Profile—
From a young age, I talked. I pretty much talked all the time. It wasn't until 2018 that I learned to finally shut up and listen more. Simon Sinek refers to The Friends Exercise, where we find out why your friends love you. They love you for who you are. And who you are is all about your WHY. You might say your purpose. When I dug in and found the constants of who I've been my entire life, it affirmed much of what I thought and opened my eyes to more. It's how I came up with my why.
Create. Connect. Inspire. These principles or pillars have been a part of almost everything I've ever done. Not that I haven't done 100% the opposite in many parts of my life, but I'm aware, and I'm still learning and growing!
In case you're looking, here is my professional CV.
Music has usually inspired most things in my life. Here I am on the Princess Parkway Crossing in Manchester, known from the famous Joy Division photo photographed by Kevin Cummins in 1979.
Singing for Time Flies in Seattle, 2001. Photo: Chrissie Good
I was fortunate to find the Hardcore / Punk scene early in life. With music being the driving figure of my creativity, it was this subculture that I learned much of what I am today.
I created a fanzine in 1991. It was cut and paste, it was messy, and I got to interview bands and took pictures. I had no idea at the time that it was the start of my creative career. I eventually began setting up a small record, t-shirt, and fanzine distribution, booking bands, running the business/marketing side of things, designing fliers, and distributing them before eventually I had a band, Time Flies. I designed posters, t-shirts, and record covers. I also began booking our shows and the tours.
Altogether, this established in me a do-it-yourself ethos and entrepreneurial nature of who I am today.
We moved to New York City in 2003, inspired by all that it offered, and by 2009, I was working at my first big advertising agency, JWT. In the years previous, I had become friends with a brilliant strategist there through my association with Arsenal NYC, a club I co-founded for fans of Arsenal Football Club.
JWT agency photo, 2009.
Representing Arsenal in New York City, 2010. Photo: Alan Gastelum
By 2014, I had already worked at many of the biggest agencies in NYC, and whilst working at Sapient, I met a guy who got me into doing my first radio show, which I now have been doing every Sunday since. From it, I've been invited and traveled around the world to DJ, hosting events, and Q&As, partnering with brands for events, and more. In 2018, I made it official, launching The Face Radio as a 24-7 station, and since then, have grown to 90 shows and counting from around the globe. It's great programming and a great community. It's taught me empathy and challenged everything I thought I knew about leadership from working in agencies and other businesses.
At one of these events, I fostered a partnership between 2 friends/colleagues that became the first release on BQE Records, a label that I founded to co-release Bobby Harden & The Soulful Saints with Dala Records. We have since released a total of 3 singles and a full-length LP.
December 2023, will have the first US-release for the UK's Stone Foundation. It's a single celebrating their 25 Year Anniversary as a band!
"Why not now?"
Towards the middle of 2019, I enrolled in Seth Godin's altMBA, and became an alumnus of it's 32nd cohort. In that time period, I'm partnered with 2 great friends to form Analogy to begin doing some of the creative work we've always loved. We moved into an office that we share with The Face Radio. In the span of a few years, I launched almost all of the things that I'd always talked about. In the altMBA, the quote I came up with that drove much of this was, "Why not now?" I've since learned to balance my time, delegate responsibility, continue creating, and constantly looking for more great things on the horizon. It feels like this is only the beginning.
Partners: Kurtis Powers; Creative Director, Ben Pagel; Creative Director, and Robert Armin; Business Director. Photo: Toby Tenenbaum
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