…Compassion, life is continuously happening, and while you may be willing to make certain sacrifices, don’t expect your team to do the same regarding their personal lives. If someone is having personal issues, give them space to work through them, and if needed a shoulder to cry on.
I had the pleasure to interview Kodaq. The Big Homie Kodaq is an emerging media mogul out of the city of Atlanta. He’s cut his teeth on the media circuit, working at well known entertainment entities from V103, to TMZ. Kodaq has interviewed some of the media’s biggest names, ranging from Ric Flair, to TI, and Nancy Grace etc. An original ATLANTA native, Kodaq spent his adolescence on the westside of atlanta, and from there made his way to TrI Cities high School where he was a member of the schools magnet department that pushed out greats such as Kandi Burruss, and Outkast. From there he made his way to Clark Atlanta University on full athletic scholarship, and graduated with his Bachelors in Mass Communication. After his college matriculation ended in him earning a Masters in Criminal Justice, he began his work with Hoodrich Radio and DJ Scream, and took over as his radio show’s producer. This partnership eventually culminated in Kodaq being named Executive Producer for the Revolt TV program BIG FACTS PODCAST. @bighomiekodaq www.bighomieshouse.com
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I got started on my journey back in high school, I knew I wanted to be in front of a camera or microphone in some capacity. So from there I went to Clark Atlanta University on a full athletic scholarship, and found my love for the world of media and entertainment. I had an internship with V103 in 2012, that led to me being hired a year later, after my graduation.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
I think “Imposter Syndrome” is very real for anyone chasing something in this industry, of course you’re going to feel like you aren’t good enough, but that’s a part of the recipe for your ultimate success. I fell back on my faith and chose consistent prayer, prayer not only asking for things, but giving thanks for the things I was already blessed with. I specifically remember when I was fired from TMZ, for not doing business how THEY wanted it done… I went into a period of self doubt. From there I leaned into my circle of friends and before I knew it, new opportunities were falling in my lap.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Oh my God… ok… by far….. this happened when I was in college… so before 2 Chainz hit the mainstream, he was known as “Titty Boi”. Well during Ludacri’s annual “Luda Day Weekend’ concert, I was playing the role of stage security for DTP, who I was interning with at the time. They told me not to let ANYONE I didn’t recognize backstage… Well, I didn’t recognize 2 Chainz.. or Tity Boi as he was known back then, and I attempted to stop him, and said “who you with” he turned around and with the meanest look you can imagine. My mentor at the time tapped me on the shoulder and said “chill, that’s tity boi”… I was super embarrassed
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
My company stands out, because of how we rose through the ranks, not just In the city… but nationwide. We aren’t some mom and pop media platform, we’ve produced stories that have gained national attention. From major blogs and news sites. From G Herbo, to Tokyo Vanity. We have been able to become a staple for entertaining news stories pitching a short span of time
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Don’t focus on celebrity centered content, and have your end goal in mind always. We opened shop on my show right before the pandemic kicked off, and my colleagues that depended on celebrity content weren’t able to thrive during the pandemic because that access had been yanked. Us, however, were able to keep pushing out content that the people wanted to see
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Oh absolutely, six names that come to mind, Ryan Cameron, Greg Street, Jerry Clark, DJ Scream, Big Bank and Baby Jade, these people absolutely opened up their networks to me and allowed me to work my magic, without them, I definitely would not be in this position.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. The title of this series is “How to take your company from good to great”. Let’s start with defining our terms. How would you define a “good” company, what does that look like? How would you define a “great” company, what does that look like?
A “good” company is one that is operating on a standard level , a great one is a company that operates above a standard level for a long period of time.
Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Vision, to know where we want to take our brand and know where we need to be.
- Patience, to know that everyone isn’t going to be on your level in terms of how well they can process things, be patient with your team
- Decisiveness, your team needs to know once a decision is made, its done. Don’t lead them down a direction and have them hiking back because you didn’t explore all options.
- Compassion, life is continuously happening, and while you may be willing to make certain sacrifices, don’t expect your team to do the same regarding their personal lives. If someone is having personal issues, give them space to work through them, and if needed a shoulder to cry on.
- Courage, I feel like courage is definitely one of the defining traits of a good leader. You have to be willing to do what others can’t .
Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. Can you help articulate for our readers a few reasons why a business should consider becoming a purpose driven business, or consider having a social impact angle?
I feel like you really limit yourselves when you only focus directly on the product. Yeah, you’re doing this, but what about the community? What if your consumers have other needs that don’t fall directly in line with what you offer… Are you willing to help them because you care about their humanity??
What would you advise to a business leader who initially went through years of successive growth, but has now reached a standstill. From your experience do you have any general advice about how to boost growth and “restart their engines”?
My advice would be to reexamine your business practices and revamp your product and marketing. The world is evolving everyday, so if you were successful in the 90s with one technique , that same practices won’t work in the 2000s
Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Always cast a wide net, do a lot of things and some of them will remain profitable. I think of it like deep sea fishing. If I throw a big net in the water, I’m going to catch at least a few things I can eat. The same method can be applied to business .
In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
Growing up the phrase “Good Help is hard to find” came in one ear and out the other.. but it is absolutely true. Finding someone that is deeply dedicated to the brand that you built is difficult on a multitude of levels. But once you find someone that fits, and they’re happy to be there, you need to do your best to keep them there.
As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?
Give the audience something they want to buy, our products are usually unique to our brand so if it’s fly and exclusive enough, they are going to be begging for purchase links.
Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?
Make the brand personable, I love our HOMIES brand because each of our fans feels like they’re our personal friends.
Great customer service and great customer experience are essential to build a beloved brand and essential to be successful in general. In your experience what are a few of the most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience?
Again, be personable, don’t try to distance yourself from your consumer, the more they can relate to you, the more likely they are to engage and buy with you
What are your thoughts about how a company should be engaged on Social Media? For example, the advisory firm EisnerAmper conducted 6 yearly surveys of United States corporate boards, and directors reported that one of their most pressing concerns was reputational risk as a result of social media. Do you share this concern? We’d love to hear your thoughts about this.
Our fans know who and what we are at this point, I’m careful not to be TOO free on social media, but the content is what we are selling anyway.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
In our line of work, when they fall of with consistency, the brand dies, but with some of these brands you can tell who’s going to remain dedicated ahead of time
Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m very invested in the youth, I want to start back to school programs in public schools here in Atlanta first , then around the country. I also want to start a charity in the name of my grandmother, Hannah Atkinson.
How can our readers further follow you online?
All socials @bighomiekodaq or follow the hashtags #BigHomiesHouse, I’m somewhere around there.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
Big Homie Kodaq: How To Take Your Company From Good To Great was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
