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

Tamika, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

When I was in college at the University of Miami, I was pursuing internships in Broadcast Journalism. I wanted to be a TV reporter and I wanted to move to Los Angeles. So, I applied to an internship with CNN Los Angeles, a reputable media outlet where I felt I could also get experience in the entertainment industry. Over 1500 students applied for this internship. I was thrilled when I got a call from the HR Director, overseeing the internship program. It was an initial screening call, but we had a bad connection. The woman who’s name I thought was Gina, asked me a few questions, but we got disconnected after a few minutes. I never got a call back.

Instead, I moved to LA for an internship with a small digital entertainment publication. I participated in that internship for a few weeks, and every day I on the way to that job had to drive past the CNN building on Sunset Boulevard. The potential opportunity that didn’t happen ate away at me, especially since I wasn’t enjoying my current internship.

One day, I decided to stop into the CNN building and ask about internship opportunities. It was a high rise building with security on the bottom floor. I told the security officer that I spoke with a woman named Gina on the phone, but we had a bad connection, so I didn’t get her phone number. I wanted to see if she had anymore internships available. He paused, looked at me a little strange, and made a phone call. Well, the woman’s name was Tina and she came down within a few minutes. Tina interviewed me on the spot, and offered me the internship (which was getting ready to start the following week) — and the best part? It was a paid internship!

It ended up becoming one of the most enriching summers with a ton of hands-on experience. Michael Jackson died that summer of 2009 and i had the opportunity to cover the story and work alongside journalists like Anderson Cooper.

It all happened because I took a chance and didn’t sit back and wait. I went for the thing that I really wanted, regardless of how intimidating it felt in the moment.

Tamika, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the Founder and CEO of TB Media Group, a video podcaster, and an award-winning TV journalist and on-camera host.

In 2014, I walked away from the career I worked so hard for — my career as a journalist in local TV news. By accident, I turned my love of telling stories into a full time business. On purpose, I run a video and content marketing agency which tells visual stories for health & happiness brands.

In three years (full-time operation), our team has helped over 50 purpose-driven clients further amplify their impact by sharing the good they are injecting into the world. Some of these clients include Fiserv – a Fortune 500 company, University of the Virgin Islands – the only HBCU in the Caribbean, New World Symphony – the world’s only orchestral academy, and UM-NSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.

For the last two years, my team and I had the opportunity to travel to the US Virgin Islands to work with the University of the Virgin Islands to further develop their athletic department’s brand awareness, while marketing their first-ever HBCU basketball tournament. Our content creation and subsequent on-site, real time activation led to the department’s hashtag trending on Twitter, an 88% overall positive sentiment across social media channels, and a staggering average engagement jump of 2,288%. Their marketing helped the school earn national recognition, further increase their reach, support their recruitment efforts, and boost their sponsorship dollars.

Our team also had the opportunity to work with Fiserv to produce 12 marketing videos for both internal and external audiences. These videos were centered around diversity and inclusion, and supporting some of those businesses that were hit the hardest due to the pandemic. Fiserv awarded small business grants to Black-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses in South Florida, and TB Media Group was there to capture it all. We told their small business stories of hardship, hope and resilience, which were shared on Fiserv’s global platforms, and were also made available to these merchants to use in their own business development and marketing efforts.

Our business was also recognized by Facebook, earning a Small Business Grant for Black-Owned Businesses, approximately two years ago. I’ve also been featured in the South Florida Business Journal Cover Story “Generation Next” about South Florida startups, and in WPBF-TV’s news story titled “Top CEOs promise 1 million jobs for Black Americans”, where she discussed opening the door for Black Americans in the workplace.

Our team has also produced over 100 episodes of my podcast, Lift U Up: Inspiring Health Stories, where I’ve interviewed Olympic Gold Medalists, Filmmakers, Community Leaders, nonprofits, million-dollar entrepreneurs, and even one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. These guests have solved a problem in the South Florida community, they’ve overcome unimaginable odds, they’ve built thriving businesses, and health and happiness is at the center of it all. This 100% free resource is produced by me and my team on a bi-weekly basis, and it’s my way to give back to others by sharing inspiration and valuable information from guests of diverse backgrounds, that we can all use as we navigate business and life.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think staying visible has helped my reputation within the market. No matter what you do, you bring unique value and experience to the industry, but people don’t know about it unless you talk about it — loud and proud! It takes time to build the confidence level to share your experience, knowledge, and value on your platforms, but if you don’t, who will?

I think there are multiple ways that business owners can do this, through case studies, client testimonials, demonstrating results generated for clients, and talking about successful past experiences. A lot of times we aren’t comfortable talking about ourselves in this way, but we have to, to build our reputation.

As we build that profile and gain new opportunities, then we have to deliver. I think myself and our team deliver well. We are customer service focused, and treat our clients like family. I think once clients have this positive experience and tell others about it, the word spreads. Then, the way you (or your team) talk about the results you get on your owned media platforms, this validates your reputation even further for the market.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I absolutely love taking a project from just an idea and seeing it through creation. The creative process is so rewarding, especially when it comes to our video storytelling projects. Often times, when I’m working with a client on a video project, they know they want a video or a series of videos, but don’t know exactly what they want the message to be or what they want it to look like.

As long as we know what action the client wants their audience to take, we can guide the messaging, the voices that should be involved, the visuals that further help tell the story, and the style. I’m very involved in pre-production and coming up with the concept and the direction, as well as conducting the interviews and then conducting any supporting research. I also write the video scripts and oversee the editing — where it all comes together. This is really the best part of the process to see it all come together.

There’s nothing better than starting with an idea, something that just lives in your head, and being able to bring it to life in a format that others can see, enjoy, learn from, and even take positive action on as a result. That is the beauty of creating!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tbmediagroup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamikabickhamtv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TBMediaGroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamikabickham/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamikaBickham
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2qXjgzE9k6EdsCgbZQVHuQ