We recently connected with David Chaney Jr. and have shared our conversation below.
David, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
There were a few factors or catalysts that helped me create Noire Life Media. One moment involved my good friend and mentor, Folami. She called me while I was in a grocery store one Sunday afternoon and asked why I hadn’t started my business yet. I responded, “What business? I don’t have any business.” (Lol) She challenged me to come up with a concept and get an LLC. Well within in 2 weeks, I had the business name, my LLC and a website. It was only suppose to be a personal blog but I thought that would get boring very quickly so I invited trusted friends and folks that I knew to write and tell stories. One of the cornerstones of our foundation is that we want to provide a platform for the Black community to share our stories without the sugar coating or Hollywood glamor and dramatization. Noire Life is here to celebrate and embrace the diversity within the Black community for ALL Black folks.
David, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a reader, writer and observer. This is one of the many reasons I created and developed Noire Life Media. I always loved reading and writing since I was kid. I remember having a small library in my room and reading at least 2-3 books a day. Aside from my library, my grandfather’s barbershop had a bunch of JET and Ebony magazines that I was tasked with organizing on Saturday afternoons. It was during these moments that I would be engulfed into Black culture and history. This was definitely when the seed was planted for journalism. During college, I was able to create and develop my own radio show in my senior year and I loved it! Afterwards, I did some internet radio and podcasting but it wasn’t long term. Fast forward to summer of 2020, around the time of the George Floyd murder and protests, I felt it time to tell our story the way Ida B Wells-Barnett had done almost a century before me. The story of Black folks: our hurt, our pain, our joy and our overcoming. I’m fortunate that I get to share this creative space with so many folks who love who we are as Black people and our culture and community. One of the most rewarding things recently happen where I was able to create an app to make our stories and podcasts accessible to everyone via phone. The Connect App provides everything that is Noire Life Media including our amazing new internet radio station, Free Melanin Sounds Radio, where local DJs and artists can have a space to be themselves.
The app is available on Apple App Store as This is Noire (The Connect) and Google Play Store as TheConnect. Definitely make sure y’all download it.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Collaborating with people is not always the move. Some people will attach themselves to you only to serve themselves and that is not cool. So I definitely had to use my discernment in partnering with other businesses and organizations, even if it is for a great cause. My goal is to serve the community in which I am from and if you’re not about that, then we cannot work effectively together. I recently I had to cut ties with someone who I already saw as a threat from the door but I believe in giving folks benefit of the doubt. But when I saw how they would respond to specific issues or situations, that was confirmation to cut the collaboration immediately. Not everyone can take the journey with you and that is okay.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
We are always pivoting at Noire Life, but it works for us. Change gives way to growth. In the beginning stages of the company, the logo was different and so were the standards, in regards to writing protocol. But after reviewing some methods and having courageous conversations with my village, I decided to make some changes that would benefit all of us and the community. As the logo evolved, so did we. All of us have full time careers and other obligations that may include family, side hustles and education, so 2 stories a month could become a burden for some. In response to this, I changed the protocol to one story a month and I’m inviting guest creators (writers) to submit articles to us as well so that we can provide an open creative space as well as broaden our audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://noirelife.org/
- Instagram: NoireLifeMedia
- Facebook: Noire Life Media
- Twitter: @noire_mag
- Youtube: This Is Noire