Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JR McHenry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
JR, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I decided to pursue a creative path professionally when I was at Tennessee State working on my Masters degree. As I was working on my degree, it became apparent to me that the field of my degree wasn’t the path I ultimately wanted to take in my life. I’ve always been creative and at the forefront of doing different things. Going back to the inception of Facebook when it was only for college students, I ran successful Facebook groups with a lot of engagement that grew organically due to the contents of it. When Facebook opened to everyone, not just college students, I was part of a group of individuals that ran 4 different Facebook groups/Facebook pages highlighting the beauty of women, giving them a safe place to post their pictures without the disrespectful comments in addition to having themed days to entice engagement. Being the avid sports fan I am, I decided that I wanted to start my own sports radio show. From reading the newspaper sports page daily, reading sports magazines, listening to sports radio, watching sports, talking sports and playing sports, I knew I had the knowledge base and background to bring a unique perspective to my listening audience. I got a chance to hone my sports talking and debating skills from a young age being in the barber shop. Also, being in and around so many coaches, including those in my family, I could bring the listeners a player perspective and a coaches’ perspective to potentially get the listener to see the games from a different purview than they typically would.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I broke into this industry over a decade ago through sheer will and determination. I reached out to those entrenched in the radio industry to get some guidance on what I need to do and quite frankly got either a no response or a meeting scheduled that was eventually canceled by the party I had reached out to. Just starting out I was faced with adversity, but I didn’t let that deter me, I decided I got this far doing stuff on my own and figuring things out on my own, so here we go again. In the early days, it was truly doing things by trial and error to find my way combined with some common sense business practices to find my footing and get myself in the door of places I wanted to be covering games and events. Being unproven in the industry and a new face, it was all about presentation and approach to get potential guests, teams and universities to give me an opportunity. My pitch to the guests, sport information directors and team public relations team was to just give me a chance, we all had to start somewhere, I’m finding my way, let me know the parameters of covering your team and I will abide by them, for the most part that worked, of course some decided, no we’re not giving you an opportunity best of luck blah blah blah, but for the ones who did I’m very appreciative to this day because they helped me establish myself. There’s still a stigma in the sports media world by being an independent media outlet. Teams limit access to outlets that are independent, teams grant the majority of access to the corporately backed local and national outlets and leave independent media competing for scraps. As an independent media outlet, it’s frustrating when you cover a team daily but some national media hack comes in and gets access that you requested to get as well, but because you’re independent media, you’re told the coach or player doesn’t have time. My thing has always been, if a coach or player doesn’t supposedly have time, cool, but don’t tell me that and give access to some johnny come lately because they work for a national outlet. This is a fight I will continue to fight as long as I’m in the business, because independent media deserves to be on the same footing with corporately backed local and national media and not frowned or looked down upon especially when we’re there in the trenches everyday with these teams more so than the corporately backed media are.
I think the biggest thing that sets me apart from others in this business is that I’m not transactional. Many individuals in this business are transactional and don’t value having real relationships with people. I’m not out here trying to break news and chase scoops, so I can truly build real relationships and not fake a relationship in hopes of getting a scoop or something. The individuals I cover know that about me and that’s why they know when they come on my show it’s truly a clean glass of water in a sense because they know they aren’t getting any gotcha questions and it’s freeform, freestyle conversation without bias, narrative or drama. The relationships I’ve built with the individuals I cover are more important to me than getting a scoop or story. In my coverage, I’m fair, I just call balls and strikes speaking on what I see and share that with the audience. Too many individuals in this business have an agenda, a bias or narrative to push for clicks and likes, my thing is a relationship can last a lifetime, so I choose that route. As I mentioned earlier, I actually played the games I cover and understand it on a coach and player and easily relate to those I cover, not the awkwardness from a journalist who doesn’t have a clue about the sport they cover just asking random questions. All of these things combined separate me from others in my industry and allow me to stand out from the others doing what I do.
I am most proud that I built this show from grassroots into something from nothing. To accomplish what I have accomplished from just an idea in the cafeteria at Tennessee State while eating a chicken philly cheese sandwich is something in itself. This journey has been one of perseverance and trusting the process through the highs and lows.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes, my mission is to entertain, electrify and educate my audience. I create with the mindset to leave an impact on those consuming my creative work. Impacting the audience to think about or follow a bread crumb from my creative work is the goal I seek in all my content. The interviews I do are my way to bring the listener closer to the individuals they cheer for on a human level.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to control your narrative. Controlling your narrative and being able to impact others through your creations is very rewarding. Putting out content that a listener or viewer wouldn’t get anywhere else is another rewarding aspect of being a creative. Giving a behind the scenes look of the world of sports and entertainment for the audience is a great thing. Being able to give an individual a front row seat when they wouldn’t usually get one is my way of paying it forward to the audience. Inspiring a listener to be better and do better is another factor I cherish in being a creative. Understanding that I have a duty as a creative to put out positive, uplifting content for my audience to ensure I have a positive impact is essential, because a lot of times the audience turn to the creatives they follow for guidance, knowing that guides me in the content I create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BossmanShow.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thebossmanshow
- Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/therealjrthebossman
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jr-mchenry-594a353a
- Twitter: http://Twitter.com/JRTheBossman
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BossmanShow
- Other: https://bleav.com/shows/bossman-show/