This week on Melanated Mom Talk I am inspired to think differently about talking to strangers, and the beliefs we hold that create reality. And to honor the women who walk in that space daily we welcome Publicist and CEO Claudia Greene to the conversation.
When I met Claudia we were complete strangers, but once we started talking there was a quick kinship- especially learning that she is originally from Sierra Leone. As I’ve mentioned before, my father is from Freetown, and noticing we were around the same age and me being well versed in the realities of the 1990s Blood Diamond War, I instantly understood deeply what Claudia and her family survived.
So, here is young Claudia transplanted from West Africa to the MidWest of North America, which is the polar opposite in language, culture and climate. She used everything she had, her immediate families love and support and her survival skills to stay humble and focused. Like all immigrants, education has always been instilled in her. Knowing and believing that intelligence is the key, she earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Miami in South Florida. With her dreams in mind, she moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a Master’s Degree in Writing and Producing for Television at Loyola Marymount University. She flipped that to intern at Entertainment Tonight, PopSugar and TMZ. This is where she learned about the real world of Public Relations and in time formed her own company, Mayhem Entertainment.
Starting with only two clients, today, Claudia is seen as one of the “Go-to Female Publicist” representing an array of artists and actors where she leads her team in writing and coordinating press releases, consulting, media strategy, digital marketing and so much more. Claudia has represented some great emerging actors like Saniyya Sidney, who in 2016 attended the Oscars for the first time as a 10 year old for both her roles in the films “Hidden Figures” and “Fences”. Claudia has also represented Asante Blackk, who we just loved in the Ava DuVernay Netflix film “When They See Us” and who has a reoccurring role in the hit NBC series “This Is Us”.
Within four years of business, M+E now represents over 60 clients with two branches of the company. Claudia has had a very interesting life and continues to rise and fulfill her plans to open offices in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami. Claudia Greene has literally turned her stars around and created the life she wanted to live.
Claudia inspires me and I truly hope she inspires you too. Listen to this episode on the welm.co/podcast page, on your Apple Podcast App or where ever you tune in!
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