We recently connected with Jér Weatherspoon and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jér thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was with Malkia Entertainment! The owner of Malkia Entertainment, Charita Holmes, focuses purposefully on community through music and studio resources. With some of my favorite artists like Durand Bernarr, Ari Lennox, Cameron J, and Luke James; I discovered them all on YouTube more than a decade ago as upcoming artists. Highlighting new and upcoming artists is exactly what Charita does in the metro area of Orlando! Eleven months into a global pandemic, Charita and I had a professional, yet engaging encounter with each other while working at multinational financial services company that serves over 70 million customers and 35 countries worldwide. Our conversations lead to our personal journeys, to which I invited her onset of @thatwasplush for a private social interview. Months later, the owner would invite me to Host her Vibes and Visions Music Showcase in 2021, sponsored by Plush Recording Studios, a GRAMMY winning recording studio in Casselberry/Winter Springs-Orlando. Hosting the Vibes and Vision music was full-circle moment for me in being surrounded by new and upcoming artists. The experience reiterated why I started social interviews, to give others space and a platform to talk about their creations, business ventures, and projects, offering the service of promotional yet informative content.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Jéremy Weatherspoon is a Notary Public in state of Florida and serves as a Career Coach & Admissions Counselor at Everglades University. He has a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Florida A & M University and an associate degree in communications from North Florida College. Jeremy is a social extrovert and is currently pursuing his Masters of Entertainment Business at Full Sail University. He is an active host for talent shows and local events in the Greater Orlando area.
In the magical city of Orlando, Fl I am a member of College Park City Committee where I volunteer my time to organize annual city events like the College Park Jazz Festival. During the 2019 season, I was chosen as a Fan Ambassador for the Orlando City MLS Soccer team where I maximized positive interactions and experiences with fans, guests, sponsors, vendors, and players. When it comes to some form of events, you can count me in.
Since participating in events has been a constant element of my life, what sets me apart from others as an interviewer and host, is the value of creating positive environments for all, while showcasing my warm personality.
Available as a mobile notary and social interviewer, I am an extrovert and active influencer in both entertainment and higher education, which follows in the brand of @thatwasplush. Positivity, Love, Unity, Sustainability and Humanity is the acronym of P.L.U.S.H.
With a bright, engaging and instructional approach, this has proven to me, companies that I have worked for and with, that attitude is indeed contagious and living in a world of creatives, we all need a journalist, host, or interviewer that can represent their art, entrepreneurship, and creativity using a setting that is both social and professional, driven to promote other’s work.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Managing your own business or career is not always easy, but I do believe in taking risks to expand your personal brand and clientele. In 2022, I took a risk that I had no clue in how great the test of circumstances would be. Being a notary for a little over eight years, has allowed me to experience and notarize settlements, wedding certificates, car titles, divorce decrees, power of attorney’s and more, but also in doing notary work, you want someone who is not bias, has a resource of other notaries to call for quick questions and performs the notary efficiently the first time.
So let’s focus on the risk of last year. In aiming to expand my social interview and notary services in the industry of mortgages, I thought it’d be a fantastic idea to obtain my Mortgage Loan Originator license, that way I would know by firsthand education, and step-by-step. which part of the deal a notary is needed during the home-buying process. Fast forward, the National Mortgage Loan Exam is not an easy test, there is 55% failure rate. The mortgage industry was not doing well in 2022. According to New York Post, this was the same year Wells Fargo laid off hundreds of mortgage lending professionals due to significant decreases in mortgage volumes.
Although the mortgage firm that recruited me was not Wells Fargo, the firm is well known for helping with refinances. investment loans on properties, and HELOCS all of which are potential clients for notary needs during the closing process of each loan. If you can imagine what a baby feels like when you take their favorite toy away. this was exactly what I felt once I was laid off from the mortgage firm. To make matters worse, I was laid off the same day that my MLO license was approved by the state, but this company too was affected by a decrease in volume of refinances.
I had to remind myself of the purpose of me being there. To grow my interview and notary network. After gaining and losing a mortgage license in the same year, I decided to pivot and just connect with my peers and friends who have been in the real estate and mortgage industry for more than a decade, and currently have a home lister who actively recommends me to their clients as a personal notary.
As an advocate for higher education and careers, interviewing and being honest about my experiences allows me to be the perfect Host. Helping others find the positive in any given circumstance is the goal that I aim to achieve. through notary and private social interviews with @thatwasplush.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
At North Florida College, I was appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper Trailblazer, Tour Guide of the campus and an Orientation Leader. After graduating, I was invited back to North Florida College to serve as a guest judge for the 2013 Marketing Commission Awards of Excellence Competition.
While at Florida A & M University, I held an associate position with PRodigy Public Relations Firm as an intern producing campaign projects for client(s) Sony and Columbia Pictures on the films Battle LA and Jumping the broom. I competed in pageants where I reigned as Mr. Palmetto North 2010-2011, Mr. NAACP 2011-2012, and Mr. Four Points of Perfection 2012-2013.
During the 2019 season, I represented the Major League Soccer team- Orlando City Lions, as Fan Ambassador for guest experiences and game-event operations.
In April of 2021, I Hosted the Vibes and Vision Music Showcase in Orlando for upcoming artists that included Singer-Songwriter Jovonte who charted in Apple Music for Top 200 as well as other artists like XO Rella and Chris Knite in the R&B, Pop, and Hip-Hop genres.
In April of 2023, supporting and being a part of Orlando’s Earth Day 2023, also helps me build my reputation, which focuses on a market of individuals who too embrace Positivity, Love, Unity, Sustainability, Humanity (PLUSH).
Being around what you love, contributing to what your personal beliefs are, and sharing on social media can help others identify your character and also identify whether or not I am someone that they will enjoy working with or requesting services from. 
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @thatwasplush and @Kingof_Plush
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weatherspoonpr/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KingofPlush
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jerweatherspoon6472
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Christian Flores Tristan Laravea