We recently connected with Mason “M11SON” and have shared our conversation below.

Mason, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

I run a music studio (Breed)that has grown into production collective by the name Sakred. When I first came into Breed Studio my partner Tony Moore was at the helm of the space and had a staff of all different types of creatives. I learned a lot about building teams from him. I played many different roles from management to writer to executive producer to janitor at times. The business under its original model was a revolving door. From the get go I envisioned holding onto certain talent and like minds to create a team that extended beyond the space itself with collaborative art.

I found my way in the space by heavy networking. I’ve always been a connector of people. I combined my people with my partners people and our like mindedness formed an environment that cultivated talent. I would meet people out at events and other studios and add value to them. In the music industry it’s important to always add value. I looked for gaps and filled them. I’ve been filling them ever since.

My objective has often been to identify where I can be of the most assistance to people I wanted on my team. Having a good read on people gave me an edge. Over time the thing I realized though, is that I can’t rely on my people skills to know what people want. You have to stay checking in on your team to truly understand their goals and guide them to the bigger goals. You have to repeatedly ask what they want what they’re looking for and where you could be of the most value. You also have to constantly give them reasons to trust you and your leadership. Lives and situations morph. If I was starting today I would’ve gone deeper with people earlier and instead of spreading out to make more connections I would spend more time strengthening the connections I already have to the people most aligned with my objectives and mindset.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I wrote my first song in 2007 and I haven’t stopped writing since. Songwriting is at the crux of all I do. I became an expert at it and used it to become an artist, then an entrepreneur. I filled notebook after notebook and that discipline led me to see work in music as a muscle that needs to be exercised daily. My writing is now used by artists in all genres and for brands like Nike, Fanduel, Redbull & Many More.

At my height as an artist I played two to three shows a week for sometimes a year straight. That meant totally dedicating myself to entertainment. I saw stages and audiences as another notebook. Whether it was sharing arenas with some of the biggest acts ever or with 30 people in a tiny bar I saw the beauty in what I was doing and stayed passionate about it.

I continued to develop and combine my skills to form Sakred.org where artists, labels and brands come to get songs and/or full albums done from scratch to use and grow their brands. We provide the recording space, production, writing, mixing, mastering and artist development. We’ve had recorded major artists in the space while they were #1 on the Billboard, we’ve had songs in the soundtracks of our favorite TV shows. We’ve been the voice of colossal ad campaigns and we’re only going up

At this point we’ve accumulated the ability to confidently take anyone’s sound to the next level. We’re steadily racking up the accolades to give ANYONE the confidence in choosing us to grow their artistry.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Throughout my career I’ve hit hurdles and outright walls that would’ve made most turn around with their tail between their legs. As an artist, my manager (close friend) and I bet everything we had (about $40,000) booking a major artist for a huge show at SXSW. He bailed with the deposit money forcing us to refund tickets and start everything we built back over. I made a documentary album where I filmed the process and what was going on in my life to accompany an 18 track mixtape. On the day it was finished, I was arm robbed for my bag in broad daylight. The bag had all of the hard drives, back up discs, files, footage, and my laptop inside. As a new studio partner, I worked tirelessly for months on a project for a wealthy individual who was simply impossible to please. He had a lawyer and I didn’t, so when he refused to pay the balance of his bill I was stuck paying my staff out of pocket and all of the work I did ended up costing me a steep four figures when I barely had three to my name. Severe illnesses, deaths, times where I literally had nothing to eat with too much pride to ask for help stood in my way. I have stories that have made my friends and family cry. They make me cry. I have stories too dark for any interview. None of those feelings or stories match the feeling you get from making a beautiful song. When you make the decision to follow your purpose, you have no choice but to be resilient. Everyday is a challenge but perspective sees even the worst challenges as blessings.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I returned from a brief stint in LA I had a job as a patient transporter at a hospital. A typical night for me was putting a dead body or two on slabs in a freezer and showing up to a studio session in the same scrubs later. I got an opportunity to manage a few properties and decided to start my own property management business while I worked as an artist and got readjusted to the scene in Philly. I had this business when I first started working at Breed Studio and it was thriving. My friend and mentor Yountie Strickland brought me in as a writer. Some of the best writers in the world were around and it was difficult to get a word in. I kept trying but in the space between I saw that I could bring clients together for producers, studios, engineers and more. That became a business of its own. While writing on an RnB project for Shawn Stockman (of Boyz II Men) the hours simply got to be too much. I realized that I needed to focus all of my time in one area or another. I took a leap and pivoted my property management business into and “artists services and development company.” I gave the management company to a friend and put all of my energy into networking and gaining clientele for others while taking a percentage of the work I got for them. I brought enough business to Breed and conducted myself with the work ethic and character that it opened the door for me to be a partner at the studio. This put me in a position to network and create on a much higher level. It was risky for me to dump the stability but I bet on myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: sakred.org
• Instagram: m11son

Image Credits
Mike Chism