you take the stress off and beingpresent in the moment. I have to
ask you, Leah, what doyou love the most about your business?
Man? That's a great question.Well, I love the most about my
business is how it's how it bringspeople together. I had a one of
my customers came back to me andshe was like, you know, Lee,

(11:50):
I bought your game and at atime with me and my daughter was
having a troubled relationship. After playingyour game, we have been able to
get closer and create fun memories andit helped us with our problems as far
as you know, opening up thatdoor for ice, for breaking the ice.
So I really, uh, Ireally just love how the game,
how the game you know, bringspeople closer together. You know, it

(12:13):
creates fun memories and yeah, youknow, it's all about fun and enjoying
life, and I always want toOne of our other models is like just
play all day, Like whether you'reat work, whatever, you're doing.
Just enjoy what you're doing, don'tyou know being upset or stressed out that
doesn't do anything but age you andand make you sick. Yeah, try

(12:35):
to enjoy life as much as youcan. So that's what I really love
about. Uh, you know,it's it's something that people something that I
get from people having a good timeand enjoying the experience that we that we
curate. Yes, absolutely, it'simportant because as you said I think earlier.
You know, life is hard enough, it's stressful enough, so we
all need that time where we canjust play literally and you know, take

(12:56):
the take a load off because weneed that. You know, life absolutely,
okay, Yeah, and every dayit doesn't stop, so you need
to take the time to have somefun exactly. So this is my last
and favorite question for you. Sowhat does brilliantly black mean to you,
Leah? Brigiantly black means, youknow, being a trench beetter, having

(13:20):
freedom to be your to be yourselfand your most authentic self is being really
black is a person that takes risksand has they have confidence and they know
that whatever they're speaking to existence willhappen. It's like, you know,
I think all of those and allthose together just just describe someone who is

(13:41):
brillally Black. People don't really realizelike how much power we have, especially
in the voice and what we sayand how we speak. Things are two
existence. So yes, it's prettymuch knowing your own power and owning it.
You can't see me, but Iam snapping right now. I'm snapping.
I felt like my drop. Yesis oh my gosh. Thank you
so much for this conversation. Butbefore you go, you absolutely have to

(14:03):
tell everyone where they can reach youfind more information, get some games,
and of course follow the social media. Yes, yes, yes, I'll
with you, but thank you.You can follow us at a just play
Entertainment that's our i G page.We also have hip hop you Raise another
i G page, and then mypersonal ID page is Leah Avery l E

(14:24):
I A dot A v e ry website is just play Entertainment dot com
and also hip hopsuraids dot com.Beautiful. Yes, thank you so much,
Leah. This was an amazing conversationand you got me ready to play
a game. I'm ready to getoff working and play a game right now.
I got you, I got you. Just come to our game night.

(14:46):
Absolutely thank you that comes to ouryou know, our game night serve
at Park Tavern once a month atsixteen forty five What's Jackson and Chicago.
And there you have it, folks. Thank you so much, Leah,
thank you, thanks for listening toThe Brilliantly Black Podcast. Produced by Jasmine
Bennett and Ryan La Executive produced byEcho Robinson and Derek Brown. If you're

(15:09):
a Black business and would like tobe featured, register your business or service
now at one oh three five kissfmdot com slash Brilliant. The Brilliantly Black
Podcast is a production of iHeartMedia,Chicago,