We recently connected with J.P. Haynes and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, J.P. thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I suppose this answer could take on many directions. On one hand, I often think of what my life/career would be had I started much younger; out of high school or college. But then I realize the woman I am now wouldn’t even recognize the person I was then. I’m not sure that person possessed the emotional maturity, integrity, self-awareness, business acumen or confidence to reach extreme levels of success or excellence. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it mentally, financially, or emotionally. As a matter of fact, had I started sooner, it’s a good bet that I would’ve faced many public embarrassments. I wasn’t ready then. Sometimes, however, I do wonder. Who doesn’t? Although I had written casually or as a hobby since childhood, I began writing seriously at age 30 and I launched my first legitimate business venture (Infecting Change Productions, LLC.) at 33. I’m 39 now so nearly 10 years in, I’ve learned more than I could possibly share in one interview.

I’ve learned about myself, my gifts and about people, about human behavior. I’ve learned how to become a better leader and listener which made me a far better writer. It deconstructed my views of life and people, allowing my objectivity to grow beyond the borders my worlds built. It birthed a visionary. So, in broad perspective, sure I wish I’d started sooner because I could’ve, well started sooner. In theory, I would’ve been able to create more, envision more, serve more, write more. I would’ve contributed more of my vision and my words and my work to the world and creative community. I would have been able to infect change sooner. But I also believe in divine alignment and timing. I believe that our life’s pivots are meant for specific moments, certain times in our lives. I believe in Kairos. I believe no matter how “delayed,” the timing of uncovering who we are, and our gifts is perfect and continual. If I could go back in time with the life lessons, the failures, the growth in my arsenal, would I start sooner? Maybe. But the truth is, having faith in what will be, evolving into what will be and the divine nature of it all is a far more rewarding journey and we simply cannot have it both ways. Rarely does life, love or business deliver us the opportunity to “undo” what’s been done after the lesson has been revealed. Changing the experience doesn’t change the reality of the lesson intended from the experience. See what we may not realize is that when wish for the re-do, when we try to uncross the line, then we are still bound to the inevitable consequence to follow. What would that consequence be? We don’t know. So, while it’s easy to say “yea, sure I’d love to have that moment back,” or that decision back, then by law, spiritual and natural, it changes the outcome of everything else and those are things, we don’t have control of either.

Sometimes we paint pictures in our mind of what life would be if we could go back knowing what we know and then make decisions based on the knowing, but the truth is, going back throws off the pattern, it changes our journey and ultimately, we don’t control the reactions or consequences of any of it. Simply stated, going back to change one thing or even a few things, changes everything and when everything changes, everything else changes too, thus creating a ferocious, uncontrolled cycle of regret and endeavor to undo what was intended all along. So, in theory, would I go back and change it all, maybe. In reality, no. Because then who do I become? What does my career become? What does my writing become? That, we could never know. So, in my estimation, I started exactly when I was supposed to and I’m on a perfectly aligned journey to my future; whatever that is.

J.P., 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?

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” – Plato

I started my business out of necessity. I started writing out of necessity. I am doing because of the needing. For me, it is simple, I needed an outlet to create, so I began writing. I needed to feel whole. I needed to tell stories. I needed to provide perspective. There was a need. There were people whose voice needed my words. My writing filled that need. And when the time came to share that creation with others, another need emerged. I needed a production company to produce my writings, so I founded one. After that, I needed a media company to release my content, so I built one. From there, it grew. We needed to produce digital content during the pandemic, so ICTV was born. We needed a podcast centered entity, so IC Podcast Network was also born. We needed music publishing, so IC Sound was founded. We needed a tech presence, so IC Tech was created. We needed it all, so IC Global was birthed. Some may say “Well why not just go to Netflix or Hulu or get an agent?” Sounds easy enough, but statistically, and I’ve run the numbers on this, the chances of me being a Black girl from Mississippi to gain Hollywood success is .5% maybe less. Safe to say, I tried. I took meeting after meeting with producers, executives, promoters, booking agents and managers. There was promise after promise and guarantee after guarantee followed by some of the greatest disappearing acts in the world. David Copperfield-esq. There are some scammers, there are some coat tailers, there are some who truly see you as a commodity but don’t possess the resources, there are some who believe in your talent but do not have the power of the pen. Sometimes it is simply, “no.” Others it is, “not right now,” or “we don’t have the budget for you,” or “it’s just not what we’re looking for at this time.” It’s the nature of this business really. The no’s come like an avalanche, a bombardance of the realities of the life of a creative (or entrepreneur), often deconstructing the confidence in your intrinsic value, and your person. It is not the gift that we doubt, it is the carrier of the gift; us. I digress. The no’s disrupt the credence you’ve given the invisible construct of Hollywood, Broadway, all of it. Only to awake the next day, or the month gathering pieces of the shattered confidence, rebuilding those no’s into a castle of yet again blind faith. We insanely or honorably (you decide) hope that atop the castle rests not a flag but a “yes.” Just one, yes. Then, it becomes worth it. The necessity is no more. But until then, we build, we create, we hope. Truth be told, I didn’t want any of this. Sometimes I still don’t. I just wanted to write, be a faceless voice for those lost in obscurity. But there was, and still is a need.

As an independent creative entrepreneur, the need is often great, and the window of opportunity often small. Hollywood is a big, small world. Big lights, celebrities, and budgets. Small circles, small information portals, limited opportunities. If you’re not in the world of “big,” you’re small and you’re limited. Infecting Change was birthed in 2016 at my kitchen table. I wanted a name that was oxymoronic in intent. The word “infect” frequently conveys negative connotation. I wanted to take that and change it. An infection spreads, often uncontrollably in the body, the mind, sometimes the culture. For me, I thought, “what if we uncontrollably spread change; positive, lasting change?” What if we infiltrate arts & entertainment, tech, business, education, media, politics, religion, all of it with and by infecting change? What if that’s our super spreader? So, that’s where the brand of Infecting Change was born and has evolved over the years. IC Books, IC Podcast Network, IC Theatre Co., IC Broadway, IC Sound, IC Sports, IC (I See) everything! It was just a bonus that the initials allowed for the play on words “I See.” But even that for me had some sort of perfectly aligned meaning. What do you see? Because if you can “see” it, we can change it. From there, everything just ballooned. IC Global is the primary entity that houses each IC subsidiary and division from comedy to films and finance.

I believe our vision and mission sets us apart from other companies. We intend for infecting change to be the way that we live, not just a lifestyle brand but a lifestyle. We believe that infecting change starts within our company, with our partners and colleagues. Infecting change must be a cognitive part of how we lead our lives professionally and personally for the brand to spread uncontrollably. It must be a real part of who we are, at least foundationally speaking. The areas we’ve focused on for the past few years are film, television & theatre production, streaming and most recently 3D content production, fintech and Web3. We believe the IC brand will ultimately become the premiere media hub for streaming, gaming, podcasting, and tech all housed in one place for an overlapping experience offering various levels of production, media and entertainment depending on your pallet. At IC Global there are 7 culture codes that we have not only built our business on, but we believe is the key to successful business partnerships, customer relationships and content presentation. The DNA of our company and our content is found within these culture codes: Team achievement, Character, Integrity, Communication, Honor, Excellence, Infect Change. Infecting Change is more than a film & television production offering, it is a culture. So, that is what we are most proud of, that is the problem we solve, that is what makes us different. It is my why, our everything.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Watching someone experience your work and “get it.” And by “get it” I mean whatever was meant for them. Art is always subjective. We interpret life and art through the lens formed from our personal, professional, and spiritual experiences. Creating a work that transcends all those experiences to convey a message tailored for that individual, no matter the race, social background or religious affiliation is special, beyond words even. People often ask, “what’s the purpose of this work?” And my answer is always the same; that the audience walks away changed with an enlightened perspective and a call to action. Everyone’s call to action will be different. Some will be considered grand in gesture, others minor, but they answered that call because of a piece I conceived, a concept I illustrated; an otherwise absent perspective I was able to transmit through my writing. That’s infecting change. That’s the power of storytelling. The other rewarding component is watching something you thought of in your creative mind come to life. We often undervalue the magic of creating and producing. To produce something on stage or screen that had to be exported out of the mind of a creative, translated, relayed, and brought to life, well that’s pure magic. Watching the evolution of a creative idea, movie, book, musical, etc. that did not exist before, but now exists because I imagined wrote and communicated it in a way that allowed some people to become and others to experience the result of the becoming, is incomprehensibly fulfilling.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Besides Infecting Change, I believe it would be authenticity and truth telling. We live in such an interesting, yet volatile time. Social media, 24-hour news cycles, cameras and cancel culture has inundated our psyche thus, I believe altering our ability to be transparent and empathetic. I’m not one to cast aspersions on other creatives or their content. I believe there is a lane or genre for everyone. Hey, it’s your prerogative what content you indulge. But I believe in formidable fashion, we are missing plain ol’ honesty. By and large, we seem afraid of authenticity, indulging in herd and mob mentalities. There was time when the truth was found in the mouth or the pen of the creative, whether that be music, art, movies, or theatre. There was a time when art imitated life, but we entered a transfer when life began to imitate art. For so long we longed for more, that we moved from dreams to deception, and desire to delusion. We lost truth searching for treasures. And I’m not here to debate or discount the experience of others because, but I believe we must re-discover the truth of life in our words and in the stories we tell. That is a particular mission and goal of mine as a creative entrepreneur. It is one of duality. Infect Change but also bring truth. We have accepted so many biases, micro aggressions, counter connectivity, and other evils as truth, but the reality is, we’ve simply evolved into a culture devoid of truth or at the very least devoid of empathy. Truth without empathy is cruelty (I can’t take credit for this quote). So, what is driving my creative journey? I want people to know their transparency no matter how ugly, messy, unfiltered, and unpopular it is, is still needed. I want them to know that the shame of their truth is a trick of the culture of deflection hiding from the accountability of reflection. I want the imperfect, unfiltered, flawed stories to be told because in truth is where we find growth and in growth is where we discover who we are. In growth is where we discover change.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.janahaynes.com
• Instagram: @jphaynes31
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jana.p.haynes
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-p-haynes-07a15132
• Twitter: @jpaige31
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ictvnow8
• Other: Company Web pages: www.ictelevison.com www.selmathemusical.com www.blaxperiencemedia.com www.iccryptocoin.com Official Company/Project IG handles: @ictelevision @selmathemusical @bx_media Official Company/Project Twitter handles: @ictelevision1 @selmathemusical Official Tik Tok: @jphaynes @selmathemusical

Image Credits
Infecting Change Productions, LLC. Eugene’s Photography Darius Dwayne