Recapping CultureCon LA with CoCo Jones, Sterling K. Brown, and DonYe Taylor

Using your creativity to generate revenue and rebranding.

Written by Amy Lattimore and Bryan L.

Originally released 8/10/23 here

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CultureCon LA ‘23

Homecomings

Hello Friends 💚

We met Imani Ellis, the Founder of CultureCon and Creative Collective NYC, on a hot Sunday morning in Atlanta (some call it global warming, we call it global burning fr fr). The introduction came through the GOATs of Atlanta community-building, Nasim Mahboubi Fluker and Clint Fluker, PhD of Thrdspace. Nasim and Clint regularly open up their home and other cozy environments to convene curious and creative people.

During the discussion, we learned Imani, an Atlanta native, had recently returned home to help build a thriving intersectional, creative community. To build community, Imani has used a special mix of magic and genius to scale intimacy and help creatives feel seen.

So as Imani and her team build a diverse community of 20,000+ people, we wanted to bubble up a few gems dropped at the last CultureCon.

And by the way, CultureCon NY is coming up on October 7-8th and we’ll be announcing the winner of our VIP ticket raffle in the coming weeks. This conference will be their first two-day summit! Will you be in the room?

💚 Amy & Bryan

The Recap

This summer, CultureCon kicked off its first full summit in LA. The conference has easily become the go-to conference for aspiring Black creatives to reimagine community and build their networks.

“It doesn't have to be transactional. It really should be human first. And so being curious about other people, understanding that we all have something to learn and something to share. And that everyone is creative — whether you're in finance, whether you're a reporter, whether you're Sterling K. Brown.” - Imani Ellis, Founder CultureCon, People Magazine

Dubbed “the biggest creative homecoming,” on June 17th, celebs like singer Victoria Monet, critically acclaimed “And Just Like That” actress Nicole Ari Parker, and SNL alum Jay Pharoah, pulled up to share their stories, offer practical guidance and build community with attendees.

Our Top 3

We watched hours of content to bring you the top 3 keynotes featuring strategist DonYe Taylor, actress/singer CoCo Jones and Sterling K. Brown.

The three keynotes will help you:

1. Leverage your creativity to generate revenue
2. Consider what it means to rebrand as an artist and creative
3. Recognize the power that art and artists have to build bridges between differences

1) Unlocking Level 2: The Business of How To Tell Your Story featuring DonYe Taylor 📖

DonYe Taylor is a creative strategist and marketing consultant. She wrote an e-book, Break Up With Your Anxiety, to help creatives overcome their struggles with posting on social media.

• Level 2, a theory coined by DonYe, describes something out of the box, never before seen, elevated, and unique. Once you have your first idea, push the boundaries of it. That’s how you get to Level 2.
• Creatives often start their creative process by mood-boarding. But that taints the creative process because you are exposed to so many outside forces. Instead, your inspiration should start from within and offline – and be derived from your passions.
• Whatever it is that you're doing as a creator, you need to make sure that your creativity is valuable to somebody on the other end. It can't just look cool. It has to do something. It has to save somebody time or make somebody feel seen. Or add value to somebody's life. So as you're creating, think about how your art can serve one of those three purposes or all three.

Click to watch an 8min recap (22mins saved).

2) The Evolution of Coco Jones 📈

CoCo Jones, a former Disney Channel star, is now an award-winning actress and singer. Known for her role as Hilary Banks on the Peacock hit, Bel-Air (a remake of the classic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), she has a Billboard 100 peak at 63 for her single, ICU.

• Being a working and well-paid creative right now is hard (Support SAG-AFTRA and WGA members). Choose your hard. It’s hard to stay in the discomfort of being in an unfamiliar city, unsure when your big break will come. AND it’s hard to go back to old forms of comfort at home and live with the discomfort that you walked away and took your cards off the table.
• On the verge of giving up, CoCo booked the role of Hilary on Peacock’s Bel-Air. Prior to then, she was dealing with thoughts that perhaps her claim to fame had come and gone as a child actress. However, she says, You have to be a little “De-lulu, until it’s true true.” In other words, as an artist, when it seems to make more sense to move on and do something else, you have to look past logic and be a bit delusional to achieve your dreams.
• How to rebrand as an artist? Let go of control, be open to hearing the tough truths (constructive criticism), and ask for help. These were the steps for Coco’s rebrand from a child star to the award-winning actress and singer we see today.

Click to watch an 8min recap (16mins saved).

"The greatest gift you can give another person is to allow them to fully express who they are and accept them." - Sterling K. Brown, CultureCon LA

3) Creative Genius: A Conversation With Sterling K. Brown 💎

Sterling K. Brown, a three-time Emmy award winner, is known for his roles as Randall Pearson on This Is Us and Christoper Darden in the FX limited series, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Brown was the first African American man to win a Golden Globe award in the Best Actor in a Television Drama category.

• Sterling (St. Louis stand up!) is attracted to roles where characters undergo a sort of “Forced Expansion.” He defines this as when titles like Firstborn, Christian, etc., narrowly define your identity. “We have these definitions and then you find yourself in a particular situation and you find that that definition of self doesn't hold anymore” and then there’s a need to redefine oneself…to expand. 
• Sterling’s acclaim came in his mid to late 30s. So he says the timing for success and accolades may not be as ideal as you dreamed, but it’s always on time.
• “The indoctrination of home can oftentimes be at odds with the evolution of the soul.” Sterling grew up around a deep stigma and homophobia, but after leaving home and traveling, he learned that “The greatest gift you can give another person is to allow them to fully express who they are and accept them.” He defines it as God’s work. You don’t have to change people to love them; meet them where they are. He hopes that playing characters outside of his identity will make it easy for those who identify with him to embrace other human beings in love.

Click to watch the 8min recap (19mins saved).

“If you want to be a great creative you’re thinking about, ‘How can I do something that’s new.’ It’s hard to create something new when everything around you is old. The real inspiration is offline. You just use the internet to show everyone what you are inspired by. “ - DonYe Taylor

Look how far we made it together!

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