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Buzz Interviews James Merritt of Deaf Clothing

The story behind Deaf Clothing starts 10 years ago. When I went to college, I was really an introvert. You would only see me out with friends, then i’d be the one that kept to myself. Music is what helped me break out of my shell. I decided to become a DJ. During the same time I made this decision, I became a homeless college student living out of a Motel 6. Half of the time I didn’t know where my next meal would come from. All of my friends were thriving and I was stuck, so I went into hiding to figure out who I was and what my purpose is. One day my friend Fletch asked me what “Deaf” means to me and all I could say was “Don’t Ever Accept Failure”.

When I came back on the scene, I had new energy and focus. Success started to come as a DJ becoming the first official DJ for LSU, signed with a label, club residencies, and join the radio station as On-Air Personality and mix-show DJ. Every show I ended my set with “Don’t Ever Accept Failure”. People started coming up to me telling me how my mantra was helping them in life. It was weird hearing that, but people encouraged me to keep sharing my story. They would even ask if I had shirts for sale. I knew I wanted to expand my portfolio so I got into real estate in Louisiana and Texas which helped investing into my brand. Then I received a call from the Harlem Globetrotters offering me a position to be their DJ/Show Producer. While touring, I worked a silent plan, invested into my personal brand and apparel.

The message behind the name was helping more people than I realized. It wasn’t until a friend messaged me on Instagram one day asking how much money do I owe 50 Cent. He sent me a post from his personal account where he just purchased some jewelry then flips the camera around and he’s wearing one of my shirts saying “Don’t Ever Accept Failure”. I called my business partner and said let’s clean this up. It’s time.

Buzz Interviews Kevin Stevenson of Goreella Media

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As an award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker, there have been very few things that have inspired me the way cinema does. Hi, my name is Kevin Stevenson, born and raised in Pasadena, California, and this is my story.
Growing up in Los Angeles, I constantly heard about the glamorous stories of Hollywood, just minutes from my childhood home. Those stories seemed like an untouchable dream, until one day I found myself working the red carpet at the Oscars. After graduating from film school, that one job gave me the big dream to make feature films. My journey started a little later than most. It wasn’t until my early 20’s when I first picked up a camera that I discovered the love and passion I felt from pushing the record button.
In high school I was an athlete and an aspiring baseball player, playing four different sports at one point. After a couple of failed seasons of baseball in college, I eagerly searched for my next passion. While studying calculus, photography, geology, painting, and sculpting, I found a talent and love for them all. But it wasn’t until I studied my first filmmaking course, that I found my true calling as a filmmaker.
I knew this is what I was born to do, and so I focused all of my efforts to gain as much experience, on and off set, as possible to help develop myself into a filmmaker. I graduated film school with a BA. I then purchased the newest cameras to give myself an edge over other cinematographers and I applied for any internship that I thought I could benefit from. At that point I quickly grew my network of professional camera people, producers, editors, crew, and directors. With any career pursuit, there are always a couple of setbacks, including having my gear stolen; however I was able to push through it all with the support of my peers and family. Everyone needs a safety net in order to take chances. However, I’m a firm believer that failure and taking risks promote growth, so failing big and failing often is a means to grow!
With this mentality, I built a production company called Goreella Media which has gained a reputation of gorilla filmmaking at its finest. My company strives to create gritty, documentary style cinema with a social and political message.

Buzz Interviews Ruby Juu of Ruby Juu Radio

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As a child, I was always a talker, an entertainer and the one that gets the party started. So as I grew into an adult, my personality develops a lot more. People would always tell me I should have my own TV Show or Radio Station, so I decided to go ahead and start my journey into the Radio/Podcast world last year. I started a Radio Station /Podcast with nothing to begin with no fancy equipment, no DJ, or Radio Station producer just me, my creativity and my phones. I used an app called Stationhead to develop my Radio Personality which turned into a Podcast.

The Podcast has become a success for me in terms of exploring different stories, interviewing people, and just being able to be myself in my own creative way. When I first started my Podcast I was a little nervous. I didn’t know where to start, what exactly to talk about, or how to present my content to people. I started to look at some of my favorite Talk Show Host and Radio Host which prompted ideas for my content on my Podcast to flow so easily, then I just jumped out there.

Fast Forward today I am 100 plus episodes into my podcast, I have developed a very informative Instagram full of content that makes you laugh, inspires you, provides you with celebrity gossip, and news stories.

Buzz Interviews Channin Fulton of Channin Fulton Art + Design

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They say that good things come to those who wait. But I’m convinced that good things come after a kick out the door. I didn’t anticipate being laid off in 2016 from my dream job—I had been working as a junior designer at a local brand agency at the time, and I remember feeling so grateful for my opportunity to be there, but also feeling a bit stagnant and frustrated about sitting at a computer 9-5. Lay-offs happened, I was let go, and I remember feeling so defeated. I had no plan, no sense of “what next”, and no real motivation. After almost a year of sulky, self-paralyzing unemployment (and a small hand full of job interviews around town under my belt with a dwindling savings), I decided it was time to think in a different direction. I began drawing again. Getting hands on. And I landed a job re-branding a small local small business in town. That re-brand led to illustration and murals, which led to a social media success and success for the small business. That project got me out of my funk and open my mind up to the potential to become a full-time freelancer who designs with an analog approach.

Buzz Interviews Jodi Watson of SmartCanister

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More than 10 years ago, while I was working as the head of a direct-to-consumer division at a large footwear manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, my husband came up with this idea while playing around in the Maker space. At the time, Kirby owned a small coffee company called Direct Trade Coffee Club, where he sourced, roasted and fulfilled coffee orders for consumers and companies. His idea came about because he saw that his customers had a hard time accurately ordering and reordering their coffee online because all subscriptions are based on time vs. consumption.
While at the Maker space, he met a couple of like-minded technology geeks, and the the three of them started working together to come up with a better way to re-order a commodity – like coffee – using a device with a built in algorithgm to predict coffee re-ordering based solely on consumption.
Fast forward to just a couple of years ago, life got in the way as it often does, Kirby sold his coffee company in Michigan, we moved back to the west coast, and we started a new coffee company in San Diego, called 7 Cold Brew. While Kirby was building 7 Cold Brew, he never forgot about this idea that he and his colleagues had first discussed many years before, and in 2017, he reconnected with his Maker friends in Michigan, sold 7 Cold Brew to a new owner, and SmartCanister was officially born. At this time, I became the Chief Marketing Officer while we continued to build the business.
Today, SmartCanister is a better way of ordering coffee online and replaces the traditional subscription model because it predicts how much and when you’ll need more – ensuring that the customer gets the freshest coffee possible while never running out. We are entering a beta phase for the product, we have a premier manufacturer partner, Planetary Design, whose CEO lives in the LA area, and we have initial working prototypes ready for launch. We are currently raising capital to advance us to the next phase, and we couldn’t be more excited about how this product and platform are going to change the way people buy and consume coffee in the future.

Buzz Interviews Neil O’Reilly of Knowhere Sounds

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Music has just sort of been the one major constant in my life. I am always listening, learning, studying, and making music all the time. Ever since i got my first drum set at the age of 8. Music was my first love and still to this day it’s one of my biggest source or inspiration and joy. But for the longest time i always just kind of saw it as a hobby and not so much of what i could do with this passion and love for music. You kind of grow and are made to think that the only way in music is to be the rock star and that most people never get there so you shouldn’t really try. But the more i started to learn and understand not just the creative of side of music but also the production side of it as well. I started to learn there are so many people that work countless, tiresome hours behind the scenes that make the music we love so great. The producers and engineers who come up with these amazing records and sounds and help creative artist see and achieve their full potential. The people whose jobs it is, is to help another artist get to where they want to be. That was the person i wanted to be. Not the rock star on stage, but the rock star in the recording studio. And that was the catalyst that started me on the journey to where i am today. After years and years of working and going to different schools that in no way was helping me pursue a career in music production, i started looking into places where the things I was already familiar with would actually be a good foundation for me to seek a internship somewhere. So i did some research and found a program called the Recording Connection which hooked me up working as a student/intern inside a working recording studio called Studio 713 (the best studio by far by the way) in the heart of Houston. From there i was learning from real professionals and saw what it takes and how extremely meticulous the craft of being a producer on a record can be. I loved every minute of it. Learning new things and being able talk about it and dissect a new concept of music i wasn’t aware and applied to a song and just the environment was infectious to be around. Just a lot of creative people creating something new and exciting and working together in a fun but also very demanding way. I learned so much from those guys and still talk to most of them daily. So i started to really dive into the craft of music production and engineering. I started getting my hands on as much equipment and software as i could and started working on my home studio. Shortly after i started to make tracks and started mixing records in my own time just to learn and get better, but also to start training my ears to be able to identify flaws or hear something no one else might hear that could be really special. I started of an Instagram account really just to reach out to other producers and music makers for advice and tips about making my music or mixes better. Naturally i started to post my own videos and tracks and the response and support was overwhelming. It’s funny how the community of music makers is so supportive of one another. Nobody really makes fun or bad mouths you for trying to make music. Everyone wants to collaborate and share and work together on something. It really the best place to be professionally and personally for me

Buzz Interviews Casey LeBlanc of New Venture Escrow, Inc.

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Lifelong entrepreneur. Started New Venture Escrow almost 10 years ago with the idea to change how buyers and sellers experience a 30 day contract period before buying or selling a home. We have built a culture around celebrating, fun, technology, innovation, and health and wellness. We have grown from $0 revenue to over 10M in that time.

Buzz Interviews Henri Hollis of Henri Hollis & Co.

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I am a journalist, writer and photographer with a focus on food. My mom is an excellent cook and she instilled a love of food and cooking in both me and my brother growing up. We always had a hot breakfast before school and rarely ate the same dishes for dinner twice. As a kid, I didn’t realize what a rare luxury that was.
Interesting food and curiosity about cooking were just facts of life, so it wasn’t until I became an adult that I recognized a passion for food in myself. I hadn’t imagined a career in a creative field or in the food industry when I was in high school and college. I always assumed I’d have a generic business career, and when I daydreamed about something as nebulous and undefined as food writing, I figured I couldn’t make enough money for it to be a viable option.
I went to Georgia Tech and tried to go into finance after graduation. I wasn’t happy or fulfilled in that industry and, after a couple of years, decided to pursue a more creative line of work. I’ve always enjoyed writing, so I decided to pursue a career that would combine my business-focused education with my natural skill set. Public Relations seemed like a good mix of the two, but I quickly discovered that entry-level PR jobs were incredibly competitive.
Since I didn’t really have relevant experience, I wanted to show that I had some skills and abilities that would make me a viable PR job candidate. I started a cooking blog called the Bachelor’s Test Kitchen to showcase my talent and give me a talking point in interviews. I wanted to show that I could write well, be creative and deliver posts on self-imposed deadlines. Of course, a cooking blog needs photos, so that’s how I first started my photography hobby.
Through a combination of lucky timing and personal connections, I was eventually able to get into PR. I worked at a couple of different large agencies for a few years before seeing an opportunity to move to a boutique firm that specialized in restaurants and hospitality. Though it was basically a lateral move, I saw the opportunity to combine my passion for food with my profession. That job introduced me to the Atlanta food scene, inserting me into the network of chefs, restaurant owners and food media professionals that have largely helped me stand on my own now.
While at that boutique PR firm, I began taking more photos of my clients’ food and getting those images published. I had quite a few photos published in local publications like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but also in national publications like Conde Nast Traveler, Paste Magazine and others. When I left that firm, I reached out to the Food and Dining editor at the AJC to see if she had any freelance opportunities for photography or writing, and she said yes.
I continued to work for a PR firm that wasn’t hospitality-focused, but on the side, I was taking photos for the AJC. After less than a year, I ended up getting laid off from the new firm, so I decided to increase my freelance workload while I looked for a new job. Within a couple of months, to my own surprise, I’d basically replaced my salary with freelance income. I was enjoying the work and had gotten a couple of important clients, so I just said, “I guess this is what I do now.”
That was back in 2017, and since then, I’ve cobbled together some regular clients and successfully pitched stories to a variety of publications. I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about photography, refined my technique and invested in my equipment. I’ve also joined professional organizations like the Southern Foodways Alliance and tried to learn more about the field of journalism by taking classes from the Michigan State school of journalism on coursera and spending a week at the SFA’s annual oral history workshop.
Over the past few years, I’ve had my writing published in the AJC, Atlanta Magazine, Jezebel, the Atlantan and others, and I’ve taken photos for a ton of different restaurants and publications. My photography has been published by national outlets like Vox and the New York Times. But there’s a lot that I would like to do and achieve, and the learning never stops. Occasionally I take a step back and appreciate the fact that I’m self-employed and that I’m able to work in an interesting, unique field, but I don’t feel satisfied. I see a lot of ways that I could improve at everything I do.

Buzz Interviews Susan Jones of The Belle Effect

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Susan Jones is an award-winning passionate, driven and results-oriented professional that cares deeply for her community. Her experience as a social justice activist, elected official, entrepreneur, and mother are what drives her passion to make the world a better place. Susan is the Founder of the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, The Belle Effect. This organization focuses on fighting the issues of homelessness, poverty and illness in the community by providing individuals with professional headshots, makeup, products, life skills workshops and employment opportunities.

While serving her community through various acts of service, she received her undergraduate education from the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL) in Political Science. During her years of study at UMSL, Susan served as a lobbyist for the UM-System as an intern in Jefferson City, member of Helping Hands, Student Government Association, Political Science Academy, Intern for the Sue Shear Leadership Academy, President of the Associated Students of the University of Missouri and Legislative Intern for the St. Louis Board of Alderman.

Susan has also completed a Master’s degree in Leadership and Management and a Masters in Business Administration from Webster University. Susan was originally elected to the St.Louis Board of Education in 2013. To date, Susan has served as Board Secretary from 2013-2015 and Board President from 2015-2018. Susan currently serves on the Board of Education and Board of Directors for the Consortium Partnership Network for St. Louis Public Schools.

Growing up, Susan Jones experienced a lot. One area in particular that served as a spark for her to create change was poverty. As a child, Susan’s family would often times make visits to local shelters to obtain the necessities they needed. One day while watching her mother gather items for her family, Susan decided that if she ever got the chance to give back to her community, she would.

Susan experienced other issues that inspired her work such as making bad financial decisions with credit cards, getting a flat tire and not knowing how to change it, not having a professional headshot available for opportunities, and seeing friends and family die from health issues that could have been avoided. Those past experiences are what inspired Susan to become an Entrepreneur, Professional Makeup Artist, Photographer, School Board Member, Business Executive and community activist which led to her developing, The Belle Effect.

Through The Belle Effect, Jones is not only looking to inspire lives through her own testimony but to ensure that all program participants are equipped with the life skills needed to move forward in their next phase of life.

Buzz Interviews Zee Bankss of Poetry for the Intoxicated

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My story isn’t too different than the typical cliché stories, I suppose. The details doesn’t matter because at the end of the day, we all want to escape something; whether it’s physical or emotional. Figuring out how to escape in a healthy way is the challenge. I started writing short stories in fourth grade that soon turned into homemade books by the time I was in the 8th grade. I remember wanting to become a meteriologist until I discovered my creative side and that’s when I was introduced to poetry. I never imagined publishing my own book. I always wrote from my heart. Poetry is like music. It just flows.