We were lucky to catch up with Elani Kay recently and have shared our conversation below.
Elani, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
Growing up, my parents were always labeled as “the best.” My Dad would wear a shirt with the song lyrics “can I get a wha wha…” on it. He was funny, fun, an extremely hard worker, and cool. He always had a full time job as an engineer for some tech company in Silicon Valley, but he also refereed either basketball or volleyball. He would sometimes do additional other work too as well. My Mom was an educator at an elementary school her entire career right after college, so she was kind and warm. My parents are unconditionally loving and didn’t raise me with conditions where their love was based on my performance or perfection. They were unwavering in their support for what I wanted to do. I think the one thing that my parents did right was raise me with the way they showed their love. It wasn’t always in words, but their actions spoke very loudly. They were the parents to drive 45 minutes each way to my school because I forgot a project, they invested in every type of class for me to learn whatever it was that I wanted to learn, they were the parents to let me have a dance party at our house, they were the parents who opened their doors to my friends who were being abused by their parents, they drove me to all my practices, they bought me all the extra stuff I needed to perfect my craft, and they always showed up. My parents are my greatest gift aside from my children and I am so truly grateful that I get to be their daughter.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
One of the most important roles in my life is being a full-time Mom of three boys. My oldest son started acting professionally when he was 8 years old. We would drive from Northern California to Southern California a few times a week for auditions, callbacks, and bookings. After he booked two major National commercials, I decided it was time to move us to Los Angeles. We started off in Airbnb’s then finally found a home to live in. I was offered an Operations Director and Executive Assistant position. My terms for accepting the position was that I would need to bring my kids to work, I would need to be able to take my son to auditions at whatever time they requested, and I would need time off if I needed to bring him to set. What I was offering was essentially always being on call. We were working in the music, film, and business space. A few years down the road I had the opportunity to purchase a business that I believed would be a good fit for me. I was not that experienced yet and was more excited about the potential that I didn’t pay attention to the details. It turned out that I had bought a concept and not an actual business. I ended up shifting and started my own business and grew exponentially. I am an Asian woman working in the entertainment industry in Hollywood, California. I didn’t have any serious contacts or have any friends that could pull me in or pull me up. I have found myself in more spaces and tables where I am the only one of my ethnic background as well as the only woman present. The industry is mainly male dominated and I have had to learn to navigate through what that comes with.
I have been operating a production facility in Burbank, CA called 4000 WEST. I am the founder of 4000 WEST and it is located inside a 7,800 sq ft building with production offices, film studios, podcast studios, green screen, conference room, and more. For the last five years I’ve worked on client acquisition and community building. I’ve had clients like NETFLIX, BRAVO, BET, Amazon Prime, and more. We’ve had individuals like Paula Abdul, Morris Day, Too Short, Ray-J, Kid from Kid N’ Play, Chanel West Coast, King Bach, Montana Tucker, Baron Davis, and more come to the building as clients or guests. I have a network called CEITA TV. We distribute licensed and original content. We are in pre-programming stages. We are working on a new reality show with executive producers LA Buck, Damian Sanders, and Ray- J. We also are working on a documentary.
I partnered up with three companies while operating 4000 WEST. I partnered with Emmanuel King and we created “Talent Agency Guide” which is a company for aspiring and working actors. We provide tools, resources, courses, classes, and a book to help actors accomplish their goals and master their craft. I also became a partner of “Frenzee Broadcasting,” we currently produce two shows; one is called “The After Party Radio Show” which is also on FM radio, hosted by the CEO Fatell, and “The Outlaw Show” hosted by Outlawz founding member E.D.I. Mean. We are currently filming a new TV show called ‘Top Shelf.’ I am also a silent partner of a wellness company called “AM Wellness.” AM Wellness, founded by CEO Omar Scott creates cold pressed juice fortified with seamoss gel.
Aside from the businesses I run, I am also an International best selling author of a few books. You can find my author profile on Amazon authors under “Elani Kay.” I am also a speaker and an energy life coach. As a life coach that was trained and took ethics courses, life coaching is one of my deepest passions. Being a part of changing someone’s life completely is tremendously rewarding. I am also a philanthropist and I serve on the board of non-profit organization “Starts With One Today” along with the Founder Victoriah Bech. The non-profit serves the Skid Row community of Los Angeles. Every Sunday we provide fresh produce, food, water, pre-made packaged food from donors like Whole Foods and Vegan Stops as well as providing clothing, hygiene needs, blankets, pet food, and more. The Elani Kay brand is really about providing platforms for others to get their message out to the world and spreading more light to the planet.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
When there are many eyes on you, there will always be many opinions about you. There are people I gave opportunities to who now speak poorly on my name. The consistent thing about me is that I will always be genuine and warm. I believe that I’ve cultivated the reputation and relationships that I have because of my genuine nature to want to see everyone win. The people who don’t like me for being this way are simply the ones who are too afraid to look at themselves and what they lack. This is why I always say ‘those who matter don’t mind and those who don’t matter mind.
Any advice for managing a team?
Over 10 years ago I built a street team. Our street team was comprised of individuals throughout California and in 5 different countries in Africa. I discovered that I was really great at maintaining high morale. I was good at this because I cared about what each individual wanted to do in life. I would later apply this same interest in the interns that I hired for Clear Channel which is now iHeart Radio when I worked for them. All of my team members, interns, and employees always felt good about following the mission because I combined the need for us all to work together towards a common goal while also reminding them why it was helping them in the long run. Simply getting to know your team is what I find to be important.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elanikay.com // www.talentagencyguide.com // www.4000west.com // www.frenzeebroadcasting.com // www.amwellness.shop // www.startswithonetoday.com
- Instagram: @elanikay // @talentagencyguide // @4000west_ // @frenzeebroadcasting // @mogulwellness // @startswithonetoday
- Facebook: facebook.com/
elanikay // facebook.com/talentagencyguide // facebook.com/ frenzeebroadcasting - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/@elanikay2138 // youtube.com/@talentagencyguide // youtube.com/@ frenzeebroadcasting
Image Credits
Omar Guerra
Makeup Artist: Yovieglam