We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Reed. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.

Hi Danielle , thanks for joining us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

As a Social Media Manager and Strategist, I have always managed my own social media accounts. My Dad never thought I would be able to do social media as a full-time job, but I proved him wrong. Getting hired to manage social media for corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, and high-profile individuals has been a dream come true for me, which is why I started my own social media agency, Reed Limited Entertainment (RLE).

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Danielle Shavonne Reed (@daniellesreed) and I am the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of RLE. I help make dreams come true and grow platforms via storytelling, public relations, event planning, marketing and social media. I founded Reed Limited Entertainment (RLE) – a public relations and social media agency – in 2017 to create a platform to tell my clients’ stories. I saw a need for more Black-owned brands, businesses and entrepreneurs to have a direct line to national media outlets and opportunities to gain visibility and publicity.

I started as a media personality and social media manager. (#ReporterReed) Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, culture and talent were all around me, and after I graduated from Syracuse University in 2016, and moved to DC then back home to Atlanta, the music, television and media industry opportunities were all around me – at least I could SEE them. Not everybody could, and that is how I came to understand the value of my network.

As a media personality, writer, journalist and content producer, for the last eight years, I’ve written articles and interviewed so many people – primarily celebrities like Doug E. Fresh, Tank, Lloyd, Angela Yee, and so many more, and entrepreneurs and music artists. I became a Talent Manager between 2017-2018 then pivoted to consulting with my RLE brand. I’ve worked at the Trap Music Museum, and over the years I’ve been blessed to work with Revolt, BET+, Def Jam, STARZ, and Urban One.

Since 2018, I’ve scaled RLE, hired a team, and now RLE has served over 50 different brands, talent, nonprofits and businesses over the last six years. We specialize in strategy, growth and storytelling. We’ve recently placed clients on: Good Day Atlanta, Rolling Out, Madame Noire and CBS News and Roland Martin Unfiltered. We work with clients nationally and internationally, and now offer services for mid-sized to large companies and corporations as well.

RLE services include: Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Audits, Press Releases, Public Relations, Press & Publicity, Media Relations, Red Carpet Management & Production, Event Planning, and Event Management

I truly love what I do now and when I look back, after six years, and see what I’ve created with the help of so many people including friends, family, mentors, my WEEN sisters, and my followers online – I’m in awe. They are real people, and I’m pretty social. I truly believe that social people make the best Social Media Managers.

All in all, I’m an all-around media girl. I’ve been told to blog more, so I may do that in 2023. Definitely follow us @ReedLimitedEnt to see the GROWTH. Learn more on my websites www.reedlimitedent.com and daniellesreed.com

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve held corporate and tech jobs with managers who have said things to me like, “I wish Black History Month was over,” and “Play nice, Danielle you could get fired.” “Was Kerry Washington’s hair real in ‘Little Fires Everywhere?”

But these microagressions are nothing compared to how these managers treated me in real life. I once worked for a tech company who left me stranded at a work event with thousands of people in a thunderstorm and then they refused to come back and get me. When I reported it to HR – they fired me. Yes, I’ve had to endure racism and discrimination and I still came out on top.

Dealing with so much racism in my 20’s really turned me away from a lot of full-time opportunities to work for other companies. After so many years of traumatizing work incidents, I didn’t feel safe working for anyone who did not want me to succeed. I thank God, that I had a business to fall back on during these years when my old mindset told me to “work for people.”

Today I have a new mindset. I will always CHOOSE to ultimately work for myself and continue building an empire. I hold a degree in African American Studies from Syracuse University. I found it ironic that in my first three corporate and nonprofit jobs I experienced racism as one of the few Black women working for these companies.

My experience with back-to-back discrimination and racial incidents and my decision to wear my natural hair, inspired my agency’s mission.

Reed Limited Entertainment’s mission is to diversify the television, film and entertainment industry. RLE is dedicated to representing premier talent, brands and stories across the globe. Our goal is become the #1 public relations agency representing today’s rising talent, brands and businesses.

I am a strong advocate for Diversity & Inclusion and DEI. Hmu if you want me to speak on your next panel about the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, tech and media. [email protected]

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I first started seeing my Instagram followers go on up on average of 10-15 new followers per day organically, when I became a Talent Manager back in 2017. I used to post daily about the rappers I was managing, posting their official music videos, and performance flyers opening up for Young M.A and artists like A Boogie wit da Hoodie. Stuff like that brought new eyes and new people to my Instagram which lead to some new followers.

But where I really saw a dramatic increase in followers was when I started posting my celebrity interviews and celebrity photos. I’m a trained on-air host and multimedia journalist. I’ve been blessed to cover red carpets and media and press events where I was able to interview Vivica Foxx, Tank, Doug E. Fresh, Angela Yee, Lloyd, Erica Campbell, Roland Martin, Jasmine Guy and many more. When people watched those videos they were more engaged with the content, commenting, liking and sharing widely.

Today Instagram has changed so much that I’ve truly directed my attention to cracking TikTok. I did go viral in 2022 with my video of a question I asked B. Simone where she poured her heart out and gave me some amazing business advice. Go watch and follow me on TikTok!

I love organic social media which is “unpaid social media” no ads and no “purchased’ blue checks. I truly live the life I’ve dreamed of and it just happens to look pretty good on social media, but I’m still sitting under 4K followers – which is fine with me. Of course I would love to have 10K people following me, but I’ll get there when the time is right. I’m not in a rush for fame or fake followers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reedlimitedent.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellesreed/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReporterReed
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellesreed/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielleSReed_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@reedtv2023
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Khadijah Dennis Kalia Williams