Emmy-nominated television producer, erika bryant (intentionally lowercased) is a tenacious executive that has kicked down doors and smashed glass ceilings all while remaining poised and graceful. From being one of the few Black faces in the room to producing over 40 television shows with various networks like E!, MTV, OWN, and many more.
In her self-help book, Doing It Scared, erika bryant proves manifestation is the key to making your dreams a reality and that the only thing that stands in your way is YOU. Throughout this interview she shared her positive mindset, which continues to take her places beyond her wildest imagination and, in doing so, provides the culture an exemplary example of the Black woman’s status of today. She is Black Woman Rising.
Your new inspirational guidebook “Doing It Scared” is set to release on March 22, 2021. What life events lead you towards the publishing field?
Every time I’ve been afraid to try something new in my career, I knew that was life calling me to make it a reality. When I left the Bay Area of San Francisco and decided Clark Atlanta University would be my college city of choice, I found myself with little to no money to make it happen. So, I started entering various writing competitions to win money to pay for my first semester. Simply by just putting myself out there, I won a few of them and was able to pay my way through school. I continued to push myself towards new opportunities, and after my first year, I was able to get a full scholarship for the remainder of my tenure. Beyond that fear of not knowing how I was going to pay for school came a sea of blessings that God had for me, and that’s what fueled me to write my first book, “Doing It Scared.”
Turning your life lessons into a supportive self-help book is a great way to give back to your community. How are you using your story to spark a light within your readers to follow their dreams?
I give people practical tools to help them navigate their fear. Expanding your imagination is a way I coach people towards their true potential. I’m a strong believer that we have the power to manifest our destinies by focusing on how we speak about ourselves and our futures. So, my goal in this book is to light that fire within the readers and let them know everything they need already lies within them; they just have to tap into it. It’s a book of encouragement to nudge people in a positive direction while being a support system in their corner to coach them on. You know?
After many years of a successful life behind and ahead of you, what brought your attention to writing Doing It Scared?
Honestly, I feel like the book wrote me versus me writing the book. See, as a younger erika bryant I always knew I wanted to write a book, but I kept telling myself, “Oh, when I’m older I’ll give it a try.” Fast-forward and here I am in my forties having written nothing. Then along came COVID, and life forced me to a standstill. It was the first time I sat still for an extended period of time, so I decided to dedicate at least ten minutes per day to this book I’d always dreamed about. That leap of faith turned those ten minutes into hours of non-stop writing that brought Doing It Scared to life ten weeks later.
Your dedication to your career has proven to be widely successful. So, when would you say your career in the media business began?
After many years behind the scenes in the music business, I decided to put my mass media arts degree to work and embarked on the busy life of being a production assistant making approximately $100 a day. Mind you, I was almost in my thirties at the time, and I did this scared as hell. But I made being a production assistant my life, and one of my first gigs was on Ciara’s video shoot for My Goodies. I remember going in at seven a.m. for my call time that one day and not getting home until like nine or ten o’clock the next day without even a nap in between. Even though I worked around 27 hours straight, I had never been so inspired and invigorated, so I wanted to soak up as much as possible. Not to mention, seeing Black people call the shots in so many verticals was impressive to say the least. It truly was a humbling experience to switch careers at that age and time in my life. After that video shoot, I knew that I wanted to continue on this new path that lay ahead of me, so I decided to move to Los Angeles shortly after. I’m thankful I was able to start something new on my own, and fast forward to 15 years later, here I am an executive producer. I started from the bottom and have been fortunate enough to work my way to where I am today.
Your continuous perseverance when it comes to your future leads you to working on shows like Iyana Fix Your Life and even alongside Tyler Perry. How did you use that discipline to navigate yourself towards these points in your life?
Without even knowing what the prize was, I kept my focus on that end goal. You know, discipline is something you have to adopt. So while bringing that to my everyday life, I, of course, at times found myself afraid and doubtful, but if nothing else, I had to always try. Then if I failed, it’d be okay. I’d eventually figure it out from there. It’s really about facing that fear and dealing with it head-on. Fear is 1000% real, but I think it’s a signal from God letting us know we can go a little bit further. Just take that leap of faith and see where that path can lead you. Every time I’ve done that, my life has expanded beyond measure in beautiful and magical ways. So, for me, fear has become that sweet nudge, pushing me to go a little further. It’s all going to work itself out; you just have to be willing to try.
Wow, repurposing that fear gave you seats at tables some could never imagine. As a Black woman navigating through these realms, how do you feel about Black representation in the media?
We definitely need more representation, especially for Black women. Far too often, I’ve been the only Black face in a sea of decision-makers. It’s a blessing to be in those rooms, but it also presents a responsibility for those of us invited to those conversations to blaze a trail and hold that door open for others to follow. More importantly, we need more of us in the higher-level positions hiring at the networks. We should be in these executive positions responsible for telling our stories because the majority of the time, we’re not the ones managing them. No judgments or harm toward those individuals; they sometimes have the best intentions. But personally, I would not feel comfortable telling the story of Asian people. That’s not my experience, you know what I mean? So, I think there needs to be more representation, and I’m honored that the universe allows me these amazing opportunities to move about the way that I do to help incite a change in the media we consume every day.
Do you feel representation for the Black community has gotten better since when you first started in the industry?
Starting, I was so low on the totem pole when it came to media regarding television, I didn’t know what representation was because I only saw my little pockets of people I worked with. Once I moved to Los Angeles and got into the mix of things in Hollywood, the main representation I saw was mostly in front of the camera. But, behind the camera on the executive side, I hardly saw any. That’s what made me want to be a voice for my people to have an impact in these spaces.
It must have been a culture shock going from the diverse Blackness of Atlanta to the lack thereof in LA. How do you feel that affects the media we consume today?
Yeah, absolutely. The world of television is shifting because they’re finally awakening to the fact that there aren’t enough people of color, mainly Black people, involved. Especially in the media, it’s crucial we clarify our Blackness is not equal to being a person of color. I’m Black. A Black woman at that, and I’m proud of who I am. And I think this business is now finally awakening to seeing there’s not enough representation. After last year with all that happened with George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, it’s like a curtain was pulled back, revealing the hard truth that’s been happening for decades, and these ginormous companies are finally being held accountable for their silence.
It’s such a beautiful thing that inclusion is becoming a subject of discussion, and now it’s time to put their words in action.
Honestly, there aren’t a lot of us in executive positions either because we haven’t been widely trained or given the privilege to advance in the way others have been afforded. So, the door must be left open for Black people in the industry because honey, we truly are magical people. There’s so much power within the Black narrative, and it can’t be replicated. So, I think it’s just a matter of having the opportunities to pay it forward so we can all shine. The proof is in the pudding: In every area we infiltrate, we tend to rise to the top and become the blueprint for what’s popular in media.
With Atlanta taking on the label of “Black Hollywood,” how important was that location to your journey, and how did you use it to your advantage?
Atlanta became my heartbeat because it’s where I learned about Black entrepreneurship firsthand. Growing up in San Francisco, there wasn’t much focus on the Black community because we were in such an integrated city, at least in my personal experience. The desire to be around my people and learn our true history began brewing within me, and that’s when I knew I needed to attend an HBCU. Not to mention, I grew up during the era of A Different World, so seeing that on television prompted me to live that lifestyle. Atlanta granted me the experience of rubbing elbows with the likes of various music icons who were Atlanta hitmakers. Along my journey, I was afforded the opportunity to work at Patchwerk Recording Studios and was literally in the midst when groups like TLC, Outkast, and Goodie Mob were getting their start. Atlanta became my home. Where I learned how to dream and where I blossomed into a woman. It’s where I was inspired by people who finally looked like me. Atlanta, Georgia, planted seeds within me that are just now producing a variety of fruits, and I’m just thankful to have been a part of the legendary moments happening back then. So, yeah, Atlanta sparked that fire within me, so it will forever be my home away from home.
Your relationship with Atlanta is one many creatives hope to find with their chosen city. But where do you see the media heading in the future?
Social media has brought us closer to one another and allowed connections to form no matter the location. In the past, we would refer to this rapid new media as the microwave age. Now I don’t know what’s faster than the microwave, but that’s where we’re at now. Of course, I see the media expanding more than ever before. But more than anything, I see it going more inward to where people of color, and other nationalities and ethnicities, get more opportunities to control their narratives. That’s the hope anyway… All that happened in 2020 with the world at a standstill: we were forced to reprioritize our lives and hone in on what’s truly important for one another. Even the decision-makers of the media are hopefully (fingers crossed) more aware and conscious of the hand they play in the lives of the masses. So, I see media, hopefully being more responsible and responsive to what is happening in our world versus looking through these fictitious rose-colored glasses that have been used for all these years.
It’s such a breath of fresh air to hear a positive take on the future of our media after everything we’ve witnessed so far.
I think you manifest what you think; so, if you think it’s going to be bad, it’s going to be bad. I’ve always been a glass-is-half-full kind of a person who’s hopeful and trusting that things work out even if it doesn’t look like it, feel like it, or smell like it. I choose to believe this is all working out for the greater good for us all. People may want to call me naive, but that’s exactly how I manifested myself to where I am today. Living with that positive mindset has been helpful in more ways than one, and because of that, I truly believe our words have an impact on our futures. So if we can speak change into our life, why not speak change into the media?
Tiara Cooper
