We were lucky to catch up with Isaiah Bankhead recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Isaiah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Am I Happy As a Business Owner ! YES! Being a Business owner is a rollercoaster ride with extra twisting loops slow peaking highs then sudden drops to a new low. Some days I do wish I could have the mental capacity to withstand a 9 to 5 job with a guaranteed paycheck every other week but honestly I don’t miss those days. Those days while working at 9 to 5 it didn’t build me or mowed me into the man I am today like being a business owner with all the opticals challenges I on a daily basis. Working a 9 to 5 you see the same problem over and over just in different forms, but with business ownership, you face different problems at different levels with different time crunches, etc. Being a entrepreneur, business owner you have to have money to make money. You have to have the knowledge of money to grow your money. Honestly, working a 9 to 5 you have a ceiling you can reach a business owner entrepreneur the sky’s the limit. The reason I chose entrepreneurship and business owner is for generational wealth, breaking generational curses you cannot break generational curses build generational wealth working a 9 to 5 for 65+ years, so I took it upon myself to challenge myself to build generational wealth and kill curses of my bloodline the next generation of BANKHEADA will be Wealth ! 9 to 5 jobs I had in the past security guard, cashier warehouse, worker production assistant don’t get me wrong I still use some skills I learned at each of those jobs in my business owner entrepreneurship, but at the end of the day I have reached a ceiling at all those jobs if anybody is reading this that is having a trouble with working at 9 to 5 and pursuing the dreams look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself can you do your job that you currently at for another 10 years and be happy? Are you at the ceiling at your job? Do you do you even want to go to the next level at your job. These are some questions you have to ask yourself for me I want to touch the moon. I didn’t want to be a manager at a warehouse. I don’t want to be a mascot for a city. I want to build a city be the owner of a city land and be a mayor president.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
my name is Bankhead and no I’m not from Atlanta. I have a media company called Str8OutDaTrunk Radio. how I started is Radio engineering with Kevin Nash at his online radio station Accelerated radio. Kevin Nash and his team taught me Radio engineering taught me how to produce radio shows read a radio clock taught about time management discipline, accountability, responsibility and mainly communication. I have engineered over 30+radio shows podcast shows I produced over 15 radio shows podcast shows. I’ve been with Accelerated radio since 2013 around 2014 the station moved and we have more time on air so Kevin Nash blessed me with a hour show. 2014 Str8OutDaTrunk Radio was born. We officially became a LLC in 2019 over the years I have interviewed Artist brands and entrepreneurs from the San Fernando Valley inland Empire and Los Angeles we had people fly in from out of state we had callers from out the country from Iraq Paris Sweden. Even Artist that’s in the United States Army listen to our show. Our Following growing Organically!
over the years, our services have grown from just doing live interviews. our services now include interviews, music reviews, music write ups, Music submissions, email blasts , hostings , events and lastly is setting up media runs for Artist that need press artist that have a new single a new album out that needs attention. over the years, I have built a community of media personalities media companies podcast shows that’s looking to help upcoming artist I have build a community
that’s willing to do media press runs for upcoming artist out here in Los Angeles.
What sent me a part I feel like is my consistency. My authenticity.me keeping it real, not getting into all the street drama all the drama surrounding The Artist, keeping the focus on the artist life, and mainly the music, the creation of the music, the thought process behind the rollout of the music, etc.
what I want fans to know about me is I’m growing I’m stepping out of a shell and I’m spreading my wings to fly high. I will not be afraid of my powers. I am willing to learn. I’m willing to enter rooms peoples uncomfortable entering. I’m starting to be comfortable, asking them uncomfortable questions. I’m here to stay. I’m here to take a stand. I’m here too. Help my city the San Fernando Valley to get recognized recognition for the talent that’s out in the city. lastly, on more than a Radio personality, my site is bigger than just Radio in podcasting. I want to dive into production, directing cartoon creation, remaking a movie, opening up, help centers for the less fortunate, having that help the communities having relationships with community leaders, political leaders to build a better for our next generation and to get Radio and casting into schools around our surrounding cities Inglewood school district LAUSD and more.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
What , I could say about my favorite marketing story is showing up to every event, pulling up, showing face shaking hands having that face-to-face interaction is the best marketing you could do for your business. Yes, you could buy ads posters on social media post them on billboards outside of businesses, but having that face-to-face handshake interaction conversation interaction with a new potential client potential sponsor potential Partnership nothing beats that nothing beats that first impression of somebody new or something new when it’s at the tip of your hands right in front of your face. My best marketing story is driving 23 hours straight to Austin Texas for a hip-hop festival. I knew thousands of people will be attending this festival in Texas so me and my cohost packed up my impala drove from California to Austin Texas in 23 hours we had nowhere to stay when we got to Texas, we stayed up until 4 o’clock in the morning and we found somebody that was able to let us sleep in his back room that was a big gamble because I had less than $400 to spare. I had to save at least $200 for gas to get from Cali to Texas. Then Texas back to Cali. All I took with me, was a camera microphone and a mic recorder and a change of clothes. I would say that trip was my biggest marketing plan because we came back with new clients that was from out of state who had potential of paying for media in Los Angeles.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
What lessons I had to unlearn. The first lesson I had to unlearn was my way of thinking while growing up. Growing up I was taught you keep your head down you work you work you work and everything will work out at the end and reality that’s not the case you will continue to work until you look up and get tired of what you’re doing and you need to make a change, when I first started radio engineering or radio, podcasting radio interviews was done more in a radio room, format, radio station, the microphones when podcasting elevated and took off the scene, a podcasting have changed what I mean by that is the look of podcasting it’s not in a radio station no more it is basically sitting down in a room or a space it could be anywhere now it could be a in a pizza shop. It could be at a shoe store. It could be at a barbershop , but the format of interviewing has changed and I had to what I was going up or even from 2013 with Kevin Nash . The new format of radio podcast as become more relaxed setting it’s a non-traditional radio setting some podcast some shows is a full production set now and set the location now is a vibe added to the interview such like doing an interview by the beach doing an interview at a famous shoe store a famous pizzeria or having Martin Luther King, Malcolm X Nipsey Hussle, quotes pictures behind you the room the aesthetics matters now from when I started, it was just Radio station, radio room, microphones guest and host. The game has changed, and I had to adapt to the changed in the last two years was it hard hell yes because sometimes you are stubborn to what you know and I’m in the process of unlearning what I know to learn something new
Contact Info:
- Website: str8outdatrunkradio.com
- Instagram: @Sodtr_ @Bankhead_TheName
- Twitter: https://x.com/str8outdatrunk_?s=21
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sodtrtv?si=IT08njoGu-gt3nLG