What's Goin' On!

Hi everyone, my name is Sharon and I'm from the Bronx, NY. I graduated from SUNY Old Westbury in 2003 with a B.A. in Media & Communications. I also completed my Paralegal Studies Certificate at Long Island University Brooklyn Campus in 2011. What I'm trying to do now is apply to graduate school at New York University (NYU) in hopes to complete an M.S. in Sports Business with a concentration in Sports Law followed by an M.A. in Music Business. The best part is, both of these masters programs do not require you to take the GRE. I'm so happy about that because I wanted to avoid taking that exam.

Aside from that, I'm an aspiring singer/songwriter whose genre is R&B/Hip Hop/Urban. This has been my life long dream for so long, you know? In high school and college, there were talent shows happening sometimes and I've participated in many of them. After I graduated from Old Westbury, I was one of the people selected to perform at the New York Music Festival in November 2004. As a result, I was the winner of the R&B category where I won the Best Female R&B Solo award (I sang cover songs since I didn't have original material at the time). It was a big deal because I never won an award before. My entire family was so proud of me. I feel blessed knowing that all of these experiences helped me be confident and comfortable on stage. Last year, I attended the ASCAP NY Sessions event where I reconnected with a music producer I worked with in the past, and we've been in touch ever since. It's nice to come across someone who knows and is familiar with your talent. It helps a lot. I found a few other good studios in NYC as well. Hopefully, I'll be in the studio to work on my music soon.

I'm so excited to be a NABFEME member again. I missed NABFEME so much. So many times, I would bug Johnnie Walker asking her when the website will be up and running again. When she gave me an update on that the other day, I immediately spread the word to my fellow NABFEME members. I truly love this organization because speaking from past experiences, the NABFEME staff and other NABFEME members have shown me so much love, support, and encouragement. That alone means so much to me because it can be hard to pursue your dreams when you're not backed up with a support system. Therefore, I look forward to reconnecting with old NABFEME members and linking up with new NABFEME members. :)

“Trolley Night” fans in Memphis got a triple treat this past Friday (April 27) at K’PreSha Boutique on South Main. The National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment, Inc. (NABFEME) hosted a champagne filled business networking Soirée at the boutique..   Dubbed Rhythm, Reading & The Runway, the event was overflowing with talent and professional smarts and was designed to attract consumers while creating a marketing vacuum for local businesswomen and their products. Members and supporters of NABFEME were delighted to participate in this fun filled, motivational occasion.

Sprinkled with a variety of entertainment and showmanship, the event drew crowds from Arkansas, Mississippi and all over Memphis.  A talented kiddie dance group called “The Edge” quickly stole the hearts of the Main Street shopping crowds and the musical performances by Jina Govan and Tanisha Ward were on-the-spot crowd pleasers!  According to NABFEME Founder Ms Johnnie Walker, the gathering was a smashing success.  “We recently launched a new program called BEEP, “Black Entertainment Entrepreneur Power, said Walker.  The purpose of the program is to connect different businesses and show them the crossover potential of their products and services, while they compliment each other and share customers.  Our Rhythm, Reading & The Runway concept brought singers, dancers, authors and models under one roof to accomplish a two goals, build consumer awareness and increase sales. We invited the ladies to the boutique so that they could network, be entertained and shop at the same time!” 

Memphis based authors Megan Mottley (Glamour Girl), Gwen Harmon (Love Songs), Shayna Rattler (Higher: 5 Power Principles for Entrepreneurs), Jae Henderson (Someday Too) and Eve Alexander (10 Commandants of Love) presented their books and shared their self-publishing business models with attendees.

Local Walgreen’s Pharmacist, Rhonda Boutte who owns her own cosmetics company, Pouts and Wink, treated attendees to mini-makeovers.  The evening concluded with a dazzling fashion display on the catwalk featuring the latest spring and summer fashions by K'PreSha Boutique. 

In preparation for our SMART Women St. Louis Meet Up, the ladies in The Lou wanted answers to a couple of questions prior to my arrival. They sent questions, I answered.  I want to share the Q&A with you!

Q. What can you tell women about working and attaining leadership roles  in today's job market?  

A.  It all boils down to how you think.  The way you think determines the choices you make and the choices you make determine how you act and the way you act often determines your outcome.  The old saying, your attitude determines your altitude can certainly be applied women regarding working and attaining leadership roles in today's job market. 


Q. What advice do you give young women today about being women in the music and entertainment business?  

A.  Four things.  1) Be innovative, you gotta think out of the box!  2)Be optimistic... sometimes blindly optimistic, believe in yourself and stay positive attitude!  3) Be tenacious... determined, never give up and 4) be opportunistic... you gotta strike while the iron is hot!


Q. What are your thoughts about the industry when you see reality shows like Love & Hip-Hop?  

A.  First of all these are TV shows and TV shows are created to entertain audiences.  For viewers that find these type of shows entertaining its a winner for the network and the producer. Shows like Love & Hip Hop  do no create defining moments for me regarding the industry, therefore I don't have any real thoughts about them.  On the other hand, I realize people love seeing and connecting with lifestyles that aren't necessarily theirs, so again, entertainment that wins.  I applaud the opportunities that these shows have given to Black women behind and in front of the camera.

http://www.trudivaproductions.com/Model---Casting-Calls.html

I couldn’t help but read the varying Facebook and Twitter posts about the TV One lawsuit against Matthew Knowles and the subsequent mandate to pull all of Music World’s music and artists, etc from the libraries of the Radio One radio stations.  I read “Cathy Hughes is dead wrong,” and I read “what a shame, two Black businesses beating each other down” …  “she’s penalizing the artists” and yak, yak and more yak!

Having spent a major portion of my life on both sides of the fence … my view maybe different and probably won’t be shared by many, but its “my 2-cents” so I'm gonna jump in, dance with the stars and share my thoughts.

First of all take the “Black” out of it.   This is a "green" matter!  They are two adult business people who made adult business decisions and they both have to deal with the consequences of those decisions regardless of what they are.  Matthew Knowles knew exactly what he was doing when he violated Ms Hughes’ exclusivity contract.  He knew what the risks were; however, he chose to follow his instincts or the advice of someone paid very well to give advice, and went for what appeared to be a bigger slice of the media pie.  His decision.  Cathy Hughes files a lawsuit and subsequently pulls any music affiliated with Mr. Knowles from her radio outlets.  She knew exactly what ramifications or competitive risks her radio stations might face by pulling popular songs and artists from her playlists and/or libraries.  Her decision. 

I read about the lawsuit a while back, however I could have missed it … but I don’t recall reading or hearing anyone say,  “shame on Mathew Knowles, he’s dead wrong for violating TV One’s exclusivity contract!”  Or maybe for some folks, this is big business and it’s just how the “big boys” roll!  Don’t get in the water if you can’t swim with the sharks baby!  … Whatever!

And to the poor artists who will suffer from the hideous actions of these two gigantic music and media moguls  … wake up!  If radio airplay is your only avenue to success… better check and see if McDonald’s is hiring!   While radio is still the best avenue for recorded music exposure, in today’s fragmented marketplace, artists and labels that depend solely on radio airplay for success are probably living in a pipe dream anyway.

Regardless of what happens, I don’t see any real winners here.  These types of occurrences usually leave more scars than home runs.  We’ve lost Black radio (as I know it); Black music divisions are almost passé, so what’s next?  A Bravo reality show called Music Mogul Factor!  Let’s see what the moguls will do to eliminate each other!  And the grand prize is….