Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittani Youman.
Hi Brittani, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My uncle, Chris Youman, was a DJ in the Army who hosted parties in the 1980s during his deployment in Germany. He was passionate about music and stepped out to follow his dream of becoming a conscious rapper named “Intelek” in the 90s. He opened up for artists like Lil’ Keke, known for his hit song, “The Southside,” and he even convinced my mom to rap and perform with him. While their music careers were crushed under pressures to care for their families rather than chasing what the present environment would perceive as a waste of time, their short stint in music inspired me at 8 years old to dream bigger than my current circumstances.
When my uncle heard me sing as a teenager, he was pleasantly surprised and encouraged me to sing professionally with his support. Crippled with fear, I respectfully declined, not knowing that I would be hit with regret years later upon his early death in 2012. I was a college graduate and former UNT Division I volleyball player, coaching and doing my best to climb in my newly found corporate career at a Fortune 500 company. I spent years of my life focusing on my career, even moving states 3 times before landing back in DFW. I became a workaholic to avoid processing the grief of my uncle’s death and others in my immediate family in the short time. The positive side of my workaholism was that after 8 years of working in the same company, I made history in 2018 by becoming the first African American Media Spokesperson for the company that started in 1895, just 30 years after the abolishment of slavery. Unfortunately, historical accolades meant nothing to my future within the company because in the wake of COVID-19, I was laid off in April 2020.
The lay-off helped me to realize that dedicating years of my life to someone else’s business gave me knowledge to help others, but I was clearly deemed dispensable. I made the decision to shed my fear of singing solo in front of others when I performed and received a raving applause at my first open mic performance at Dallas Black Canvas in December 2019.
I boldly decided to step out as the artist, “HONE7” (pronounced “Honey”) to start my journey in music, modeling, and entrepreneurship by opening Honey Music, LLC in June 2020. I made the decision to dedicate my time and energy to my own company. This move would allow me to help others like myself to start their journey to build their dreams in music and small business. One thing I learned from my uncle in his music journey was that being an independent artist would allow me to own my own masters and rights to my music. By October 2020, I was approached by NMS Records, an international record label based in Germany to become an artist. I decided that it was best for me to own my own label and sign a management deal, allowing me to gain knowledge of the music industry from an established company.
Signing with NMS Records allowed me to travel to Accra, Ghana, and Africa in February 2021 during the pandemic. I recorded majority of my first album in Ghana. I returned home to the US and was invited back to Ghana in July 2021. During my second trip to Africa, I performed my first official TV concert in Accra with my collaborating artists and also received two international music awards for my work from February. December 2021, I was featured on a New York City Times Square billboard in Christmas to which I gained access to help other artists and brands to be featured. I have since been invited back to Africa, and recently received news that I am nominated again for another international music award in Ghana for 2022.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My workaholism took a toll on my mental health. The lay-off forced me to grieve, acknowledge apparent burnout, and accept rejection. In addition to my recovery, I chose to focus on entrepreneurship, which has its differences from the consistency of my previous corporate schedule and income. I no longer have the political pressures of competing for positions within a corporation, however, I have the pressure of leading and providing for my own contractors and employees in my company. If you wonder which is the lesser of two evils for me, I will say the pressure of performing within my own company. While my initial income in my company was not that of my six-figure earnings incorporate, I have now given myself an opportunity to far surpass my previous earning potential which is now unlimited.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Honey Music, LLC is an international Independent Record Label based in Dallas, with a global reach in Ghana, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Germany, and various cities in the United States. Our goal is to make global outreach accessible to independent artists and businesses. Our products include music and merchandise, while our services include production and engineering, brand and artist development, global choreography for social media support, playlisting, radio placement, and international marketing opportunities including billboards in Times Square New York City, and Ghana, Africa. Honey Music also hosts HM University, which is a learning program that provides artists and brands with learning videos focused on marketing, sales, songwriting, and even NFTs.
Lastly, traveling to Ghana gave me an even stronger passion for travel and particularly a passion for retracing African American history. Honey Music is hosting a trip in December 2022 to Ghana for slave history and the global phenom, Afrochella, a world-known music festival connecting the African Diaspora to art, creativity, and cultural celebration. In February 2023, we will travel to Brazil for Carnival and slave history. The goal is to reconnect the African Diaspora through retracing the Middle Passage, the historically known slave trade route that disconnected African descendants from our ancestral roots and history.
What does success mean to you?
Success is reaching personal goals and achieving self-love. I believe that financial success is a byproduct of how you decide to live each day.
Contact Info:
- Email: HONE7@honeymusicllc.com
- Website: www.Honeymusicllc.com
- Instagram: @Hone7music
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hone7music
- Twitter: @hone7music
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/P0jfy7ioAlk
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/honeymusicllc
- Other: www.linktree.com/hone7music
Image Credits
Zebretta Johnson
@SchoolingTalent
@shalin.kalatriti
@pharmotographer
