I'm Coming Up: Recent Episodes
Eboni Nicole
I'm Coming Up is a safe space for up and coming people of color who are creatives as well as entrepreneurs to discuss their journey climbing the ladder in their respective industries. Our conversations focus on what it means to work hard while you're on the come up and encouraging our communities to not let fear hold them back from chasing their dreams.
Nita is a Personal Trainer in the Los Angeles area who is passionate about creating workout classes for the black community. In this episode, Nita debunks fitness myths, discusses how fitness can have a positive impact on our mental health, and she discusses the benefits of having a personal trainer. In November she will bring back her Saturday group workout classes located in Inglewood. Her group classes are fun with good vibes and hella black people. What more can you ask for?!
Follow Nita on Instagram at __nitfit and click the link in her bio to sign up for a personal training session, her women's group workout classes or the Saturday group workout classes! Trust me, you won't regret it!
Since we discussed mental health in this episode, here are a few links to find black therapists. Remember, mental health is mental wealth!
https://therapyforblackgirls.com/
https://therapyforblackmen.org/
Rae Benjamin is the CEO of In the Cut, an education and networking company that prepares black creatives and other people of color for careers in the entertainment industry. ITC has created a space where you can learn from real, industry professionals and receive actionable, thoughtful advice on how to advance your career. Rae is also a Writer on the Netflix television show, The Witcher.
She discuss her journey starting out as a Graphic Designer and switching careers to become a Writer in the film/tv industry. Rae provides great advice for people who aspire to become Writer's Assistants for television as well as Writers. You will also learn more about her company In the Cut and how becoming a member will be beneficial for aspiring creatives.
Checkout In the Cut on Instagram @inthecutla and sign up for their upcoming class that focuses on Time Management for Writers on October 22nd.
My second solo episode discusses the power of F.A.I.T.H. I created my own meaning for the word faith and I discuss my spiritual connection with this word. Growing up as a Christian I viewed the word in a different way. Now that I identify as a spiritual person instead of a Christian, I have a completely different view on what faith means to me and how it keeps me motivated to connect with my purpose in life. As up and comers in our careers it's so easy to doubt ourselves as we work hard towards pursuing our goals. I hope what I say in this episode encourages you to manifest your dreams despite failures that might come your way.
Serena Ghazzawi is a Senior Story Producer for reality television. Serena and I met when she was working on one of my favorite reality tv shows called The Challenge. She has worked on many other reality tv shows including The Kardashians, Project Runway, Citizen Rose, and Total Divas just to name a few. Serena is honest about how the freelance lifestyle wasn’t easy in the beginning of her career and discusses how she’s able to keep consistent work in her field.
Some people might not know that she’s also a talented musician and is the lead singer in her band called Cyber Crime. Their recent album, Nur, combines Middle Eastern instrumentation with art rock. You can hear samples of her music on this episode and I highly recommend that you download their album asap!
Tiffany Johnson is a successful young Entrepreneur and the CEO of Dino Buddies, an animal encounter service based in Cincinnati, Ohio that provides up close and personalized experiences with reptiles. She’s worked with animals most of her life and eventually worked as a Zoo Keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo, a Zoo that’s often voted as the #1 Zoo in the country by USA Today, before she started her own business. As a young black female entrepreneur, Tiffany is providing knowledge and debunking the myths about snakes, tarantulas, and many more reptiles!
I hope you learn something new from this episode, and make sure to follow Dino Buddies on Facebook and Instagram @_dinobuddiesllc_ or email Dino Buddies (dinobuddies513@gmail.com) to book an animal encounter experience!!
YASSSSS!!! Hey y'all. I am recording my first solo episode for this podcast and I decided to tell everyone about my journey so far working in the entertainment industry. I want people to know more about my story and my coming up progress that I've made since I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago. I discuss my experience working in reality television, working at Shondaland, working in food delivery, then working at freelance jobs and how I eventually landed a job at Netflix.
I also discuss my mental health experience and how my anxiety attack led me to grow into the beautiful person that I am today. I hope people take away something from this episode and are able to relate to something that I said. When you're listening to this episode I want you to ask yourself what success means to YOU! Write the answer in your journal this week and take time to reflect on your own definition of success. I hope you enjoy the episode!!
Reis Armstrong is a Producer for reality television and has years of experience working as a Field Producer, Segment Producer and an Associate Producer for many well known tv shows. He’s worked on Survivor, Ball in the Family, Basketball Wives, The Challenge, The Real Love Boat, Kandi & The Gang and many more! He's been traveling the world for the last seven years, while working freelance jobs for reality television. I believe that it's important to hear a black man's perspective on visiting different countries and how it differs from his experience living in America. Reis is a hard worker who keeps a positive mindset, while chasing his dreams and working towards his career goals. I'm excited for everyone to learn about his nomad lifestyle and I hope this conversation encourages you to take time to travel somewhere new!
You can follow Reis on IG @lovereisandsoul
Watch his content on YouTube created by his production company, Brazofuerte. And type in "Where's Reis" on YouTube to find a few more of his travel videos that he's created!
Tanisha is a Cinematographer who has worked on a variety of projects for Netflix, Nickelodeon, and a commercial as well as two documentaries in Greece and Italy for Revolve. Tanisha is constantly working on short films, music videos and commercials, which gives her the opportunity to broaden her skills as an experienced Cinematographer. What is great about her is that she has experience working on smaller projects as well as larger projects and can provide fresh advice for up and coming Cinematographers who are striving to do the same thing.
Tanisha and I bonded immediately when I hired her last year to shoot my short film, Strong Black Woman, and I learned so much from working with her. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget! I’m excited for people to learn more about her and how she’s been able to manifest her goals and walk in her purpose by fighting through her fears in order to chase her dreams.
Keven Cordero is the owner of the barber shop Royal Studio, which is located in Middletown, Ohio. We went to high school together and not only did he marry his high school sweetheart (dats cute!), homeboy started his business at 22 years old and is already out here making over six figures at 28 years old! It wasn’t until a few years ago that I found out he was an entrepreneur and I heard good things about his barber skills, so I had to get him on the podcast asap! He’s also the owner of an S.M.P. barber shop in Cincinnati, Ohio and his Royal Studio Barbershop & Suites in Liberty Township is now open! SMP stands for Scalp Micropigmentation, a great solution for men with hair loss! Keven is out here cutting hair for millionaires and many successful people in the professional sports industry. I’m excited for this conversation so that Keven can tell us more about his experience working as a Barber and what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.
Alain Fleury is an Assistant Editor who has been working for Marvel Studios for the past year so far. The most recent film that he’s worked on was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as well as Black Panther 2. Alain is someone who has a lot of knowledge about post production and I believe he can inspire someone who is thinking about becoming an Assistant Editor one day.
This episode was recorded before Alain was able to announce that he was working on Black Panther 2, so we weren’t able to discuss the film on this episode. Best believe that he will be back on the podcast in November once Black Panther is released so that we can learn about his experience working on the legendary film and how it was working with the Director Ryan Coogler.
Chef Mel who is a talented private chef in the Los Angeles area. As an entrepreneur and content creator, Chef Mel is out here killin’ the game y’all! She has provided food catering for the tv show Blackish and has cooked for several well known people in the entertainment industry such as Jennifer Lewis, KevOnStage,and Kim Whitley to name a few. She was also a contestant on Supermarket Sweep! Not only does she make sure her food is properly seasoned (because duh, she black black!), but she also has great energy whenever she’s cooking. I’ve eaten her food at her Soul Sunday event a few years ago and when I tell you that she put her FOOT in that food y’all!! Woah, chile. I’m so excited to learn more about Chef Mel and I’m even more excited for all of you to get to know a little bit more about her too.