Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen DeLeon.
Jen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It started in 2009 when I taught myself how to start a blog and YouTube channel. My content focused on life lessons, inspiration and celebrity interviews. I currently have 3 million + views come from being so transparent about my journey, and I’ve had many people tell me they moved to Los Angeles because of my videos, and have not so traditional interviews by not asking the artist the same questions or something that can be googled so fans can see them from a different perspective.
From 2010 on, I started to build my career while studying to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia College by interning with NBC Chicago, being the first production intern and youngest in the front office for The Chicago Bulls (2010-2011 season) and conducting interviews for Chicago hip-hop blog, GowhereHipHop. In the midst of that, I was brought onto Oprah Winfrey’s, No Phone Zone campaign to demonstrate the dangers of texting and driving and was interviewed by Oprah.
Being on that show was my confirmation that I was going in the right direction and proved that you really could speak things into existence for two reasons – My first YouTube introduction video in 2009 I said I wanted to work for The Bulls and would find Oprah one day and both happened within six months. Then, when I finished taping with Oprah, I told her she wanted to be the next her, just the Filipino version. Oprah’s response was one of the many things that motivated me to keep going until I achieved everything I ever wanted. “Jen, the next me will be you, just keep doing what you’re doing because someone needs to be that voice.”
In 2012, I packed up my life and drove to Los Angeles with no job, family or friends, but it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Prior to the move, I landed a correspondent position with one of the top hip-hop blogs, HotNewHipHop, but after I took a leap of faith to move to Los Angeles, that first weekend of living there, HotNewHipHop offered me a promotion and full-time position as the Senior Correspondent and Communications Manager.
Holding that position for two years, I started the next chapter of my career as the Production Manager and Correspondent for DJ Skee’s, SkeeTV in 2014. I’ve conducted over 300 interviews, and my unique style landed me a guest appearance role on Nelly’s Nellyville – Season 1 finale as herself (Correspondent) and hosting panels and showcases for Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Master P, and T-Boz.
Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but you should always embrace the good and bad because they’re lessons that you wouldn’t have learned any other way. Also, the sooner you learn them, the better.
Some of the things I learned:
1. Your dreams are not going to happen when and how you want them to. – I’ve been working towards my career for nine years now, and I am just on what seems like chapter 2. There was a lot of growing and learning needed, and when I first started I thought I would be further at age 28, but now realizing that I probably won’t achieve what I really want to until my mid 30’s, and I’m okay with that. You need patience to truly get everything you want in life, it’s not just going to be handed to you.
2. You’re going to have to work for free. – One thing that really irritates me is when I hear people complain about having to work for free when they’re just getting started. When you’re working for big companies, you’re not going to be offered this crazy amount of money because anyone would want to be in that position, so you have to make it work. I at one point had to leave a job I loved because I wasn’t getting paid enough and was offered something better. That job ended up being the most paid I was ever getting, but when it came down to it, they made me pick between my dreams or their company – couldn’t be both. So, I walked away and ended up being on unemployment for a year.
3. You have to be okay with being alone. – I moved to Los Angeles with no family or friends. It’s a lonely world when you’re going after what you want, and you have to be confident and comfortable by yourself in order to succeed. One mistake I made was latching myself onto people that weren’t good for me just because I didn’t want to be alone and they were all I had – Do not do that because if you have people around that are draining your energy, it’s going to slow you down.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the DeLeon Direction story. Tell us more about the business.
My company DeLeon Direction focuses on consulting, production, marketing collaborations, and talent booking. After building my brand and doing interviews, I was constantly getting asked for advice and to get connected within my network for collaborations, which inspired the consulting side. As for production, marketing collaborations, and talent booking – I’ve protected my relationships while doing interviews, so it’s felt good to be able to present artists with cool marketing collaborations or a check to perform.
On the consulting side, I offer one-on-one sessions and monthly mentoring for anyone who needs advice on building their brand, following their dreams or as simple as how to keep their faith. My first clients for marketing collaborations were Postmates and Lyft where I brought on different artists and influencers to push their campaigns. On the booking side, I’ve booked 2 Chainz and Ludacris for performances at the 2018 NBA Finals, Lil Wayne for Float Fest and booking an opening slot for an up and coming artist on The Lightspeed World Tour, which featured Kyle, Mark E Bassy and Tobi Lou.
It feels good to know that I’ve been able to expand my brand into areas I never thought I’d be involved in. The reason I have so many clients and opportunities is because I’m very transparent, I don’t try to force a retainer on people (hate when people do that, especially when I’ve never done business with you), I don’t try to make an extra cut off of anything or screw anyone over and I genuinely care about my clients and not just doing it for a check. When you’re a genuine person with great intentions, it all works out for you.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The music industry is always changing – I think the biggest change will be from social media. Advertisements won’t really be a thing anymore, and it’s going to be strictly off social media (which is already kind of is) and I think it will be a lot harder for people to stand out because it’s so easy to put yourself out there with social media.
Also, there are so many ways to distribute content now. YouTube I feel like will always be popular, Netflix and Hulu are there – but everyone is trying to create their own platform, which I think is the best way to go because if any of these platforms crash, you’re doomed if that’s all you were relying on.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jendeleon.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/jen_deleon
- Facebook: facebook.com/jensblog
- Twitter: twitter.com/jen_deleon
- Other: youtube.com/c/jendeleon
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