Joleen Norman - The Gem City's New Media Maverick

00:00 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Stand by. Welcome to Nightbeat Media's Living the Dream podcast. I'm your host, gregory Tucker. In this program, we discuss the entrepreneur's journey of turning the dream into reality. We'll show you how to learn and overcome and acquire strategic action, tactical steps. Now, if you're ready to turn that dream into a reality, then buckle up, strap up and get ready. It's about to go down Cue talent. You start out with no money, no credentials and no one backing you up. Nothing but a hope and a dream. Well, that's what our guest is going to share with us the story of her journey. We have the honor of having with us today on our show, and that is none other than the CEO and founder of Norman Multimedia Communications, and that is Jelene Norman herself. Well, joe, as I started off telling people that you started off far as with the dream and you saw a group that was being underserved and you felt that you needed to do something about it. But before we go any further, we always like to do this Tell us who is Jelene Norman. 

02:09 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Oh, my goodness, great Thank you for having me. Thank you, who is Jelene Norman? Jelene Norman is just a daughter, was a daughter to Josie and Willie, and I'm a wife and I'm a mother, and that's who Jelene is. I'm a sister and I try to keep things flowing, being happy and living my best dream. 

02:36 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
That's who I am Now how far did you start for your Multimedia company? 

02:46 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Okay, you know people probably think I'm off, I'm like what is wrong with this lady, but I started because I was a booking agent. I wanted to be a booking agent. I love music. I played piano and I tried to play the piano and I met some wonderful women that played that were jazz artists and they were famous national artists. And I saw that when we go book it was like a certain group of people they would always hire and always have them come back. But these women, they weren't just getting called to be playing like these other group of people. So I said I want to start a platform where I can have the ladies in there and just have everybody in there. And that's why I started Joe Magazine. 

03:23
And that was I cannot believe it's been 12 years ago. So that's how I started. I had that's Mrs Robbie, and Mrs Robbie is an awesome lady. She's like what 80 years old, 81 years old look and fantastic. And she was on Oprah and she had her own show. You know I can't think of the name of the title of the show she had, but it was on on on. She has her own restaurant, this woolly popular. She used to be an I cat with a with a, I can Tina Turner. So starting the, magazine. 

03:54 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
That's kind of different. Right there I didn't totally connect the two. Tell us what were some of the skills that were transferable that you brought to the magazine. 

04:09 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Well, you know, one thing is what booking agent you know, you got to be able to talk and be a you know and be and kind of like people a little bit, and so with magazine that's that kind of ties it over because you're interviewing a lot of people and you got to be like Kind of a people person. So I think those two kind of things that tie together were which I, I mean, I can't believe I do either one because I'm a shy and quiet person. We're not really quiet, but I don't like to be out front a lot, but but yeah, that's how the two you know, just being around and communicating, I would say Okay now when you first started the articles, because you have quite a number of Different articles far as in there, so tell us about that far as how you started. 

05:02
Well, that was right that there, that's my 10-year anniversary and so everybody's like Joe, you should be on the cover. I said no after I thought about that's a well, you know, okay, so we start. We get a lot of different celebrities to start off with jazz and just artists and gospel music and it ended up being, you know, we've got a lot of people too that we recognize and celebrate that's in the industry of entertainment and so, yeah, we do. Just, I mean, this last issue we we had after seven in there and this issue we see right now was our tenure launch. 

05:32
You know our tenure when we first started the magazine and the people that supported me and who've been on the covers and and encouraging me sometimes, you know you get to, you know, like man, why did I take such on this big, huge job? But once you are starting to do it, you know it's a love that I enjoy it. I love it. And then people are encouraged, you, and that kind of keeps me going when I, when I interview someone like Khalida Smith and you know she's plays a lot of different, different things and you probably remember for her from the Bernie Mac show and she, she was so encouraging I might interviewed Just just a number of people it through the years and it's been exciting. I Enjoyed everything of it. 

06:13 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Yeah, okay now I am looking here and I see the Lake. Don Black Was he a mentor? 

06:25 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Yes, I would say Don Black was a mentor. He may not have known it, but I've met with him a couple several times and he definitely was a mentor when I started the magazine and giving me pointers and helping me. This makes them good. You know wise decisions and you know, I don't I didn't at all and like I knew it all, and so I wanted some, some information for someone who was doing it, and so Don Black was definitely the person and he's he's definitely messed in the Dayton area. Darren Bell. You know, darren Bell is really popular in the area he's he's a phenomenal musician and he performs all the time, and so we got a chance to To interview and talk with him as well. 

07:01 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Yeah, do you hold in a magazine together? That's a job right there because we hear a lot of magazines. You know, in the past I remember Jet, ebony and a lot of those magazines that were around that were iconic. As I was growing up they went through a transformation. What are some of the challenges that you faced in the beginning? 

07:39 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Great. You know what, just making me think back. It was a lot of challenges, but I had to say then I was, but now I'm not scared of challenges like I used to be. I know it's going to make me stronger and be better, but it was so many. One of always is money. It's a big challenge. We still struggle with that, but we overcame and we just try to be creative the way we do it. We do buy monthly. The magazine buy monthly. We have a team of people that help write it, especially when we first started, it wasn't just I had volunteers of people that just wanted to. They were excited about the magazine and what it stood for and wanted to be a part of it. We've been able to manage and keep it going. But you are right, every other month we have to have a whole new issue and those months come around fast. But it's been exciting and we've been able to keep pushing forward and keep getting new clients, new advertisers, new people to interview. It's been pretty good. 

08:46 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Now you may have somebody that's out there and they're saying hey, you know, they're looking at you and they're saying I can do that, starting a magazine it's not tough at all. What was there every moment that you doubted yourself? 

09:10 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Oh yeah. So if they say that that was not tough, they can come and talk to me and give me some pointers, because all the time I would kind of doubt myself. And then I have my family around me to encourage me because it's not easy. And then, greg, you helped me a lot. So in the area you always say, joe, you know you've got to try really hard. If you can make it in Dayton, you can make it anywhere, because Dayton is a little as a tough city kind of to pull from. But I would just say keep for me. I just have to have stick-tuitiveness and just continue to keep hitting the grind and not giving up. So that was my thing, just not giving up. I mean I keep saying it's gonna get better, just don't give up. 

09:54
And then I inter-seated with getting people to help me and work with me on the TV show. So I figured that might add to the magazine, and so that's how we became a multimedia. So we did the magazine and the TV. People asked are you gonna start the radio too? No, so I'm stopping right there with the magazine and TV. Maybe we might get into some film or something else with my son, but right now it's just the two. 

10:20 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Okay, so it's a family affair. 

10:22 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Yes, okay. 

10:24 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
And how important is that, first to have family back in you. 

10:30 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Oh, it's so important because you know when you try to do something like this, it's busy, so I'm not home a whole lot, and so my family support me because you know I can't be at home. I waited until my kids were older to do all this. I used to drive them around when they were younger to different plays and things I was working on. But it's important because you work together, you know they can help me with different things and it becomes a more. I just want to succeed and become more of a legacy and leave into something for my family, you know, for my grandkids and my grandkids' kids. You know to keep on, you know. Just leave something for them and so they can be entrepreneurs and be able to work for a family business, you know. 

11:10 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
And that's something that's fascinating, that you just mentioned that and that is a legacy, because there's so many stories and I recall listening to my grandmother and she was telling me the story of her upbringing and that was one of the things that families did in that era when she was coming up, and that was they worked closer together because that was the workforce. So that's something that we somehow we've kind of drifted away from right there. But I think that if you're, I was talking to someone else and they were saying, if you're chasing the money, then you may be missing something, because I'm not saying anything against money, because it's a way of measuring as far as where you are, but I think it's not as large, in the scheme of things, than it is for its legacy, because money is something that can be spent, can be lost, but a legacy continues on and it's like a ripple effect. It just continues to affect lives and it could be either good or it could be bad. But that is something that you pointed out and that's legacy and we hope to do a series farce on exploring that right there a lot more. But we're gonna transition and go back to. 

13:10
You were talking about the television show. But before we dive into that, let's go ahead and take a look at your sizzle reel. Okay, and here it goes. 

13:29 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Hi, I'm JoLeen, ceo of JK Norman Multimedia, and it's my pleasure to introduce you to Joe today, your destination for all things entertainment. Welcome to music, movies, art and more. Welcome to the world of Joe. Today we have a good friend of mine, ms Pamela Williams, the saxist. So welcome to the video. It was those little bitty segments, kind of like we do, but they're real short, like five minutes, seven minutes, but I finally got it. 

14:00 - Speaker 3 (Host)
I finally got it From media to pop culture. We're here to ask the question what's up with that? We stand out from the crowd by showcasing talent you should know and sharing Hollywood news in a modern, creative way, Because creativity is a marvelous thing, especially when we are talking about TV producer and screenwriter Shonda Lynn Rimes. So are you getting ready for the holidays? 

14:28 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
You know, I'm excited. 

14:28 - Speaker 3 (Host)
Follow my favorite Thanks. 

14:30 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Amy's coming up. The Christmas Queen herself is putting on a holiday special this year to debut her new song Fall in Love at Christmas. 

14:41 - Speaker 3 (Host)
Of how far he'll go to protect what he has streaming on Netflix. November 24th. I'm so excited to be sitting here right now. Producing your own show independently is no easy task. 

14:58 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Now that you've caught the vibe, stay tuned, joe. Today is on the way. 

15:11 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
And there we are. I'm excited, but I've been following also far as on YouTube, so I've been checking it out on YouTube. 

15:24 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
But for those who are looking for your show, where you are in that, Okay, so you can catch Joe today on the Dayton CW channel and we're going to be coming on next weekend, the 16th and 17th. Right now is flowing every other weekend and we are on Saturday at 11am and Sunday at 11am, so you can catch that on Dayton CW. And then you know what, if you have a roll call and you don't have Dayton CW channels, but you can go to Roll Coo and go to Soul Vision TV and we're right there on Roll Coo, joe today. 

16:01 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Okay. So, Joe, what would you tell a younger version of yourself if you could go back in time? 

16:14 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
You know, I would tell them to follow their dreams and not listen to other people around you. Some good, some good, what does what my pastor would say eat the fish and spit out the bones. So you would listen to some people, that has your best interest. But you just got to follow your heart, because that's what's going to mess you up. Really, to me is just listen to all the different people telling you you shouldn't do it, you can't do it, and then that'll make you may not want to do it. 

16:45
But I would say, just kind of follow your heart. Have some good people around you not too many, that's in your corner and just keep plugging at it. You know, like I said, stick to it. This is the thing. And then you know, don't give up, just keep on and just have some positive people in your corner and then everything will work out. That's what I believe in. You know, because you know, after you have so many people that's in your ear saying you know, you know, I don't know if that's for you, I don't know if you can do it After so long you have that negativeness in you, then you might not want to do anything. So you know, get out the box, step out the box and just go for whatever you're deciding to do. I think you should be able to try and just try and go for it, because you'll be happy more at the end, more or less at the end, if you try it and then not try it all. 

17:31 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Not everyone who says, hey, that's great and going along and it's really good, because sometimes it's good to hear that that little bit of negativity right there, because it's kind of like part of the yin and yang, because that way, right there you'll hear that you don't want everyone to always agree with you. You really want to know sometimes what needs to be improved upon right, that's true, that's true. 

18:04 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
I would say, though, that listen to the ones that, um, you know, can have something good to say and then bad. You know, just just something was a constructive criticism, and they can have that but um, I just have to be because since I've been doing it and I've run into people sometimes always have to have some constructive criticism. Can you say something good? Let me hear something good first. You know, sometimes then you know I'll take it, but um, yeah, I, that's just my. Thing for me is just to have to keep plugging at it and you write you want something. 

18:36
You want people to tell you um what, maybe not, maybe not what worked better for you, or you know just some good different ideas. 

18:44 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
So yeah, I don't I agree with you on that and then it's like what you said, that is uh, what your pastor told you, and that is chew on the meat and spit out the bones and that's so true right there, because you do have people who are buzz kills and they'll constantly tell you everything, everything. 

19:08
But there's no philosophy, and that is that when you come up with a problem, it's easy to talk about hey, this doesn't work, but the challenge is to come up with the solution. Okay, how can it be improved upon? Right there, uh huh, that's, that's so true, and you know what I've know. 

19:29 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
I've noticed that I've been that way, um, for some years now. Um so I don't, I'm not afraid of no, because I hear so many knows all the time. So when, um so I'm ready for, I'm ready for a challenge, might tell me no, I'm like, oh no I mean figure out what way I can do. 

19:45
You know, because I think I know it's probably inspired me to keep on pushing more, because you know you. Just you can't let that stop you if you say no, I'm you know, it was um, the lady who owned um tv one. We did an article on her and I haven't had a chance to meet her yet, but I would love to. She's like a mentor. She doesn't even know it for me, but when I watch her. 

20:04
She interviewed, she um applied for a business loan 32 times that's a lot of times to apply for something and and she didn't give up and she kept going for and going for. Look at her now I have she owns tv one, but, um, yeah, so I, just I. 

20:19 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
She's an inspiration for me to not quit and this is amazing time right now also, and that is it. In the past, you used to have to be a multi or mega millionaire in order, far as to get content together. Just just, for example, even doing this uh podcast right here. To do this, it used to be thousands and thousands of dollars, but the playing field has opened up and even though, while it's opened up, it's the sea of of stuff, not everything out there is good right right there. So, with that being said, why did you choose your format? Or um? 

21:12
because you know there's the tabloidish type of content that would definitely bring in more viewers or consumers uh, I call it consumers because you know we're in a uh, a consumption phase in history right now. So again, why did you choose your particular format of her, john Gryan? 

21:44 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Yeah, you know again, from when I was a booking agent and I saw that they were not picking and they were the ladies that were phenomenal musicians, I'm telling you. One of them is in my sizzle reel. Pamela Williams, she's a saxophone player and at that time some years ago, she was like number three in the whole country. She was very, very good. She was on a lot of different things, but you would think that she would be outperforming at some of these festivals when they have the jazz, some of the jazz festivals all over, but it was hard and some of the other. Althea Renee, you know, she's a flute player. Gil Johnson, she's a piano player, and then they started Jazz and Pink. And so, you know, before that Jazz and Pink, I was trying to book the ladies and I just couldn't believe, you know, they would have the same group of people that they would have most of the time, and that's why I wanted to have a platform, which you know I love to write, and I've written one book before years ago called Smile Again, and I had a musical for it. And so I said, let me try the magazine, and that's how we started it. 

22:48
And then, after we started it, oh, greg, I got started getting a lot of actors and different publishers that started reaching out to me and they were all African-American and they wanted to have their artists who they were representing in the magazine. And so I started getting more and more different people. That's in the magazine because they have tons of magazines out there but like the bigger ones, the larger magazines, sometimes you don't see us on the magazine covers and so I got a lot of time offers to be on, you know, have some of their clients on the cover. I don't know if you've seen the After 7,. I sent you the After 7, and that was one of our more recent covers, just this within the last month, and you know. So I was just excited. You know we've been getting so many different people, different advertisements, so it's been exciting. 

23:37
Yes, skip Ross on WRCX that's right here in Dayton's Black Own Radio TV station. We're gonna have him on the show. I bet people probably don't even know that's in Dayton, you know. So it's been really, really good interviewing and different, meeting so many different, cool people. Now, you know I had Tiffany Haddish, the actress. I remember interviewing her. She was on set just before she got so huge, you know, so well known. She was just getting ready to do the movie with Queen Latifa was I think it was Girls Trip when I interviewed her and they're just so down to earth and so kind and so encouraging. I would say. 

24:22 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
So you had mentioned that one of your mentors was the owner, and I believe her name is Mrs Hughes, mrs. 

24:33 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Hughes. Yes, mrs Hughes. I said she doesn't know it, but I'm a mentor and I studied her. But wanna meet her one day. 

24:41
But yeah, it's because she has the TV stations and that she owns and she had the radio station and just watching her career, you know how she and her son started it and my son works with me a whole lot, you know, with the magazine and the TV show and he's in the film. He does a lot. So now he's grown up and he help his mama, you know, on certain things. But so that's why I really watch and look and see and watch Mrs Hughes over and over again, of course. I watch her and see how she did all her, how she did the own networking. All those things inspire me. So what I'm still here and what I'm still, the Lord has blessed me with some health. I still have some energy. I wanna keep going for it, gray. 

25:25 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Okay, well, I really appreciate that you're taking the time for us to come on the program and to share your journey for us, with our listeners, our viewers, and For more information. Where can they contact you? At your contact information. 

25:48 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
You know, if you want to reach out to me, you can go to joemagazineonlinecom that's joe j-o magazineonlinecom. You can reach us at shopjoemagcom and there's an email. Also, you always can just catch me at joe at joemagazineonlinecom. That's my email to reach out, and we'll be glad to catch us on the Staton CW channel and you can go to the guide and it'll tell you when we're coming on. So we're excited about our season five and we've had some cool guests on. So just reach out and try to follow us. We would really appreciate it. 

26:26 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Okay, well, again, we really appreciate that. And what would you give, if any suggestions? I don't like to use the word advice, because that's kind of like telling somebody to do something, but what suggestions would you give some entrepreneur or some female communicator out there who's looking to take on this journey? 

26:52 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
Yeah, I would just say suggest to just follow your heart, your dreams and what you want to do. Have a good group of people around you that's going to be encouraging to you, and just go for it and keep that stick-to-itiveness, because that's what's going to take you a long way. Don't start and stop and start and stop and try to keep somebody with you that's going to encourage you and support you. 

27:15 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Okay, well, with that said, this has been great. 

27:21 - Jolene Norman (Guest)
I enjoyed it. Thank you, Greg. 

27:22 - Gregory Tucker (Host)
Thank you for asking me, this has been fun I love it. 

27:27
Hey, and we look forward to having you back sometime in the future. We want to say thanks for listening to NightBee Media's Live in the Dream, especially our guest. If you enjoyed this podcast, please hit, follow or subscribe on our link so you can stay up to date on our new episodes. Until the next time when you're writing the story of your life, be sure you're holding the pen. Quote by Harley Davidson. Stop settling and start taking action. It's not what you say, it's what you do.