Episode 22 featuring Judith Jacques

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
The following is a paid program. Wr's airing of this
program constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed. Welcome to Dear America, where your voice
matters and every vote counts. Join us as we explore
the power of black and brown communities in shaping our future.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
It's time to make your mark and be heard.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Hello world, This is Dear America with Chanelle Barnes and
I am sitting here with Judith Jock, and I want
to make sure that I give you a formal introduction
for those who know you and for those who may
not know you, but they're going to know you after this.
When it comes to transforming the media landscape for black voices,
you have done it with the vision and impact of
our next guest. As the founder of Blackstreet, Judith Jock

(01:00):
has built a media empire that includes black women in media,
Black Culinary Expo, and Black Celebration Awards, turning her passion
for community empowerment into platforms that celebrate and elevate black excellence.
Please welcome a woman who's not only an award winning entrepreneur,
but also a fierce advocate for a minority business owners,

(01:22):
a dedicated mother, and a powerhouse.

Speaker 5 (01:25):
Hi you, thank you so much. I paid her to
say all of that. I paid her to say all
of that. Thank you so much for's such a lovely introduction.
Thank you, absolutely you deserve it. Let's just jump right
into it.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
What inspired your initial journey into hospitality and entrepreneurship.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
Well, I started off. It started in the church. My
dad's a pastor, and I just got tired of just
seeing these weddings that were being done in such a way.
And I was like, you know what, I'm going to
branch off. I was sixteen years old and I said,
you know, I'm going to start interning at these wedding firms.
And this was pre David Detrah, pre WeTV. There was
rarely any people who were people of color, let alone

(02:05):
black women who were in that space, especially in Long
Island where I was born and raised. In short, I
went into the wedding space and that's how I got
into the hospitality industry. And then after I got my
dual bachelors at Saint John's University and Communications and business Development.
I changed my focus from private events to more corporate
and social events with a huge focus and business development

(02:28):
in PR. But that's when I saw the disparities, the
disparities in our communities, the disparities and representation, access to resources,
and just you know, the negative connotations that were associated
to the Black community. It's you know, very discouraging scene
that we're still having these conversations still today. However, I
think it's important for us to continue being you know,

(02:50):
advocates for ourselves in our community and communities that we serve.
So Blackstreet was really inspired to change that narrative that
black people, you know, we achieved success through entertainment and sports,
but rather we are contributing to every industry and we're
thriving and we're excellent, and we have no choice but
to be excellent. We are and we are absolutely and

(03:12):
I just wanted to create good no, but I you know,
really felt that we were in a position to really
highlight and educate not only our community but outside communities
about what our contributions were. So Black Street started off
as a website, black Street Online, and once we saw
the response of doctors and teachers and DJs and fashion

(03:35):
designers and singers turned into award ceremony and that's how
Black Celebration was a Black Celebration award and media follow
suit and Black Colonial Expo, but all of them are
centered around my experience rather in these industries directly or indirectly,
whether it was clients and the and the disparities that
they faced. Specifically, in the culinary industry, we're looking at

(03:58):
these cooking shows and still today where Black people are minority,
but we know that our cuisine has shaped the culture
food culture around the world, but there's not that same
representation on television. So that's what inspired Black Culinary Expo
and Black Women in Media. As a woman in media
from a communications standpoint, pr I was always the only

(04:18):
black person or black women in the room's right, and
I thought it was an original experience. And then I
left Corporate America in twenty thirteen and went, you know,
full time with my agency CCNG, Creative Communications and Media Group,
And really my goal is to inspire black owned business owners.
Especially in twenty ten, we knew that black owned business

(04:39):
owners were becoming the fastest business owners and America statistics
used me was already showing that. So we wanted to
highlight these black owned businesses, wanted to highlight black women,
and you know, the rest is history. The rest is history.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
We're going to get into a lot of that history
in a moment, but for the audience who's just tuning
in the way Judae and I actually met was through
the filming of the film that I executive produced.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
Thank you so much on there. It was. It's absolutely
a phenomenal piece of work.

Speaker 4 (05:09):
Of course, well, Julia from Freedom Studios is one of
our producers and Meinling, who's another one.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
Amazing women.

Speaker 6 (05:17):
They were like, you have to meet Judith.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
When you meet Judith, you're going to see exactly how
she fits into the grand scheme of what we are.
We're attempting to do in a film, which is to
highlight black women but also to talk about the quite
complicated relationship that black women have with America from a
few different vantage points. And you came in and you
were able to open up our vantage point in entrepreneurship

(05:41):
and what.

Speaker 6 (05:41):
That looks like.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
Can you tell me a little bit about just your
experience while filming Dear America.

Speaker 5 (05:47):
A letter from Black Women. Oh yeah, well, again, thank
you so much for having me. I was part of
an esteemed roster of talent and individuals who were part
of the projects of Again, thank you Chanelle and your
entire team. Meiling and Drew absolutely phenomenal. Yes, I wasn't
too aware of what the project was going to be.

(06:09):
I knew what the vision was, but when I got
in there and I saw the vision through the questions
that I was being asked to that was drawing. I'd
like to take, you know, full credit for my transparency,
but it was also because of the vision that you
had and drawing out that story. It was very healing

(06:29):
for me to know that I had This was the
first time that I had a seat where I can
share my story and openly share the challenges that I
face as a black woman because no one really talks
about it. But most importantly, you know, we are not
We don't necessarily have safe spaces for us to share

(06:50):
our story. You know, even if we do, how are
people going to receive it? And I was welcomed and
it was a healing process. So I'm very thankful for that.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
At the time that we were filming, it was prior
to the election. We were talking a lot about voting,
a lot about our experiences, a lot about our stories.
I'm interested and I've been wanting to talk with so
many of the people, the folks we interviewed from the past.
I'm interested to know how has where you were before,
how is that transformed post election.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
So it's interesting because we were kind of in a
state of imbalance, if you will, because we weren't sure
how the election was going to go at that time.
We didn't know who the Democratic candidate was going to be,
but we knew for certain it probably would be you know, Biden,
you know, and we knew that Trump was going to run,

(07:44):
you know, We just we didn't have much more We
didn't have much more contest just between those two individuals
at that time, and we knew we couldn't risk it.
So we knew what was at stake at that time,
and it was very important for this project to share
the voices of people who this election and would affect,
in particular people of color, black people, black women. So

(08:06):
at that time, it was a lot of uncertainty. Now
post election, we know why there was uncertainty, because exactly
what we were afraid of happening in terms of the
misrepresentation of our community, in terms of us dialing back.
I remember, I think I mentioned this before. There's a
show that, Okay, the Academy on Netflix, completely off brand,

(08:29):
but the Academy on Netflix, there's these group of individuals
who have these superpowers. In particular, there's a black woman
and she goes back in time. All all of them
goes back in time, and she ends up in the
civil rights era, post Jim Crow, but she's fighting for
her life, and in particular, she ends up using her

(08:50):
power to persuade the white police officers that's about to
kill the protesters, and the black people saw that and
saw her as are you a double agent? Because she's
you know, fair, Yeah, and so on. They're like, oh,
she's a double agent because we know that that is
a real thing, you know, in our community as well. Whatever.
In any case, they finally come to a resolve and

(09:13):
they know that she's from the future, and they ask
her a question that stuck with me. How far has
the work gotten in twenty twenty three? I believe it
was in twenty twenty three. Is our work changed? Has
it changed the community? Has it changed the world? Are
we being treated better, and she's like and it was
the most honest dialogue that I saw, but also making

(09:37):
me see how far we did come, but how far
we didn't.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Do you feel like we've come further now or are
we taking a lot of steps back?

Speaker 5 (09:45):
I do feel that we are taking steps back in
terms of you know, legislator lature, excuse me, in terms
of laws, in terms of how you know, we are
affected in a grander scale. However, as a community, I
definitely feel that we have made huge advancement. You know,
we understand better now how to how others, you know,

(10:07):
would perceive, how to go against, you know, the powers
that be that are here to crush the community. Yes,
you know, we're talking about the reversal of DEI, but
it benefited white women mostly. Yes, we talk about Roe v. Wade,
but it benefits white women mostly. But the misrepresentation of

(10:29):
both of those you know, Supreme Court decisions, they benefited
white women. But in the context of how it's being thrown,
people believe that it's benefiting black people, in particular black women.
But now we're here to not only educate ourselves, but
educate outside communities. But collectively, we see that black women
are having conversations about we're going to rest, We're going

(10:52):
to take care of ourselves, We're going to do what
needs to be done in our community, and we're going
to allow ourselves a chance to do better for ourselves,
our community for the future. But in the past, that
wasn't it. We would have been outside, we would have
been protesting.

Speaker 6 (11:06):
I know I would.

Speaker 5 (11:07):
I would have been there too.

Speaker 6 (11:08):
Yes, are you resting?

Speaker 4 (11:13):
It's nobody because I will say I think so many
black women, even women of color that I'm talking to,
They're like, it's our time, we need to rest, we
need to take a step back. But I never asked, well,
are you actually resting, because I don't know that I'm resting,
But I'm saying, yes, it's my time too.

Speaker 5 (11:31):
Yeah are you yet? You know what? I'm resting in
the sense where I'm not putting myself in in spaces
that are not conducive to my mental health. And I
think that's where the rest needs to be. We don't
necessarily need to fight all the time. And there are
certain people who's already made their minds about the decisions
and the beliefs that they have. I'm not here to

(11:52):
twist your arm. That's not the position I'm here, and
that's what I think the rest is. But the work
still needs to be done in the community. We have
to work to get and we have to work diligently
and strategically in order to make sure that we're protecting
our children. I'm a mother of three, and I need
to make sure that their future, the future that we
fought for, still maintains their freedom, their freedom of speech,

(12:14):
their freedom of being, that my children are not seeing
as weapons because of their skin color, that they are
offered opportunities because of their bright minds and not because
of you know, the colors of their skin or they
were dei hires and now it's like a dirty word.
But I love the freedom of being. A freedom of
being now you see so important. And the reason I

(12:34):
say that is because sometimes you'll see children out of
you know what, let's use the supermarket. We'll see, you know,
children at the supermarket just rolling on the ground, screaming
and having tantrums, which they they have a right to do,
that their children. But I know that my child would
not have been offered that same freedom. Everyone would have
looked at me like, get them together. So that's what

(12:57):
I mean by freedom of being that they are not adults.
Even at the age of five, They're not expected to
have a certain level of the quorum and you know,
like this pristine of appearance. But other kids could be messy.
They so can they and they have to have the
same human experience that others are able to have. And
that's what I mean by you know, allowing them to be.

(13:18):
But black women, I say this all the time. We
come together, and when we come together, not just black women,
because we have allies and that is the product of
this project women in general. You know, we know that
there were other women who voted on the right side
who didn't look like us, and those are the people
that we should align with. And I'm an advocate for that, Like, yes,

(13:39):
black women should rest, but rest strategically and work with
those who are working with you.

Speaker 4 (13:45):
Speaking of allies, in the film, you actually highlight a
moment where you're working alongside alongside someone who I think
we thought was an ally, but actually it turns out
it's not an ally. And so you tell this, you know,
story about your assistant coming into a room with you,
taking your presentation and actually preparing to resent it. Yes,

(14:08):
and I have to say in this moment, I want
you to recap it a little bit, and then I
want to talk about how things have changed for you
from that moment and if it all but every time
we go some please it doesn't matter what city, what state.
After you tell that story, the women, the allies of
the women, they're like, hmm oh oh, but.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
They fell that story.

Speaker 4 (14:31):
It happened to them. From New Orleans, Pennsylvania, North Carolina.
It happened to them. Tell us a little bit more
about that moment and just the transition from that moment.

Speaker 5 (14:43):
If you don't toutly, no, I don't mind at all.
I think it's extremely important for women to know how
to advocate for themselves because again, my background comes from
the church, and humility stems from your identity, and that's
you know, I fit right into pr because I'm in
the background, and that's fine. But when I started doing
a lot of dislike you element thank you, thank you,

(15:07):
thank you, but thank you for sharing that. But yes,
I you know, I remember being in a space where
I was beginning to do a lot of presentations because again,
my brilliant mind can see the ideation of someone's thought
process or project or a launch of you know, a
new service and so on, and bring it through its

(15:29):
trajectory into being its success. Right. So I worked really
hard at doing that. And in this case in particular,
I was going to stand in front of about twelve
investors in whom I knew were going to be white people.
I wasn't prepared that everybody is going to be white.
But everyone was white. And it's not the fact that
they're white. That's not the point. But it will get

(15:50):
back to how that is pinnacle in this story in particular.
And I remember, you know, going up the elevator with
my assistant at the time, and he's also a publicist
as well, but he was assisting me in this particular project.
And when we got there, the receptionist did not address me.

(16:10):
She addressed the gentleman and she said, who are you
here to see? And I'm used to that sometimes, you know. Okay,
So immediately right there, I kind of, you know, sense
the energy because I'm fumbling through my bag to grab
all of the you know, stuff that I need to do.
He has their presentations and she's like, okay, go into
conference room B you know, and I'm like, okay, you're

(16:32):
going to go to a conference room. B we begin
setting up and putting all the stuff that we need
to put all of the presentation folders. I'm getting this.
I'm telling him to get the screens ready. I asked
him to make sure that they have, like you know,
the coffee and the snacks and stuff like that. Really
took be a part of the experience.

Speaker 6 (16:49):
Sure.

Speaker 5 (16:50):
Nonetheless, the gentlemen and two women came into the room.
It was twelve people, and I'm already just getting myself
ready to present. So he was there, and every no
one addressed me, Everyone addressed him, No one addressed you,
No one addressed me, No one addressed me in that room.
We're in a room of twelve, a room of twelve,
So now him and I make fourteen. I'm the only

(17:12):
black person and black woman in the room. And they
turned to him and say we are ready, and he
grabbed the presentation and the remote. It's the it's the audience,
he say when we were filming.

Speaker 4 (17:28):
It's the audacity that he would grab this moment and
see this moment as his own.

Speaker 5 (17:33):
He did, and I realized at that moment that he
was waiting for this moment. We must have because you
you shouldn't have been prepared for a presentation unless we
had talked about it, which we didn't. I wouldn't have
missed this meeting for the world, right, So where did
it translate that you were going to present? And that
would have been the time for him to advocate for
me and say, well, Judith Jacques is actually the presenter

(17:55):
and the principle of CCMG, and she'll be presenting this morning. Yes,
And that would have been the opportunity for him to
introduce me, which was essentially his job to present me
and to essentially be an advocate and an introducer for me.
He did not, And when I saw him grab it,
I said, thank you, so and so hello everyone. My
name is Judith Jacques and i am the principal of CCMG,

(18:17):
and I'm happy to be here in front of you
all today and I'm really excited to share this presentation
with you. And the energy in the room completely shifted,
and I saw in their faces the guilt and the
shame of realizing that they did not see me, that
they did not see me, and they assumed that the
white man who was in the room was the one

(18:39):
who was going to be the presenter simply because he
was white and he was a man, but me as
a black woman. And also I forgot to mention that
somebody did address me. Actually they asked me to grab coffee.
They asked me to grab coffee. So it's to be
quite honest at that even at that story, every time,
I just chilling, thank you, well, not thank you. It's

(19:00):
actually was its heartbreaking. But I realized that even in
that moment, I was conditioned for that level of experience
because I didn't focus, well, I didn't have much time,
but I didn't really focus on this thing of what
that meant. But I was in bed for about a
week and a half because I was like, oh, wow,
like you know, I'm not seen.

Speaker 6 (19:21):
There's some grief.

Speaker 5 (19:22):
Yes, there's some grief. There is grief.

Speaker 4 (19:24):
How long did it take for you to feel comfortable
to even share that story out loud?

Speaker 5 (19:31):
Because the first time we're afraid of that.

Speaker 4 (19:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (19:34):
I think the first time that I shared it was
on the documentary. I've had the conversation with my girl groups,
I've had it maybe perhaps on a panel once or twice.
I've mentioned it, but like this is the that was
the first time that I really, you know, walked myself
through that experience, but it wasn't the first time and
it wasn't the last time either, So I think these

(19:56):
stories are meant to be shared so people know that
you know, again, it's not an original experience, and I
think by now twenty twenty five, we know it's not
an original experience for black women or women women of
color to be in a space where they are not seen.
And I happen to be the most brilliant person or
capable person in the room because I don't have any

(20:18):
other choice that's to be. And in that moment, I
realized also how I need to be very careful at
who I allow in my space because he should have
been an advocate for me. And we did have a
conversation after that. How did that conversation go?

Speaker 6 (20:35):
It was more of curiosity did he like? How did
that go?

Speaker 5 (20:40):
I just wonder what he say at that moment when I,
you know, said to him when I announced myself and
I took the remote from him, I can see him stumble.
And I did not give him any energy the entire
time that I was there because I was so focused
on the mission. Is not going to allow And that's

(21:01):
the thing we do. We're not allowed space to grieve.

Speaker 6 (21:04):
At that moment. We have to focus with mission.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
Mission because then I I just worried you right that
I wasn't capable. But no, I'm going to use your
shame and guilt and to allow it to fuel me
Sure and allow me to close the deal, which I did.
So I'm very excited about that. It was actually one
of my It was my like one of my first
big contracts, you know, because I was doing a cultural
campaign centered around you know, the black community and so

(21:28):
on for a very large brand. And even after I
got so much accolades, like, oh my god, that was
just very thought provoking. It was very moving and so
on and so and I was like, thank you so much.
It was amazing. And a lot of these men and
women I'm still connected to Sure still today.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
I appreciate you tying a bow on that, because I
do think a few of the members of the audience
are kind of left like, well, what actually happened after that?

Speaker 5 (21:52):
But so much more happened. Yes, even after with him,
that was the last time I worked with him. He
was actually brought on by another agency. Because publicists and
communications firms we work together often especially people of color.
We work together often in order to kind of, you know,
create a space for each other to work on large projects,

(22:14):
especially because our teams could be very small. Whatever. So
this gentleman I spoke to him. I said, what was
done in the room, in the conference room is unacceptable.
And he said, well, they asked for me. And I said,
that was the moment for you to speak up and say, well,
you're not here to present. My name is on the presentation.

(22:34):
I created the presentation. It was my idea, it was
my thoughts, it was my presentation, and you were willing
to take it simply because someone gave it to you.
And I said, this is the issue. This is the
main issue. And I said, I want this to be
a teaching moment that when you're in a room not
only with a black woman, but a person of color,
you as a white person, should be an advocate.

Speaker 4 (22:56):
And just if we just go. You're my assistant and
you're supposed to be here to support me with just
stripping color and all what you're here to do. You're
here to support and make sure that we can shine
as a collective. But by way of my work. So
let's transition a little bit because what came from that

(23:17):
situation I think led to your entrepreneur life and just
really diving into that, walk us through the moment you
decided to create Blackstreet. And by the way, for those
who are just too tuning in, this is dere America
with Chanelle Barnes and I am sitting with Judith Jacques
and I am being schooled and I love it.

Speaker 5 (23:37):
Yeah, Okay, you're brilliant to.

Speaker 6 (23:39):
You know, have faith in being an entrepreneur.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
I just did not want to be in those spaces.
I wish I could say that that was the only
experience that I had, but it wasn't. I had many
experiences like that. I had people talk down to me, still,
my projects, still clients and so on. And a lot
of the contrition and the challenges and obstacles that I
face was by the hands of people of power and
who didn't look like me. So I was just tired

(24:04):
of that. I was tired of the microaggressions, the white
supremacy that's infiltrated in the workforce in corporate America, where
I'm expected as a black woman to operate in my
excellence and my intellectual property is being taken and I
just get a pad on the back and no career
advancement opportunities, no raises, and it's just you know, you're
just lucky to be here and you should just be grateful.

(24:26):
I was tired of that, and I knew that I
could create a space for myself, so I jumped into
As I mentioned before, CCMG is where the full entrepreneurship
really focused, because that's what fueled Black Street because I
wasn't getting the sponsors. I was reaching out to the
corporate companies, and you know, some of it was also
associated to my inexperience as well from being in that space.

(24:47):
But I see Tom, you know Tom Dick and Harry
just have an idea and then you have a large
fortune five hundred company give them two hundred and fifty grand. Yes,
you know, just because of an idea. But me, I
have to prove you know, our demographics and how is
it going to serve them and their rois and you know,
what are the systems that we're we have to prove, proof, prove,

(25:07):
And CCNNG really fueled Blackstreet because I was not getting
sponsorships for the events, so ninety percent of the funding
was directly from me. Okay, and then you know the tickets.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
Congratulations, thank you, because not there are people out there
that want to start well unfortunately don't have the funding
to do Yeah.

Speaker 5 (25:28):
Yeah, and I love that. And I tell the platforms
that are similar to Black Street, or if you're doing
a mission and it's a niche of a niche group,
focus on the direct community that you're serving, the entrepreneurs,
the small businesses, because they can also fuel and create

(25:49):
a cushion for you know, your mission and so on.
And that's something that I learned later on. But the
journey through entrepreneurship is grueling and hard and a lot
of times hard break but extremely rewarding.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
Tell me one of the most heartbreaking moments, and then
tell me one of the most rewarding moments.

Speaker 6 (26:09):
Okay, in the entrepreneurial journey.

Speaker 5 (26:12):
I would say the most heartbreaking is the constant lack
of funding because the vision that I have for these experiences,
I don't feel that we were meeting it, even though
people are coming up to me and like Judah, this
was absolutely phenomenal. This is needed. It hasn't been one
event that I've ever done with the team where someone
didn't or multiple excuse me, people whether it was speakers,

(26:35):
it was honorees, there was attendees, partners who didn't come
up to me and say this is needed. But from
a standpoint of my expectations, I still was like, well,
you know, if we had one hundred K, this would
be like ten times more of the impact. Absolutely, And
there's a lot of things that go into that as well.
You know, colorism is just a lot that goes into it.

(26:57):
So that's the most heartbreaking part is constantly and I
wish I could say even after the documentary that things
have changed, they've gotten a little better, because you know,
we find avenues and we always make a way, we
always make away. We're problem solvers, you know, naturally. However,
it's still a journey and it's still a fight to

(27:19):
get the funding that is needed to bring these experiences
to life. But I'm still keeping on.

Speaker 4 (27:27):
On the funding before you go to just the biggest rewards.
We're seeing so much change across the world in terms
of DEI, of federal funding, our ability to be able
to get this access that we desire in order to
bring people truly what it is that they deserve. How
are you feeling about this moment? Are you frightened or hopeful.

Speaker 5 (27:50):
I am. I'm always going to be hopeful because we
do not walk in fear. I do believe that we
are favored and that when you are in a space
and you are active, actively walking in your calling, and
I believe that that's what I'm doing. And I'm not
going to make it seem like I don't have wet pillows.
You know, you know from here and from here and there,
But the calling always calls me, and I listen to

(28:12):
it and I and if you're obedient to the calling,
then it will those blessings will find you. And I've
begun look at the conversations that we're having. I feel
that I'm moving in alignment more and more every single day.
So if there's anything that I can leave with anyone,
just keep on keep on going. Past the heartaches, past
the failures, past the setbacks, the obstacles, they are going

(28:32):
to come. They're part of your character development. Yes, they're
part of your hero story. And that brings me to
the highest reward is the women and the men that
come up to me and tell me I needed this.
Black women are some it is. That's why I'm doing it,
because I was never doing it for anything else because
there was no money. Let's be clear, you know, there

(28:54):
was no money that was doing, you know, but the
aspect of one having a team, you know, that believes
in that vision and who's working tirelessly with you. You know,
I have farsh year here with me, and if it
wasn't for the team that believes in that mission as well.
You have to surround yourself with, you know, people that

(29:16):
believe in you. That is a high reward. And then
it's the impact that you see you have on your
community that you intended to have on your community. In
a general scale, yes, absolutely, things could always be better,
but for the most part, as far as what it
is that we're building, what it is that we're doing,
the impact is there. Yeah, we are affecting change, We're empowering,

(29:38):
We're cultivating relationships, we are highlighting individuals that need such.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
I want to dig a little bit deeper talking to
other entrepreneurs being an entrepreneur myself as a black woman,
a woman of color, one of the most tricky things
I've heard us talk about is the finances and not
just our access to funds, but means to actually manage
accounting and the finance back, and a lot of it.

(30:07):
Some of it attributes to our complicated relationship with money
just from childhood. One assuming that, but then also it's
complicated just dealing with it in practice about how do
you deal with that.

Speaker 5 (30:19):
I think it's extremely important for us to we have
to utilize our resources. And that goes for me too,
because for a long time I didn't have time to
learn that. You have to make time. You have to
make time. I've gotten so much better at handling finances
and so on. You know, you have to have your
tax Did you teach yourself? I taught myself. Okay, I

(30:42):
taught myself and then I was like, oh, I need
to take some courses so quick. Books, you know, provide
free courses. Google provides free courses. I always tell people
that I'm a student of Google and YouTube University because
that's where I'm learning everything. Even though you love that university, Yes,
you know you have to take it because you're you're
a applying hours of yourself to gain more knowledge and

(31:03):
understanding about a particular field, a particular area. I think
it's extremely important for us to continue to soak in
as much information as possible because as entrepreneurs, you're running
an entity, whether it's a nonprofit, it's a for profit,
whereever the case may be. The finances are probably the
most important practice for your business because then you know

(31:26):
your income tax, your incotax return, excuse me, are going
to make you viable for funding for grants. They need
to see, even in theory, what you're bringing in and
how you're managing the structure of your business. So it's
extremely important for you to do so. It's still something
that I'm learning because again, these resources are not readily

(31:47):
available to us, but there are cohorts like Goldman Sachs
and Tory Burke and others who are providing free resources
and programs for people who look like us to have
equal advantage. And that's why equity is important. It's not equality,
but equity is understanding that they never had equality, so

(32:07):
let's give them an unfair advantage to catch up to
those who've had hundreds of years of advancement. So it's
important for us to continue to educate ourselves.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
I love this conversation. You and I had had a
conversation right before you came on the show, and you
were giving me so many tools and resources. One of
the things you mentioned was an opportunity that nonprofits may
have in order to invest and stop. Yes, and all
weekend everyone I talked to, that's all I could talk about.
I was like, in Judith's Dead, you can get stopped.

(32:41):
And why did I think of that?

Speaker 5 (32:43):
Well, no one's having these conversations on a grander scale, right.
It wasn't until I worked for a fairly large nonprofit
here in New York that you know, I'm their events
director and you know I'm working on like bringing in money,
and so you know we're looking at the trajectory of
that growth. And I'm like, wait, what is this When

(33:03):
I see you know, stakeholders, and I see donors giving
stocks away as their contribution.

Speaker 6 (33:11):
Even art in art, I'm learning, yes, yes.

Speaker 5 (33:15):
Art, anything that would be considered and ask you exactly
and value. You can transfer that to add more asset
and value to your company, and you can also borrow
against it. Yes, you know you never use your fund,
you never use your money. You don't.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
And I'm not saying me and just in general, which
we should talk more, but well you're not getting rid
of me now. But I mean as a community, right,
I think if we had more of these conversations, we'd
be able to move the business forward, you know what
I mean, we would You mentioned I want to get
back to Black Street. You mentioned that Black Street focuses
on art, career, politics, education, and full culture. How did

(33:59):
you identify these is key components that hold the black
community together.

Speaker 5 (34:04):
Well, one of the things that I realized that that's
a really good question. One of the things one of
the things that I realized in terms of the Black community,
we're big on culture. Like that is you know, that's
one thing that they couldn't take away was culture. Like
we're hundreds, we're across the seas from the continent in
which we were stolen from, but we still within our DNA,

(34:26):
still have the same embodiment of a lot of nuances
that make up the Black community. So for example, we
know food makes up the black community because that's one
thing that we gather and bring together. And that's one
of the things that I always had at the center
of everything that I did. There always has to be

(34:46):
food and drinks and music always has to be always
has to be food, always have to be, drinks, always
have to be you know, music. These are things that
cultivate relationships that brings us together harmony. You know, I
don't have to know you to hear a song, you know,
like the Electric Slide for example, we hear it and
we're all jumping, you know, in the middle of the

(35:08):
dance floor and we're doing the electric spaff like we
should q right now. Yes, So you know, it's it's
really an opportunity for us to create. I wanted to
create like a family reunion type of feel where I
saw the need. However, that's one of the things that

(35:30):
focused on always look for a problem that you can solve.
So I was never someone to be like, oh, there's
not enough representation in X, Y and Z, Well, then
create that representation, right, create the space, create that representation,
create the space, create the solution. So that's always been
my answer. I never have the full answer. I have
the idea, and I'm like, you know, we're going to
figure it out along the way. And every single year

(35:52):
I get better and better and better at understanding how
to represent or come and excuse me, or create a
space or representation in people in these arenas.

Speaker 4 (36:02):
Has there been a moment on your path where because
I mean, you're creating an empire, or should I say
you created creating.

Speaker 5 (36:11):
But yes, yes, has there.

Speaker 4 (36:13):
Been a moment where you seriously doubted the path?

Speaker 3 (36:21):
Okay?

Speaker 6 (36:22):
Yes, so I'm not alone.

Speaker 5 (36:24):
No, you doubt the path because oftentimes we are measuring
it by people who have far exceeded where we are.
So we're measuring our chapter twenty five to someone's chapter
fifty six. And I had to come into the realization
like Debil Johnson's been here for a long time, you know,
she's paved the way, or someone like Morgan Debon, who

(36:45):
I haven't seen a lot of her journey, but I've
seen her when she was starting Blavity, which was around
the same time I was starting Black Street. But her
trajectory is different because there's a lot of other ways
that she's put in the work that I haven't seen.
So that comparison is a killer of dreams, is what
I call it. Don't compare yourself to anyone. And then furthermore,

(37:06):
you have other people who are in your close proximity
who's like you're doing it wrong. Where's the millions of
dollars You've been doing this for fifteen years, You've been
so and so, and they're putting seeds of doubt. First
of all remove yourself from those people because they don't
know what they're talking about. Because that's one of the
things that I had to come into realization with is
most of the people that have an opinion only have
that in opinion, but they don't have anything else, and

(37:28):
they've never seen anyone do it close in close proximity,
so they don't know what the journey's supposed to look like.
But every person that I have admired, whether it's Oprah Winfrey,
or it's Michelle Obama, or it's Tyra Banks, or it's Beyonce,
they all have faced the doubt. They also have faced

(37:48):
the criticism where people would say who do they think
they are? Once you're in the who do you think
you are? A moment, that's when you know you're on
the right path, that right they've never seen it before,
so they're trying to figure it out, like, oh no,
but you don't know. You have no idea what you're saying.
That's right, you have no idea what you're talking about

(38:09):
because you've never seen it. So my path, the good,
the bad, the ugly, the hardship, the obstacles, the beauty
in it is all part of that journey. But if
you keep on going. And that's one thing that I
see all successful people say that failure will come. And
I say this all the time. Failure will come. It
is literally essential for your success because the information and

(38:30):
the education I gathered through my failure, school mentors, other
experiences could not have taught me.

Speaker 6 (38:36):
Absolutely absolutely, I know.

Speaker 5 (38:39):
What I know. I've put in the work and the failures,
the obstacles that I was able to be faced with
and overcome, those are the things that make you stand out.
Those are the things that give you a superpower because
your knowledge that information it is unshakable, is unchangeable, and
that you should stand firm and understanding that if you
keep on keeping on you're fine.

Speaker 4 (39:00):
You're fine. You're thinking of putting in the work. And
to explain to my three year old yesterday that mommy's
on the phone because she's putting in the work. Your mom, Yes,
you have three Yes, tell me a little bit about
the balance act.

Speaker 5 (39:19):
How much time we got, because how a the time
we got?

Speaker 4 (39:22):
No for real, I'm like, I was like, I gotta
get this, yes, and tell me about this yes.

Speaker 5 (39:28):
So the and that's it's it's funny that you asked
that because I come from an orthodox community. So I'm
I'm Haitian and I'm Haitian Christian, but I'm also part
of a non denomination excuse me, I'm part of a
non denominational Christian church. And that's how I was reared
and raised. And it's extremely strict, and the identity of

(39:50):
a woman is surrounded by your servitude. How do you
serve the church, You serve your man, you serve your children,
you serve the community. It's always about you serving, and
your idea and your power as a woman is based
on that. And that was something that I fought with
because I always challenged the church. I always, of course,
I'm sure you challenging challenge, yes, and they thought of

(40:15):
the audacity because I was, you know, as I mentioned before,
I was a teen mother, and it was kind of
like girls just be quiet and shut up and stay
in a corner and be unseen. But instead I was
still bold and understanding that you are not defined by
a moment, right, and women have so much more to give.
And that was before I understood matriarchal societies. We're not
gonna talk about that today because we don't have time.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
I won't.

Speaker 5 (40:36):
Yeah, but I realized that we were not taught on
how we should navigate, and this was something that I
had to learn. You have to be okay with not
being present all the time, and I can't. You can't
because people are gonna make you feel guilty, because there
are parents who are pressy much guilt there is because

(40:57):
they're like, well, you could still be in the room
and still not be present. So if I'm building a
future that is sustaining a future for my children and
their children and their children, then I'm doing the Lord's work.
That's right, and especially I'm serving, especially if I'm doing
it myself. So I'm teaching my children to be servers.
And if you have a partner or a community, because
you may just you know, be a single parent, if

(41:19):
you have a community, which is extremely important, allow them
to fill in those gaps. And that's how we always were.
We had a community that was able to fill in
those gap Because if I was a mother who was
working two three jobs and I wasn't present at all
and I only saw my children for only a few hours,
it would be commended. But why is it not celebrated.
If I'm building a business, it has.

Speaker 4 (41:38):
To be it has to be and I'm I'm wondering
what we have to do with our children in order
to get them on board with what this looks like
for us and what we're trying to create.

Speaker 5 (41:50):
You have to teach them every single time. So every
single day, I'm teaching my kids that I'm doing this
for you now, inviting them to be part of that story.
They'll start understanding because you know, they're hearing from other
children and other people in their community like Okay, mommy's
not home, or my mom's at home, where's your mom?
You know, stuff like that. I have to teach my
children all the time. But I always make time. I
always plug in a time for us to have the

(42:12):
family day, for us to watch the movies, go to
the Tanger outlets, do what we need to do. Yeah,
and we right, we love a good bargain, but in
all honesty, it's not going to be perfect. But we
make the time as much as we can. And we
always tell our children that we love them. And you
understand once you understand that, they just want you to

(42:33):
remind them that you love them and that you're here
and that mommy is building a future for you. And
I'm setting a foundation for you. They're part of that story.
It's fine. Now the balancing act, whether if you have
a partner and so on, always make sure that you
have time for you, You have time for your partner,
you have time for your children. Those even if it's
an hour, even if it's an hour, do it per week.

(42:54):
So those three hours I know I have to dedicate
per week for my children. At most, I focus on
nothing but them.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
I love the intentionality around that, and that's so important.
There has been a lot of trends across what we've
spoken about, both here and in the film. And I
keep hearing you say, was I seen?

Speaker 3 (43:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (43:15):
I felt unseen. I need to be seen. What do
you want people to see when they see you?

Speaker 5 (43:24):
Well, you know now I've I feel that I've become
in a space where I see me And that's the
first that's the first step.

Speaker 6 (43:33):
And you're right, that's enough.

Speaker 5 (43:36):
That is enough because the minute that I saw myself
because I was when I was saying I'm unseen and
so on, that's seeking validation. But there's nothing wrong with
seeking validation because you should be recognized for your work.
But the minute that you see yourself and you have
that level of self awareness. So you have a self
awareness of all the stuff that you need to work on,
all the stuff you need to be better at, all
the stuff that you are better at, all the stuff

(43:56):
that you are just brilliant, and celebrate those things and
other people celebrate them with you.

Speaker 4 (44:01):
Absolutely, Yeah, Judith, I love it. We're gonna do something new.
This is the first time I'm trying this out. We're
gonna go come on, just do some rapid fire question. Okay,
So I'm gonna just ask a question and I just
want what comes what comes to mind.

Speaker 5 (44:15):
Okay, let's do it, all right.

Speaker 6 (44:16):
What's your morning routine?

Speaker 5 (44:18):
Oh? Okay, morning routine. Morning routine is skincare. I have
big skincare thing, and then I take my vitamins. I
also do a lot of meditation, I do prayer, listen
to music. I sit down, and I just start planning
out my day, which now I've transposed to the night before,
because that's an hour in itself. So my morning routine

(44:38):
consists of also finding one person that I know who's
going to motivate and empower me and have a fifteen
minute conversation with them just so they can get me going.
Or I speak to a team member like, what do
we have going on today? And they're putting you know,
the fire, you know, Like, all right, we gotta get
this done. You know. So my morning routine consists of
taking care of me and getting myself mentally prepared.

Speaker 4 (45:00):
I love the mindfulness in the morning routine. I need
to get there. Okay. One book every entrepreneurship read.

Speaker 5 (45:07):
Uh, my favorite book that I think changed the scope
of my mind and transforming me into a limitless individual
is by doctor Joe Despenza Becoming Supernatural.

Speaker 6 (45:19):
Becoming Supernatural.

Speaker 5 (45:22):
That changed the scope of my level of thinking. I
think that's where it starts. Your mentality, how you see
yourself and your capabilities and your capacity. There's no such thing.
It's unlimited. You create that limit and once you realize that,
it's expansive because you tapped into source God, whatever you
want to call it. You you tap into that genius

(45:42):
you everything is.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
You just made me hear the song a Limit from
Linked Like, yes, I love it. Yes, my kids have
me watching you know it's out now, so I had
to buy it and we have to watch it every
every day. Okay, as long as it's not just me,
No is not best device you've ever received.

Speaker 5 (46:05):
Don't listen to the naysayers, focus on you. That was
my mom.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
Okay, all right, I love yeah, Yes, what's next for
Judith Jack and Backstreet? So I'm really excited for Black
Women in Media's ten year milestone.

Speaker 5 (46:20):
We are launching the first ever coffee table book, Black
Women Coffee Table Book, titled and Coined in Our Image,
and that will be highlighting over one hundred Black women
who are history makers, who are still prevalent in living today,
who has shaped society and culture in the world as
we know it. Also, Black Hole in Your Expo is launching.
As you know, I founded Black Women of Long Island

(46:42):
because I was born there. In that platforms we love.
We've met, Yes, we have, you have, and they're really excited,
you know, like Hofts University, they're they're sending emails like, hey,
you know, just making sure that you're still coming. I
got an email this morning. But yes, I think all
of the projects and the work that I'm doing is

(47:04):
centered around the black community unapologetically, and I think now
is now more than ever, it's important for us to
celebrate ourselves and really be here to empower each other.

Speaker 4 (47:13):
Yes, I love that loving so much any more news
that we should know about.

Speaker 6 (47:18):
How do we find you?

Speaker 5 (47:19):
Oh, well, you can find me on LinkedIn all social
Media's Judith Jacques. I'm launching a podcast and you know
a few things, but there's a lot of other things
that's coming that I'm really excited to share. But all
in all, the goal is to really empower the community.
I also have a communications firm where I empower and
highlight small black businesses and also black women. So we're

(47:41):
also looking for businesses that are looking for event production,
business development PR and also just someone to talk to. Yes,
you know, looking for a life coach or a consultant.
I'm here, you know, to really amplify my community.

Speaker 4 (47:55):
Yes, yes, I feel like we just had a really
great life coaches.

Speaker 5 (48:00):
Vi versa.

Speaker 4 (48:03):
And how do you see Blackstreet evolving in the next
five years.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
Yeah, that's a good question. I do want it to
become the multi media conglomerate that I intended it to be,
and for us to create jobs and to pour into
our community in bigger ways and expansive ways, and then
also becoming international.

Speaker 4 (48:20):
Yeah all right, Judith, if there's one thing out of
this entire sixty minute segment that we've had together, which,
by the way, I would love more of.

Speaker 5 (48:29):
I'm here, would love that.

Speaker 4 (48:31):
What is the one major takeaway you want the world
to take away from this talk?

Speaker 5 (48:36):
Keep on keeping on whatever you're working on, it can
transform into anything. I remember finding out that Lamborghini had Champagne,
and I gifted a girlfriend of mine champagne, and I
was like, Champagne, Lamborghini, Okay, let's just you know, send
it to them, not realizing that Lamborghini was actually originally
a Champagne company. And they ended up building a car

(49:00):
because Bugatti was looking at them like, what, you have
a car sketch for us? No, thank you, and he decided,
you know what, I'll create my own car. Now we
know Lamborghini for being one of the top luxury vehicles
in the entire world. But all in all news to me.
It's your dream and your vision. It will always transform.
Just keep pushing through. Yeah, keep pushing through, man, and

(49:20):
with that world. This is Dear America with Chanel Barnes.
Super excited to have had Judith Jock on our show.

Speaker 6 (49:27):
And she will be.

Speaker 4 (49:28):
Back, I will for sure if we're capturing real voices
and real stories.

Speaker 6 (49:32):
Talk to you soon.

Speaker 5 (49:33):
Bye bye everyone.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
This has been a Project Ready and a Freedom Studios production.
To learn more and effect change while going to Project
readynjy dot org or listen anytime on all major podcast carriers.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
The proceeding was a paid program. Wr's airing of this
program constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
The proceeding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.