Jakeem Smith

 

The business of public relations requires an individual who is “in-the-know”. A person who is social and has an a flair for diffusing crisis situations. Whether that person communicates via phone, email, or face-to-face, he or she has to be brazen with their approach and secure with the decisions they make. You see, the job of a publicist comes with a heavy load. Why? Because it is not only their lives they have to deal with. It is also the lives, reputations, and public images of their clients they have to be protective of.  If you are familiar with the entertainment industry, oftentimes you’ll see people in their 30s and up taking on the role of publicist.  Rarely, do you see a young person being responsible for such a huge task as this. But as the industry continues to expand, there seems to be an outpour of young adults grabbing hold of their futures and making things happen.

 

Jakeem Smith, of Sky’s The Limit Entertainment LLC, is one individual who knew early on he wasn’t settling for nothing less than success.  Born in Dover, Delaware, his upbringing was the catalyst behind his need to make a difference in the world.  Starting off as a photographer, Jakeem has had the pleasure of shooting Dondria (So So Def), Ne Ne Leakes, Terrance Howard, Jermaine Dupree, and other known celebrities. From there, his career has truly grown and has experienced a diverse range of interests. Thanks to Chanita Foster (reality star, “Football Wives” and founder of Beyond The Game non-profit organization) and Nicci Gilbert (singer/business woman/creator and executive producer of “R&B Divas”) Jakeem’s life is soaring great heights.  Having the unique ability to maintain his clients public presence, he’s made a name for himself at just 24 years old.  It’s apparent that he has a long and very rewarding career ahead of him. But, what makes him a threat amongst his peers?  Well, it’s his ideals about integrity, helping clients reach the next level, lessons learned, and maintaining a great deal of positivity that makes him stand out in the PR world.

 

Intrigued by his ability to establish himself as a respected publicist, and now total brand builder, STACKS Magazine had the pleasure to interview Jakeem.  It was surprising to hear his take on the PR business, working with celebrities, and how he runs his company.  After reading our interview, you’ll realize too that this kid is about to be a force to reckon with.

 

 

Bels: How did you get your start in the PR business?

 

Jakeem: I started off as a photographer. I shot for Sister 2 Sister Magazine and a few other magazines. From there working with the celebrities, that’s kind of how I met Nicci (Gilbert) from doing different events and stuff. I pretty much seen a lot of my friends who had hired different people that did PR. Basically, they were taking their money. They weren’t doing anything for their product. I felt bad. So I decided, because I have a lot of resources and I am very opinionated. I’m very boisterous. If I believe in something or want to do something in particular I’m all for it. Through that, I decided to help some of my friends. I decided…why not do public relations? So, I started doing PR working with different actors, models, corporations, events and stuff like that. And it got bigger and bigger.

 

I started working with Chanita Foster’s foundation (Beyond The Game) which is a non-profit. So, I was doing PR and marketing and stuff like that for the non-profit. Through that, that helped me see a bigger light to what was going on and interacting more hands-on. She didn’t have to really talk to people. So that helped me with my communication skills a little bit more. Staying in contact with people, I had to figure out different ways to get things. I remember one time Chanita called me and said she needed 30 caps and gowns. I’m about to go to Africa and she called me like 7AM in the morning. She said my flight leaves at 5PM and so I had to find different things. Through challenges and people encouraging me to do this, I just seem to press forward with it.

 

With working with Nicci, being her executive assistant, it helped me too. Be able to know who I was as a person because a lot of times PR’s don’t know who they are. A lot of people can talk that good game, “oh I can get you this. I can get you that. I can get you booked on the Wendy Williams show.” But it’s all a bluff. So Nicci taught me under her leadership how to be a boss and how to don’t take NO for an answer. I’m not going to walk somewhere or go in front of anybody and they aren’t not going to tell me NO. They’re going to tell me YES. So, I became a boss.

 

That’s how I look at things now. In the beginning, I was kind of timid. I really like let people mold me into the direction I was supposed to go to. But now, it’s like “this is what I’m going to do, this is how it’s going to go”. And that’s it. I don’t know if you follow my Twitter or not. But, I do check people and I get them in order. Because a lot of times people think they can walk over on you because of the “ladder”. You know, what part of the ladder you are on. A lot times you have to make an example of certain people. Let them know that you are not afraid and that you are somebody. I believe that everybody has a purpose. Everyone has something to bring to the table. But a lot of times some people act like a b—h. Sometimes people got to be called out on it. I’m one of those publicist that I don’t mind going on Twitter and saying how I feel. And encouraging other people to say, “hey don’t allow someone to push over on you.” Recently, I spoke at Stone Mountain High School. I was talking about the different ways of how people need to know their value and know their product. A lot of times we don’t know the direction we are going in to. So, that’s kind of been my whole message to people. A lot of people don’t know their product. Like you are a product yourself because you are working through what you want to get out to the masses. You have your magazine for a purpose. You know you’re a product.

 

Being on the show (“R&B Divas”) has really helped my fan base a lot. I got more respect because they figure I’m a hard worker and a go-getter. But you’ll see the transition this season of how I evolved.

 

Bels: As a PR person, what are some of the things a potential clients should go in requesting from that publicist?

 

Jakeem: What I always tell people and I what I tell my clients, before you come to me right a list of exactly what they want. What are you expectations of me? What are you trying to deliver to the masses? And at the end of the day, where are you trying to go within the next few months?” A lot of times we don’t go into business knowing exactly what we want. So basically we get jived over because no one gave us the right direction to what we are supposed to do. If we don’t know what our expectations are or what we should be doing, no one will take us seriously at all. It’s unfortunate that it happens the way that it does, but it happens. That’s the way of life. We as people need to start asking questions and stop allowing people to take our money or take advantage of us. If we don’t know, it will not be really good for us. It’s sad because I see a lot of times people allow other people to take control of them. The benefit of that happening is that they don’t know what’s going on.

 

It’s unfortunate. This is why I always give people a homework assignment. Before you even come to me, these are the questions I’m going to ask you. Because at the end of the day, how can I best deliver or serve you if you don’t even know what you want. So you’re wasting my time, you’re wasting your time…and that’s how a lot of PRs get over on people. No one knows the direction they want to go in. So, the PRs are like, “Hell, I don’t have to do anything for them. They don’t know what the hell they want to do.” Of course the PRs are supposed to help them and mold them into the right direction. But, these new PRs they don’t really care. It’s all about the money. They’re like hey let me get what I can get out of this and keep it moving.

 

Bels: Yes I agree with you. The PR has to have some accountability as to being able to give some advice. As a client, we are coming to you for that. This is for the people that probably know, to a certain extent, what they want out of the partnership. But sometimes they don’t necessarily know what a PR person can do, what are they supposed to provide for you. So they do come to you needing some type of information or feedback to help them map out what it is they want to accomplish.

As far as PR fees, what are the average costs for hiring a PR person?

 

Jakeem: It depends. You may have PRs that may charge you $200 a month. It depends on the client and where you are. If a PR believes in that person, they may say I’m going to break down my prices just for you so that I can help you go to the next level. They see something special and they want to proceed and help them. I have some clients that pay me a $1000 to $15,000 a month or some clients that may pay me $700. So it all depends on where the client is. Some clients are more established than others. You don’t have a set price because everybody can’t afford to pay that same amount.

 

I’m the type of person that tries to work with people. Find the best way to help them and get them in the right direction. But the thing is, it has to be in the same direction as my brand. If their brand and my brand don’t match, it’s not going to work.

 

Bels: What is your brand?

 

Jakeem: My brand is a brand that if you here my name, or you go somewhere, they know who I am. They now that I am no nonsense and I don’t tolerate tomfoolery. And because I am connected with Nicci, a lot of people know that anybody I bring to the table, they got to be on point too. I’m a reflection of her as well. Just as much as I have my own brand, I’m a reflection of hers too. Because she has allowed me to do what I’m doing now, I have a lot of respect for her. So, I make sure whoever I bring to the table or in my circle, make sense and not going to damage the brand.

 

Bels: What does your company specialize in?

 

Jakeem: Specifically, we specialize in event planning. We love doing events. From that, of course PR and we do a lot of stuff for corporations as well. We are a company that trying to help people go to the next level. We challenge people to see the bigger picture. We do artist development. We do branding. We do event planning. We do one-on-one sessions as well with a lot of different people. It all depends on what’s going on at that particular time. We are not one of those PR firms that only strictly do PR, market you on social media, get you online, and/or a PR firm that just do event planning. We do a little bit of everything. We are very personal in what we do. We try to reach the masses and help people where they are. And get them to the place they’ve been wanting to go to. So that’s what we do.

 

We actually are a label. My company is Skys The Limit Entertainment, LLC. So we actually have a label. We have two artists that are signed to our label. We have other artists that are under our PR firm. But we only have two that are officially under our label. We do a lot of stuff under my company. We are pretty versatile in what we do. We are really hard workers. We are on it. I have business partners. So we work well together. We make sure we help one another in the direction we want to go to.

 

Bels: For upcoming artists that are making their way into the music business, what are some of the key things they need to do in order to brand themselves effectively?

 

Jakeem: The number one thing is to LISTEN. We as people we don’t listen to the people that are trying to help us. The people that I work with they are like, “I don’t like this. This is the way it supposed to be done. This is what I want. This is the direction I want to go to.” Sometimes you have to take the direction of the people who are trying to help you. And then, once you get a name and people know your brand, then you can start working on the different things that you’d like to do. Sometimes you got to break down a little bit and do what people are used to first. Then you can go in and working your way in and doing different things that people will say “Wow, that’s different. That’s someone that I’d want to see X, Y, and Z with.”

 

Our company is very different. We believe in the best for our clients. We would never tell them to do something that we wouldn’t do. Like, even though we have different workers who do our marketing or promo or whatever that works under our company, we actually still do it too ourselves. We are doing the same thing that we are asking them to do. So we are a company that whatever the challenge is going forth, we work just as hard to push it out there. We believe in teamwork. We believe in having a family type of environment with our company and our clients that we have under the brand. It is very important that everyone matches the brand. If everyone doesn’t match up with the brand, the brand can get torn. So that’s something to think about as well.

 

Our company is very straight forward. We don’t sugar coat anything. We tell you and give it to you just like it is. A lot of companies wait until things start f—king up before they fix it. With a lot of artists, when sh-t hit the fan, that’s when they want to try to do damage control or something. We do damage control the time that we sign on the dotted line. There’s no reason for waiting. If you want to be successful in life, sometimes you have to do things that you normally wouldn’t do. You have to challenge yourself and your client to have homework assignments. I’m the type of publicist that put their clients on homework assignments. They all know you are going to have homework assignments. Every week you have to look up a new word in the dictionary. You have to challenge your vocabulary. If not, you’re just going to be talking like a regular person. We are so much more than that. It doesn’t matter how much schooling you had or if you went to college or not. You still have to be educated in your craft and with the surroundings that you’re with. So we’re one of those companies.

 

You’ll see some celebrities that have been out there forever and they don’t know how to articulate a certain sentence. Or they will mumble certain words because they’re not trained. Their publicist and their management are not teaching them how to be ready for a press release or how to be ready for a conference. They can do a concert. They can perform all day. But, when it comes down to doing press releases and press conferences and all that, they are not ready. So, who’s winning?

 

That’s why people make fun of so many people or end up on MediaTakeOut over stupid stuff. The PR and the management is not preparing their clients for what not to do. Or sometimes they do it for a stunt. Like, hey let’s get them out in the media. They’ll let you go out there looking ratchet. But at the end of the day, you mess up your brand. You mess up the message you’re trying to reach to the masses because of the small things you thought wouldn’t be as big. They become bigger because so many people will see it and will always remember that. Just like the celebrities that have naked pictures out there. You’ll never forget those particular celebrities that have those naked pictures out there. It’s out there on the web and at any time you can go check it out.

 

Bels: And the videos…

 

Jakeem: Yes. So, you are the only one that can determine the brand and the last thing you want people to remember. Do you want to be remembered as the person who has a sex video? Or do you want to be the person that was about their business and help other people to go to the next level? That’s the question people got to ask themselves.

 

Bels: So would you say, like the Kim Kardashian and Ray J tape, her career kind of skyrocketed after that. Now she’s a multi-millionaire. What are your thoughts on that? That’s a different type of scenario…

 

Jakeem: Yes, that’s definitely a different type of scenario. With that, a lot of stuff gets planned. They know well, “oh let me get my name out there and help my family.” So, they knew the sex tape once it got out there, that people are going to be looking her up and look at her as a model and because Ray J already had a name. So with that attachment (and her family already had money), that made it bigger than what it was. So like I said, some people plan what they’re going to do and what they are going to leak out.

 

Everybody knows somebody in the media. People know people from TMZ. People know people from MediaTakeOut. It’s not hard. All you have to do is just go online and there’s a number. They can contact them and work it out so they can get a quick check. So wouldn’t you want to get paid for leaking out your video? That’s some of the ways they look at it…to each its own. I know none of my clients will do that. They know we don’t play that. At my company, we like a good clean image. Yes, we know from time to time there’s going to be people that are going to act up in the brand. But, that’s when you got to “X” them. It’s simple as that because sometime people can put on a facade and you may not even see it. So, there have been times that I’ve had clients that I brought onboard and made the announcement. And then, after working with them after a month or so, I’m like NO they’re not the right fit for my brand. I can’t allow people to see this ratchetness or X, Y, Z. At the end of the day, I appreciate my name. My name means uplifting. I make sure that I uplift people and challenge people to go to the next level. I want to help people go further in life. My family was the type of family that challenged me to go further. My business partners are the type of people that challenge people too. So, I can’t allow someone who thinks they are “all that and a bag of chips” in my company. You have to have that level headed mentality. So there are times where I’ve signed people and if there’s a disagreement we can let you go. My brand is more important that just getting a check.

 

A lot of PRs that I looked up to when I first moved here, I found out that they were fakes. Some of their old clients (that I’m their PR now) told me they sold them the dream and was just taking their check. And it’s so unfortunate that people are like that today. It shouldn’t be about the money. It should be about changing lives. It should be about helping your client get to the next level. If you help them look good, you look good because you were able successfully fulfill their destination. So if you go to a lot of PRs, they won’t be talking the way I’m talking right now. If you sit down with five other PRs, watch and see the results you’ll get and you’ll be amazed.

 

Bels: What if someone from your clients past put out a naked picture or video of them? How do you handle that type of situation?

 

Jakeem: I contact those people directly. I handle it in an email form. Sometimes you have to talk to them verbally. But I’ve had that happen. I’ve even had other people call me and hired me to help them with damage control. Other PR firms have called me and said “hey I can’t get this down for my client. But I know your company can.” It’s all about who you know and what you do with what you know. I’ve done damage control for some big names. I can’t name the names. But, I’ve definitely done some damage control on MediaTakeOut that’s for sure.

 

Bels: As far as your client roster, what are some of the events or things you have going on or will be coming up soon?

 

Jakeem: Well, some of the stuff that’ll be coming up soon…like I said I work the non-profit Beyond The Game. We do two big charity events each year. We’re getting prepared for that big charity event that’s coming up. We haven’t release the month yet. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to be early spring or end of spring when we’re going to do the next one. We always have about 300 to 400 people that come out to our events. We have different singers come out. We have auctions and different performers. One year, we had Issac Cree, Q Parker, RL (from Next). We had Nicci Gilbert, of course. You know, just a mixture of different people. We had The Rude Boys and Que (formerly of Day 26)…just a variety of people that can entertain. We encourage people to love one another and to want to help one another. The society that we live in has damaged the viewpoint of how we see things. So now people don’t have respect how they used to back in the day.

 

I do PR for Brandy Lynn (Nicci Gilbert’s daughter) and Divas & Wildflowers. So we have an event that we are about to plan now for the month of June/July. We’re getting to launch her. As well, I’m about to do a re-launch of my company. So we’re getting ready for that this year. Curvato (Nicci’s clothing line) is working on a big event. So, I do a little assisting since I am Nicci’s executive assistant. So I help with the event planning and different things that she may need. I’m not her PR. I’m her executive assistant but she does utilize my company’s services from time to time to help her go to the next level. Why use someone else services when you can use your executive assistants company that has the services that you need? That’s what I love about her. She supports my company as much as I support her brand and her company. That’s why we get along so much. You don’t see that too often where people like that encourage you, help you, and love you. She’s definitely a supporter of my company and what I’m doing. She’s always pushing me and challenging me to do bigger and better things. That’s why we continue to have the friendship and the bond that we have. You’ll see that more this season on R&B Divas. It’s much more to me than being an executive assistant. I’ve changed my whole life around from what people seen from me on the first season. You’ll definitely get to know who I am as a person and about my stuff. It’s boss season! We’re leaving no prisoners in 2013.

 

 

To find out more about Jakeem Smith, Sky’s The Limit Ent, and/or any of his clients, please visit www.skysthelimitet.blogspot.com.