We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jerome Barkley Jr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jerome, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I’ve learned over the years that success isn’t one linear achievement or obtaining a status. We often are showed images of individuals accomplishments and believe that their success are the measuring stick. To be successful, it takes a willingness to sacrifice a lot, have drive, a purpose and a level of discipline that can’t be broken. I believe it also takes a bit of selfishness while understanding what you are doing it for isn’t solely about you. It should impact your family, a community and put other people in position to win. Personally for me, being able to inspire people, use my platforms to highlight others and give opportunities is such a rewarding feeling, that’s success to me. I’d rather be an asset than i liability.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m an east guy, originally from Philadelphia, Pa. The interest in cameras and video was always there as a teenager. I’d always carry a camera with me to school filming moments i shared with my classmates. It wasn’t until college that i got into broadcasting & hosting where i would become a radio personality on our college campus radio station, which turned into podcasting a couple years after graduating. After moving here to Columbus, Oh i realized that there was a very diverse and abundant podcast scene but no one was talking about it, so in 2019 i founded The Columbus Podcast Awards. A couple years later i meet my business partner Awia Manns who had the idea of starting a video production company, which was something that wasn’t on my mind even though i enjoyed videography & editing her persistence sold me in on it! The Columbus Podcast Awards is annual awards ceremony that awards, recognizes and highlights some of the best podcasts curated right her in Columbus. A&R Studio Productions is a video production company where we produced feature stories on key figures based in Columbus, documentaries and promotional videos. We wanted to create a company that puts the spotlight on people who in all industries who are accomplished that represent the city of Columbus. I want people from Columbus to realize that they don’t have to move to big major cities like a New York, L.A, Atlanta or Chicago to be successful, you can create it right here and people are doing it. The cliquesh divide amongst one another has been the achilles heel here, everyone is after the same thing but feel they have to do it alone, not the case.
As of right now, i’m most proud of being able to be an individual who’s not originally from here to have the impact i’ve had on people, the podcast community and having clients trust me and my partner tell their stories. Being a asset is something i’m most proud of. Everything that i’m involved in is not about me, it’s about the people.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
One that can take you along way is how you treat others and being authentic. I’m very transparent and honest with people i work with, whether interviewing them, explaining the CPA’s or doing video work for them. I’ve found that people respect when you are honest with them. I hang my hat on doing good business, let the work speak for itself and listening to what they want.
Any advice for managing a team?
I can’t stress enough how important being organized as a leader is. The more you know what needs to happen to get the best end result as the leader you have to be organized first! Once you draw up the plan of how the objective will be executed, identify the personnel who have strengths in the areas you need to be carried out. Don’t micro-manage, let your team present new ideas and suggestions, your way isn’t the only way. Be excited and enthused to be around your team and don’t be afraid to set the tone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.columbuspodcastawards.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/columbuspodawards614/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clothtalkpodcast
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromebarkleyjr/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCslaUI9Oq_0cAuqkg2lPz0A
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083578200174
Image Credits
Awia Manns Dj Durl