Episode Title: Having The Right Perspective For Building Your Music Career & Brand Feat. Dr. Syleecia Thompson

Episode Info: In this episode Durell is joined by educator, brand strategist and entrepreneur Dr. Syleecia Thompson. Durell and Syleecia start off the episode by talking about the fact that most indie creatives who enter the music industry and ecosystem only want to achieve success that includes winning a Grammy and going on a world tour. Syleecia shares how difficult it is to even secure world tours because most of the top promoters only want to deal with the top acts, and depending on your genre it’s truly an uphill climb. Syleecia and Durell talk about the fact that Cardi B is a great case study for what building an audience is really about when it comes to success. Syleecia shares what the next challenge is for when you have the type of success that she’s had.

Syleecia talks about artists not being afraid to put their music out and take risks. Syleecia and Durell talk about her sister Syleena Johnson Unsung episode and her early career being signed to a label that really didn’t know what they were doing because of the lack of ideas and innovation to help Syleena build an even bigger brand and career. Syleecia talks about how Syleena was able to go through the ups and downs of being on a major label and then showed her ability to dabble in different industries that has allowed her to sustain and build a solid brand outside of music as a talk show host, actress, and health and wellness as a fitness competitor.

Syleecia shares the fact that she’s been able to wear so many different hats as she’s gone along in her career from working in the corporate space as well as being an educator in the college academia space as well as the education she provides to many people as an entrepreneur. She educates on several different topics such as management, leadership, global business and entrepreneurship and the fact not many people of color teach on these topics from the black perspective and point of view.


Syleecia also shares the importance for artists especially in R&B having more than one income stream because the money at times can be up and down. She said artists pretty much need 8-10 ways to make money for the sake of survival in the industry.

Syleecia and Durell end the episode about her work as a brand strategist for her clients. She shares that she has a formula, belief system and strategy when she works with her clients and she applies them specifically depending on the person. She is big on her clients sharing their story as a key in building a strong personal brand. She also talks about her most recent book The Resilience Factor as well as the awesome projects that she’s working on as she started her own production company Dr. Syleecia Productions.


For more info on Dr. Syleecia, please visit her website at:
https://www.drsyleecia.com/