209 | Queer Radio Done Right - Amplifying BIPOC Voices with Anna Deshawn
Our guest on the pod this week is Anna DeShawn. Anna is a Chicago born media professional and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of E3 Radio, an online radio station that plays queer & independent music.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Anna DeShawn Interview on Creating an LGTB Music Online Radio Station
SPEAKERS
Paul Zelizer, Anna DeShawn
Paul Zelizer 00:01
Hi, this is Paul Zelizer. Welcome to another episode of the Awarepreneurs podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious business, social impact, and awareness practices. Each episode, I do a deep dive interview with a thought leader in this intersection. Someone who has market tested experience and is already transforming. And before I introduce today's guests in our topic, I have one request. If you could go over to Apple podcasts, or whatever app you're listening to the show on, hit the subscribe button and do a review. It helps tremendously. Thanks for considering it. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to an edition. And our topic is queer Radio dunrite, amplifying bipoc voices, and is a Chicago born media professional and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of E three radio, an online radio station that plays queer and independent music. And welcome to the show. Thanks so much for having me, Paul. I'm glad to be here. We got a lot of talk about this is a really big and really important topic. But before we get into the specifics of what you do, and one of the ways we like to get to know somebody, we're called to wear printers, after all, indeed, we want to ask you about a wellness or resiliency practice that you personally use to resource yourself for this important but not always easy work.
Anna DeShawn 01:25
Oh, Paul, that's easy. My prayer corner is everything. Okay? I, me and my wife, we bought a home in November 2009, just before the anyone saw a pandemic coming. So, um, I told her that she can have this bedroom, but I gotta have my prayer corner. Okay. And so, me and my prayer cord, I get down every morning. And it's a place where I sent her my mastermind journal is there my mastermind books, meditation books, pictures of my family, pictures of me growing up a candle. And I sit there and listen to my affirmation music in the morning, I write in my journal, it's my place to center myself for the day. Because there's a lot, there's a lot to do. And as a person who lives at the intersections of so many different identities on any given day, something could be impacting my life or the life or the lives of those that I love and care about deeply. So it's incredibly important to me that I find the time to center to refocus and to remember, the work that I'm called to do that that is one of my practices.
Paul Zelizer 02:45
Beautiful. And this work that you were called to do about amplifying bipac voices and using music and amplifying through this radio station that we're going to talk about, like if you are going to whine back a little bit and put a pin on the map and say like the short version of the origin stories, something interesting happened right here that would help somebody understand how he three radio came into being any sense of what that might be?
Anna DeShawn 03:12
Absolutely, I was I went to undergrad at Drake University, and I had spent the summer there. My girlfriend at the time worked in the library. Okay, so I spent a lot of time in the library.
Paul Zelizer 03:24
That's a great story
Anna DeShawn 03:27
is just how that works, right. And I was reading about all these amazing black women who I had never learned about before. And I felt like I was a pretty educated person. But I just had not heard about the Fannie Lou Hamer 's of the world and the Ella Baker's and the Elaine browns. And I was wondering why I hadn't. And truly it bothered me deeply. And so at that point, I realized that I wanted to do something about that. And as someone who was studying radio television production with a concentration in multicultural studies, I had a great passion for wanting to make a positive impact through media. And it kept stirring in me. So I decided I was going to create a PSA campaign to re amplify these women that more people needed to know about. Well, I tried that and it didn't work. Okay. So I was like, well, years later, I decided, I'm going to take the three E's that I actually ended up running a political campaign at my undergrad. And I'm gonna take those three E's, take an E out, make it entertainment. So it's educate, empower, and entertain. And let's make your own radio station and play your own commercials and Psh and can't no one tell you no, because you can do whatever you want. And so that's that's where it started. My first show was in November of 2009.
Paul Zelizer 04:46
November of 2009. So you didn't just start this yesterday. You've been at this work of creating a LGTB music station for a little while. I've been at this for a while, but I will say that it's a reimagining today as I quit my full time job at the end of 2020
Anna DeShawn 05:00
And February 1 was my first day as my full time boss of myself. And so I've been reimagining and reinvigorating the LGTB music station, given my newfound freedom. Congratulations, full time entrepreneur, how exciting and scary too, right?
Paul Zelizer 05:19
Well, no, if you want to go down that path, yes. Oh, all the things like all the things we're gonna like, be honest here, if not, okay, on this show, you know, I've been terrified at times being an entrepreneur fold closer. And I don't know too many entrepreneurs that when they get real, haven't had moments like that. And oftentimes, leaving the safety of a full time gig is is a scary and exciting moment. Maybe you're not wired that way. But certainly I was,
Anna DeShawn 05:45
Oh, absolutely wired that way. Okay, so on any given day, I can absolutely be on an incredible high, you know, having conversations like these with you, Paul, that gives me so much joy to be able to tell our story. But then there's days where my head is gonna explode from all the things that I need to do. As I as we all know, we were about 50 different hats. And there days on those days that I just sit here, and I just cry, and I let it out and cleanse all of that out. And then oftentimes, I'll either listen to some affirmation music in that moment, send up a prayer, or actually, depending on how I feel, I might go back up to my prayer corner and recenter myself, and and refocus, but absolutely feel that way. It was an incredibly scary moment, but also a timely moment that I felt was in alignment. Because I'd been thinking about that big leap for a while. And when I finally did it, it felt like it was the right time to do so. Thanks for sharing that. I really appreciate that. Yeah.
Paul Zelizer 06:50
So talk to us a little bit about the LGTB music online radio space, This is a space that like many spaces have been, you know, dealing with change or disruption. Radio, you know, I'm a podcaster, we're part of the forces that have disrupted radio, right? How can we not talk about this space that you've been operating in, in a long time? And, and and I want to get into the specifics of, you know, queer voices and bipoc voices in the space and LGTB music, but just to help our listeners who might not know a lot about like, what's going on in the radio world? And how have some of the changes, like you have your own radio station, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have a $10 million antenna somewhere $100 million worth of equipment somewhere, and I have a podcast and I don't have $100 million of equipment, and yet I'm going out there it all over the world. Give us a sense of like, what's, what's going on in the radio space in the audio space since 2009? And how has that included or excluded the voices that you're really passionate about amplifying?
Anna DeShawn 07:55
Of course, I feel like I've actually part of the disruption. So even though I wouldn't be on the show, if you? Well, let me say, right, exactly. Okay, so in 2009, so I've always worked in digital media and streaming media. And so I've always been in this tech space. And in 2009, I knew the power that the internet had to reach people from all around the world, no matter where you were located. But at that time, people, many people didn't have a clue as to what in the world I was doing. And I feel and I know that in the radio space, anyone who has not come along for the ride and extending their reach, right? online, they aren't maximizing their opportunities. And, you know, mainstream media is owned by about three companies. So everything that most people hear is programmed by Clear Channel and you know, 10 years ago color channel was also very aware of the power of the internet, right and then they started I heart media, which then was able to syndicate their radio stations that they own on to the internet, right? So No one calls it Clear Channel you call it I heart. And so I feel like anyone who has not gotten on that ride is missing the boat. And I do feel podcasting is the evolution of radio, I feel like podcasting is Radio 2.0 in so many ways and and accessible. And I feel that so many people like myself, had no desires of having to deal with the FCC had no desires of having wanting to deal with, you know, government oversight of any kind. And I want to be able to say wherever I wanted to say whatever I wanted to say it and the internet allows for that to actually happen. And so it's it's given individuals the creative power and freedom to speak their truth out to the world. And I think that that in and of itself is a beautiful thing. And what I want to do with that is amplify those voices, and in particular, the black browning, queer trans people of color voices as they are consistently under invested in under amplified, and undervalued. And I feel like there are so many creatives out here making amazing content that you absolutely just can't find. And because the market is crazy saturated, right, 2 million podcasts in the marketplace, how in the world, can you find something that's going to be maybe just for you. So my, my mission right now is amplify those. And it always has been, but especially now with what we're trying to do. And what we will do with the cube is to amplify those voices and bring them to folks fingertips through our app.
Paul Zelizer 10:50
So there's been a lot of changes, and you've been at the forefront. I started my business in 2008. And there is, you know, a different relationship to the web, then now, right? Yeah, yeah. Whether we're talking the podcasting space, or just like, how people thought about being of service to somebody who at least were in the circles I've moved, there's like, No, we need to sit in the same room to like, you know, be able to do transformative community work. And now we're distributed communities, and we have all these tools. And now that's not that uncommon, but go back to 2009. Like, I literally started my business in 2008, but didn't really get going in 2009. I have a sense of the general echo system in the impact, community focused, positive impact world and and I know you've seen a lot of changes.
Anna DeShawn 11:46
So many changes, right, so many changes my mother, right, during a pandemic was going to church on zoom, right on Facebook Live, excuse me, like, there is no way in the world anybody was gonna be able to tell me that my mother will be doing that. Okay. Growing up in Mississippi, gone up Kojic. We went to church Wednesdays and Sundays, okay, in person, there was no way you were gonna tell me that that was going to be the case. But that is the case today.
Paul Zelizer 12:13
The changes have been enormous. Yeah, yeah. So 2009, you get this idea. And give us like a couple highlights along the way. We're going to talk about this app and the next iteration of what you're doing, but just give people a sense of the build, you decide, okay, I know about radio and communications. And I'm seeing that black and bipoc voices and queer and trans voices are not getting the attention and the celebration they deserve. So I'm going to start a LGTB music radio station, okay. Like, walk us through the bill to like, what did that look like? And what was the technology in 2009? How did you find artists who to be on your platform? Did they get paid? Like, just give us a sense of the built here? Wow, it has been a long bill, Paul, but
Anna DeShawn 13:00
it's been really good. I, the build look like social media, right? So I'm a part of that millennial generation where I was in college when Facebook started, right. So I remember Facebook, when it was still just.edu accounts that were able to have an account, okay. And understanding the power that it had to reach and connect with people at that time. And so, in 2009, I realized that I could use social media, to my advantage, to not only promote and publicize the radio show that we were doing at that time, but also to connect with people who are doing the work around the country. Right. So oftentimes, communities like the ones I'm in black folks, queer folks, they're very insular, right? For safety reasons, you're not gonna be able to always find them. You don't always know where they're going, even during that time, because people are consistently and constantly worried about their safety. So social media allowed for groups to be created, right. And there were meetups and all these things. And that was really how we started and we're able to grow our reach was by literally messaging people, following people and all the things and so in when we started the show, I was really focused on not only shuck what was going on in Chicago, where I'm based, and amplifying and telling stories here, but also those around the country. So somehow, some amazing moments along the way, have been having conversation around black lesbian relationships and what it means to be in relationship with each other and our family dynamics and all the things right, it's, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, okay, everybody's relationship is like everybody's relationship. Also having the opportunity to interview Lena wave, before she became Lena wave was a milestone moment on the show. As well as some other folks within the community who are pretty well known the Tim and Wes of the world, the honey for wild leaders of the world, the Tracy Baines of the world, for Nita Grey's some just amazing people, Duran Barnard, who sings back up for Erykah Badu and is doing some amazing things in the world. The whole goal and mission has been to tell the stories of people and play the music from folks who deserve to be heard. And I can always just have these amazing conversations with folks who are just looking for the same thing I'm looking for. They're looking for community, and they're looking to be acknowledged and valued. And my whole, My dream is that we can do that on an even grander scale with the radio station.
Paul Zelizer 15:54
How beautiful is that? And like, what kind of response Have you seen as you started putting out this content? Let's say, black lesbians, and how things kind of ripple out into family and community and the complexities there? What kind of responses are you getting? How do you know who's listening? people reach out to you on socials? Like, what's the impact here?
Anna DeShawn 16:16
Yeah, people reach out to me every day on social media, they send me music all the time. You know, we've we've had to bring on a producer recently, I'm so excited. Carter is amazing. And so I send all that stuff to him at this point, cuz I'm like, I can't, I can't manage all the influx that's coming our way and listen to every piece of content that comes to the station. And we we get amazing feedback. We just had a concert, actually. And it was wonderful highlighting an artist here in Chicago, queer artists named June who has a clothing line called protect black women. Right. And we also had B stead well, who is a black queer woman out of the DMV area who makes music and beats on the fly? While she's singing her songs, you know, it's just what I like to compare it to, oftentimes is, for me, there wouldn't be a Martin without a Malcolm there wouldn't be a Malcolm without a Martin, none of that would exist without a Black Panther Party, right? There's a whole ecosystem of people and movements that made the civil rights movement happen, you know. And I feel the same way. It's true with what's going on with queer folks and the LGBTQ movement, and the civil uprisings that are happening today, you may be able to pinpoint a couple of key figures, but there's amazing, amazing people doing the work on the ground across the country who you may not know. And those are the people that I focus on, and that reach out to me and say, Hey, and I want to be heard, because they're tuning in, because they want to hear other people who are just like them who also are not often being heard or amplified. And because queer artists, oftentimes, especially today are choosing not to conform, not to conform to what mainstream media deems is acceptable, they often end up down in independent role and independent musical path, which costs a lot of money, they aren't being backed by major labels, etc. So they depend on community right to survive, especially if they're choosing to do their art full time. So if what we can do in the world, is create a hub where all of this can be found and exist, then I think we've done a pretty good thing.
Paul Zelizer 18:38
so grateful for you to share what you've created. It's so important and so exciting. I'm a very granular person. And it's one of the reasons that people listen, is they they're like, Paul asked him about how this works through the lens of a social entrepreneur mindset. So forgive me if this feels like a detailed question, but I think our listeners would want to know, help us understand the programming on d3 radio, how much of it is music? How much of it is a talk show? Like the example you gave before? What's it like to be queer community of color? or? Yeah, just like, give us a sense, if I were to go there, and I'm a listener, like what kind of programming Am I going to see there?
Anna DeShawn 19:20
Yeah, today 90% of it is music. 90% of what we do all day, every day is music. We strained 20 473 65 and you mentioned earlier, right? We're playing queer and independent music, in high rotation with a hip hop and r&b vibe. And the 10% of the time, it's my show, wake up with nn friends, where it's a news and a daily news and music show. And we talk I give tops news stories that we're following. For example, we've Of course been following the COVID. But we've also been following all the anti trans and anti LGBTQ bills that have been circulating across the country. It's been pretty disgusting what's been happening. It's been about 250 it's hard
Paul Zelizer 20:01
as just right.
Anna DeShawn 20:02
It's terrible. It's been about 250 introduced across the country and different legislations and legislators have been taking these on. And even just the other day, down to Florida, the Governor desantis has signed a bill to prevent trans women from participating in women's sports. And this is just happening all across the country. And people are not talking about that. So during my show, it's eight to 10am. Every single day, Monday through Friday, we talk about those types of stories that are affecting our communities, while also talking about all the beautiful other things that are happening in the world entertainment and sports, highlighting things like the W NBA instead of the NBA all the time, right, just flipping the narrative a bit. But going forward, my goal is to have more shows on more content, we're going to start playing some podcasts that we will also have within our app. So I want to have it to be more of a balanced approach. And someone has told me before it's like New Age, NPR, like, it is kind of like New Age. And
Paul Zelizer 21:05
that's a great description.
Anna DeShawn 21:06
Yeah, that would be my goal, you know, where we have 60% Music 40% talk will be my goal. Right now, we're probably 9010. But I've been I've been in conversation with quite a few people around what it means to start their own shows to be heard on the station. But it is a commitment. And we have to scale, I'm really big on paying creatives what they deserve. So, you know, it's this whole ecosystem, we need advertisers to support so then we can pay creatives to do their thing on air, right? Art doesn't just happen, it has to be invested in. So I believe that we'll see that happening over the next year. And I'm very mindful about rollout. And being consistent. All those things matter tremendously. As you well know, Paul. So that's what the station looks like today. And we have a curator of music who curates what everyone hears on the station. And we have a time 12 to one which is just queer artists only queer music for an hour, we also have a time where Chicago finance where we only play in Chicago artists. And we have time in the evening where we play like throwback jams, and then slow jams. And so we do have programming specific programming throughout the day, that is music focused, and always thinking about our queer independent artists in high rotation.
Paul Zelizer 22:29
So talk to us a little bit about the relationship between ether, either station and the brand. And the artists like how do you select certain artists and you talked about, you know, the desire to pay creative so many creatives are talking a lot about the relationship between all the different people in the ecosystem and we you come play a concert for our you know, cause based thing and you should do for free? And how many times creative get asked to donate or, you know, do for exposure is a very alive conversation in the creative entrepreneur worlds that I am part of like, we're really tired, you can die of exposure, right? You hear people say things like that. So yeah, talk to us a little bit about the station. And the relationship between the creatives, how you select them, and and how do you work towards making it a mutual relationship?
Anna DeShawn 23:22
Yeah, I'm slaying stuff, people send us stuff. But then I'm constantly on the web, I'm always on YouTube, I'm always my, my job is to be tuned in to what's happening in the world. So I'm always following artists that are up and coming. I'm always listening to new music. And honestly, I just reach out and look to build community. We every day is a leap of faith, I'm taking some type of leap of faith reaching out to a potential guests reaching out to an artist to do an interview. And usually, what I do is offer time on the station, people want to be seen, especially independent artists. And if it's good music, I also want to play it on the station. So that's usually where our relationships start. And I'm really big on energy and feelings. And so if we have a good vibe, and you support us, and we support you, then we can build a mutually beneficial relationship where we can support each other's growth, right? And I'm here for that. I'm also really big on partnerships. And with other podcasters and other radio stations, I really do not see the world through the lens of competition, just not how I function. See us being more powerful together than we are apart. And I feel like competition puts this wall up that I feel like it's unnecessary. There's enough out here for everybody. Okay, and so that's really how I began building relationships. And I've been at this for so long people know and what to expect and They trust, the brand that we've built, is gonna bring quality content, no matter what we're doing. And so I'm grateful for that.
Paul Zelizer 25:09
So I was just talking to another social entrepreneur, who's a podcaster. Given what I do that happens a lot, probably not surprising to our audience. We were talking about the difference. Its marketing language, the difference between inbound and outbound outbound is, you're on YouTube, and like, here's an awesome artists and I'm gonna reach out. And when you build a brand, like we're printers, we're on a bunch of PR for good lists, and we probably get 300 or so pitches for one episode a week. 300 pitches one episode. So my job is and our members like, you know, somebody introduced us. Big shout out to Anita Sharla. We love you. You know, I need to said, Hey, you need to get out of there doing great things. And here we are. Right. So I just wanted to highlight the if you've been listening for a while, listeners, you know that my spiritual highlighter, but if you're a new listener, I have this tendency where I like to jokingly but not jokingly highlight something on it. What you just said is that you're you built a brand, and now people are coming to you marketing language is inbound, Hey, can I can you play my music, right? This is the kinds of audiences I want as a musician to connect with, and you've done that work, and we trust you and you're known in this space? And Can Can we talk and there's value for me as a musician to if you were to bring my music onto this platform that you've been cultivating with great deal of care and a great deal of time and a great deal of networking since 2009? Is that anywhere in the ballpark of what you're saying? And that's exactly what I'm saying? Yeah,
Anna DeShawn 26:57
that's exactly what I'm saying. And I'm also saying that the outbound work is still so very important to it. All right. And that continuing to put myself out here is crucial. There's a you know, that saying, you know, they, if you build it, they will come. Ciao, I don't know who said that, but they left out some critical thing. So many critical pieces, they will come part, you build it, they may come if you tell them, if they trust you, right, if they like you, you know, people do business with people, they like, people do not do business with people who are going to bring their energy down, right, who are not going to be in alignment. And that is exactly where I'm at. I am not interested in doing work with anyone who is going to bring me down, I'm looking to go up, you know. So I'm saying there's a balance between both of those things, it's amazing to be in a place to get a lot of inbound leads. And that feels really affirming. And it's also about reinventing and reimagining, always, and staying on top of your art. And the outbound pieces are also really important.
Paul Zelizer 28:16
Thanks for sharing that. Yes. So let's do this in a moment, I want to come back and talk about something you're working on right now getting ready to launch and I want to tell our listeners about it. Before we do that, I just want to take a quick break and hear word from our sponsor. Do you have a business that's about making the world a better place, and you want it to grow both in terms of your impact, you want to help more people and your income you want to live a good life? If so, I'd like you to consider podcasting for a little bit. And here's a little bit about why I think it could be a really good fit for any social entrepreneur who wants to grow those things. When I did the research about podcasting, I found out three data points really interesting, they jumped off the page. Number one podcast listeners tend to be what researchers call early adapters. We like new ideas and we're quick to implement them or at least give them a try in our life and see does this word doesn't make a difference. Number two podcast listeners are natural leaders. They're the kind of people that folks in our community, whether it's at work, or when we do community work, and our families would turn to you and say, Hey, you know a lot about a bunch of things. How might you handle this? The last one is podcast listeners tend to make more money. And not just a little bit, but quite a bit more. So imagine what those three things mean for you, social entrepreneur who wants to help more people and live a good life in terms of getting paid and having an income. If you'd like to learn how you can leverage podcasting to grow your impact business aware printers has a podcast success team will walk you through every step of the way. Whether you want to be Guest as being such a great guest today, where you want to have your own podcast, we'll help you every step of the way. If you'd like to find out more, you can go to a where printers.com forward slash podcast dash success. And thank you to everybody in the podcast success teams who sponsors this podcast. So Anna, talk to us a little bit. Okay, since 2009, you've been building trust and building community and finding awesome music that feels really exciting and resonant speaks to your audience. Now, you're wanting to go to I don't know is a 3.0. There's, there's a new development called the cube. Tell us a little bit about the cube and why you're excited? Absolutely. Maybe it's 3.0. Is it 7.0? How generations of this Have there been right? Great. Yeah.
Anna DeShawn 30:54
Over the last decade, but it's exciting, isn't it a crazy exciting time for us, like I said, right, started being my own boss in February, we. And I did that mostly because I knew this was coming. We've been working on the queue queue up for two years. And the genesis of it all is that we wanted to make it easier for people to listen to the station. So being online is wonderful for reach. But sometimes it can be challenging, especially on the go right to be listening from a website. And that's where we've been people have been tuning in from E three radio.fm. And oftentimes people like and it's so hard, it's hard for me to listen on the go even when I try. And so we decided, you know, we need an app. And then that's how we listen to music as we listen to podcasts is from apps. And so the conversation started two years ago around how we wanted it to be what we wanted it to feel like how we wanted users to interact. And as we began having those conversations, podcasting, of course, became part of it. We just could not avoid it. We listened to podcasts ourselves. And we all had the same challenge of finding new content.
Paul Zelizer 32:01
Are you telling me you're an early adopter? I'm kidding. No.
Anna DeShawn 32:09
As a matter of fact, I was running a podcast for a very long time, I can be quite a bit of a traditionalist when it comes
Paul Zelizer 32:15
to you started online radio in 2009. I'm gonna push back a little bit.
Anna DeShawn 32:21
No, I know. But I'm just like, if you tune in the Radio One day, you miss it, you tune in the next day you listen to it, you know, no replay that sort of thing, right? That's not a thing. But it is a thing. And at some point, I had to concede, and I was like, you know, because for so long, people will say, Oh, you got to park it's like, No, I have a radio show. No, I have a radio show. But today, you know, a few years ago, I was like NSS, you have both. And we did we did. We've always had a presence on iTunes. I always had a presence on with podcasting. And a couple years ago, we like we got to make it easier for people to find good content that you know, we hear about it from a friend, a friend of a friend saying, hey, check this out. Very few have money for marketing, very few even know, the first place to go to get a good intro done. And to put content together. It's a it's a big task. It's a big lift. And that's why so many do not continue, why some starting don't stop while some are not consistent, because there is a method to being a really successful podcaster. And so we decided, let's put it let's all put it all together in one app. Let's put the radio station inside of an app so people can listen and then let's curate some podcast to go in there as well. So what what we've created is the cube curated destination of music and podcast by black brown and cutie pot creatives. And I'm incredibly excited about the possibilities around what it can be and do in the world.
Paul Zelizer 34:01
And you've got a crowdfunding that you're launching or it might even be live already to help get it up and running. Right?
Anna DeShawn 34:07
Absolutely. is the first time I've ever asked for money for the station. It is talk about anxiety. Okay, Paul. But yes, we have our Indiegogo campaign is up, it's live. You can go to Indiegogo and search the queue queue up app, and you will find us you can also go to our website, a three radio.fm and find out more about the crowdfund about the cube. It's it is a wild ride. And I keep telling folks it's a marathon not a sprint. I am a marathoner. I know what it means to go that 26.2 we go in 26.2 miles with this. And so it's been so what is a good word here, Paul? No could go so many from my gosh, how
Paul Zelizer 34:58
many words
Anna DeShawn 34:59
how many words It has been incredibly fulfilling, talking and reconnecting and doing this fundraising campaign, you know, before launch, you talk to do it well, you have to talk to a lot of people. And because of COVID, there's just been a huge disconnect with even within community. And so it's been amazing reconnecting with people. It's been amazing. talking with folks about this project around this idea, this dream we have. And so we're looking to right $75,000 in June, to finish the development of the app, the designs are done, the flow, the user flow is done for our first iteration of the app. But we got to play for the development part, the part that actually makes it work, okay, not the part that just makes it cute. So I'm excited, I'm excited about that. I'm also excited about the exclusive content that we're going to create in the cube. Because that's going to be really the bread and butter, where we have the ability to tell our stories in a brand new way.
Paul Zelizer 35:58
Congratulations on that, in the show notes, listeners will be both the station and the crowdfunding. So you can go check it out, can go support it. This is awesome. It's the kind of things that we as a community, I think, want to support, I certainly do so. So crowdfunding is one aspect of what you're doing. If we look at it, in the second part of the show, we oftentimes talk about putting on our social entrepreneur glasses and understanding it in some nuance, as it functions as an enterprise. So you've got this app coming is going to make it more available for on the go in as well as kind of increase the diversity, to have more podcast as to have more talk shows as well as the music. So that I think would make sense if I'm a listener, I'm like, Okay, I got that. And you've been working on it for a while. And there's this crowdfunding to you know, get it to market and kind of turn on the, the gears right, the working part of it. Talk to us, like, how else does he three either currently monetize or things that are on your radar that you're looking at doing in the near future in terms of how do you keep this afloat? as a social enterprise? advertising? advertising advertising? Yeah. Like you've been in, you know, the, you know, both the traditional, like, how does it work in traditional radio? Why would advertisers pay and how do they like factor? Like, how much do they pay for any given show? Yeah, so
Anna DeShawn 37:31
it's a huge challenge, because COVID affected a lot of small businesses. And so local media outlets like myself, independent media outlets really depend on small businesses, to allocate portions of their budget to advertising and to advertise with local independent media outlets, mostly because, for example, for our case, we have a very niche audience, right? We're reaching black, queer women, mostly 75% of them are black queer women between the ages of 25 and 44. So that's a very particular audience. And oftentimes, small businesses are catering also to maybe very specific audiences, maybe because they're in a very particular neighborhood. So advertising really took a huge hit, right. I'm a part of Chicago independent media Alliance, which is an amazing organization that was born out of the Chicago reader. It's about 100 of us a part of this alliance. And the stats say that 63% of media outlets lost a significant amount of income, because of COVID. And once again, these things don't just show up, they have to be supported and paid for it. So advertising actually took a big hit. But it's a central part of how we keep this thing running. So you know, what I tried to do with the internet with the radio station, because we're on the internet, I don't like 62nd commercials, they take forever. So I really do try to mix up how we can do advertising for folks, there is the website, there is our email listserv, of course, but we don't have to just do you know, 15 second, or 32nd ads, we can also do a longer form interview, we can also do video interviews, and we post on our social, right, our social channels. And now with the advent of the app, there's gonna be places within the app that you can also have advertising and advertising within the podcast. So I'm always thinking about different ways in which we can monetize the content that we're putting out here in the world. I'll also say events are huge draw. Right? So our concerts are huge way of us bringing in income, as well as grants and foundations. We are not a 501 c three, but because of COVID. Right, there's a lot of funding out here to ensure small businesses continue to exist in the world. So funding opportunities have grown expeditiously like over the last year. So we have been, we brought on a grant writer who I work hand in hand with to put us out here In the world and see what catches right. Because those can be some really big dollars. So really, lots of different streams of revenue and income. But let me tell you, I'm here for sending more invoices. Okay, then receiving them. So we just gonna keep speaking that into existence.
Paul Zelizer 40:18
Nice. Now, I was gonna say a joke about how you're mad at me because I did at least a 92nd commercial for them. You did? I know. You noticed. I didn't read it. So well, I believe it. Like I really think podcasting is one of the best tools. But I couldn't not tease you about that. I would I know. When I said it, I knew what I meant. Yeah, but let's see. Attention. He was yes.
Anna DeShawn 40:51
But you read it so well. Okay. But podcasts also, right. I mean, podcasts are an independent media outlet. And so the people advertising and sponsoring with you are looking to target the people listening to you, right. And there's a lot of power in that there's more power in that than doing some mass distribution, to you don't know who you're reaching. Right? It's very clear who I'm going to reach if I advertise with you. And it's very clear who you're going to reach if you choose to advertise with me. And and there's a lot of power in that.
Paul Zelizer 41:24
I just had to teach you, thanks for being a good sport about I'm here for it. You totally are a good sports so. So just to highlight what I heard in terms of it. And again, another thing I would bring out the spiritual highlighter, multiple streams of revenue, big fan of that. So the crowdfunding to get something specific, that's oftentimes a great way to engage people, it's really hard to just say, Hey, this is an awesome business give us money, it more typically, successful crowdfunding is something tangible, like we have this app, here's the benefits of it, here's what you're supporting. So good job. They're just kind of articulating not. And several other streams that I heard that you touched on pretty quickly, in addition to the advertising and sponsorship, which we went into some details pretty quickly, you talked about events. And I'm, I want to unpack that just a little bit. And grants and foundations, I love that you brought that up, you do not have to be a 501 c three, you can partner with them. But there's lots of ways to tap into those funding sources. So just you know, where printers is not grant funded, but we could approach certain organizations if we wanted to, and events. Talk to us a little bit about that. Anna, Lee, give us an example of a couple of client, where do you say concerts? Like, what kind of events are we talking? Yeah, so
Anna DeShawn 42:49
every year, we have an annual benefit, called the purple tie affair. It's a concert and silent auction. And it's an opportunity for people to come together and give back towards a good cause I started when I was 13. And I did it around my birthday for many years. And now I understand it, I cannot celebrate my birthday like this forever. 36 does not feel the same. So that's one event that we do every year we give back to my favorite nonprofits. And it's a wonderful event and it it brings exposure to the radio station. But more importantly, it brings exposure to the nonprofit in which we are supporting. So for example, this year in October, we'll be supporting sisters in cinema, which is doing amazing work here in Chicago, supporting black women filmmakers, and in their work with work writers, workshops, directing workshops, all types of beautiful things. And they just broke ground on a media art center. This is going to be on the south side of Chicago as well. So we're going to help their fundraising efforts. Other things, we do our concerts, so we just recently had one, right, we're living still living in the times of COVID. So it was streaming on our YouTube channel. And we'll continue to have those types of concerts where we're where we're amplifying queer artists from around the country. And that's one of the beautiful things as well. So there were a lot of sad times or COVID. But there were a lot of opportunities as well. So as a producer of these events, right now, I'm not concerned about the artists travel where they're staying their food and lodging, how they're getting around the world around the city. All the costs that come along with that right now. It's amazing because I'm paying in the PErforM, and that's it. It is actually opened up opportunities for us to do more of that. And these concerts don't cost a lot of money, but they they give us more exposure and then they also give us a chance to connect with our people and our fans. You know, sometimes these concerts cost 10 bucks and, and that's absolutely nothing, you know what I mean? So, concerts are a huge part of the work that we do and events that we have, and we're Gotta be doing more of that.
Paul Zelizer 45:02
Beautiful. So, five years from now, give us a vision, where would you like a three to be? What kind of impact? Do you see yourself having? What kind of like revenue? Like, is it gonna? Is it still gonna be mostly on it? Is it going to be a big team? Like, yeah, just give us a sense of like, what does it look like five years. It's beautiful.
Anna DeShawn 45:25
In five years from now, I see the queue being it's a standalone media hub, a go to place for new content for queer content, black, brown artistry, I see as having a team of probably 20 to 25 people, a team focusing on the radio station, a team focusing on podcasting, a team focusing on selling I see as being a force in this world of media that that I occupy. And I see as being a voice for communities of folks who don't have a voice. And, and I see as being a viable, growing business. I truly want to see that happen. And one of my meditations recently, Paul, in my mastermind book, it had such an amazing quote, and I have to share it with you, because it touched me so much, I probably shared it with I don't know how many people but what it said was to be reasonable. And when you choose to be unreasonable to pursue your goals and dreams, you will find success. And because your goals deserve to be demonstrated, and your spiritual resolve will make it happen. So I'm tapping into all my spiritual resolve to see all those things happen in five years. Because I felt because I believe and I know that we deserve it.
Paul Zelizer 47:00
I'm so glad you're choosing to be unreasonable. Thank you, the world's a better place for your choice and courage. Let's not minimize how much courage it takes to be unreasonable in this in the ways you have. So a deep body and I have some a little bit of sense, as somebody who spends a lot of time talking to a lot of social entrepreneurs, what it might have taken for you to build this from 2009, to where it is now I, I might have a little bit of a hint of how much work it's taken and how much courage it's taken. So just just an honor, and privilege to hear about what you've done. And yeah, deep out because like, I think I have a little bit of sense of how hard you for.
Anna DeShawn 47:48
Thank you for that. Sometimes I don't have a sense for it. And so it's a it's been amazing talking with people over the last few weeks, six weeks or so about as we build up to the campaign. As people remembered stories about me, over the last decade shows I've done places I string from all the things and some things that I have truly just forgotten. You know, you get so busy in doing that you forget to reflect. So there has been a there has been a lot of work put into this. But there's more work to do. And I'm feeling energized to get it done.
Paul Zelizer 48:27
Yeah, I could hang out with you all day. And and I don't want to do that to you. I don't want to do that to our listeners. If there was something you were hoping we would get to today, and we haven't gotten to it. Or if there is something, we've got the links, go support the cube, go check out the radio station folks. Look, the links are in the show notes. So that's there. If there is something else you want to leave our listeners with, as we wind down this great conversation, what would that be?
Anna DeShawn 48:58
That we still have a lot of work to do that. Every morning when I report the news, and there's another anti trans or anti LGBTQ bill that has passed and some some legislation has passed, I'm reminded that we have a lot of work to do. black trans women are being killed. You know, every single day literally. Life expectancy today for a black trans woman is a 33 I believe. And anyone who does not occupy those identities is operating in the place of privilege. And I think we all can do some work around educating ourselves around LGBTQ communities. You can either be a really great comrade and stand alongside those communities, right? or figure out how you can get in there and start doing some work. We need active comrades in this work to stand up against some of this hate that's happening around the world. And because there's a lot more beautiful things happening in the world, but we got some work to do.
Paul Zelizer 50:13
And thank you so much for being on the show today and sharing all of the wisdom you've gained on your journey. And it's really been an honor today.
Anna DeShawn 50:22
Thank you so much, Paul, for having me. And it's been great to be here with you people.
Paul Zelizer 50:27
So again, go check out the show notes. Good to spread the word, folks, please. They're doing great work, and they're bringing something really exciting into the world. And if we can help get the word out, I would certainly appreciate before we go I do want to just remind you like today, again, big shout out to need to share though, if you've got an idea of a guest or topic that you would love to see us do a show on please go to the where printers website and go to our contact page has our criteria. There's three simple criteria how we try to vet who is a good fit for the show, we try to be as transparent as humanly possible and a lot including today of our guests come from somebody who knows the show and says I know someone so if you know someone go check that out. We'd love listener suggested topics and guests. For now, I just want to say thank you so much for listening, and please, it's intense out there. Take good care. And thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in our world.
What is the Awarepreneurs podcast?
The Awarepreneurs podcast is a renown social entrepreneur podcast - Listen Notes lists us at one of the top 1.5% of all podcasts in the world. It’s hosted by Paul Zelizer, a leading social entrepreneur coach and community builder in the sector. Each episode, Paul does a deep dive interview with a thought leader in the space.
If you have an idea for a fabulous guest for this acclaimed social entrepreneur podcast, you can pitch your idea here. 🙏🏽