What We Cover in This Episode

• Growing up influenced by his father’s time at Motown
• Interning under the best
• How serving others opened the door into engineering
• Going from rapper → engineer → entrepreneur
• The moment he engineered Gucci Mane without knowing how to engineer (and how it changed everything)

• Why being an artist first helped him become a better engineer
• How credit = currency in the music industry
• The concept of “Cash or Credit” and why engineers must understand it
• The turning point of working with Lil Yachty from apartment closets to global stardom
• Why undervaluation is rampant and the uncomfortable truth about payment conversations

• Why engineers often miss out on royalties
• How the Music Modernization Act changed the game
• The truth about publishing splits, LODs, and non-featured artist funds
• Why ad-libs = background vocals (and why most artists are leaving money on the table)
• The dreaded black box and billions of dollars artists unknowingly lose

• J Rich’s role as VP of Strategic Partnerships for Pop Star Ventures
• How the fund supports founders in sports and entertainment
• Guiding talent into investing + equity
• The joy of hosting high-level, curated connection events (including ours!)
• Why generational wealth planning is the real end game

Including (but not limited to):

• Offset
• Cardi B
• Lil Baby
• Yeat (first manager)
• Lil Yachty (first engineer)
• JT
• Trippie Redd
• Pure Cocaine era
• Plus more…

And yes — his Grammy nomination came from “Clout” by Offset ft. Cardi B”.

When asked what would move the needle for him right now:
“Join the Elevate community.”
We love a twin who understands alignment.

• Drake (and specifically 40)
• The Bobby Althoff–Drake interview lives rent-free in our minds
• Drake’s song “Elevate” remains a foundational inspiration for The Elevate Collection

To deepen industry understanding, we recommend listeners explore:

• PRO (ASCAP/BMI)
• SoundExchange
• Non-Featured Artist Fund
• LOD (Letter of Direction)
• Black Box royalties
• Pre-release compliance
• Factoring
• Metadata
• Publishing splits

IG

LinkedIn

In this episode of the Elevate Collection podcast, David Shedrick, co-founder and CEO of Pilot, shares his journey in building a platform that aims to revolutionize the event experience. He discusses the importance of creating exceptional experiences, maintaining relationships amidst challenges, and the entrepreneurial mindset required for success. David emphasizes the significance of legacy and the impact of building something meaningful for future generations. The conversation highlights the unique aspects of Pilot, its business model, and the vision for curating exclusive experiences.

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: www.elevatecollection.co/community

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Shari Nycole traces her path from D1 hoops to the control room and finally on-camera—unpacking courage, reinvention, and why she’s choosing a life where career and personal dreams run parallel. We dig into building an edifying circle, the difference between nice and kind, legacy that transcends bloodlines, and a very real “big ask” that listeners can act on today.

Key Takeaways

• Reframe success: Gratitude is a practice—sit in it, don’t sprint past it.
• Parallel > perpendicular: Let career and personal life rise together, even at different paces.
• Leverage your producer era: Mastering the back end can supercharge front-facing goals.
• Curate your circle: Celebration + accountability = friendship. Levels of access protect your peace.
• Kind > nice: Kindness carries boundaries and intention; “nice” can be performative.
• Edify the culture: Create conversations that lift, not just fill airtime.
• Legacy is lived now: Model excellence for the next generation—invite them into the work.

Memorable Quotes

• “There’s intention around sitting in gratitude versus just being grateful.”
• “I want my personal and professional life to run parallel, not collide.”
• “Your circle should celebrate and sharpen you.”
• “Nice is performative. Kind is intentional.”
• “If the conversation doesn’t edify, it’s pointless.”

Action Steps for Listeners

• Follow & engage with Shari’s content (save, comment, share).
• Publicists/PR partners: Open to barter/partnership—support placements & amplification.
• Creators: Audit your circle—who celebrates you, who sharpens you, who drains you?
• Pros: List one parallel personal goal to pursue alongside your next career milestone.

Shari’s Current Playlist

Jade Novah (“90s Fine”), Jane Hancock (feat. Anderson .Paak “Stare at Me”), ’90s R&B classics, Beyoncé (Renaissance), Lucky Daye, Tank (HM), Kendrick Lamar, Stevie Wonder, Doobie Brothers (“What a Fool Believes”).

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

This week on The Elevate Collection Podcast, we sit down with the incomparable Ezima — a world-class violinist fresh off Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour. From growing up in Nebraska to performing for 90,000 fans across the globe, Ezima shares how faith, discipline, and delusional belief shaped her path to the biggest stages in the world.

She opens up about her early fears of failure, finding her sound in New York, the Facebook message that changed her life, and the deep purpose she carries into every performance.

We talk genre-bending, representation in classical music, Black joy, and how artists like Beyoncé are reclaiming spaces and rewriting history for the next generation.

Ezima also reveals details about her upcoming classical album, Netflix project, and her nonprofit Strings by Heart, which introduces music education to underserved youth.

🎻 This conversation is an ode to purpose, possibility, and the power of showing up — even when no one’s watching.

🕰️ TIMESTAMPED SHOW NOTES

00:00 – Intro: The woman who needs no introduction — fresh off tour with the Queen herself.
01:00 – The Cowboy Carter Experience: What it’s like performing classical violin for 90,000 fans.
02:10 – Behind the Tour: Lessons from performing with Beyoncé, discipline at the highest level, and connecting with young girls of color through representation.
03:45 – Legacy Through Art: How Beyoncé’s storytelling reclaims genres and redefines the Black experience in country and classical spaces.
05:30 – Getting the Call: The unexpected Facebook message that led to her first gig with Beyoncé.
07:00 – The Path Begins: Growing up in Nebraska, discovering violin at age 3, and the early love for music.
10:15 – Choosing Fear or Faith: How Ezima overcame fear of failure and embraced music fully.
11:45 – The New York Hustle: From symphony halls to jamming with DJs — finding her sound and her voice.
13:30 – Breaking Tradition: Facing backlash for blending genres and staying authentic anyway.
15:00 – Grounding in Faith & History: Remembering the Black violinists who paved the way and carrying their legacy forward.
17:00 – On Delusion & Destiny: Why “delusional” belief is the artist’s secret weapon.
18:30 – Defining Legacy: What impact really means — beyond awards and accolades.
20:00 – The Joy Factor: How Caribbean roots infuse joy and movement into her music.
22:00 – What’s Next: Her debut classical album, film scoring for Netflix, and dream to compose an opera or ballet.
24:00 – Giving Back: The mission of Strings by Heart and why music access for youth matters now more than ever.
25:30 – Closing Reflections: On gratitude, joy, and being the light in every room you enter.

🎧 PODCAST TAGS / KEYWORDS

Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter, Ezima, Elevate Collection Podcast, Alexandria Reed, Jordan Hawkins, legacy, Black excellence, classical violinist, film scoring, music industry, representation, women in music, genre-bending, Cowboy Carte

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: www.elevatecollection.co/community

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Interior icon Michel Smith Boyd sits down with Elevate to unpack the mindset behind true luxury: deep listening, service-first leadership, and the “sparkle layer” that turns rooms into experiences.

In this episode

• Growing up in Thibodaux, Louisiana → finding freedom in Atlanta & New York
• From nursing major to designer: discovering the work he’d “do for free”
• Best-dressed help: why design is service—and why great designers are great listeners
• Presentations that win skeptics (hello, reluctant spouse) and convert them into design junkies
• Why lighting = jewelry and how the “sparkle layer” elevates a home
• Writing a vulnerable, story-driven design book (not just theory)
• Television wins, fear as a companion, and creating beyond the network
• Community, team-building, and why legacy takes care of itself when you stay present
• The ask: follow him beyond TV—subscribe to his YouTube for what’s next

About Michel Smith Boyd

Atlanta-based interior designer and host of HGTV’s Luxe for Less, with appearances on Rock the Block, Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, and more. Michel leads an eponymous studio known for soulful, sumptuous spaces—and a growing content and product universe. HGTV+1Michel Smith Boyd

Resources & Connects

• Website & shop: howtoluxury.com (design firm, retail collabs, “Michel on TV”) Michel Smith Boyd
• Instagram: @michelboyd (~53K followers) Instagram
• YouTube: Michel Smith Boyd (original programming, Luxe-thinking) YouTube
• Retail collabs: Crate & Barrel, Z Gallerie, LeftBank Art Michel Smith BoydCrate & Barrelhomeaccentstoday.com

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: www.elevatecollection.co/community

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Comedian, actress, and entrepreneur Kelly Kellz joins Alexandria & Jordan for a soul-filling conversation on calling, confidence, and building a legacy with laughter. A Milwaukee native and former teacher, Kelly shares how she walked out on faith, scaled her career with her husband-manager, and uses comedy as a tool for healing and empowerment. We go deep on supportive partnerships, being authentically yourself in rooms that want “cookie-cutter,” and what it means to build legacy for our kids.

We also talk about Kelly’s new film Toxic FriendZ (now streaming on Amazon Prime & Tubi) and her show/podcast work, plus the moment she knew she’d “made it.” If you need a reminder that bigger is possible, this one’s it.

In this episode:

• Leaving the classroom for the stage—on purpose and with faith
• Silent leadership & why support is real leadership in partnership
• Thick-girl confidence & rejecting “cookie-cutter” beauty standards
• Turning comedy into ministry: laughs as medicine
• Legacy for our kids and building “trust babies”
• Producing a feature film and shifting behind the camera
• The power of curating connection experiences vs. “networking”

About Kelly Kellz (highlights):

• APCA “Comedian of the Year” (2024), national touring comic. ImprovBeacons
• Former K-12 teacher from Milwaukee; transitioned to full-time comedy. Essence
• Stars in and executive produced Toxic FriendZ (streaming on Amazon Prime & Tubi). IMDbInstagram+1
• Massive social footprint (Facebook ~1.5M followers). Facebook+1

Resources & connects:

• Kelly: kellykellz.com | IG/TikTok/FB: @kellykellz_22 (email: kellykells2222@gmail.com)
• Watch Toxic FriendZ: Amazon Prime / Tubi (search “Toxic FriendZ”) IMDbInstagram

Sponsor/Partnership inquiries: Kelly is seeking aligned management, podcast sponsors, and brand collaborations.

If you loved this: Rate & review, share with a friend, and tag us with your favorite “bigger” moment.

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: www.elevatecollection.co/community

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

In this episode of the Elevate Collection podcast, Coach Dar shares her inspiring journey from a young girl with a passion for helping others to a renowned coach and thought leader. She discusses the importance of mindset, resilience, and the ability to overcome adversity, drawing from her personal experiences, including her own stroke at 25. Coach Dar emphasizes that everyone has gifts and talents that can be utilized in various arenas of life, and she encourages listeners to see beyond their current roles and strive for greatness. The conversation highlights the significance of community, support, and the power of human connection in elevating oneself and others. In this conversation, Coach Dar shares profound insights on the importance of genuine friendships, self-worth, and the power of authenticity in relationships. She emphasizes the need for intentional living and emotional intelligence, encouraging listeners to engage in hard conversations and share their life experiences for the benefit of others. Coach Dar also discusses her legacy, the impact she hopes to leave on the world, and her aspirations for future projects that aim to elevate others.

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: www.elevatecollection.co/community

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Deiver Montes, CEO & Managing Partner of Avalon Sports, as he shares his remarkable journey from professional athlete to successful sports business executive. In this episode, we explore the transformation from playing field to boardroom, and how Deiver is revolutionizing athlete management through Avalon Sports' innovative approach across their offices in New York, Miami, and Bogotá.

Resources Mentioned:
• Avalon Sports: www.avalonsportsus.com

Keywords:
Sports Management, Athlete Development, Career Transition, Sports Business, Leadership, Professional Athletics, Business Development, Sports Agency, Athletic Career, Sports Executive

Hashtags:
#ElevateThePodcast
#WhereInfluenceMeetsLegacy
#SportsManagement
#AthleteTransition
#SportsLeadership
#AvalonSports
#SportsBusiness
#AthleteEntrepreneur
#SportsAgency
#CareerDevelopment
#AthleteSuccess
#SportsCEO
#BusinessOfSports
#SportsIndustry
#AthleteMindset

Social Media Tags:
@avalonsportsgroup

MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY: www.elevatecollection.co/community

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.