We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Breyonna Bryant a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Breyonna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When I think about learning my craft, I think of what makes me feel like I’m keeping everything about myself authentic. I found my love for the media and entertainment industry at a very young age, but I just didn’t know what I, myself, could do with my likeness to it in my own way. Believe it or not, I’m still learning my craft. Being invested in multi-media can pull you in every which way. So my craft in particular is covering entertainment, music, film, and music artists. So I guess learning how to perfect it the best that I can is what best interests me, because no one wants to keep up with someone’s content who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, shows zero compassion for their craft, is inconsistent with their craft, and most importantly has unauthentic tendencies.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Breyonna Bryant and I am the CEO of Ytdtv. I am also a staff writer for an entertainment and news website by the name of TheNeighborHoodTalk. I started Ytdtv in the summer of 2020 in the living room of my 4×4 apartment that I shared with 3 other roommates. I started recording content off of a mini iPad with a ring light and started uploading content of me interviewing music artists on YouTube. At the time, I was a full-time college student at Florida A&M University with a full-time job which later turned into two. I couldn’t find consistency in my passion although I loved doing it so much. I had to make vital decisions where I would often make school my only priority and this is something I wish I would’ve tried harder to balance with my passion. Eventually, I started paying for $75 sessions to rent a studio room for 1 hour where I could record my guests and I do my interviews. This pushed me to live up to the rate I was driving my channel to. At the time, I was only 22. Now at 23, I think the most important thing is intention. Everything matters when you start to see the bigger picture. Another thing I wish I would’ve looked for in the beginning would be mentors. Find a mentor or become one yourself, so you can learn from the advice you give your mentees. I think what sets me apart from others is the fact that I know what I want now. The purpose is so much clearer now, my “why” is so much bigger. A lot of people, especially in the field of journalism, will go years without knowing just exactly what it is that they want to do and that right there is exactly why your intentions matter the most. One of the biggest things that has made me proud would be getting my degree in Broadcast Journalism this spring. Any graduate can tell you that the post-grad feeling is one of a kind. I always used being busy with school as an excuse for getting out of everything and now that I’ve achieved it I’ve never been more proud. One thing I would want readers to know about me is that anything you see me put my time and energy into, I always take seriously.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As I’ve started to mature and learn my general role in society, I think my mission is pinpointed more so towards nostalgic recovery. I want to fill in those gaps we as young adults find ourselves missing as the world turns and turns. I’m really big on monumental memories and I keep stuff that’s made me happy in the past close to my heart. And when you understand that everything flows from your heart, that’s when you do whatever it feels it wants to do. I also want to work harder towards putting more individuals who look just like me, in not-so diverse spaces. I trust myself enough to know that I can make that change and lead the way for many others to do the same thing.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My last semester of college was one of the toughest experiences I’ve ever dealt with as a young woman. I was literally an example of a broke college kid and it isn’t because I was jobless or hopeless, I was just so dedicated to getting my degree I had to make harsh choices regarding my time. There was one day in particular that I will never forget. It was the week of my birthday in December. I was on my way to drop something off for an appointment and I was scrolling though my emails for whatever reason and I saw an email entitled “You’re Up For Eviction”. I kept a screenshot for keepsake lol. A few emails under it was a “your Doordash account has been deactivated”. I turned from off the Main Street I was on and parked in the Crunch Tallahassee parking lot to gather my thoughts. I sat for several minutes debating on whether I should call my Mom for help, I just have this tendency of waiting until I’m backed into a corner to ask anyone for help and I’d been working as many hours as I could but school was taking up so much of my time it felt impossible to push forward. I would go to class from 9am to 6pm, work my job from 6pm to 11:30pm and then I would doordash from 12:30am to 2am. Every weekday and then I would work my 2nd job on the weekends. It was tough on my mental because I always asked myself why. Why am I doing this? My money is going towards bills and school literally. I was so certain about giving the situation to God that I even messaged my friends individually to tell them I would be leaving Tallahassee at the end of the month, which worried all of them, of course. Fortunately, I ended up paying my rent and the late fees in full as my Landlord gave me a grace period to get it done, but I struggled all the way until May, dealing with more late fees. I got off track again, leading me to a second eviction scare, but luckily, from my internship pay, I was able to drop one thousand dollars into my tenant’s account with my 2nd paycheck. Although this is a transparent story, I want readers to know that prayer is the only thing that got me through every single night I spent by myself working towards my degree. I walked into June 2023 praising God for hearing every single prayer. Again, after I landed my internship and started making really good money, everything started to do a 360. I look at it as not only answered prayers from God but a reward for never giving up. What does giving up look like? Moving back home, settling, delaying the achievement, embarrassment, shame. My family supported me in every way possible, giving what they could give and being there for me mentally. I think I learned the resilience directly from them. This was certainly a season of resilience for me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: breyonnabryant
• Facebook: Ytdtv
• Linkedin: Breyonna Bryant
• Twitter: ytdtvtweets
• Youtube: Ytdtv productions