We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful JR McHenry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with JR below.

JR, appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

The biggest trend I’m seeing in my industry is that more and more individuals are going independent using a digital platform. Many of these individuals who are going independent and using digital platforms are celebrities.

I personally don’t have a big problem with more and more individuals going independent and using digital platforms, my concern comes in when it pertains to trying to get credentials for sporting events.

These PR people for these sports teams already limit independent media’s access and opportunities as-is, but flooding the space with more people especially post-COVID has more negative impact on persons like myself than it does good.

What I’m seeing thus far is those who previously worked for a corporately backed entity but now is doing their own thing as an independent broker whether it digital print, digital newsletter or digital podcast are getting more access and opportunities interview certain players and coaches even though we’re all supposedly independent media members, but they get treated with the corporate gloss.

There are teams that won’t credential me citing that they don’t credential independent outlets or they don’t credential outlets that are online/digital but I steady more see people who I know are independent outlets or people who used to be with corporate entity but now in the independent space getting credentialed because of their name or former employer. My issue is it’s not apples to apples, it’s not equally applied, it’s a who they know thing, which I think is wrong. Teams don’t want to have that conversation with me about what’s different from me in comparison to XYZABC because I can poke all kinds of holes in their position and expose them as the frauds they are.

I would appreciate it if these teams and their PR departments clearly outline what the standard is for credentialing, but I know that would never happen because it takes away their ability to be vague, ambiguous, subjective and extremely selective in who they credential. The advantage they have now is they apply a case by case standard in who they credential, but if you have a clear, written standard outlined for all, it’s harder to exclude people who meet the standard and move the invisible goalposts per se.

As the industry becomes more digital and online based, I was hopeful that it lead to more respect for independent media such as myself, but it is trending towards a popularity or name recognition contest as the space is now flooded with celebrities, athletes, rappers, comedians and influencers that want to cover games nowadays, which creates a squeeze on those in my position that aren’t from that background.

For me, being over a decade into this journey, I’m pretty much done fighting with these PR departments, they gonna do what they gonna do, no matter what me or anyone else would say and do. At this point, I go where I’m wanted and respected with the access I deserve based on the work I have put in over a decade. In the words of a hook of one of my favorite songs I look at it like this, “Can’t Nobody Take My Pride, Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down, Oh No, I Got To Keep On Movin'”, that’s how I look at these PR departments and media gatekeepers that don’t respect the work I’ve put in over the years.

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?

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.

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.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What’s helped me build my reputation the most is just being a man of my word. I know that sounds so simplistic, but being a man of my word, doing what I say I’m going to do, goes a long way with people, when we are in a world where facts and truth are now disregarded. I’ve communicative as well, if you call, text or email, I get back to you in a timely manner. Dependability goes a long way. Being a straight shooter goes a long way. All these things have helped build a positive reputation within my market. In addition to how I laid out that I’m not transactional and value real relationships, those are also factors of why I’ve built the reputation I’ve built in this space.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My strategy for growing my clientele has just been to outreach. Outreach with no expectations. Just reach out, follow up and see if they will respond. Not being afraid of a no response or a not I’m not interested. Being able to shrug those things off and just keep on with outreach as needed to secure guests for the show, credentials for games and sponsors for the show. You’re not going to get everybody, but you’re not going to anybody if you don’t outreach and see what’s up. The law of averages typically works itself out and you generally get the responses and feedback you need to keep on going. The outreach is presented in such a manner to answer all initial questions in addition to laying out the intent I have, it makes it hard to say no, even though some still do for various reasons. My outreach has evolved over the years based on the responses I get to the outreach. I’m constantly workshopping my outreach to be in line with the current climate. For me, the simplest approach to growing my clientele has been to be consistent with my outreach to give myself more opportunities to connect with the stakeholders I need to connect with.

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/