Features

Perspective: Shante Bacon

Shante Bacon
Partner
135th Street Agency
NYC

Job history
June 1991 - Summer Youth Employment Program - office intern at Department of Transportation
June 1992 - Summer Youth Employment Program - Queens Village Day Care Center (on Springfield Boulevard & Jamaica Avenue)
June 1993 - Summer Youth Employment Program – Day care center in church on Jamaica Avenue
August 1994 - May1998 - Hampton University - Marketing Major
Sept 1994-May 1995 - Assistant in the Office of the VP & Provost, Hampton University
June 1995-Sep 1995 - Internship in Promotion & Marketing Department at Pendulum Records
Sept 1995-May 1996 - School of Business - Assistant in Marketing office at Hampton University
May 1996-Aug 1996 - Internship in Publicity Department at Perspective Records
Aug 1996 - May 1998 - Def Jam College Representative
Nov 1996 - May 1998 - PolyGram Group Distribution Black College Representative
June 1998 - Sales & Field Marketing Coordinator, Def Jam Recordings
March 1999 - Executive Assistant of Sr. VP of Marketing, Island Def Jam Music Group
November 1999 - Manager of Field Marketing, Island Def Jam Music Group
December 2000 - National Director of Field Marketing, Island Def Jam Music Group
January 2003 - Director of Marketing, Island Def Jam Music Group

What are you currently working on? Your day-to-day responsibilities?

I am currently focused on building the brand of the 135th Street Agency (which includes recruiting clients, aligning the agency with the right partners, executing a press plan about our current projects and the imaging of the company)

In addition to the activities included in building the brand of the company, we are working on two projects that will come to fruition in the spring of 2006. The first is a huge 10-month long Marketing/PR Campaign entitled “The Executive Experience” with the US Postal Service. My partner Saptosa and I are creating the press kit for the contest as well as pitching participation in the contest to colleges & universities in the Tri-State area. The second project that we are working on for next year is booking a speaking tour throughout HBCU’s for Francine Ward. Francine is an author, motivational speaker and attorney who has turned her life from an extreme negative to a positive and inspires others to do the same.

My day-to-day responsibilities differ each day. It’s my favorite aspect of owning my own company. From 9:00am – 9:30am, I am usually creating a To Do List and responding to emails from my home office and then from 10:00am – 10:30am I usually do a conference call with my partner (since she is based in Atlanta). We review our individual to do lists and discuss any things that need to be done that day, we inform each other of the duties that we are going to handle and then our day takes off from there. Each day is vastly different, as we like to commit at least 2-3 days per week out recruiting and pitching new clients. While out taking meetings to pitch new clients, we handle the demands of our current clients from our handheld devices.

What inspires/motivates you?

There are two things that really inspire & motivate me:

Creative Marketing/Ad campaigns inspire me. I pay attention to every TV/radio commercial that I see & hear and study each print ad. When something knocks me over by the creative and clever way they communicate the product/service, I am inspired to push myself to create the most creative marketing/ad campaign that I can for my own clients. My favorite commercial right now runs constantly on the AOL Music On Demand Channel. The message is that AOL provides a very thorough “pop-up blocker” service for its clients. To communicate this message the ad team has a loud, fast-talking salesman who follows various people into the AOL building and when the people enter the building, the salesman constantly walks into glass doors that appear to keep him from entering the building. They created a character that personified “pop-ups.” It’s Genius!!…I love it.

Another thing that motivates me is creative people who have achieved amazing success because of their passion and dedication. People who are so sure of what they want and are destined for that they absolutely refuse to lose or take no for an answer no matter what adversities they face. Their focus CANNOT be broken and that’s what I admire the most. There are hundreds of people like this who motivate me, you may know some of them and some you may not, but just a few of them are (in no particular order): My mother, my brother, Saptosa Foster, Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Kevin Liles, Julie Greenwald, Kelly Ripa, Beyonce, Sheila Eldridge, Suzanne Burge, Chonita Floyd, Theda Sandiford, Chaka Zulu, Lyor Cohen, Barack Obama, Earl Graves, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kimbro, Hillary Clinton, Cecile Barker, Carolyn Williams, Damon Dash, Francine Ward, Steve Stoute, etc. This list could go on for days!

What are your biggest challenges or the downsides of what you do?

Some of the challenges of what I do is that even in the year 2005, there are several top executives throughout the entertainment industry who do not recognize and respect that female executives can and do bring the same talent and creativity to the table as their male counterparts. Given the questionable images of women that are sometimes portrayed in the media, there are executives who mentally group all women into one category as opposed to treating you in a manner that is appropriate for the situation.

Another challenge that we face is the lack of tenacity and dedication that can be a problem amongst this new upcoming generation of aspiring executives. This generation has grown up in our “microwave” society and they are very used to having everything quickly and conveniently in their fingertips. The mindset that you are going to have to work LONG, hard hours for very little in order to get your foot in the door and build a career does not exist as commonly as in yesteryear. We are constantly approached and contacted by people who want to “learn the business and get their foot in the door,” but do not want to put in the professionalism, time and dedication that it will take to see a project through.

How do you balance your personal and professional life?

There isn’t much balance between my personal and professional life at this very moment. As Saptosa and I are building this company, we both work around the clock. We absolutely do make time for the loved ones in our lives though. Our homes and families definitely don’t feel neglected.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the fact that I was able to totally abandon the intense fear that has been stopping me for the past 3 years and step-out (of a comfy job with a steady paycheck and an expense account) on faith to focus on this company and building it into the major entity that I know it is destined to be.

What was your biggest personal/career mistake and what did you learn from the experience?

My biggest mistake is letting fear delay my dream of launching this company 3 years ago. Procrastination because of comfort is the reason why the company has only become a full time focus this year. I’ve learned that fear and procrastination are the main roadblocks to my personal and professional success and happiness and whenever possible, I check fear at the door when making a decision.

Was there ever a time when you thought you might not succeed in what you’re doing? Please explain.

There were times late in 2004 and early 2005 when I thought that I might not succeed at this and I may need to begin a new job search. There were times like that in the past and there will be times like that in the future. Actually, the disappointment from not being hired for any job that I am really passionate about usually sets that fear off in me and Saptosa will talk me off of the ledge. Though these times will come and go, what really matters is how you handle disappointment and what you do to move past it. It sounds very cliché, but it is the absolute truth. If you can’t find the strength inside of you to keep grinding when you have hit a roadblock, you haven’t made the decision mentally to achieve that particular goal.

Guiding principles?

1. Treat everyone with the same respect, no matter what their position. You never know when you may need to call on your old interns for new business! It happens, believe me. One of my old interns from 3 years ago was the source of an exciting lead to a project we have recently pitched.

2. Know and master your craft! We meet at least 3 people per day who are going to start their own company with less than a year of experience in their field. Racking up the experience will help you to know how to handle your clients better and any adversities you may come up against.

Birthday? Where you grew up? Where you went to school?

My birthday is January 30th, 1977. I grew up in the Queens Village area of Jamaica, Queens NY. I moved to Harlem, NYC in May of 1999. I went to Martin Van Buren High School, then Hampton University in Hampton VA.

For more info, visit 135th Street Agency

Message Shante Bacon and tell her what you think

By Ray Tamarra on 11/9/2005[read on] [14 comments]

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