Better Together #5: Brenda & Giovanna of MYBLAQBOOK
By Kayleigh Ramchand
After a couple of months off, the Better Together series is back with a bang and this month we bring you another empowering partnership. Giovanna Mae & Brenda Juliet talk to us about launching PR agency MYBLAQBOOK just a few months after connecting.
Already working with the likes of Aluna, Blanco, Prettyboy, D-O, Odeal, V9 & NSG, with a dedicated focus on building organic relationships and tackling representation in the industry, their story is truly inspiring, and a reminder that jumping into the deep-end can seem much less daunting once you have an effective support network to help keep you afloat.
shesaid.so: Can you talk us through how you met?
Brenda: We met last year when I started working at a small music PR agency. There were about six other employees and Gio was one of them — she reached out and we jumped on a Zoom call pretty much straight away.
We were on the call for about two hours and we just immediately gelled. We then met a bit later at a shoot with one of the artists Gio was working with (we’re on set again with them now, actually) and the relationship was just so natural — people on that job assumed we’d known each other for a very long time.
shesaid.so: And then you co-founded MYBLAQBOOK?
Giovanna: As Brenda said, we got along straight away after that first call. As we started working together, we realised that we pretty much work in the same way. The culture at the company that we were in at the time was very individualistic; you worked alone on your own roster of artists. When Brenda came onboard we started helping each other out and quickly realised that we worked much better together.
It was working for us, but unfortunately it wasn’t working for the company…so we just decided to take the jump and do our own thing.
shesaid.so: That’s a big jump! What advice would you give someone looking to make a similar leap?
Brenda: I think it’s just knowing that you can do it. There’s no point in making the leap without believing in yourself and believing that you can do the job. For myself and Gio, we’ve both been in the industry for a while and built a strong network. We knew that if we left our jobs, we were going to be getting the same amount of work — but this time we were going to be able to own it.
Giovanna: I completely agree, take the leap of faith and believe in yourself. If you’ve got the network, you’ve got the tools you need. You might regret it if you don’t!
shesaid.so: You’ve mentioned the word “network,” and “networking” is a word that’s thrown around a lot in the music industry. What is networking to you?
Brenda: Networking is not as scary as it sounds. You can bump into someone at the post office and make a connection.
Giovanna: That did actually happen to me! This guy let me go in front of him in the queue to drop off my parcel and we got to chatting. It was so random but it turned out he was a manager at Sony. I told him I was a music publicist and from there it was quite organic.
You can meet someone anywhere — a chicken shop! Just be yourself, be nice and be friendly. You never know, that connection you’ve made could benefit you one day and vice versa.
shesaid.so: It’s clear from the name of your agency that representation is important to you. Was diversity and inclusion at the forefront of your mind when setting it up?
Brenda: It was really important for us to create a business that best reflected what we do and who we are. A lot of the time, when you walk into a label there isn’t a lot of Black representation, and these are companies that profit off Black culture.
We wanted to create an agency that celebrated being Black owned and that represents great talent, especially Black talent. We found a lot with our artists that they wanted to work with people that looked like them and that represented them.
We worked with PRS Foundation’s Power Up initiative that supports Black creators & industry professionals and it was one of the things that really inspired us to set the agency up. It helped us make the transition a lot quicker than we thought we would.
We also signed a pledge with Keychange actively working to make sure our roster and the people we work with are from diverse backgrounds. We want to set an example to encourage and drive diversity across the media landscape.
shesaid.so: What do you think the music industry could be doing to support a more diverse and inclusive environment for artists and creators, as well as the industry workforce?
Giovanna:
Giving more people a chance and not being so quick to dismiss someone if they don’t have the qualifications or the interview skills.
If there were more internships, more government schemes, more people would be given the opportunity to learn on the job and not be expected to be the full package when they walk through the door.
shesaid.so: What advice would you give to someone looking to form collaborative relationships?
Giovanna: Even if you’re the most introverted person, make the first move. Some people may ignore you but don’t let that put you off, just send that DM! Brenda and I might not be here now if I hadn’t set up that Zoom call. She’d joined our previous company during the pandemic and nobody else took the opportunity to introduce themselves apart from me.
