Today we’d like to introduce you to Nola Haynes.
Nola, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Where to start, well, I cannot begin my story without starting in New Orleans, where I’m from. I grew up in an environment where academics and creativity converged. Before Hurricane Katrina, I was dedicated to my creative path as an actress in Hollywood. After Katrina, I went back to school to pay homage of sorts to my community in New Orleans because education is a priority there. I went from community college to UCLA, Harvard and now I’m going into my fourth year in a PhD program in Political Science at USC, yes that USC. Nola Haynes TV (NHTV) is also a tribute to growing up in NOLA because talent and brains are celebrated there and not shoved into silos.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Creating and building NHTV has been a wonderful, jagged road. As a content creator, you need help at some point. Since NHTV is a talk show, there is no way, I can pull it off solo. So, the first struggle was to pitch an idea to folks without really having a clear vision of what I wanted NHTV to be. Once I had my first team assembled, we sat out to build the show. I did not anticipate replacing team members or becoming a social media expert overnight, but you learn fast and adapt.
One struggle that probably most if not all creatives can relate to is shaking off embarrassment. I’ve produced NHTV for four years now, and the hardest obstacle was learning how to cope with failing in public. As an actress, pre-social media, I failed a lot in private, and only won in public, so to go from a feeling of relative safety to being exposed is challenging. For instance, we have quite a few tech problems on my show and often times we must go with what we have. You gotta keep going even when you feel a little wrecked.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Nola Haynes TV – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Nola Haynes TV (NHTV) is an online, independent talk show and we have over 77k views on YouTube. NHTV is known for drawing our viewers in, you feel like you’re along for the adventure. NHTV is a little different from other talk shows because we interview people in their own professional or personal environments. It gives the show a level of reality that is difficult to capture in an in-studio interview. We also differ a bit because we interview up and coming, entrepreneurs, innovators, and creatives in different communities – we are not celebrity focused. Our seasons are themed so every viewer can have the opportunity of learning about a city or profession from different perspectives – I think that’s my scholarly side being adamant about highlighting alternative views and experiences.
I am most proud of my team, which is mostly all Black women. It’s only four of us and we work incredibly hard to provide NHTV viewers with a quality show. Viewers tell us all the time how well produced NHTV is and it is. High production value is important to me as the Executive Producer, Host, and writer.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
NHTV’s plans for the future is to be more visible on YouTube by growing our subscribership. We are also looking for more positive-centric brands to partner with. NHTV is not a gossip show, we’ve talked to tech entrepreneurs in Oakland to Black Lives Matter activists and artists to spending an entire season, cooking and chatting with mostly women of color chefs in Los Angeles. We are truly about shining a bright light on change-makers, so we hope to partner with brands that are forward-thinking, committed to diversity and positivity. We are also looking forward to starting our fourth season this year, women of color in the film and television industries.
Pricing:
- 2 IG posts for one month: 30 dollars
- 4 IG posts for one month: 55 dollars
- Run add on YouTube channel + 2 IG post for one month: 80 dollars
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3t8nj9x_tvS6hGa6sUXVog?view_as=subscriber
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Nola Haynes
- Facebook: Nola Haynes
- Twitter: Nola Haynes
Image Credit:
Photographer: Prentice S. Smith
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