Island Roots, Global Reach - Culture, Community and Connection | Ft. Lexi Chow

In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, many of us throughout the diaspora continue to grapple with seeing the unimaginable devastation Western Jamaican residents are coping with. We have experienced loss, resilience, and the relentless sense of community that defines Caribbean people. 

In times like these, conversations that remind us of our shared humanity, resilience, the importance of community, and amplify awareness of the dire need, are important. This is one of those conversations.

This week, we are talking di tings with the CEO & founder of the CODA Network and Jamaican Women Leading Hollywood, Lexi Chow.

Raised between Jamaica and the U.S., Lexi’s story is a celebration of dual belonging. She reflects on her family’s legacy; from her entrepreneurial grandmother and creative and disciplined mother, to her impeccably poised aunts whose strength and style taught her the power of identity; all of whom shaped the foundation of who she is today. Lexi also shares how she is helping creators tell authentic stories through CODA Network, and how Jamaican Women Leading Hollywood became a movement for representation and empowerment.

Lexi reminds us what it means to lead with intention, vision, and heart. We discuss Hurricane Melissa relief, resilience, leadership, legacy, how culture fuels innovation, how Lexi's belief in herself and desire to amplify Caribbean culture are helping others find their own voice, and so much more! 

This is more than an interview, it’s a reminder that conversation can be an act of healing and amplifying awareness, and that even in our most difficult chapters, our stories still have the power to restore hope. 

So grab your tea, coffee, or a glass of wine, and let’s talk di tings!

If you enjoyed the episode, leave us a 5 star rating, share this episode, and follow Let’s Talk Di Tings on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Listen to LTDT on:
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/6akOR9kAnsbANiszBDcVOL?si=aa70627937124c3e
APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-di-tings/id1662696625 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Entrepreneur and CEO of CODA Network. Lexichew's story begins in
the balance between two worlds, the rhythm of Jamaica and
the possibilities in America. Born in Miami to Jamaica's parents,
her mother a medical professional and her father a producer, engineer,

(00:23):
and member of the well known lin Key Chow family,
owners of the renowned pickup Pepa Sauce, she grew up
surrounded by tradition, discipline, and innovation from her Jamaican American
upbringing and an education that married art, business, and technology.

(00:44):
Lexi learned early that identity could be both inherited and built.
This episode is about more than Lexi's achievements, or her company's,
or even entertainment. It's about whole culture and legacy can
fuel innovation, and how one woman's belief in representation is

(01:08):
reshaping the narrative for Caribbean creators everywhere. If you're listening
to the podcast on Apple Podcast, please remember to rate
and leave a comment below. Also, don't forget to follow
us on Instagram at Let's Talk the Things Now. Grab

(01:29):
your tea, coffee, or a glass of wine and let's
talk the things. Hello everyone, Welcome back to let's talk
to Things where we discuss personal growth, music, film and
wellness while encouraging you to live fearlessly and fabulously. I'm

(01:50):
your host, Ash, and this week we are talking the
Things with a woman redefining what a Caribbean media company
can be, merging technology, culture and storytelling. The visionary behind
Jamaica and Women Leading Hollywood, a platform that empowers Jamaican

(02:11):
women to take up space in industries that often overlook them.
The multi award winning entrepreneur and CEO of the CODA
Network Lexi Choo, Hi Lexi, how are you?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Hi? Ash? Thank you so much for having me and
what a fabulous introduction. I was like, boy, who is
she talking about? Is you? Yes? You?

Speaker 1 (02:36):
It's difficult to hear yourself spoken about, like right.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
I mean, you know what everybody says that I need
to play up things a little bit more, and I'm
just like, you know, you just did at work and
people see.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
It, and you know, I completely understand. I completely understand.
But that's why you're here so we can big you up,
you know, and talk the things, the positive things.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, I'm glad to be here today, you know, It's
just this week has been heavy on all of us,
our hearts, our minds emotionally, you know, literally on the
dovetail of Hurricane Melissa and the devast station that it

(03:25):
has taken on Jamaica and the entire Cara com the
entire Caribbean nation.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Absolutely absolutely, and we're definitely going to talk about that
because it's just been so difficult to see. As you know,
I'm friends with Sondra as well, and I was telling her,
you know, I had to just take a break from
social media for a while because it's so heartbreaking to
watch a country that you love and you know, just

(03:53):
to see people suffering, you know, and it's just it's
just you feel like you can't do enough, is what
I'm trying to say. But we're definitely going to talk
about it, and we're definitely going to talk about, you know,
what we can do and what anyone can do, even
if it's just a prayer, anything that you can do.
At this point, Jamaica is definitely going to need all
of the love and prayers and assistants that it can get.

(04:19):
So as a first time guest and for persons listening
for the first time, we begin each episode with our
favorite segment and it's called that no sound safe.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
So.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
It's nothing scary, I promised. So I'm going to read
messages or social media posts that listeners sent in, and
if you think it sounds a little crazy or a
little concerning, you just say that no sounds safe and
explain why. And if you agree, you say you agree
and explain why. Okay, all right, shoot, everybody loves this part,
so don't be frightened. I promise. It's just good fun,

(04:57):
very good.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
I'm here for the shenanigans.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
All right. So the first person said, I can feel
the difference between persons who are trying to build a
relationship with me to extract something from me, and persons
who are seeking to build a relationship with me because
they want community.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
So she has intuition where she can feel when the
relationship is not authentic versus where it's authentic. That does
sound safe. If you have to follow your spirit, yeah,
you always have to follow your spirit. Every time I
go against my spirit or my intuition, bad things happen.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, it's so true. It's so true, and it's interesting
this perspective. I find that, especially in the entertainment industry.
My dad is a drummer. So I grew up around
entertainment industry my whole life. Persons will want to befriend
you or want to be around you for access. Sometimes

(05:59):
it's very hard, you know, especially from childhood when you
have to grow up with that level of discernment because
you don't know who really just wants to be your
friend and who really, you know, wants access to certain rooms.
So how have you dealt with something like that, because
I'm sure you've had to do with this well.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
I mean, it sounds like both of our fathers are
into music. My father is a producer and engineer reggae
and jazz and uh, you know, so I was always
around entertainment from I was little and I can. I
always had this this sixpence about people, and if I

(06:37):
ever went against that gut tuition, I paid for it
one way or the other. Right and and entertainment, I
think that you have to listen to discernment. You have to,
you have to be wise, you have to use your
gut intuition because there's a lot of nefarious people out
here that will use you for a cloud, that will

(06:58):
use you for access and resources and then when you
need them, Yeah, there it's not the same. I've dealt
with that all my life. So I'm very very cautious
about the people I let into my circle, my personal
circle versus my industry circle, where I can be very cordial,

(07:22):
I can be very surface and you know, take it
how you want, but it's to protect myself because you know,
when you have a light and when you're so giving.
I'm very very giving anybody that comes to my circle.
I'll give you the shirt off my back, but you know,
you just you just have to safeguard your energy, and

(07:42):
especially in these times, you really really have to.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
I can one hundred percent relate to that. I think
that it's more difficult when you have that foundation, you know,
that type of personality to navigate this industry because there
are so many persons, so many more persons that don't
think that way and are very opportunistic. And it's sometimes

(08:05):
a letdown because you'll think you're building something like a
rapport with somebody, only to realize, wait a minute, the
moment you can't maybe help them get their show on
your network, which we'll talk about sooner, you know, do
something for them, It's like, wait, you can't hear from them,
you know, maybe they have an attitude like you can
just tell that it wasn't genuine. I think that to me,

(08:27):
that's just been the most disappointing lesson to learn.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
And I think absolutely, I think that you know, in
this industry, as somebody who is trying to achieve access
or gain access or just for instance, somebody that wants
to get their show or their television shows on a
streaming platform and so forth, and maybe maybe we didn't

(08:55):
see it yet, or maybe it didn't pass through the
certain channels, maybe it wasn't right fit. People take that
very personal, and then when you see them in person
now it's kind of like, boy, you taking care too good?
Your brand new, and it's like what, yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
No, I can't imagine. I can well imagine yet.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
And that's not even the case. You know. Sometimes people
get busy. I mean, I've been closing a deal with
another distribution studio house in Los Angeles and it took
eight months. So you can't sit there and grudge somebody
or or side ee of them, or you know, talk
out the side of your face and you don't understand

(09:36):
what's going on. You have to be patient. And sometimes
I always say everybody has their season, and it's not
to take and you mustn't take things personal. But going
back to having intuition, you also have to have boundaries,
and you cannot blame anybody except yourself when you know,

(09:58):
you know, you selt that gut intuition and your your
spirit told you not to go there, and then you
still kept going there and you kept entertaining things. You
gotta have boundaries and cut it off immediately, you know.
So yes, sign this bond YEA, so that all.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
All right? We agree that one is so unsafe. That's
all okay. The next person said, some of these are
so hilarious. The next person said, next time I go
on a date, we're heading to the escape room so
he can prove his leadership, problem solving and patience right away.
I'm not playing any games anymore. Escape room is insane,

(10:47):
that's funny.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
I like the escape room. I've done it twice. So
if a man wanted to go on a date with
me and take me there to show that he's a
boss like him, go on, let me see what you
can do. So it sounds safe.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
Even though it's hilarious, I feel like there's logic in that.
Like you, you can problem solve in that day.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Right, I want to know you're not a dunce, and yeah,
you can change a light to it because it's men nowadays.
Let me tell you, you know, they don't even know
how to change a light screw. They're they're calling task rabbits.
And I don't want that type.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Of listen and that no sounds safe?

Speaker 2 (11:26):
That right? Exactly?

Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yes, that's hilarious. Okay, so we agree on the first two. Okay.
The next person said, sometimes I feel like I have
my life together, but then my windshield gets foggy and
I don't know what temperature to use to get rid
of it.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
This goes back to you know the comments, right, Okay, okay,
Google please, Google is your friend. If you don't know
what but to you, please use Google. I live off
of survival skills, so that necessarily, if you don't know

(12:08):
the buttons in your car, what if you have an emergency,
you have to know the buttons in your car.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
That's true, that does sounds safe, no, But as a
wash belly who's also a daddy's girl, I know the
feeling about not knowing everything because you just be like
I just called my dash, So I feel like for
shame admitting that, but you know, we're honest here. Yeah,
so I kind of understand, but you're right, you can

(12:35):
always google it and yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
You know, I'm that big sister that loves you. But
but it's very fasty and rank. But I don't mean
any any harm by it. So if my sister was
to ask me that, I'll be like, boy, why are
you calling me for google it? And that was directed
to my sister friend Natasha. Yes, you.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Hilarious. All right, so we can say that sound safe,
but it's kind of a sound safe, so in the middle,
we can go in the middle.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
It's in the middle.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
One okay, two more. The next person said, money is
a tool, not the goal. The goal is freedom. You
should always remember that.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yes, that is logical, that is sound, and that's responsible.
So that sounds safe.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah. A lot of times, and I mean to each
his own, A lot of times people want to be
successful so that they can maybe show off to certain people.
And to me, freedom is the ultimate goal. So I
agree with that, yes, yes, okay. And the last one,
the person said, in case you want to get me

(13:52):
anything for my birthday, I'm assize seven nights and eight
days in Italy. Me love travel like Oliver. Yeah, me
love travel very regular.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
So I'm like carme and San Diego, catch me if
you can that. I love that. I believe in memories,
and I think that birthday gift should I'm in the middle.
I think that birthday gift should most most certainly be
an intimate and thoughtful a gesture. If you want to

(14:25):
get me a trip, I will take it. I definitely
will not decline it. But I one thing that I
do love. I love somebody that goes above and beyond
and gets to meet the little things. I love Saint Germaine.
I love peonies and shout out to one of my exes.

(14:47):
He got me peonies in Saint Germaine and I was like, wow,
you really listen. All right, I can entertain you a
little bit.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
No, but that's really true, Like sometimes it's about the
little things and it doesn't always have to be extravagant,
which is what I think you're saying. And I'm in
agreement as well. Yeah, sometimes I hear people say, oh,
what do you get the person that has everything? And
to me, that's what you get them, like the little things,
the things that show that you listen to them and

(15:18):
their likes and you know, just things that I don't know.
I mean, I would say money can't buy. Obviously money
can buy those things, but it's more about the thought,
is what I hear you saying. It's not like the
cost of the ponies, you know what I mean? Absolutely, Yeah,
I agree with you.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
But you can buy me pons and Saint Gramine in Italy.
I'm okay with that too.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
Hey Hello, Yes, yes, I would pick it up at
the airport. Yes, as I walked to first class, thank
you and good day. Yeah I like it.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
I love this game.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
All right. So that was fun. But now we're going
to talk the real things. So let's see. As I
mentioned earlier in the introduction, and you've built a platform
with heart and scope. CODA Network is changing how Caribbean
stories are told and received. You have created spaces for
women or raised the profile of Jamaica and creators, and

(16:14):
held your culture as compas and cornerstone. However, in order
for us to understand how you became the trailblazer that
you are today, I feel like we have got back
a little bit, you know, like go back to the
roots as my dad likes to see. So in previous interviews,
you've spoken about spending your childhood between Miami and Jamaica.

(16:38):
So what was that experience like and how did those
dual influences shape the way that you see yourself and
the world.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Well, thank you again for having me on your platform,
and I love to share the roots and the journey
that got me here. So, with all due respect to
my parents, they used MAGA as a tool to frighten
me to be myself. Yeah, so that that was used

(17:07):
as a tool of mass destruction. Okay, then beheaded yourself
or you will go to the board in school with
your cousin franc Scene and I'll be like, please outside
me there. That's hilarious, yes, but yeah, no, it was

(17:29):
definitely used to frighten me and to be myself. And
my parents are from Mandeville and Spanish Town, and my
mother is from Spanish Town. I believe she she she
don't even remember. She was born in Kingston but raised
in Spanish Town and left when she was probably about
seventeen and grew up in New Jersey. Spent her formative

(17:54):
years in New Jersey, New York, and my father the
same They left JAMAI probably like in their early early twenties,
but went back and forth, and that's how it shaped me,
you know, growing up with very very Christian grandparents. Again

(18:16):
going back to using Jamaica as a frightening tool, I
would have to eat liver so soombum and I would
have to sit there until I ate it. It could
could have been for hours. So this gave me discipline
and character. And not to mention, yes, and not to

(18:37):
mention the the the the belt, you know, when I
get all the hand the belt had a name. It
was Charlie. So anytime I hear Charlie was coming out,
I would I would bathe myself. But yeah, very I
grew up a very strict Christian Jamaican household and you know,

(19:00):
paraying household. And I think that's what really had kept
me structured throughout the years in this industry because it
can really can really take a toll on you. And
you know, going back and forth between Jamaica and the States,
it it held it held my culture together, where a
lot of a lot of young people who grew up

(19:21):
in the States maybe have forgotten about their culture or
just nabata wall anything to do with Jamaica, and especially
a lot of you know our parents' generation, our grandparents
who left Jamaica when they were when I think there
was like civil unrest going on at the time between
the P and P and the JAILP at that time,
a lot of political unrest. They left and went to

(19:46):
the States and dim no wan bata at Jamaica. So
I always held Jamaica near and dear to me, and
I always told myself that once I got to a
point in life where I could give back with education,
get back with resources the things that I learned, I
would do that, because again, so many of us leave

(20:09):
Jamaica and forget all about the people. And you know,
you wear your flag with pride and proudness, but you
don't do anything to go back, and you take pictures
and the gram and you do all these wonderful ig moments.
But what have you given back to Jamaica. And that

(20:29):
is why I formed CODA Network and Jamaican Women Leading Hollywood,
because it's something that I want to give back to
the diaspora.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
You know, I love the positive spin you put on it.
It sounds like your upbringing gave you both grounding and
the ability to be forward looking right y, And you
mentioned earlier your father is in the music business, and
I believe I read that your mother was in healthcare,
is in healthcare.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, she was in healthcare. She's retired now, God bless her.
And dad is still still does his music thing. That's
not going to come out of that. That's ingrained in him.
It's ingrained in my son too. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Oh nice, okay, nice, they're keeping that going. But I'm
bringing that up to say, those are both very disciplined spaces. Yes,
So what lessons would you say that you took from
them that still echo in your leadership today, because those
are two kind of polar opposite industries but very disciplined areas.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
I would say, well, I would say my mom was
really a creative at HURT and you know, for me,
I love being in a creative space. And you know,
she was very hands on. She taught me about art
and so forth. So you know that also goes into
branding and branding and how things look and the Jamaican
bra topsies. You know, you need to be presentable when

(21:51):
you leave the house my favorite word, yes we're here.
And you know, even when you're in the house, you
wake up mon in time, you fix up yourself, you
put on some decent clothes because you don't know who's
gonna come over the house. So that's how I was raised.
And you know, people tell me all the time, oh,
you owe are dressed, No, you're underdressed to honey, and.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Thank you, thank you. Yeah, I agree, yes.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
And you know, uh, my grandmother was really the pillar
for me. You know, she she had multiple businesses. She
had a Chinese Jamaican restaurant in Miami, and also her
sisters and cousins all had Chinese Jamaican restaurants. So I
grew up in a very entrepreneurial house. My family owns

(22:37):
Pickup Pepper and Mandeville. So for me having yeah, so
having that legacy on my shoulder and making sure that
I was just making sure that I I could stand
next to that name Pickup Pepper. You know that that's
a household name. Sure, you know that, absolutely, that's a

(23:01):
lot of weight on anybody's shoulder to want to represent
and present well to a legacy brand in Jamaica and
family that is in everybody's household. And I just wanted
to make sure that I stood by that. And I
have definitely lived by a certain creed in life that integrity, character,

(23:24):
and you know, just trying to give back as much
as you can. Sometimes we don't have money to get back,
but we can get back in other ways. And that's
what I'm really really pushing these days.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
I love that. I love that, and it seems like
you have such a great example of that, not only
in your family in general, but from women. I think
that's really important. We've spoken about that in previous episodes,
you know, seeing the way that my mom and my
grandmother carried themselves and my mom still carries herself to
this day. You don't realize how much effect it has

(23:58):
on you, because I too get why are you always
dressed up? And I'm always like, I'm not offended that
you dress like you're going to check your mailbox every day.
I don't. It doesn't do anything to me. So I
never understood why people were so offended by that. But
then I had to realize, that's my example. I've never
seen my mom in sneakers in my life. I've never

(24:21):
seen my mom look anything ever, So I don't know
what that's like. And there's nothing wrong if that's how
you choose to look. But I get why nothing around
without me? It's normal, and for them it might be
like you're overdressed because maybe the women in their family
don't dress like that, and that is okay.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Speaking about the women in my family, definitely led by
example my father sisters very I mean, when I was
a little girl, I just seused to look up to
the women I family and I'm just like, oh my god,
they're so beautiful. They just they look like beauty. Every
single woman in my family looks like beauty queens. And
as a little girl, I was like, I just want
to I look like her and I want to look

(25:01):
like her. So I took little bits and pieces of
every woman in my family and I applied it to
my life. The good are the bad, even a rank
once them, because you know, I need that, I need
that fire and any That's how I became tough. But
you know I had to. I had to take bits
and pieces from everybody in the family and just be

(25:26):
who I am. And I credit every single woman in
my family, whether I talk to them or not or
we have a relationship. I looked up to all the
women in my family.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
I love that. I love that beautiful. And before you started, Koda,
there was I would say that there would have to
have been a woman that was finding her voice. Right,
you don't just get up and start something that impactful.
So what drew you to storytelling and just media in general?

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Oh? Boy? So you know I used to be I
used to have a public relations from a boutique one
in New York and Miami. Yes, uh, oh my gosh,
it was so I feel like it was just yesterday,
but it was about about I would say I've been
in entertainment probably for over twenty years and wow. Yeah,

(26:19):
the woman that really really drew me into this As
a woman, I would say that there's so many women.
Naomi Campbell, she's the queen. I love her as a
Jamaican one. Grace Jones going down the line, Lisa Hannah
is a very exemplary woman in politics and a beauty
misformer Miss Jamaica. And I looked up to a lot

(26:42):
of these women as my inspiration and women who lead.
There's just so many Jamaican women that I have idolized
and just loved their their their strength, but power and determination.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
And what a blessing it is that we have so
many Jamaican women that you can't even find, you know,
space in your brain to name. I think that that
just so much about our culture that there's so many.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
There's so many that you don't even know who are Jamaican,
but that are When I found out that Queen Latifa's
mother was Jamaican, I just I was just like I
was always at hip hop head, so I was just like, yeah, man,
Queen Latifah's my girl.

Speaker 1 (27:25):
I love that. I love that. And what does what
would you say koda stands for to you? Beyond the
acronym of what it literally stands for, what does it mean.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
To you Koda means? Oh, that's a really good question.
He throw me off guard with that one. That's a
that's a miswirled question. I want to stand and I'm like,
my heart is being I gotta say the right thing.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
No, man, don't think of it like that. We're just
having a conversation. You're fine.

Speaker 2 (27:59):
Cooda embodies the Caribbean. It's not even though I'm Jamaican
and you know, of obviously I'm rooted there. It's for
the Caribbean uh diaspora. We're all over the world. As
you can see the the amount of love and support
that Hurricane Melissa has shed upon Jamaica, and all the

(28:20):
support that we have received. It just goes to show
you that the Caribbean diaspora is larger than life. It
has its voice, it has its own culture. The reason
why you know this kind of also goes into why
I started Quota is because working in UH entertainment, especially
in the film industry in Hollywood, when you break down

(28:40):
into demographics, there's Latin United States, Asia, Europe and those
other other you know, smaller islands and so forth. The
West Indian culture is its own culture. We're not a
Latin American American, even though we share, we're cousins. We're

(29:01):
all cousins, you know, all these islands, we're all cousins,
and we come to help you, help each other. But
when it comes to amplifying our culture and defining what
that culture is, Caribbean culture and West Indian culture has
its own We have our own voice. And that's what
CODA is our own voice, and that's what it means

(29:21):
to me.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
That's so beautifully said, and you're so right. We do
have our own voice, our own culture, our own way
of life. And so the fact that you've created this
platform to share that, I think is not only a
brilliant idea. But it's so impactful because as I was
mentioning to Sandra and she agreed. You know, unfortunately media
has portrayed Caribbean people, but specifically Jamaican's one way. And

(29:47):
part of the reason that I started this podcast is
to show that many of us are educated. You know,
we have different creative talents, we come from different backgrounds.
We all don't look, act, walk, talk the same, but
we're all rooted in, you know, having brought up c
like we talked about earlier, you know what I'm in
respect and things like that. So I think it's good

(30:10):
that we have these platforms that persons can tune in
and it can kind of take away that idea that
media has previously portrayed of who Jamaican people are.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Oh absolutely, so Melissa a Hurricane Melissa. Rather I keep
on addressing her as if she's somebody. All right, Yes,
So Hurricane Melissa has really intrigued and sparked curious onlookers

(30:44):
from all over the world. And you know, you go
to Jamaica TikTok and see all kind of foolishness and shenetikins.
But it just shows you the real the spirit of
Jamaican people. Although although there has been a devastation literally
apocalyptic flattening and destroying communities and the rivers and everything,

(31:12):
just the immense flooding, people are out. They're still jovial,
they're lighthearted, they're making the best of the situation. It's
impacted a lot of communities where you see people with
one bag and they're looking for valuables, they're looking for
shoes and socks and clothes and their items and it's

(31:35):
all gone. So you're seeing two different two different sides
of the spirit of the Jamaican people and Caribbean people
on a whole. And I just love how the entire
Caribbean has come together, where it's Trinidad, Bahamas, Barbados, everybody
has come together so that they can help Jamaica because

(31:57):
we are the capital of the Caribbean. Can fight if
anybody want to fight.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
That lets me you want during these times, no, but
that's so true. I have to say, like I one
hundred percent agree with you. Earlier today, Sondra sent me
a link and so even though I wasn't on Instagram,
I looked at the link because she sent it to me.
And when I got off what I was looking at it,

(32:25):
you know how it shows you like that first I
guess video on your feed and it was Kess singing
Bob Marley, and it just made me so emotional because
it's just like like you said, the way that everybody
is doing what they can, you know, and just in
encouraging people to donate and to pray and to help us,

(32:47):
and in record time, like literally the storm didn't even
leave yet and Jamaica was already getting donations, and I
think it just it makes me emotional because it shows
so much impact that we've had on the world. Like
jokes aside and all people like to say we're arrogance
or whatever, but the reality is that we have a

(33:10):
certain spirit. As you said, you know, as a hurricane's
going on, people making Michael Jackson what about us videos,
I'm gonna want to laugh, you know, I really never
want to laugh. But it's not the smirk, you know.
That's that's a testament to who we are. And that's
why I know that we'll be able to rebuild. This
obviously not gonna happen overnight, but nothing can come and

(33:32):
mess with our spirits. And I love that about us,
So yeah, I loaned your protect agree.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
And I like the fact that onlookers and people that
are curious about the island see that we're diverse. Somebody
I was having a conversation with somebody and he was like,
I didn't know there were white people in Jamaica. And
I was like, I'm really kind of ignorant to say,
and I said, and I said, I don't really call
him white. In Jamaica. The way I grew up is

(34:01):
that we're all Jamaican. I they used to call me
Chiny girl. That used to call me COOLi Girl, Chiny
girl or whatever, and we refer to each other with
the nicknames and it's not offensive and it's not exactly
And I had to correct that person and say, you know,

(34:22):
our motto is out of many, where one. And there
are a lot of different ethnicities that came to Jamaica. Yeah,
and the seventeen hundred and eighteen hundreds, and Jamaica was
a port and Jamaica was a refuge for some and
Jamaica was also a slave report. You know, when I
go down by GP, there's the old police house or

(34:46):
whatever you want to call it, but that was a
holding place for when the slaves used to come through.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
Wow, I've never been there.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah. So so it's right across the street from the prison,
and it's it's like a little relic. And but you
go in there, you know, as much as I hate slavery,
you can feel the you can feel the energy in
that place. So I diverted a little bit. But Jamaica

(35:19):
is very diverse. We have we have Chinese, Indian, Syrian,
we have Jewish, we have Chinese, Japanese, Korean, everything, everything,
literally everything literally, And I don't I don't look at
it as oh, you know, white people are here, No
Jamaican people are here, because there's a culture that we

(35:40):
live by. Is a culture and we're not saying that
Jamaica and the Caribbean doesn't have, you know, other type
of problems as well as and have colorism and all
those other things.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
But I think we do have a unique privilege of
being able to say, oh, yeah, I've seen you know,
my Asian grandmother own a business. I've seen my black
grandfather be a prime minister. I have like, that's not
anything irregular to us. And I think that's a unique
privilege that we have, for sure.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
No, absolutely, and it makes us you know, well cultured
and appreciate other cultures. And you know, we're not frightened
when we when we leave far in our international it's
I also uh witnessed or saw you know, some of
the the tours and I don't want to just say

(36:30):
it's just uh one race or set of people, but
tours in general that were you know a little bit
insensitive to the workers during the hurricane, and I speak
on behalf of the service workers that you know, forget
the tours. The service workers and the people of Jamaica,

(36:52):
they work for little for nothing. Are they getting over time?
I don't know when go back home, you know, expensive
to live in Jamaica. Groceries is more than America. Gas
is more than America. Yeah, so you can you cannot
call you cannot Yeah, you cannot call Jamaica a poor country.

(37:14):
It's it's it's hard, it's uh, it's manageable to live in.
But things are expensive. It's more than in America. So
when the tourists are you know, uh, I want to
be I want to choose my words properly being being
a little bit insensitive and not considerate towards what's going

(37:36):
on with these workers back home and they're doing the
best they can. They don't know what's going on with
their house. When they go back home, you don't even
know if they have a roof over their head or
if their hosts submerge under water. So I did. I
did see that, and that kind of bothered me a
little bit. And there has been some backlash with Black Americans.

(37:57):
And I grew up with Black Americans and Caribbean people,
and you know the amount of Black Americans that came
to the to the defense of things that we're going on.
I truly believe that we are one who are cousins.
And it's it's sometimes it can be a culture, but

(38:21):
in that sense in tourists, it's tone deaf. And I'm
not pointing my fingers at any one culture. I would
say that the tourists in general were a little bit
tone deaf to the situation at hand. Because you give
me a bag of crackers and water and Shirley biscuits,
you best believe I'm gonna say, you know what, I

(38:41):
need to lose a look a bit of weight anyway
I can't manage, and by next week I will look
fabulous in my fos. And you think of it as
a as a religious fast. You think of it as
a spiritual fast. Well, all right, let me just let
me just ease off liquid. I'm not gonna I'm going
to be hungry. I'm going to be a little thirsty,

(39:02):
but I know in about two days everything is going
to be our. Right.

Speaker 1 (39:06):
Yeah, But you know what, it brings me back to
what we were talking about earlier, Like you said, I
saw that too, and I saw it from multiple races,
and so how I view it is it's an issue
of a lack of empathy in general. I find that
persons sometimes and again I'm saying, persons come to Jamaica

(39:27):
and have this idea that because they're staying at maybe
all inclusive property, that they're supported a certain way, no
matter what, no matter what is going on, no matter
if it is a catastrophic worst hurricane in the history books, right,
And to me, like, I think that's a problem for humanity,

(39:49):
the lack of empathy that persons have when they feel
they're entitled to something or a service. You know, I
think that's that's like the bigger conversation or the bigger
thing that bothered me personally, because it's just like you
rightfully said, these people are here doing their best to
have a smile on their face while they don't know
if their mother, father, children are alive, and guess what,

(40:13):
they can't even say, you know what, I quit. You know,
I'm going to leave here and check on my family
because if they do that, they may not have a job,
which they'll need to help rebuild what they may have lost,
you know what I mean. So it's like, I feel
like I empathize with the fact that, you know, the
tourists might be scared or you know, they might have

(40:36):
never been through this and they don't know. But some
of the tone was just a little too entitled for me,
and I feel like, as humans, we just really need
to work on our empathy for others.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
Yeah, and then on the other side, the positive side
of all of this is that some of the tourists
got rolled up their sleeves and saw that. Yes, I
love that. I love that I saw them sweeping and helping.
And you don't understand how much small gestures like that

(41:10):
go a long way, because people really treat the service
workers bad on a whold every everywhere.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
Okay, yes it's true, it's so true.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
And you know, the one lady that was complaining about
the bag crcutts And you never know if it was
nice to somebody, some other cole Man can bring your
fish or that's true. Yep, just niceness.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Kindness goes a long.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Way, a long way. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
One of your most powerful initiatives to me has been
Jamaica and Women Leading Hollywood. And that title alone just
makes me feel so good, you know, and I think
it's very revolutionary. So what inspired you to create this event?

Speaker 2 (41:54):
Oh my gosh, it has been something in the making
for the longest, from the time that I've been living
in Californifornia for the past fifteen years. Oh, there's so
many Yeah, there's so many Jamaican women behind the scenes
that go unnoticed. And there's so many award shows for
black women on a whole, which I love, I absolutely

(42:15):
love that. And you have award shows and honorary shows
for Latin Americans and Hispanics, But there was never anyone
specifically of a certain caliber for Jamaican women that were
behind the scenes in the film industry in California that

(42:36):
are filmmakers, executives, women in leadership, producers, writers, actresses. Did
you know one of the soldiers in Wonder Woman is Jamaican. Yes, Yes, Gwyneth,
she Gwendolyn, I'm sorry. She's absolutely beautiful Jamaican and she

(42:59):
was one of the former Missus Price's right girls. So yeah,
we we have beautiful jan every Jamaican women, every Yes.
And Cyndy Winters she is. She's a Broadway actress and
a singer, and she's on Broadway and she's the voice

(43:20):
of Nylon the Lion King, and she's Jamaican like. And
I think it's really important for little girls, and this
is the reason why I'm doing. It's really important for
women across the diaspora, little girls, Caribbean girls and Jamaican
little girls to see themselves in leadership positions because absolutely,
when you're not exposed to a certain sort of resources,

(43:43):
or you may not know certain women in the industry,
or your family may not know how to get to
certain people, I think it's important to show, teach and
lead girls on various positions in the entertainment industry. You
may not make it as an actress, you may not

(44:05):
make it as a singer, but you bet your bottom
dollar that you can be somebody in a leadership position
behind the scenes. And whether that's an executive at Netflix, Hulu,
Coda Network, who else? You have your music industry, There's
so many different positions of leadership that you can go into,

(44:29):
and I want little girls to know that that's available
to you, and you can't limit yourself just because you
come from a certain family background or your dynamic. Cannot
afford college or school or something like that doesn't mean
that it can't spark your interest. You don't need college, listen,
no disrespect to anybody that went to college, listen, but

(44:52):
sometimes you cannot afford it, or life situations where you
cannot physically or you can't go to college. College is
not for everybody. And I want little girls and aspiring
women to know that you can have leadership positions and
you can make over six figures and you don't have to.
Just my father wanted me to be a nurse. I

(45:13):
was like, listen, sir, I'm not from nobody blood. That
is not for me. That's your idea of a profession.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
But it's not mine.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
Yeah, And you know, it's so funny going back to
my upbringing, and my father would tell people, yeah, she's
a promoter, you know, And I said, I'm not a promoter,
where I get this thing from, where I get this
thing for from? And and I think he was being
facetious because he has this dry sense of humor like

(45:47):
I do. And I'm like, Okay, it's public relations, not
a promoter.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
That's hilarious. But you do bring up a good point.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
I think.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
I believe that education is important, and I think this
is what you're saying as well, is that you can
be educated and not attend a four year or two
year institution. You can get education in different ways. And
I also think that we live in a different time
and I think it's just going to continue and continue
as a generation's continue as well, where persons are taking

(46:23):
classes on YouTube, persons are learning a trade, you know,
learning through different ways, you know what I mean. So
while education is important, you don't necessarily, as you said,
have to go to some institution that maybe you can
ill afford, just to say you went there. You can
make your you can get to these positions or create
your own company, you know, based off of just education

(46:46):
in general, wherever you may get that from. So yeah,
I do think that's important for persons to know, and
as you said, for persons to see themselves in persons
that are already successful, so they know that it can
be done well.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
And you know, just going back to jam women leading,
I really wanted these executives here in California and just
the United States who are in the film industry not
to feel forgotten by Jamaica. And what I really love
is that the Jamaica Tourism Board stepped up and they

(47:22):
really want to be a part of this. And thank
you to John Lynch, the chairman of the Jamaica Tourism Board.
I met with him personally and he shared a found
and a love and a sentiment and just he resonated
with what we were doing and wanted to be a
part of it. And I really thank him. M HM

(47:44):
and Elena Lynch, big up, big up, big up, and
John Lynch, thank you guys so much. Because having having
an organization like Jamaica Tourism Board partner with us and
be a part of it really gave it kind of
like that accreditation that the ladies felt like, Wow, they
see us, right, they didn't forget about us where they

(48:07):
are foreign, but they didn't forget Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
I love that. I'm sure that definitely put that stamp
of just like you know, approval, as you said, from
your home country. I think that that must be an
incredible feeling, because, like you said, when you're abroad, you
might feel like where you're from doesn't even recognize you.
You know what I mean. So m h, it's definitely

(48:31):
a great thing. And the first this was the first event, right,
So last year was the inaugural.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
I didn't do it this year because I wanted to.
I wanted to work on the let's say, being intentional
about where the efforts are going to be for next year,
whether we are going to raise funding for an organization

(48:59):
or just to distribute to those in need that maybe
going to film school or that want to go to
film school, or people that need equipment, or to help
finishing up programming or editing things of that nature. So
we have a lot of folks on board that want
to help, sponsors and companies that really want to invest

(49:24):
and help what we're doing. And I really want to
make it really intentional and not just have a dinner
where we're looking fabulous and beautiful and getting these really
great ig shots, but something that is intentional. Listen, I
don't hide and talk. I'm very I can be very
blunt and forward, but I want I want it to

(49:47):
be intentional where we help at least five people. And
what I love about GM Women Leading, there are women
that didn't even know about each other and without just
for an anonymous reason. And two women met at JAM
Women Leading and one of them got an email from
somebody that needed help with tuition in Jamaica, and she

(50:10):
reached out to the other women she met and said,
you know, this is not in my wheelhouse, but maybe
your charity might want to take it on. She paid
for this young lady's entire medical tuition. It's paid for
and that and that is what we brought these women
to get this. This is what I wanted. I wanted

(50:32):
women in that have certain groups and organizations that can
really help each other and mentor other people and mentor
other women to go in and and and uh pull
together resources. So that that is the beauty of that.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
I love that. I love that. And you actually answered
my follow up question because it was gonna be Is
it gonna come back this year?

Speaker 2 (50:54):
Yes, so it's gonna it's gonna come back next year.
So we're looking next year about the oscars. Yeah, whether
we may do it around the oscars or back in
September to give enough people more time to prepare. And yeah,
so we're we're we have a board that we're working
with to to kind of like do the planning right now.

(51:16):
So we're in the planning phase. There's I mean, the
amount of women that reached out to us was I
you know what, I didn't even think it was going
to blow up. I thought it was just going to
stay contained, and you know, this was going to be
a fabulous event. I did. I didn't realize that thousands
of women around the world wanted to be They were

(51:37):
just like, I want to be a part of this.
I want to help.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
That's amazing and I don't doubt that it will be
huge And if I'm invited, I would definitely love to
be there.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
Oh absolutely, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. And
you know, a lot of a lot of folks were like, oh,
how come I couldn't come, and I wanted to come.
We did it. It was really a pilot for the
first run to see the spawns, and it was only
twenty five women that were invited to the first one
because we didn't know, we didn't know what it was.

(52:08):
Invite only for just twenty five honorees, and next year
we will definitely make it more available to to to
organizations and those people that want to comment by a
table and so forth, so that they can join in
the celebration.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
And yeah, one of my favorite people, Kim I saw
she was there, Kim pat.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
Yeah, those women, love them and they're Jamaican. I'm telling
you have all these beautiful Gamaican women that are in
leading roles in Hollywood who will Netflix Sundras and on
Hulu right now and on Netflix, and you know, we're
we're leading.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
We're out there, absolutely absolutely, and I love that, you know,
we're all coming together and just doing positive yeahs makes
my heart smile. Yeah, all right, So I want to
shift for a moment. I guess I would say back
to what we were talking about earlier, but kind of
go a little bit more in depth into something a

(53:16):
little heavier but really necessary to talk talk about, and
that is Hurricane Melissa. You know, Jamaica. Wow, I'm gonna
I'm gonna try to hold it like a g because
it's very emotional for me. But Jamaica has faced unimaginable loss.
I would say, when you look at some of the

(53:38):
aerial videos there's nothing there, you know, in some areas,
particularly Saint Elizabeth, Black River, parts of Manchester, Trelawney, there
are there's so many, too many areas to name. You've
spoken about resilience and responsibility as a leader of a

(53:59):
global company with obviously deep Jamaican roots, that you've gone
into depth about. How did this moment affect you? When
or how did the moment I should say, when you
saw the devastation, how did that affect you personally and
also professionally.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
Well personally, how it affected me? I I bawled, like
I cried. It was seeing the land you love, seeing
the land that you take pride in, seeing the people.
I love the people. Code A network is for the people.
Anything everything I do is for the people, with the
intentions of goode for the people. And when I saw

(54:38):
how it devastated. And first of all, when you drive
through certain communities in Jamaica, it's underdeveloped and from the
foreign international I you would you would say it's third world,
you would say it's poor. But these people are very
rich in herd. Don't don't get it twisted. They're very

(55:00):
grateful for what they have. And to see those communities
that are below sea level, just get washed with just
the old place, just mash up. It really broke my heart,
and I immediately went into planning and logistical mode, reaching

(55:20):
out to politicians, reaching out to Nami Francis. She's the
Press secretary for the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness,
and she was also one of our honores at Jamaican
Women Leading. Reached out to her and I said, what
is the official link because I'm not posting Alikammann and

(55:44):
is goalfund me. What is the official link? And she
sent me the support Jamaica dot gov dot JM. She
sent me that link, and I reached out to some
other well known organizations just so that I had a
recip on's ability to get those out there immediately, because
you know, when you're you're in a position of power,

(56:06):
you have to use your platform to bring awareness and
people trust you. When people trust you, you have to
make sure those organizations are vetted. So that's that's the
first thing I did, reaching out to friends and family,
making sure they're okay. And it just it hurt me

(56:28):
and and the first thing that I thought was they're
they're gonna have to rebuild and where's the money gonna
come from? Is the international? Is the international UH community
gonna help us? Is Jamaica even prepared for this? So
all these things went through my mind. How is how
is the PM gonna handle this? And as my friend,

(56:49):
who is the the MP for us port more? Is
it Southeast Saint Catron, Saint Katrin? Please don't cost me
if I said it wrong, but Al Dawes, doctor Al Dawes,
he said it best. Now is not the time for partisanalship.

(57:09):
It's time for partnership. Forget about the politics about Jamaica
when it's for the love of Jamaica. So forget whatever
political party you're in. Everybody's gonna come together for Jamaica
and I and I just love how everybody in Jamaica
just came together. So that's perfect personally and how it

(57:30):
affected me professionally. I was worried about people who worked
with me. I was worried about you know, my production guys,
you know my guy Chubby and Roja, and they work
so closely with me, and I called them to make
sure they were okay, and you know, just partners, just

(57:52):
making sure everything was okay. Majority of my staff and
production folks are in Kingston, Kingston. I would say Kingston
was spared, but right now compared yeah, yeah, and Kingston
is holding up Jamaica right now. Shout out to Ramish,

(58:14):
my god, Remish just jumped into planning mode and executed
without hesitation. And uh who else you have American friends
of Jamaica. You have Shelley and Frazier Price who jumped in.
You have the entire das Bora from South Florida, New York, Canada, London.

(58:37):
Everybody just poured and even today, you know what really
brought to us my ice day was Venezuela, Columbia, El Salvador.
All these Latin countries came to help. They came to help,
even the United States. And you know, seeing the artist
even you know what what what made me Tirian. I
love to see a Rodney Boneaquila. I love to see

(58:59):
him pass it out and this and this is what
he does normally. Bounty is not to you know, he's
not for the showy showy, and so he's for the people.
He's always been for the people. So I love to
see that. And you know, Sean Paul uses Internet and
everybody has used their international platform for good and I

(59:22):
love that, and you know, I have to bond the
people them that are making fake accounts and the farious
accounts trying to disenfranchise uh, you know, people of Jamaica
and the Caribbean that need the help. So you know,
and and I really thank the government of Jamaica for
using cybersecurity to track those accounts and and get them

(59:46):
banned there. But there's a lot that aground that needs
to be covered. There are people in Saint Elizabeth, Black River,
Faumut that haven't been reached yet. You have. What I
love is that the Jamaican community, especially the artists again,
they're using their platform to help and be responsible. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
Well, firstly, I'll go back a little bit. I think
it's so important the strides that you're making, not only
personally but professionally, because leadership, to me isn't just about
profit right, it's about being present in moments like this,
and you showing that compassion and capacity can coexist. I

(01:00:28):
think that's important for people to see because, as we
spoke about earlier in the data Sound Safe segment, we
live in an environment and we talk about it a
lot on this podcast with social media where perception can
make people especially in this case, you know, it's I
wouldn't call it nefarious because those are like fake pages,

(01:00:50):
but also people using this to their advantage, you know.
So maybe they're making certain content because they know Hurricane
Melissa is hot right now, but they don't really care
about Jamaica, you know, or they're just trying to use
it to get more follower or whatever is like a
selfish reason. I don't know, but I think when you

(01:01:10):
show just the empathy and the thought that you put into,
as you said, reaching out to who you knew to
verify and address to share because you understand that people
trust you. And when you said that that really, you know,
obviously this is our first time meeting of people might
not know that, but it's our first time meeting virtually,

(01:01:31):
and it really I think in every episode there's always
parts where I realize, like, oh, I chose the right
person because I only have people on here that I
perceive to be good, decent human beings, because that's the
platform that I want to portray, you know, And I
think that that's so important what you said that people
trust you and you take that seriously, because it's something

(01:01:53):
I take seriously, and I think not enough people take
the use of their platform or the fact that they
might have thousands. Maybe I have five thousand followers, maybe
I have two hundred and fifty thousand followers. But if
people are trusting you to share information, you have to
do the best you can do to vet that information.
And I say the best you can do, because as

(01:02:13):
we know, you can think you're giving the best information
and you never know. But obviously in this case, you're
going straight to the source, you know. So I love
that you said that. I agree with you. We appreciate
all of the help, like from anywhere, And as I
said earlier, I don't think I've ever been I know
people are going to find this hard to believe because
we get a bad name, but I don't think I've

(01:02:34):
ever been as proud as I am known to be
Jamaican because to see how many people just immediately we're
asking where to give, what to give, what to fund?
What can we do? You know what I mean? That
says a lot about who we are as people. And
when this passes, because it will pass, I want all
Jamaicans to remember that. You know, when you're maybe you

(01:02:57):
just moved to the States, maybe you just move to
England and you feel allt a place and people don't
understand you and you want to, you know, convert the
whole other people talk this to me is I know
it kind of seems off topic, but know how much
people love your culture, you know what I mean, And
know how much people care about where you're from, so
that you can have that pride in yourself and in

(01:03:19):
how you present yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Well well said, well said. And you know, just just
to touch point on what you said, when you're in
a position of power, you have to use your platform
with responsibility and care. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
Yeah, so true, so true. So yeah, thank you, thank
you for that. That is amazing, amazing. So one last
question before our final quick segment. When you look at
the future of Caribbean media, both in the region and
the diaspora, what do you envision.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
What I envision for Caribbean media in the diaspora is
especially for Koda, because that's this is why I created Qoda,
that it could essentially be the Caribbean Netflix. This is
the hub where people come and you know, right now, Coda,
I don't know, we didn't touch on Coda that much.

(01:04:13):
I think we just we're just so excited to talk
to each other.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
I know, and then I'm thinking of your time, so
I'm like, I didn't want to know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:22):
I have time. We're good. But Coda was really was
created because we needed a hub that had premium content
that shared the beautiful culture around the Caribbean, whether that's Jamaican, Trinidad, Haiti, Dominica, Cuba, yes,

(01:04:43):
all the Spanish speaking islands in the Caribbean. There we
are Caribbean, so that that is included in there. So
we have films, short short films, TV series, documentaries, we
even live streams. This year we lived stream the Vibes
Cartel in Tortola. This was his first show outside of

(01:05:04):
Jamaica in thirteen years, so we had the first show.
Now it sound like Soldier Boy, we would have. Yeah, Yes,
we were the first one to get the show and
we had an amazing, an amazing pay per view event.

(01:05:25):
Big up to Cartel and his team and.

Speaker 1 (01:05:28):
My god, she's amazing. Eh.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Yes, I listen. I've watched his journey from his first
steps out of that wretched door onto the soil, and
from his journey from from then to now. It's like
watching a boxer get back his mojo. Every show he
just gets better and better and better, and you know

(01:05:53):
the people that move him and yeah, and I know
I streamed a little bit, but yeah, we have live
live live stream, so we do pay per few events.
We also showcase certain music videos and we work with Ramish,
we work with Ding Dong, and we work with you know,

(01:06:14):
so many different artists where they're you know, yes, you
can go to YouTube, but we showcase dance Hall, Soka, Trap, dance,
all a little bit of everything in there. So as
a curious onlooker who wants to learn about the Caribbean culture,
you can come on to CODA, which stands for Caribbean

(01:06:34):
on Demand, All in one place, So come on demand,
all in one place, and you can download it on
your mobile phones that is your iPhone, your Android's on Firestick, Roku,
Samsung TV. So we're in one hundred and seventy eight
countries and what I really love about it is that

(01:06:55):
you're getting a little bit of everything. So what I
see in the future for us and as media as
a whole, is that we continue making great films and
that big studio houses will will invest in us and
invest in those films, and you know, con continue, will
continue or start to get production deals so that we

(01:07:18):
can go out there vet producers and writers and have
our own content and our own original series. So we
haven't announced it yet, but we are just signed a
deal with a really big studio in Hollywood, a distribution
and production house.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
Congratulation, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Which you'll see Coda more on various streaming platforms similarly
like how you see HBO on Amazon, I'm gonna start
seeing Coda on those fash channels as well. So yeah,
so we have we have a lot of range to
cover a lot of grounds, to cover a lot of

(01:08:03):
folks that want to get their show and movies onto Coda.
We definitely implore everybody to reach out to us on
our website. You know, we have a corporate website. You
can go to info at the Coda Network and you
can submit your your films there for distribution through Coda.

(01:08:24):
And you know, it's a it's a it's a fairly
easy process. It does get vetted and you know, just
make sure that the sound and the editing and the
production quality is of standard, because you can't just put
anything on CODA and has to be of a certain
certain standard.

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
Right. I love that that's so exciting. I can't wait
for you to reveal who that is.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Yes, just gonna make headlines. But you know, the Caribbean diasphere,
we have all the stories. All the stories are.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
On our listen. We have some good stories. So I'm
excited for that. I'm excited for that for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:09:08):
And what I love about us is that you know,
whether you're in Trinidad or Jamaica, or Bahamas or Barbados,
we all have our own stories, we all have our
own folklore, and I really want to see Caribbean filmmakers
tap into those folklore and create major motion pictures. You know,

(01:09:31):
the White Witch of Rose Hall and Dull for Trinidad.
You know I love Dopy movie, So let's start making
some quality films.

Speaker 1 (01:09:41):
Yes for sure. And just as you bring that up
before we get into our last segment, I could obviously
talk to you for like three more hours. But as
you bring that up, we just had one of my
new faves, a film director, JP Williams. I don't know
if you know him. I love Okay, you know him great.

(01:10:01):
So we just had him and we spoke about how
transactional la is right and the shock of that reality
as a Jamaican. So I just wanted to ask, when
you're you know, accepting all these proposals and people trying
to get on your network, and you know, you're doing
deals with certain networks and just kind of positioning yourself

(01:10:25):
in different rooms. I imagine that you've had to navigate
that as well, especially given the family that you come from, Right,
how have you been able to navigate that and still
kind of keep your posture and stay within your light
Because I just feel like that that was probably whether
it was fifteen years ago when you moved there or no,

(01:10:47):
a difficult thing to navigate.

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
I would say I wouldn't say it was difficult for me.
I I've always been comfortable in uncomfortable spaces. I've always
known how the blame and kind of be a chameleon
and just work with the room. I can go to
the garrison, I can go uptown, I can go corporate.
I can go and I blend and I know how
to how to how to work the room, and I

(01:11:11):
know my audience. So for me, that hasn't been an issue.
I think that for folks that are not comfortable in
spaces they're not familiar with, it can be challenging, but
you have to practice. You have to go to networking events.
You have to talk to people. You can't just sit
on there or stand up and just look at people.
You have to network. You have to you have to

(01:11:32):
find that in our in our voice, that hey, how
you doing? My name is so, and so you know
what what network are you with? What studio are you with?
Or that's oh you got to fake it till you
make it sometimes and and talk to them as if
you know what you're you're talking about, because you just
never know who you meet in that room. And that's

(01:11:54):
my advice that I give to people. Uh. JP is
all a I would say, a producer, director, writer that
I see an amazing future for in the film.

Speaker 1 (01:12:10):
He's winning an Oscar. I already told him yes.

Speaker 2 (01:12:14):
From your lids to got yours?

Speaker 1 (01:12:16):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
He I worked with him and I love his tenacity,
I love his ethics. He's very professional and you have
to you have to be professional in the in this industry.
I've worked with a lot of people on the Islands,
and I think what's lacking is professional certain professionalism and

(01:12:40):
a sense of urgency. JP does. JP has it all.
Not a big amp, but I have to big him up,
but I've worked with him before and it's such a pleasure. Yeah,
I can't wait to work with him on a bigger production.
And uh, I would say that going back to work
in the rooms and just feeling comfortable, it takes time.

(01:13:04):
It takes time, and you have to have confidence. I
have a canny confidence where I know, I walk in
the room and it's like let's go.

Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
It's go time, right exactly. And I think in addition
to that, what we were more so talking about JP
and I is the fact that we have, like we
talked about throughout this episode, right, so I'm kind of
bringing it all together. We come from this culture of
having brought up sea and speaking when you walk in
a room, and so so it's just kind of like,

(01:13:34):
just to give you a random scenario, Let's say you
walk into a room and you say, oh, good morning,
my name is Lexi Choo and the person just looks
at you, like, how do you navigate those moments? Because
you really want to be like, so we're talking at
this man never hear me, but you're thinking, yes, okay,
I have to you know, like obviously stay professional, but
how do you just deal with that because you're not

(01:13:56):
maybe not used to that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:59):
You got it. Gotta get thick skin. And this goes
back to the beatings and Charlie and the way those
people terrorize me. I'm telling thick skin. So if you
don't say hello to me when I say something to you,
I don't business. Here's the thing. In this industry. You

(01:14:23):
cannot expect people to say hello back. You cannot expect
people to be nice. So don't go in this industry
looking for that because you're not gonna get it. And
once you change your mindset, yeah, right, man, everything everything
is gonna be and you're not gonna take things person
You cannot take things personal personally. You cannot take things personally,

(01:14:43):
especially working here. It doesn't matter what kind of laws
we have that that tell you, oh, you can't treat
people like. People still treat you a certain way, and
you feel it, you feel that energy. I've walked into
rooms and you know, I've around women, Hey, good morning,
nobody says anything to me. All right, I don't take

(01:15:04):
it personally. Yeah, is that all right? Is that okay? No?
But it's the culture, and you know where I'm trying
to change that culture. Anybody that works with me at Quota.
We speak, we treat each other like family. We're personable.

(01:15:24):
I've heard some of my production guys say I'm miserable,
but that's okay because I want things done right and
as long as you know who you're dealing with, that's okay.

Speaker 1 (01:15:36):
So you have to say something to put your foot right.

Speaker 2 (01:15:40):
I don't call it misery misery, but misery loves company
and that's why they love working with me.

Speaker 1 (01:15:46):
I love that thing.

Speaker 2 (01:15:48):
That's hilarious things. I look at things from a very
different lens. I as Jamaican people, we just make a
light of every thing, and.

Speaker 1 (01:16:00):
We last you.

Speaker 2 (01:16:03):
Take that too serious.

Speaker 1 (01:16:05):
I have to take serious thing and make joke more time.

Speaker 2 (01:16:08):
It's true exactly. So you know, going back to you
know what you were in JP were talking about. You know,
how do you deal with something like that? You don't
deal with it. You just know you just have to
change your mindset. You just have to know that when
you're in a certain industry and you're in a certain room,
your confidence cannot be shocked just because somebody did not
say hello back to you.

Speaker 1 (01:16:29):
Yeah, okay, ye, but it's so funny because he said
he had this saying and he said basically what you said.
I just wanted you to share your opinion because obviously
you're someone in different capacity, and you're also a woman,
so I wanted the audience to hear, you know, two
sides of it. But you guys essentially said the same thing.
But I love this phrasing that he used in JP.

(01:16:51):
If you're listening, I'm sorry if I'm messing it up.
If you guys want to hear the actual phrase, you
can go back and listen. But he said something like,
you don't say HI for a high high. You say
hi because that's who you are as a person. You know,
that's yeah in you, you know what I mean. And
so once you recognize that, you're gonna do things basically

(01:17:13):
in a way that is in line with who you
are and your character as a person, you don't worry
about what the other person is doing because you're not
saying HI for a high, you know, something like that.
But essentially, you guys are saying the same thing, and
it's so true. So you guys listening out there, male
or female, although it might not be in line with
your culture, and the main thing I think both of

(01:17:34):
you are saying as persons that are working in LA
from the Caribbean. You cannot take anything personally. I think
that's the main message.

Speaker 2 (01:17:43):
And that's where you'll win. That is where you will win.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but you can't
take things personal. There are people that have said I
may not say hello, honestly, I might not have heard you.
And that's another thing. You cannot take it personal. If
you say hi to somebody. People are in their heads

(01:18:04):
sometimes and they're thinking about a set, they're thinking about
a writer, they're thinking about editing, they're thinking about their meetings.
Sometimes you turn people out and your own. So you
cannot take things personal because once you do that, you
drive yourself crazy. You will drive yourself crazy and then
you'll start to doubt yourself and then you feel funky
and your attitude will change. You can't, you can't. You

(01:18:27):
cannot take it personal exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:18:29):
And guys, stress causes wrinkles and that that's sound safe.
So yeah, that can't.

Speaker 2 (01:18:38):
All?

Speaker 1 (01:18:38):
Right? Final segment before I do manage to thank you. Okay,
So I'm going to ask you a few rapid fire,
random questions and I want you to answer with the
first thing that comes to mind. Okay, okay, all right,
don't get don't be nervous. It's fine, it's fine. You've

(01:19:01):
done quite an amazing job with your mouth on this podcast,
so I don't know that you'll mess this up at all.
All right, all right. What is a morning ritual that
you can never skip?

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
Face brushing? It's a lymphatic massage and I use a
of a lymphatic face brush and I just meditate in
the mornings and I brush my face for five minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:19:33):
I love that. Seeing that you guys want to age
like wine and not milk like Lexie, that's what you
need to be doing. Yeah, I like that. All right.
Next question, Name a remote place anywhere in the Caribbean
that you love and why you love it.

Speaker 2 (01:19:54):
Oh? Okay, I love Tortola. I've recently visited from my
first time in March, Okay, and it just it just
reminds me of you know, it's just such like a
little quaint island where everybody knows who they are. And
I went to this beach that I can't remember, and
they had this restaurant that reminded me of Noble and

(01:20:16):
the food was so good. Oh my god, the food
was so so so good. Really, Yes, Tortola is a
beautiful island. It reminds me of Jamaica, and part of
it also reminds me of certain places in South America,

(01:20:36):
so it has its little, a little charm to it.
So big up Tortola.

Speaker 1 (01:20:41):
Love that, Love that. Okay. What is your favorite thing
about being Jamaica.

Speaker 2 (01:20:48):
See that's the question. The one thing I love about
being a Jamaica is that we are on apologetically, We're
on a palette. Yeah. The pride wherever you go in
the world. Yeah, the pride of a Jamaican is unmatched.

Speaker 1 (01:21:13):
That is a fact. That is a fact. Now I
will tell you I recently went to Grenada and their
neck and neck with us. I have to say they
are neck and neck. I never thought I would see it, but.

Speaker 2 (01:21:23):
They're very I mean, we're very prideful in good and
bad ways and and and another thing I love about
being in Jamaican is our culture and that encompasses everything.

Speaker 1 (01:21:41):
Yeah, love that, love that. Okay. A couple more. What
song or album do you play when you need like
grounding or serenity?

Speaker 2 (01:21:52):
American or Caribbean?

Speaker 1 (01:21:56):
I guess either, yeah either.

Speaker 2 (01:21:59):
Well, I love Sisla Kali. I don't know what album
it is, but I do have a playlist on iTunes.

Speaker 1 (01:22:08):
So any song by him, basically, any any.

Speaker 2 (01:22:11):
Song by Kali. It really it brings me back to
a time in my life where I feel, I feel
whole and sometimes I need a word of spirituality. He
he is, He's a leader in his in his own
own right, and I love the empowerment and he fires

(01:22:35):
me up. So yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:22:39):
Love that. If your life thus far had a soundtrack,
what would the title track be?

Speaker 2 (01:22:52):
Role called Tennisa on the roll call.

Speaker 1 (01:22:56):
That's a good thing.

Speaker 2 (01:22:57):
You want to be there? Yeah, that's it?

Speaker 1 (01:22:59):
Are you that fast? I'm very impressive. I'm very impressed
with that.

Speaker 2 (01:23:05):
I mean, it's a song that I love. And there's
another song by Rude Boy Scang King by the Israel Vibration.

Speaker 1 (01:23:17):
Ah, I love them.

Speaker 2 (01:23:20):
I love roots and culture. I grew up on it,
and that that would be a song. Right, do you
ask me about a soundtrack or a song? Sorry?

Speaker 1 (01:23:28):
Well, what the title track would be? So you're naming track?
So yeah, that's fine. You answered the question for sure.
Last question before I do my thank you? When you
think about the girl that you once were the young Lexi,
the one watching her parents work, dreaming big. What do
you think that she would say to you now?

Speaker 2 (01:23:48):
Young me would be like, Wow, we did it, we
got we got through. That's it.

Speaker 1 (01:23:56):
I love that simple and to the point. I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:23:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:24:02):
Okay, well I'm going to do my thank you now
and every episode I tell people now about it with
the crying, because me love cry. So yeah, just try
to take it all. Lexie, thank you so much for
coming to talk the things with me today. I believe
that what you've built is you're welcome. What you've built

(01:24:25):
is more than a streaming service, right. It's a bridge,
and it's a bridge between creators and audiences, between heritage
and innovation, between culture and commerce. And as you've shared
with us today, you spent much of your childhood between
Jamaica and Miami, grounded by family legacy and music, and

(01:24:48):
New York grounded by family legacy in music and entrepreneurship.
And you stepped into Hollywood with that grounding, which to
me enabled you to bring your culture with you, right,
not as a footnote, but as fuel to push you
to achieve your dreams, which I think is amazing. You've

(01:25:10):
used that fuel to then create the CODA network and
events like Jamaican Women Leading Hollywood, illustrating that leadership is
not only about reaching the top, you know, it's about
creating paths. So to me, your true achievement isn't just
subscriber numbers or the distribution deals, although those are major achievements.

(01:25:34):
It's really the greater achievement to me is that you've
created a space for Caribbean creators and artists who know
that their stories matter, right like the audiences who now
see themselves and the culture that now moves with dignity,
because you've created a space for persons to see what
they can be. And I think that's so important and

(01:25:56):
such a gift. So Lexie, thank you for building with
care simply by your existence and ambition. I think that
you've reminded us that innovation can honor heritage and ambition
can serve purpose. So thank you for leading from the
inside out. Thank you for your vision and your courage
and just continuing to go even when I'm sure it

(01:26:20):
gets difficult. And most importantly, thanks for coming to talk
it things with me.

Speaker 2 (01:26:25):
Well, thank you for having me on today. I know
that you have so many people that you would love
to interview that you want to share this platform with
and thank you for inviting me in and you continue
being a voice to also amplify and showcase creatives in

(01:26:47):
this space. And it's not easy. A lot of us
are doing this out of our own financing, and you
know every day we have to wake up and continue
doing this. We can't stop because when.

Speaker 1 (01:27:01):
You stop, it hurts absolutely. Thank you so much, and oh,
before we go, ye, is there anything that you wanted
to share besides what you shared earlier as far as
like where people can follow you or you know, things
like that.

Speaker 2 (01:27:14):
Yes, you can follow me on Instagram, Lexi Chow Underscore
and please please please download Code a Network. It's free.
You don't have to pay a subscription feed. We're one
hundred and seventy eight countries. However, when we pay per
view events, yes there is a charge, but the content
on there is free. Additionally, you can find us on

(01:27:35):
Instagram as well, where we've partnered with Jamaica Observers so
you can keep up to date with certain things that
are going on with Hurricane Melissa. And also on my
Instagram you can find those places where you can donate
at your

Speaker 1 (01:27:50):
Your Alesia perfect perfect, Great An