0:12

For Delaware State of the Arts . I'm Andy

0:14

Truscott . Today , our guest for

0:16

this exclusive two-part interview , live

0:18

from the Mills Summit in Wilmington , Delaware , Loren

0:21

LoRosa . Born

0:23

and raised in Wilmington , Loren , studied

0:25

marketing at the Delaware State University

0:27

. She got her start under industry

0:29

influencer Angela Simmons for Angela

0:32

IMTV and has contributed

0:34

as a host and red carpet correspondent

0:37

for the Electronic Urban Report

0:39

. She set up her YouTube channel in

0:41

2013 and regularly posts new

0:43

content three times a week aimed at

0:45

fellow dreamers . As

0:47

seen nationally on TMZ , on Fox

0:50

, bet and Loren

0:51

. centers her career on providing

0:54

the voice of a strong minority woman

0:56

within culture-defying digital

0:58

and television platforms , as

1:00

a host , podcaster , producer

1:02

and influencer . Her work accredits

1:05

her with the experience of breaking some of the

1:07

world's biggest entertainment stories , while

1:09

sharpening her ability to captivate audiences

1:11

all over the world via exclusive

1:14

content and the intellectual and fearlessness

1:16

of reporting of it . Thanks so

1:18

much for joining us , Loren . How are you today ?

1:20

I'm doing good . Thanks for having me .

1:22

You achieved so much in already such a small

1:25

period of time in the entertainment field . What

1:28

sparked your passion for pop

1:30

culture , news and entertainment ?

1:33

I grew up in a family . I'm

1:35

from Wilmington , so I'm from Fifth and

1:37

Washington , literally like a few blocks over

1:39

. My family was just always

1:42

big on doing stuff . I

1:44

had a little cousin who was on Broadway she was baby

1:46

Nila on Broadway . We were

1:48

dancing right up here at the Christiana Culture Arts

1:50

Center . We were performing at

1:52

the Grand . We were holding fashion shows

1:54

at Howard High School Technology . If you guys have ever been

1:56

to the Howard High School fashion shows I

1:58

don't know if you guys have or heard about them we

2:01

had a run for like four or five years . We sold

2:03

out every single year eight to 900 people . We met

2:05

friends who produced that . I just grew

2:07

up in a family and a household where it

2:09

was just a thing , even at our family reunions

2:12

. We got one this weekend . If you want to pop out Family

2:14

reunions , come . We do talent shows

2:16

. Everybody in my family is just funny

2:19

and witty and quick . It

2:21

just was always like a thing , with my

2:23

mom being a former fashion designer who lived

2:25

in New York , we always took trips

2:27

to New York to see our family and just

2:29

do stuff . That was just like you couldn't

2:32

not love the lights and the

2:34

clothing and all the theatrics and stuff

2:36

like that . So it just was kind of embedded in

2:38

me . It's just always been a thing .

2:41

Even just the intro there . Right , you

2:43

do a lot . You're out there , you're

2:45

hustling , you're grinding out there . How

2:49

do you balance these various roles

2:51

and projects to ensure that you're

2:53

dedicating your full , 100%

2:55

, at the time you're working on them and

2:57

making sure that these things succeed and get out

2:59

there at the time that they need to ?

3:01

I think that that's still something that I'm

3:03

learning , especially now . So I recently

3:06

resigned from TMZ . I've been resigned

3:08

from TMZ for about two weeks now . Because

3:11

of that , things started to pick up

3:13

in a way that I felt like I wasn't able

3:15

to give 100% to them and to Brown

3:18

Girl Grinding as a production company and

3:20

a media company . But

3:22

it's kind of like trial and error . A

3:25

lot of stuff is still new for me . I'm

3:27

still like a very small business

3:29

, so money and finances are

3:31

not always as abundant as

3:33

you want them to be . So paying a team is hard

3:35

, so you have to do a lot of things by yourself

3:38

. So a lot of times it's trial and error

3:40

, like , okay , I tried to do all three

3:42

of these major projects and then one

3:44

of them slapped and I felt the brunt

3:46

from that and I'm like , okay , I'm never going to do

3:48

that again . Next time I'm going to say yes

3:50

to maybe two , wait later

3:53

for number three or figure

3:55

out a way to be able to bring on a couple of people to

3:57

help me or whatever . It's really not

3:59

something that I think you ever learn

4:02

how to do . You just learn how to flow with it , because

4:04

at each level things get like they

4:06

pull your time a bit more . So , like now

4:08

that I'm stepping

4:10

away from a major platform like TMZ

4:12

and deciding to develop and produce

4:15

content and be talent . Outside of that

4:17

, I'm doing what I was doing before

4:19

I got to TMZ and what got me to TMZ

4:21

, but it's just a whole different level now because I've

4:24

been nationally syndicated for like seven

4:26

years , breaking some of the world's biggest stories for

4:28

like seven years , and you don't realize how

4:31

much of a different

4:33

playing field that puts you in until you get back

4:35

outside and you're like , oh okay

4:37

, wait , so my peers are these

4:39

people . Now , like you know , I'm on a different level

4:41

. It requires a lot more

4:44

now , but it's still the same where I'm in

4:46

it . I'm like the new kid in school where I'm learning how

4:48

to juggle everything . Who should

4:50

I have on my team ? How do I pay the team ? How

4:52

do I delegate ? Because this is my baby

4:54

, you know . So I don't know if that answers your question

4:57

, but I don't think that you I've figured

4:59

it out fully . I just go as it comes

5:01

and learn from what didn't work the day before

5:03

.

5:04

Talk to me about moving from post

5:07

TMZ world now into 100%

5:09

Brown girl grinding . Tmz

5:12

opened doors . Right , you could pick

5:14

up the phone , say you're with TMZ . That would

5:16

open a door .

5:17

They depend on who you call baby , because some people might

5:19

hang up on you , others they're like , oh no , tmz

5:21

, no , but I get what you mean .

5:24

But so have you been . Have

5:26

you felt that you're successful in kind of pivoting

5:28

those contents or contacts and

5:30

that relationship now , post

5:33

TMZ world , or as

5:35

you kind of approach that world , do

5:37

you think that there are some opportunities for

5:39

you to kind of matriculate over some of those

5:41

relationships ?

5:43

I think that and I was worried about that

5:45

, right , like I was like , okay , you

5:47

can say what you want about TMZ , but TMZ

5:49

you can't get around them . Like

5:51

TMZ is the biggest pop culture

5:54

, entertainment , news , political , like whatever

5:56

you want to talk about , tmz is

5:58

number one , at the crust of it and breaking major

6:00

stories . So we're not just a part of the conversation

6:02

, they're not just a part of the conversation

6:05

, they are leading the conversation . So

6:07

, to be a part of that for so long and have these

6:09

relationships because of that , because everybody wants

6:11

to be a part of that vehicle , whether they hate it or not

6:13

, because it creates superstars

6:15

, it makes restaurants the number one restaurant

6:18

in LA or the world . You know , we

6:20

talk about things or they talk about things . For

6:22

a certain amount of time , you literally can become

6:25

the biggest at what you're doing in that moment

6:27

, right ? So because of that

6:29

, you're in demand . Everybody

6:31

wants to talk to you , everybody wants to do lunch , everybody

6:34

wants to do drinks and all that stuff , right ? So

6:36

my fear was like and I think that's

6:38

why I stuck there so long because

6:41

I got into the point where I was like I think it's time

6:43

for me to figure some stuff out outside of here . This

6:46

is good , but , like there's other things I want to do . But

6:49

when you build those relationships , it's tough

6:51

because you don't know who , when you step away , will

6:53

answer the phone or continue to answer the phone . But

6:55

one of the things that I found and I'm

6:57

like wow , like this is a blessing is

7:00

that you have to build

7:02

it anyway . So , regardless , if I had stayed

7:04

there for more years , when I stepped off

7:06

, I was going to be the new kid at school . So whoever doesn't

7:08

pick up the phone just doesn't . And

7:10

I have enough confidence in what

7:12

I'm doing and where I'm going that you're

7:14

going to have to spend a block on when you do what's going to cost

7:17

you . And I say that with

7:19

the most humblest , most sincerest

7:21

, like you know , intention behind it

7:23

, because I think the relationships that

7:25

I built and the people that I worked with , in the morals

7:27

and integrity that I have , those people have

7:29

carried over . I have not yet

7:31

picked up the phone and told someone I'm sorry I don't work

7:33

at TMZ anymore and I've been like , okay

7:36

, cool , we'll call you back . Everybody's like well , where are you at ? What

7:38

are you doing ? How can we help ? When are you

7:40

back in LA . I want to hear what you're doing , and it's because

7:42

, yes , I was a part of this brand

7:44

that is major and was way bigger than me , but

7:46

as a person , I treat people good , I'm

7:48

very thorough in my work , I'm very , you know

7:50

, factual , and I'm just myself , and

7:52

a lot of that comes from where I grew up at , you know , grown up in

7:55

the city Like you are who you are , and

7:57

if you're not , people know it . So I've

7:59

always kept true to that in my jobs

8:01

, and because of that , I think I built relationships where

8:04

people are just waiting to see how they

8:06

can help me , and people are like I

8:08

even had you know leadership , you know

8:10

, within jobs and within certain roles

8:12

even there it'd be like you're going to be great . I'm surprised

8:14

, you know we were able to keep you for this long , so

8:17

I was worried about that , but it has been

8:19

working . I think the biggest thing

8:21

, though , is I always tell people like

8:24

you have to stay ready , so you don't have to get ready . So

8:27

I've been building Brown Girl Grinding as a

8:29

marketing and production company , so

8:31

we are currently doing development

8:33

and selling shows for different people

8:35

. Now it'll be one of mine . We

8:37

do marketing . We have a client called Lobo 1707

8:40

, which is a tequila brand . Some of you guys may know of it

8:42

because LeBron is a major investor , but

8:45

our job in LA is to help them , you know , build

8:47

their sales in their marketing footprint Right

8:49

. So I was kind of slowly building

8:51

these things because I knew I was going to have

8:53

to step off . But

8:57

what I noticed is that when people call me

8:59

, the first thing they say is well , where are you at now ? And

9:02

it took some getting used to , but now

9:04

I'm just like I'm at Brown Girl Grinding . So

9:07

, yes , we are marketing and production as you knew us

9:09

before , because we couldn't be a media

9:11

outlet , because I couldn't compete with TMZ . But

9:14

we built up that audience and that community because

9:16

now you know , the one thing that TMZ

9:18

doesn't have is me , in my opinion . So

9:20

now all of my opinion and everything I'm

9:22

building up in my own platform . So

9:25

I've had friends call me with major artists . My

9:27

first week out of TMZ I was able to break

9:29

a story with a little Uzi for

9:32

his upcoming album or project

9:34

, barter 16 , which is like really highly

9:36

anticipated . The fans are like , where is it at Right ? And

9:39

y'all know rap fans . They don't want to keep seeing pictures

9:41

in studios . They want the music . So

9:43

fans are like you know , where is it , where is it , where is it

9:45

? And I had someone

9:47

from one of the teams involved

9:50

call me and say , hey , we don't have a release

9:52

state yet , but we do have a

9:54

EP . Like you know , london on the Track will be

9:56

executive producing this project . So

9:58

it's real , it's happening . Here's some photos y'all

10:00

can do . And I'm like well , I'm not at TMZ anymore . And

10:03

they're like well , where are you ? Wherever you are , you

10:05

can take it . So we were able to break our first exclusive

10:07

, you know , rap news , which is really where I want to

10:09

center , although we talk about everything the

10:12

first week out , because , again , these are people

10:14

that , like I've built really good relationships with , where

10:16

they're like if we can support you by you

10:18

tweeting something and then having our artists

10:20

retweet it , and we're looking at you like you

10:22

know what I mean , we'll do it

10:24

. But it was a natural transition , like so

10:26

many people . No one , no one asked me like

10:28

well , why are you talking about news and you're not at

10:30

TMZ anymore ? No-transcript

10:34

, like went with it . It was kind of crazy . I'm

10:36

like okay , so you guys like we're

10:38

here , we're really here . So it's rolled

10:40

over fine , because I had the structure

10:42

a bit still building it out . But

10:44

the staying ready so you don't have to get ready

10:46

is a thing , because there was a

10:48

time period where I was like , is there gonna

10:50

be a fall off Because people aren't gonna see me on

10:53

that station anymore , but the people on

10:55

my social media they kept up . Hey

10:57

, we were looking for you to talk about this . If I don't

10:59

post about something like when Carly

11:01

Russell , when she , before

11:04

her attorney , came out and admitted that you know

11:06

all of that was false , they did a

11:08

press conference prior to where they talked about the

11:10

fact that they they couldn't say it , but you

11:12

knew that , you know they talked about what they

11:14

found in her phone and all that stuff . I

11:16

was live tweeting a press conference

11:18

from my Twitter . I was thinking I think I was like four

11:20

days out of TMZ . People really didn't even know I

11:22

left yet because I hadn't announced it and everybody

11:25

was commenting on my live tweets like

11:27

can you go live on Instagram ? We wanna hear

11:29

you talk about this . Like we didn't see you on the show today . So

11:31

I went live on Instagram and it was like my biggest live

11:33

that I've had in like probably two years

11:35

because people wanted to hear me . You

11:38

know what I mean . So the platform was

11:40

there and I just did it . So it's

11:42

been an easy transition in that point .

11:44

What do you think are some of the attributes that make for

11:46

a successful relationship , as

11:49

it relates to kind of creating this circle

11:51

of advisors , circle of trustees

11:53

, in order to help kind of

11:55

move the brand forward ?

11:57

I'm still learning . You mean , like a team , I'm

12:00

still figuring that out , but you know from

12:02

trial and error what I'm really big on

12:04

is like people that move with intention

12:06

, people that move fast . You know

12:08

I work in media and now

12:10

reporting on it , everything goes Like in the time

12:12

that we sit here , so many different things

12:14

are gonna happen . But also

12:16

, too , I think you know

12:18

like it's really just a labor of love

12:20

at this point because , again , I'm not

12:22

a big vehicle yet , right ? So

12:25

you're not here for the money . You know

12:27

anybody that's working with me , whether it's a

12:29

one-off or you know even me being

12:31

here it's because you believe in what I'm doing and

12:33

you see that there is potential and

12:35

that's what I want Like . So everyone that I've

12:37

been working with , everyone that you know I'm

12:39

looking to work with , it's always about

12:42

are you gonna love my baby the way that I do right

12:44

? Like ? And how well are you gonna play

12:46

your role ? How well are you able to be like

12:48

? Hey , you might be graphic

12:51

designer today , but I might need you to come to an event

12:53

with me and hold the camera , like because we're building

12:55

, and once we build in whatever , you'll be able to do whatever

12:57

, but are you locked in , like

13:00

are you 10 toes down ? So that's kind of like the biggest

13:02

thing for me right now . I was like people that are willing to

13:04

like go like this with me , like it's

13:06

a roller coaster right now .

13:08

You've interviewed huge names like Mariah Carey

13:10

and Larry King . Can you share

13:13

what makes those interviews so

13:15

successful ? As you're planning those interviews

13:17

, what do you find as kind of the best prep

13:19

?

13:20

None of those were planned at all

13:22

. So again , it's like

13:24

heavy on the stay ready so you don't have to get ready

13:26

. I think so . During those

13:28

times I was working for the TMZ tour and

13:30

that's how I started . So I literally started

13:32

from not even in the newsroom and built

13:35

my way to senior news producer . It

13:38

was all about just knowing what the world was talking

13:41

about and what was happening , and

13:43

I've always been a person that

13:45

, like in everything I do , I want to like

13:48

if you're never , ever going to have a chance

13:50

to talk to Mariah Carey or Larry King , I

13:52

can talk to that person for you , but I have to know

13:54

what you , as that regular person

13:56

who gets up and goes to your nine to five every day , would

13:59

want to hear from them , right ? So , just staying very

14:01

connected to like what's happening in the world

14:03

, who's outside , what are the conversations

14:06

. When I did Larry King

14:08

, he was at a bank in my tour

14:10

bus row by him and I pulled over , hopped off the tour

14:12

bus because that's how it works for the TMZ tour bus

14:14

and at the time

14:16

it was all the Donald Trump stuff where people

14:18

were like , oh my god , donald Trump

14:20

may be president . We don't know this guy

14:22

, who was this Trump ? And I

14:24

knew that Larry King and Donald Trump

14:26

used to be friends . I didn't really

14:29

know the depth of the friendship , but I

14:31

knew Larry King is a big New York guy . Donald Trump

14:33

ran New York forever you know what I mean and

14:35

he was a socialite in New York . So I'm like there's

14:37

no way that they haven't crossed

14:39

paths . So I was like you know , it'd be a good

14:42

idea to talk to him about Trump . And Larry King

14:44

is very , very opinionated . I've watched

14:46

some of his interviews , just knowing the

14:49

industry and just studying the greats staying

14:51

ready . So I asked him . First

14:54

of all , he didn't want to talk to me . He was like I don't have

14:56

no time and I was like , ok , well , I said

14:58

I have a question how do

15:00

you feel about Donald Trump right now ? And

15:02

he stopped and he paused . The question caught him

15:04

off guard and he got emotional

15:07

. It was very weird because you never I don't think I've

15:09

ever seen Larry King be emotional

15:11

about anything . He's such a good keep your

15:13

composure guy and

15:15

he was just like you know , I don't know this person and

15:19

he was . He went in on his opinion , but you could tell

15:21

that it was very like . It was almost

15:23

like two girlfriends who get into it because

15:25

one girlfriend and show up at the birthday dinner

15:27

. You know how . Y'all know how dramatic

15:29

that is right . So it was

15:31

like he was betrayed by his friend

15:33

and he felt like I don't know . He just felt

15:35

away and I don't think anyone had ever asked

15:38

him so he just let it all out . So

15:40

that interview , when I submitted

15:42

it it went everywhere and at the time I'm not in the newsroom

15:45

. So these are also me like dropping

15:47

little hints , like hey , I work for y'all

15:49

, I need y'all to know my name inside the newsroom . Mariah

15:52

Carey had just broke up with Nick Cannon . She

15:54

doesn't talk to anybody , but I knew I'm like Mariah

15:57

Carey is a girl , she's on Rodale , drought

15:59

, or Beverly she's

16:01

shopping . I'm a girl , it's

16:03

Labor Day weekend , I also like to party

16:05

. So I'm like she must be shopping for her weekend , she's

16:07

about to get ready to go out or something . So

16:10

I just pulled up to her bus , hopped out

16:12

, I said , oh , what are we shopping for ? Oh

16:14

, I'm going away for Labor Day weekend . I'm like

16:16

, okay , we'll bathe in two color , white or red . Like you know , regular

16:19

stuff , mimosas , margaritas , like

16:21

stuff to kind of make her feel like she's a person . That's another

16:23

thing too . Celebrities , I think , always

16:25

get approached like you want to make them

16:27

comfortable and you want to pad your conversations

16:30

and there's a way that you can get what

16:32

you need news wise and break news without

16:34

being disrespectful , without gaslighting

16:36

whatever . You treat them like a person . So

16:38

, as we're talking , I'm like okay , cool , she likes

16:41

me . Her security guard tried to move me . She's like no letters

16:43

there . I'm like all right , bet , now I can go for the kill shot . So

16:45

I'm like listen , I'm 25 years old . This was

16:47

a long time ago , y'all . I'm like I'm 25

16:50

years old . You just recently split

16:52

from the cannon . I've always

16:54

told people I don't think I don't know how marriage

16:56

will work for me because of what I do . It

16:58

seems like you guys didn't really work out because

17:01

you're Mariah Carey , like what's your advice to me

17:03

as a 25 year old watching you divorce him ? She

17:05

said don't do it . So

17:08

now she's speaking directly on a

17:10

recent separation that she never talks

17:12

to anybody about . Her first

17:14

response is don't do it . So you know everyone's going to

17:16

go crazy with that . And then she friends

17:18

on them . She was like you know he's a great person

17:20

. But because I'm like , well

17:22

, you're saying , don't do it , but you guys spent some time together

17:24

, we had kids together . Like you never go back . And she was

17:26

like , no , he's a great person , but baby , that's over . Like

17:29

so , to get that from her , 45

17:32

minutes of conversation is all because , like , I

17:34

just talked to her , like she was a person Like me , you

17:36

sitting here right now , like you know what I mean . I think

17:38

if you can make people comfortable and everybody that I study

17:41

the Angie Martinez , the

17:43

, larry King's , the , you know , even

17:45

at the most

17:47

tough interviews , howard Stern

17:49

, whatever they make you feel like , okay

17:52

, I could talk to this person . And then , boom

17:54

, now you're talking and hours went by , you

17:56

breaking national news from TMZ to CNN

17:59

, the Shade Room , the you know what I mean . So , but

18:01

I had to know what was going on in the world , too . I had to know

18:03

what people cared about . If I had never asked Mariah Carey

18:05

about Nick Cannon , that would have been a mess

18:07

. If I had never asked Larry King about Donald

18:10

Trump , that would have been a mess . But I had

18:12

to know how to do it where they're not like , who was this girl

18:14

with this camera ? You

18:16

know what I mean , mm-hmm .

18:18

You your YouTube huge , and

18:20

some of the best content that we can see

18:22

from you is either on Instagram or YouTube . What

18:25

inspired you to start it and how do

18:27

you feel like it's involved over time ?

18:30

I couldn't find a job and LA , nobody would

18:32

hire me , nobody would put me on camera . So

18:34

my cousin actually was

18:36

like , well , if you can't get a job

18:39

, you might as well just like make it . You do that

18:41

anyway with everything else . And

18:43

I was like , okay , cool . So she was like , yeah

18:45

, you know , like YouTube , like everybody's

18:47

there now and people

18:49

want to know the behind the scenes . Like I've

18:52

always been a person that did stuff

18:54

, whether I was here in Wilmington

18:57

, new York , la , wherever . She's

18:59

like you post all this stuff and you're doing

19:02

all this stuff consistently , but we don't know how

19:04

you do it . Everybody wants to get the sauce

19:06

, Everybody wants the game . You should start doing

19:08

more behind the scenes , taking us with you , type of

19:10

stuff . And at the time I didn't know that that

19:12

was called vlogging , because I didn't watch vloggers

19:15

on YouTube . I watched shows . Like they're

19:17

early . People Like Funk Flex had just

19:19

started picking up a camera and putting stuff on YouTube

19:21

. Breakfast Club was new . So I

19:23

was trying to create that because I'm like this

19:25

is where the world is gonna go . This was before podcasts

19:28

were on YouTube . This like I used to come

19:30

up to people with my camera and they'd be like who

19:32

are you with , and I'd be like YouTube and they'd be like what

19:34

? And now everybody's

19:37

there . But I

19:39

just knew I had to do something because

19:41

if not , when I finally got the opportunity

19:43

to be like I'm good on camera , I

19:45

would have nothing to show people because I couldn't get

19:47

a job on camera in LA . So

19:49

I started just going to events and

19:52

I would take a camera . I would have a friend with me

19:54

and I have my cell phone . My cell phone would

19:56

be the microphone for the audio

19:58

, my friend would hold the camera and then

20:00

I would just edit it together and put

20:02

it up , and then I

20:04

was also at the same time . So I had a show

20:06

called 2L Television on

20:08

the Rosa TV and then I

20:10

did the vlogs behind the scenes because I

20:12

might I don't know like I

20:15

just need to create something to do for myself . And

20:17

I realized that those vlogs

20:19

the numbers were better on that than

20:22

they were on like the celebrity interviews , because

20:24

people really like people were so

20:26

excited for me too , like I've always

20:28

had like a really supportive , like group of people

20:30

, like hometown group , family , all

20:32

of that . So people were

20:34

like we want to see more , we

20:36

want to see more , we want to see more and I had the time . So I was

20:38

on multiple vlogs a week sometimes and

20:41

I just realized like , okay , this is doing well , um

20:44

, my marketing background . I'm like I'm

20:47

on YouTube and I'm trying to figure out how do

20:49

people I literally used to get on YouTube and be like , how do you

20:51

afford to live in LA ? Because

20:53

I don't get it , like I'm missing something

20:55

, and I really couldn't find people who were

20:57

really being real

20:59

about their experience with it . Everybody

21:01

was like super curated and no shade

21:03

to the girls who do this because they , you know , they get their

21:06

money . But everybody was super branded

21:08

. It's like the fashion over . Try on hauls

21:10

and I'm like , you know , I like to

21:12

get dressed in an mbq , but like I really need

21:14

this information . So if I need it , I know someone

21:16

else does . So I was like okay , there's a hole in

21:18

the market , like boom , I'm just gonna fill that hole

21:20

, I'm just gonna keep serving that hole . It got

21:22

bigger over time because of things I was doing in real

21:24

life got bigger . But it did get difficult

21:26

because , like you know , when you're working with certain people

21:29

and you know You're working at certain platforms

21:31

, you can't really go into detail . I was

21:33

so used to telling you guys like

21:35

A to Z , everything

21:38

like my description on my channel

21:40

, like the bio is from my friends couch

21:42

to national TV , because literally

21:45

I talked you guys through my journey from my

21:47

friends couch to national TV . When

21:49

I got to TMZ and , like you

21:52

know , even outside of there , when I'll be booked

21:54

by certain brands , it's like you can't talk about certain

21:56

stuff like you know you NDA

21:58

or you just don't feel right putting out information

22:00

about things that you don't own or

22:03

do . You got to check with the brand . So I

22:05

kind of always felt a little restricted once things

22:07

started to get bigger . But people , I

22:09

would run into people in LA . I do to this

22:11

day . I still run into people that are like I

22:13

moved to LA because of your YouTube channel . I'm like

22:15

you did you kind of crazy , but

22:18

but thank you , but . So I knew that there

22:20

was a need for it . So I just kept going

22:22

and then you know now I cannot

22:24

, like I was able to afford videographers . So

22:26

like the quality got better . I learned

22:28

about Editing a bit more

22:30

, invested in a better camera , I wasn't just using

22:33

my iPhone , so the actual

22:35

content got better too .

22:37

Part of this conference theme is about generations

22:40

passing the baton from one generation to

22:42

another . Do you feel like you've had an opportunity

22:45

in your career where someone's passed the

22:47

baton to you , and if so , can you tell us a

22:49

little bit about it ?

22:50

Yeah , um , I Couldn't even

22:52

name all of the people . There's always

22:55

been that that like

22:57

entertainment and working in this field

22:59

and just being an entrepreneur in general , I feel like

23:01

everything that you do relies

23:03

off of your relationships . Like you can know

23:06

Everything , you can know the

23:08

book from front to back . You can have all

23:10

of the money , but a lot of times

23:12

and I would say 90% out of the hundred

23:15

of the times if you don't have the

23:17

right relationship , that's like the last thing you

23:19

need to green light something . So I've had

23:21

people you know from being here

23:23

in high school . I went to Howard High School . You

23:25

know like mentors there , people

23:29

that I produced fashion shows with there . Like when

23:31

I came into Howard was a transfer

23:33

student so nobody liked me . I like

23:35

ran from his sophomore one . So it's

23:37

like the girl that nobody knows is like doing all this stuff . Who

23:39

does she think she is ? But I had

23:41

leadership and counselors there that were like don't

23:44

worry about that , you're gonna be fine , you should do

23:46

this , you should do that . So early on I

23:48

learned you know like if you're in a position , you

23:50

put people in a position and then people in that

23:52

position learn who they are . Then

23:54

you know , like home has always

23:56

been supportive , so like being booked

23:58

to come back here to do like HBCU

24:01

week . You know , even being

24:03

here right now is because of a relationship that I have with Greg

24:05

. Shout out to Greg , it's

24:08

so many people all the time . My first entertainment

24:10

job I met a woman at Delaware

24:13

State who was casting for America's next top model

24:15

and I was like you're gonna be , you

24:17

know , my mentor . I'm gonna get on America's

24:19

next top model . I am the next model

24:21

. Like it's it the world . If I don't become

24:23

the next big model , there's no modeling

24:25

like it's over . And she's like you don't want to do that . And

24:28

then we talked a bit over time . She

24:30

to this day is still my mentor . She got

24:32

me a job at Project Runway All Stars . I

24:35

was fashion accessories coordinator . So that was my

24:37

first , like you know , on camera credits

24:39

and working with a network and seeing that entertainment

24:41

really is a real career . Everything

24:44

I've done has been because somebody has passed up a time .

24:48

No doubt part of our journey right

24:50

is failure , and you know using

24:52

that as a stepping stone to success . So

24:55

can you tell us about a moment when you

24:57

faced failure and how it led you to either

24:59

pivot or grow in your career ?

25:01

There's been a lot of different times , like something

25:03

recent , because how far you want me to go back

25:06

whatever you're most comfortable with I . Think

25:08

. More recently , like before I

25:10

decided to step away from TMZ , my biggest thing

25:12

was I need to build a team . I need to build a team . I need a

25:15

built team because I know what's coming , I know

25:17

what I want to do , and that is not easy

25:19

. Sure , like hiring people

25:21

, understanding people's needs . When you're hiring

25:23

them , working with them , whether it's , you

25:26

know , full-time or Contracted

25:28

, it's not easy at all . And we

25:30

had our first person be like I

25:32

don't think this is gonna work for me . And

25:34

I was like , like

25:37

in my mind , I'm like , well , what did I do wrong ? Like

25:39

, oh my god , like I wanted

25:41

this to be like the best experience from start to

25:43

finish . Like you know what I mean , I was always

25:45

very transparent about what we have , but we don't have

25:48

what we can do , what we can do . So

25:50

I think in that moment I kind of felt like as an

25:52

entrepreneur , like , is my business

25:54

like the type of business ? Because I've worked at jobs ? I'm

25:56

like I hate it here . I don't ever want to be here

25:58

again . I don't understand why anyone else works here

26:00

, and I've always said that I wanted to build

26:03

, like you know , corporations

26:05

and different businesses that people who

26:07

worked , or you might not love it every day , but you're

26:09

never gonna feel like that . I always want people to feel like we

26:11

care about them , we're investing in them as much

26:13

as we can , but we can only do what we can do

26:16

. So I was like for a while

26:18

I was just like in my head , like , wow , am

26:20

I that boss that people hate ? Like

26:22

, is this , you know , is this company not , you

26:24

know , giving what I think it needs to give ? Like

26:26

, are we still in line with our mission ? Am I too

26:28

focused on , you know , hitting goals and not really figuring

26:30

out the middle part ? You know , is

26:33

it just because I don't have a bunch of money ? Like , where

26:35

do I find the money Grant ? Like grants

26:38

, all this stuff ? And then I realized , like

26:40

I talked to a couple friends who you know run

26:42

businesses Very successfully

26:44

that you know have bigger teams , way

26:46

bigger teams , like two to three hundred people . And

26:49

one of the things you know that a good friend of mine said

26:51

to me is , like you know , that's

26:53

one of the hardest things that will ever happen to you

26:56

is either someone deciding to leave your

26:58

company that you feel like you've invested time

27:00

and resources in , or you

27:02

know you having to let someone go . But

27:04

it's a learning lesson in each

27:06

thing that you do , you learn and you should take

27:09

that and make the business stronger . You should take that

27:11

and kind of know what you're ready for , because maybe

27:13

you weren't ready to have that person in

27:15

that position internally . Maybe you should have contracted

27:17

her you know what I mean or maybe you should have . Whatever

27:20

the case may be . And when she said it to me that

27:22

way , I was like okay , bet , so

27:25

like I got some work to do , like I don't think that

27:27

there was anything that I did wrong . There was , you

27:29

know . I just wanted to make sure that , like you know , everyone's

27:31

experience with me and with the brown girl grinding

27:34

is the best that it can be at all times

27:36

, especially because we're new and we're growing . But

27:39

from that I felt like it was a failure

27:41

. But in that I really learned like you

27:44

can only do what you can do and being

27:46

as resourceful as you are , positioning

27:49

is going to be very difficult for

27:51

you because you have so many different people you

27:53

can reach out to . But you really need to understand

27:55

what is the strategy , what is the reason when you're

27:57

reaching out to people , when you're bringing them on

27:59

your team . When you're deciding , you

28:02

know if you want them internally , long term or

28:04

contracted . Why , like

28:06

, is it just a thing of to be able to say , oh

28:08

my god , I have a team and I think entrepreneurs

28:11

getting that too , especially with Instagram . It's like

28:13

I want to have a team and I want to post

28:15

behind the scenes and we're working and everybody's

28:17

grinding , everybody's hustling , but it's like you

28:19

got all these people here . You know the strategy

28:22

doesn't make sense . You really don't need them here for all this

28:24

time . What's the mission

28:26

? What are we accomplishing ? What's the project ? Can a person

28:28

be project a project ? Can they be contracted ? Can they

28:30

? There's so much that goes into it that

28:33

people don't talk about . So I felt

28:35

like a failure , but I learned like no , you just

28:37

need to learn what your business really needs , like

28:39

inside and out , and Then take

28:41

it to other people and fill those voids .

28:44

What do you think are some of the most important

28:46

attributes when you're building a team ? What

28:48

do you look for in other individuals

28:50

to know that they're right for you ?

28:52

I think you have to Be honest

28:54

again . You got to be honest about what you need

28:56

and be honest , upfront about that . I

28:59

definitely think that self starters are always

29:01

going to win the race . I don't care what industry it is

29:03

, people that can hit the ground running , people

29:05

that are very resourceful . And I also

29:08

think that it's the thing of , especially when you're

29:10

a small business and you're growing I mentioned this

29:12

earlier you need people to really believe in your

29:14

vision , because what I've

29:16

learned to from that experience is

29:18

I'm not the day-to-day Like . I'm

29:21

day-to-day with my business , but I'm

29:23

the visionary right . So like . I

29:25

see us as like . People always ask

29:27

me like , well , what is Bronco grinding ? Like I don't

29:29

get it where you're gonna go . And I'm like you . Everybody

29:31

in here knows Nike right . When you

29:34

see a Nike shoe , you know it's top

29:36

quality . When you see a Nike commercial , you know

29:38

, okay , this is legit . If you meet someone

29:40

that says , oh , I work with Nike , you're like , ooh

29:42

, they're serious about their business , brown

29:45

girl grinding . I always say we will be Nike

29:47

when it comes to content , production , when it comes

29:49

to , you know , show development , script

29:52

writing , marketing , anything

29:55

that we touch and decide to do in any realm

29:57

, but I think that

29:59

I see that now as a visionary , the

30:01

same way I saw everything else that's happening right

30:03

, but a person who may

30:06

not have my forward vision only

30:08

can see what's in front of them , and you need those people

30:10

. Everybody plays a role in a business

30:13

and when you're hiring a team . So I need

30:15

people on my team who see day-to-day

30:17

and like the incrementals of day-to-day . Like I have an

30:19

assistant who literally

30:21

all she be on me and

30:23

I'm like I know I'm annoying and

30:25

you feel like you might be babysitting me sometimes , but

30:27

like I'm so high level sometimes

30:30

that all the stuff down here it's

30:32

not getting the hundred percent . So

30:34

One of the biggest things that I

30:37

learned was like you need people that are those day-to-day

30:39

. We don't have the big vision , but we're

30:41

here for the vibe . And then you also need people

30:43

who understand the vision as well , too , for

30:46

the long term , but can also work that day-to-day . It's like

30:48

Like when you're you know

30:50

, like when you watch a race , there's like everybody

30:52

has a role , so it's like you have the Supporters

30:54

on the sidelines , that people are to actually in the race

30:56

, the people that are like monitoring , making

30:58

sure that all the rules are correct the

31:01

people who are announcing and talking , but like

31:03

all together says grand production

31:05

. I think about it like that , like when I'm

31:07

building a team . Now I've learned Everybody

31:10

doesn't have to be like the Huge

31:13

oh my god , we're going to make this

31:15

Nike person . But as long as when

31:17

you say that to them they're like okay , I believe it . So

31:20

, day-to-day , if you want to be Nike , we need to do a

31:22

BC and D . I can't talk to you about next

31:24

week , because if I'm working at Nike

31:26

, you know Today these

31:28

are the things we need to get done so that tomorrow

31:30

is successful , so that Wednesday , thursday , friday

31:33

and then we'll get to next week . But then you also need

31:35

those long-term planners too .

31:37

How do you feel like being from Wilmington , delaware

31:39

, or rather , do you believe your roots

31:41

in Wilmington , delaware have played a significant

31:44

role in shaping your career path ?

31:46

Oh , a hundred percent . I feel like you

31:49

never know what you're going to get from me . Like I

31:51

Grew up here and I grew up in inner city , so

31:54

it's like you know , it comes a little bit of flavor

31:56

that a lot of people don't have . And then

31:58

I also Grew up here to the point

32:00

where I got to watch when Wilmington

32:03

didn't have stuff like this and

32:05

we were literally here making it . Like

32:07

me , my friends , the blakes

32:09

, the newties , the like we

32:11

were creating , like the social

32:13

life and the sit-down conversations

32:16

in the fashion shows and the you know I mean

32:18

, and they were historical . People did them every year . We

32:20

supported the hair shows or whatever . So I got

32:23

an entrepreneurial spirit from that . And

32:26

then you , you come back

32:28

from college . I went to Dell State and I came back and I

32:30

worked for Barclay Cart and then I'm

32:32

like , wow , so there's a corporate world here too

32:34

. So then I got to see that and

32:36

I think it just made me like Super

32:38

well-rounded . I feel like I can

32:40

go in any room , I can go in any state

32:43

, any country , wherever , and I'll

32:45

be fine . Like I , you know , the lights

32:47

might be off for like a second or two , like

32:50

I take the heels off until I can find a light switch . But

32:52

once I do I'm going to flourish and I think that

32:55

I don't . I really I tell

32:57

kids that I talk to all the time I'm growing

32:59

up in the inner city . It has its challenges

33:02

. You see a lot of stuff early . You , you know

33:04

you have to learn to deal with a lot of stuff and

33:06

you know I was a first-generation college student

33:08

. So even doing fast foot and all that I

33:10

was like , okay , this is a whole different

33:12

world but you are built with like a

33:14

fight that it I

33:18

don't , it's just unmatched and and then it

33:20

becomes like what I learned is is that you

33:22

learn strategy early Because

33:24

you got to stay afloat . You can

33:26

even to this day in Wilmington Like there's

33:28

a lot of good things going on here and you

33:30

know things are supported , but at the same

33:32

time there's also a lot of other stuff that's happening

33:35

and the people that wake up in that and live that

33:37

every single day . You got to strategize

33:39

if you want to make it to next week and it's

33:42

a tough situation to be in , but when you

33:44

come from a place like that that also

33:46

has the positive things that really

33:49

like draw things out of you . You

33:51

learn that like that type of strategy could

33:53

become a A

33:56

producer on a major TV show

33:58

because you understand how to take

34:00

nothing to make it something . That type of strategy

34:02

can become one of the biggest basketball coaches

34:04

in whatever conference , because you understand

34:07

kids and like hunger and pushing

34:09

and pushing somebody to the limit and using

34:11

Bad things to turn into good

34:14

and motivation , all that stuff . Like you just understand things

34:16

so differently and you're just you're really

34:18

just Coming from Delaware . I

34:20

think that I was just raised with a

34:22

certain level of integrity and morals that when

34:25

we talk about those relationships that I had to figure

34:27

out if they were gonna still answer the phone for me , they're

34:29

still answering the phone and it's like what

34:32

do you need ? How can I ? And

34:34

then this is like from here at home to

34:36

LA , to New York , wherever

34:38

, like when I got on breakfast club , no

34:40

one knew that I quit my job . I don't think I told you guys

34:43

yet Nobody knew so

34:45

, but I knew . I'm like if I announced that I'm

34:47

leaving one of the world's biggest platforms On

34:50

another one of the world's biggest platforms , it

34:52

puts me in a whole different conversation because I'm also

34:55

talent . I'm a free agent now you

34:57

know and I mean people didn't know that I , you

34:59

know , wanted to do anything else but

35:01

to be at TMZ because I was good

35:03

while I was there . That was strategy

35:05

. That was me , you know , growing up in

35:07

woman's , and it's like okay Cool if you

35:09

go to Howard High School and Howard High School is known for the

35:11

fashion shows and then you go to Delcastle and Delcastle

35:14

is known for I don't know like sports

35:16

at the time you got to know what house

35:18

you're and you got to know how to navigate the game in those

35:20

different houses and I learned that literally here

35:22

. So that was like me being like okay , babe

35:24

, so I'm about to do this , I'm about to put it out there

35:26

and it'll work out . But I learned

35:29

a lot of that , like you know

35:31

. I mean my phone blew up . Like for two

35:33

days I literally couldn't even get through my phone because

35:35

so many people were like what

35:37

do you need ? How can we help you ? When's

35:39

the podcast dropping ? Do you have episodes

35:42

we can watch ? I have a corporate partner here that

35:44

you know does advertising for podcasts

35:46

. I got people here at you know this

35:48

network that are looking to give money to black

35:51

women based and centered content and

35:53

I'm just like whoa , you know , just

35:55

wait , it's all coming , it's all happening

35:58

. We're gonna do this right now , fast . But

36:00

those type of things , when you're you

36:02

know , you're raised a certain way , you come from certain stuff

36:04

that's embedded in you and I don't change .

36:07

As an entrepreneur , can you share some habits

36:09

or routines that you think have contributed

36:11

to your growth or success ?

36:14

Getting up at a certain time every single day , even

36:17

though I don't have I don't have to Following

36:21

through with something which I'm still getting better

36:23

at . Like , for instance , I'll

36:26

make 50 to do this , and it'd be like you

36:28

know what I need to take a nap . That was stressful . But

36:31

now , as an entrepreneur , I can't do

36:33

that because it's like if I don't get through those to do list , I

36:36

have , you know , people that

36:38

need to be paid , that if I don't get paid , they don't get

36:40

paid . It all that runs through my mind . So I'm

36:42

getting better at if I put something on my to-do

36:44

list and I can do it right , then , and there , I

36:46

don't care if I'm sitting at this table , if I can still hear

36:49

the conversation . I'm on my phone

36:51

and I'm getting it done . Yeah

36:55

, and being present , I think that that's important too

36:57

. We miss a lot , of , a lot of

36:59

stuff . So , like when I'm on a zoom meeting

37:01

, if I'm , you

37:03

know , out and about at an event like you

37:06

know , this is a couple days of a conference and

37:08

it was an option to just speak here today

37:10

and just going about my business and I'm like you know what . No

37:12

, like you know , I'm the new girl at school . We

37:14

have a lot of things coming up . I want to be present . I want to be

37:16

here . I want to meet people . This is a new world for

37:18

me and women's and I didn't even know a lot of this stuff existed

37:20

. I want to be here . I want to meet people . I want to

37:22

put my phone away . I want to all that . So I

37:25

think all those things are important . You got to put

37:27

yourself on the schedule , stick to the

37:29

schedule , get up early . I

37:31

learned from working in media . The

37:33

world operates on East East Coast

37:35

time . New York is a center of it all . So

37:38

if I'm in LA , I'm used to waking up

37:40

around like four or five newsroom starts at six . I'm

37:42

keeping that . When I'm here , especially

37:44

if you're working in content or creative , the

37:47

world starts to go between

37:49

, I would say

37:51

, anywhere from 6 am

37:53

Really like 5

37:56

am Eastern Standard Time to like 9 30

37:58

. After that there's a big fall off and you

38:00

have like your evening stuff that people care about . But like

38:02

that's why the morning shows are numbing like the biggest

38:04

, the highest rated . They're paid very well because

38:06

the world works off of like that early

38:08

time . So now I don't have a

38:10

content person , I am the content person , so

38:12

I'm getting up every morning making Sean posting

38:15

at least three things , you know , something motivational

38:17

, inspirational , something news related

38:20

, maybe something opinionated . So I'll tweet something

38:22

instead of just retweeting it . I'll add my

38:24

opinion to it , repost it . But I'm on

38:26

that schedule and that's very important because

38:28

it leads the rest of my day .

38:32

As we talked earlier about one generation

38:34

passing the baton to a next , how do

38:36

you see yourself contributing to the development

38:38

of future talents in either the in the

38:41

entertainment industry or Fashion

38:43

or social media ? How do you see yourself really

38:45

helping to to bring up that next

38:47

generation of influencer ?

38:49

I want to do more and

38:52

that that's kind like the building back of Bronco grinding

38:54

. We have these events called the Bronco grinding meetups

38:56

and the name of it comes

38:58

from the days when youtubers used to be like

39:01

yo , I'm in Time Square

39:03

, kai sent sent Kaisen

39:05

it . He just did that and it didn't go well . But

39:07

um , but like back , like

39:09

when you two was first like Building

39:12

as like the place where everybody was . You

39:14

two was used to do that all the time and it was a way for them

39:16

to connect with their audience in person and

39:19

to get content . So I've

39:21

always wanted to do those . So we created

39:23

this event called the Bronco grinding meetup . My

39:25

first one kicked off in Wilmington , delaware , with

39:27

don't call me white girl Mona , who was a podcaster

39:30

. Then we went to New York Fashion Week and sold

39:32

out and we are coming back to New York Fashion

39:34

Week in September . Those events girls

39:36

whoever , but primarily women

39:39

. You know we are heavy

39:41

in the the black women

39:43

space because I'm a black woman , but

39:45

they come out . They get to learn from people

39:47

firsthand , right here , that like they

39:49

may not have been able to just reach out to the next

39:51

questions to . So that's

39:53

a thing . But I also want to get more involved

39:55

with the brown girl grinding and doing more things . Delaware

39:58

state is like a heart , like

40:01

you know , part of my heart , because I went

40:03

there and I feel like I learned so much about myself While I was

40:05

in college . So you know , I've

40:07

been in conversation and just reaching out to people at Dell State

40:09

trying to figure out what we can do on campus for undergraduate

40:12

students Conversation wise

40:14

, bring in some resources to the school , even if it's just people to

40:16

come and talk . So those are

40:18

the type of things . But also to like , people hit me up all the

40:20

time . People call me , text me , they

40:23

DM me . If I can get back to you , I will

40:25

thank you know , drop you a couple lines

40:27

. I got you . I try to do as much as I can , honestly

40:29

.

40:30

What's been one of the more surprising or unexpected

40:33

parts of your career journey so far .

40:35

I think what is most surprising

40:38

to me all the time is , like you

40:40

, you ever had like a party and you invite

40:42

a bunch of people and you're like I'm gonna

40:45

say like 20 people might show up , and

40:48

then like 20 , like maybe 30 people

40:50

show up and you're like , oh okay , every

40:52

single time I do something , whether it's an event

40:55

or like just anything , I'm

40:57

always like these people really came

40:59

, like they're

41:01

really like I'm a little crazy . I'm like y'all are really

41:03

here . Like okay , I appreciate the support

41:05

. I've always had like a really really

41:08

good support system on family

41:10

, to friends or whatever . But I think

41:12

it's different when , like you don't know

41:14

me whatsoever . We recently shot

41:16

a commercial because I'm still campaigning for the breakfast

41:19

club . So if you guys are on Instagram , twitter or Facebook

41:21

, go tell the breakfast club Loren Rosanie Rosanie

41:23

is to be their next house . Shameless club

41:25

but we shot a commercial at my

41:27

event space at our own right around the corner on

41:29

9th , and Tatnall and I just Like

41:32

one a friend again was like

41:34

bro , you can't just like wait for them to like give

41:36

you the spot you need to , like , you know , run it up . So

41:39

I'm like I bet we're gonna do a commercial . I tweeted

41:41

like , hey , I need people to show

41:43

up at all black . We're gonna do the commercial

41:45

. I didn't really know how many people were gonna show up

41:47

. I didn't know if people were gonna show up at all , but people showed

41:50

up . They were on time , they were in all black , they

41:52

were like the commercials on my Instagram

41:54

it's about to 100,000 views . They

41:57

were like with it , like they got , we did a protest

41:59

scene . They were in character , they were , they

42:02

were like giving us ideas and I'm like wow

42:04

, like you know , people really believe in

42:06

what you have going on . Wow

42:09

, like that's always like a whoo , because you

42:11

never know , when you put things out there into the world and

42:13

as talent , I'm putting myself out there every day how

42:15

people receive you and how they connect

42:17

with you .

42:19

Sitting here today . What does success

42:21

look like for you ?

42:24

Success for me looks like

42:26

ownership . Success

42:29

looks like happiness and

42:31

being able to spend time with my family . Success

42:34

for me looks like being able to do things for other people

42:36

and pass the baton back . Like you mentioned

42:38

, success looks like Brown

42:41

Girl Grinding as a production and Broadcast

42:43

Media Company , standing next to the

42:45

ESA Rays , the Nikes , the TMZs

42:47

, the big , the shade

42:50

rooms , those big conglomerates

42:52

of the world . And

42:55

I think success for me looks like just

42:58

waking up

43:00

every single day and being like I

43:03

love what I'm doing , even on the worst days . I love

43:05

what I'm doing . I love how it's affecting

43:07

people and it's really changing somebody's

43:09

life , even if it's not like I might

43:11

not know who directly , but

43:13

just a conversation that we're causing from our

43:16

content or something that we're posting

43:18

, or an event that we had . You came and you

43:20

left feeling like , okay , I can go do this

43:22

or I can get through this job , and you actually went and

43:24

did it and it was successful . Like those

43:27

. Those like things are a success

43:29

for me .

43:31

As we wrap up , can you think about one of the more

43:33

significant challenges you or

43:35

other young aspiring people may

43:37

face today and how you feel like we can

43:39

overcome them together ?

43:41

I think money is a big issue when

43:44

you're building , especially when you're in the creative

43:46

field . You hear so much that this

43:48

is a dying industry . There's no money

43:51

in it . You

43:53

watch as teams get smaller

43:55

. You know people get fired

43:58

, your friends around you are losing jobs and

44:00

like so much changes

44:03

so fast and

44:06

you're always trying to figure out how to keep the lights on

44:08

even if you don't have lights right , like you're trying

44:10

to figure out how to pay your rent , how to pay that camera

44:12

guy because you need the content , how to

44:14

, you know , pay for the merch that people want to buy

44:16

, how to throw the next event

44:18

. So I think being able to figure out

44:21

, you know funding , having a conversation

44:23

about like loans and and and

44:25

like debt , and how to manage it and

44:27

not always being a bad thing , but it being a building thing

44:29

. I didn't learn that credit wasn't that debt

44:32

and credit wasn't bad until

44:34

I got the college and I

44:36

come from entrepreneurs . You know

44:38

what I mean , but they were always taught you don't want to owe

44:40

nobody , nothing . And I learned I worked at

44:42

Barclay Card . I'm like wait , so you

44:44

mean to tell me people get credit cards , I'll build their business

44:47

and they pay it back and the credit in

44:49

the business and then they keep other people's

44:51

money is the key Like , so , I think

44:53

, education around that , but actually

44:55

like giving people that as a resource

44:57

and not just the big people to like

44:59

, not just you know , the people who

45:01

are really building . They needed to , the people

45:03

that already there , they needed to . But there's

45:06

a lot of people who are very small

45:08

, very startup , maybe local

45:10

, that have great ideas that can turn

45:12

into major things , even if locally

45:14

. That I think sometimes people overlook

45:16

and they go for , like the means

45:18

of the world , come to me , I need the money

45:20

to . But I have a lot of friends

45:23

here who I'm like yo , that's so dope

45:25

. Why don't you know about this

45:27

person who gives grants for that ? And

45:29

it's like oh , because you know they don't want to talk to me . They

45:32

want to talk to the girl with Instagram followers or whatever

45:34

. So that's really important and

45:36

just support . You never know how just showing up for somebody

45:39

can mean something . Like if somebody , if I'm

45:41

in town and , like you know , the homies are having an event , I

45:44

try and pull up . I try and you know

45:46

if I could post about it , I do . You

45:48

know I'm still building as talent . So I appreciate

45:50

everyone who reaches out to me and books me , especially

45:53

if they from hometown . Like people have been literally

45:55

keeping me booked since before TMZ . Like

45:57

I was in high school hosting

45:59

events and all that stuff , because people here

46:02

supported me , because I support them as well too

46:04

. That's really major showing up for people

46:06

when you can , even if

46:08

it's just an Instagram post or comment .

46:10

Talk to me if you could go back and

46:12

tell a Loren or or another

46:14

younger artist looking to go down your

46:16

same path , what's , what's your first

46:18

piece of advice for them ?

46:20

Girl , you got this . Like

46:23

, honestly , it's just because you , you don't know what

46:25

, you don't know . Like you get in these rooms and you feel

46:27

like , oh , my God , like

46:30

I'm in this room , how did I get

46:32

here ? But it's like you're not

46:34

here by chance . You're

46:36

here because you're support getting to your

46:38

God . Don't

46:41

say , oh , it's going to make it worse , no

46:44

, but I'm just . I think I'm just really looking

46:46

back over everything . It's just like this

46:48

is crazy , like I would

46:50

have never imagined all of this stuff

46:52

ever . Like

46:54

I knew , like I knew I was going

46:56

to do good and I knew I was going

46:58

to provide a living for myself . But every

47:01

day I'm just so blessed like , wow

47:03

, and if I had new

47:06

then , what I know now , I would have took chances

47:08

on myself way sooner . Yeah

47:10

, I'm not afraid to jump off

47:13

the bridge at all because I know , you

47:15

know , I'm going to hit the ground and running and

47:17

I'm going to be OK . But at the same

47:19

time , there's always that fear of like if it

47:21

doesn't work or this

47:23

platform is so big , will another one come ? Or

47:26

, honestly , sometimes you get into

47:28

the imposter syndrome of like , how did

47:30

I even get here ? Am I supposed to be here Like

47:33

walking into a mainstream media outlet

47:35

every day where you're the only black woman on camera . Every

47:38

single day is a battle Like I used

47:40

to have to ask my friends like , am I giving

47:42

too much Angela Davis today or am I good ? Because

47:45

every single day you're speaking for

47:47

people who are not in that room or who may be in that room

47:49

and don't feel like they can say anything

47:51

black , not black woman , non-woman

47:54

, whatever and for some reason

47:56

I'm like , I'm always the person

47:58

like , I'm always the person that's going to speak up about

48:00

something and have to figure out a way to find

48:02

a solution . And I

48:04

didn't realize , honestly , until , like

48:07

probably in the last year or this girl , you always

48:09

, you've always been here , you

48:11

always had this . You

48:14

just not you're just not realizing it , but you

48:17

kept running into these you know

48:19

spaces , being successful at

48:21

these things , getting into these rooms Because

48:23

other people already saw it . So

48:25

the more that you know that I think you do things

48:28

like decide to resign from one

48:30

of the biggest platforms in the world and say , hey , I'm going to do this myself

48:32

, I'm going to figure it out , I'm talented , I'll

48:34

book the next big job . Brown Girl Grinding

48:37

will be the next big content

48:39

house , media , house , you know all things

48:41

black women , or you know , buy black

48:43

women for the world . But like you

48:45

have to know , like girl , you got it . Like what do you mean

48:48

? Like I literally have been waking up every single day

48:50

like , well , we'll see what happens . Today I

48:52

told myself I would give myself these last two weeks to

48:54

do that , because you really

48:56

have to get in the space of girl you got this or

48:58

you don't have it , because everyone else will notice

49:01

it and the worst thing that can

49:03

ever happen to you if you're building a new business

49:05

, if you're talent , whatever is that

49:07

someone sees that you

49:09

have it and they also can realize that you

49:11

don't know it . Business

49:14

is always big fish . Little fish Can't

49:16

get around that . But if you were

49:19

strategic about how you let a big fish come

49:21

into your small area of being a small

49:23

fish , you can leverage . I'm

49:25

a small fish in this and I know that . But at the same

49:27

time I also now know that I've

49:30

stood toe to toe with you know some really

49:32

big conversations , really big names

49:34

, really big . That's why I walked into Breakfast

49:36

Club about a week ago and I was like , oh , I'm home

49:38

. Everybody's like you never met them before , never

49:41

in my life . But , girl , you got this and

49:43

I left that show and I know that I made an impact

49:45

there . You can't forget about my week there

49:48

, regardless if I get the job or not . So

49:50

, girl , you got this is the biggest thing , and everything

49:52

from there is just going to blow your mind , because

49:54

I literally to . I'm still like whoa

49:56

, okay , all

49:59

right , just get dressed and look cute , because you never know

50:01

what happened today , Loren , I love it .

50:03

Loren , drop us information about Brown Girl grinding

50:05

. Where can we find you ?

50:06

So Brown Girl grinding . We're on Instagram

50:08

, common spelling Brown Girl grinding . You

50:11

can also visit our website BrownGirlGrindingcom

50:13

and find out about our marketing services

50:16

. We have merch there that you can buy

50:18

and support . You're

50:20

able to see some of our past events that we've done . If

50:23

you really like to get into conversations , though , we

50:25

post news , we post conversation

50:27

pieces , relationships , stuff . Instagram is

50:30

like we're really heavy there . I'm Loren

50:32

LoRosa on everything from LinkedIn

50:34

to Instagram to Facebook , l-o-r-e-n-l-o-r-o-s-a

50:38

. And yeah

50:42

, podcasts will be here soon , so

50:44

we'll love for the downloads on the audio . Watch us

50:46

on YouTube , too , but I need the downloads on the audio , and

50:50

yeah , that's it . And also , too , I want to tell everybody

50:52

, if you're looking for an intimate event

50:55

space and content studio , I opened

50:57

up a space about a year ago on Ninth and Tattoo . You

50:59

can literally walk to it from here , and

51:01

I did it here on purpose , like I really

51:03

should have done it in LA , because I need the

51:05

space now that I have a podcast . I knew

51:07

that that was coming , but I wanted to do it

51:09

here because I feel like I wanted

51:12

people to understand that you

51:14

can start here , and if you're already started

51:16

, you can still do it here . So if you're looking for a space

51:18

to rent . You just want to come and tour

51:20

because you're just interested in all this stuff that I've been

51:22

talking about . Come by , do

51:25

a tour , drop into this space . We do

51:27

everything from intimate events to

51:29

meeting spaces , to pop

51:31

up shops , podcast hosting all

51:33

that good stuff .

51:35

Loren , thank you so much .

51:36

Thank you , you made me cry .

51:38

That's my goal for Delaware Save the Arts . I'm

51:41

Andy Troscott . Have a good rest of your day . Everybody

51:43

Live from the Mill Summit . Delaware

52:10

State of the Arts is a weekly podcast

52:12

that presents interviews with arts organizations

52:15

and leaders who contribute to the cultural

52:17

vibrancy of communities throughout

52:19

Delaware . Delaware State of the

52:21

Arts is provided as a service of the Delaware

52:23

Division of the Arts in partnership

52:26

with News Radio , 1450wilm

52:29

and 1410WDOV

52:32

. The Delaware

52:34

Division of the Arts , a branch of the Delaware

52:36

Department of State , is committed to

52:38

supporting the arts and cultivating creativity

52:41

to enhance the quality of life in Delaware

52:43

. Together with its advisory

52:46

body , the Delaware State Arts Council

52:48

, the Division administers grants

52:50

and programs that support arts programming

52:53

, educate the public , increase

52:55

awareness of the arts and integrate the

52:57

arts into all facets of Delaware

52:59

life . To find out more about

53:01

the division , visit artsdellawaregov

53:04

.