Meet Janaya Black

We recently connected with Janaya Black and have shared our conversation below.

Janaya, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?

Due to the fact that I am an introvert by nature, I had to learn to develop a process for motivating myself to step outside of my comfort zone. So when I became a full-time author, I started telling myself that “closed mouths don’t get fed”, and that became my motivation to start being more engaging when in a room full of strangers who may, or may not, look like me in order to network and build relationships.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

As the founder of my company Black-Smith Enterprises, I have the unique opportunity to produce and facilitate all of my own creative endeavors. While I am a passionate writer at heart, I also love directing and producing.

To date, I have directed 12 films and two stage plays, and produced several other film projects with my husband and partner Rockey Black. Some my titles include Beautiful Rage: The Break of Dawn, Surprise, God Forgives, I Don’t, Street Code Broken, Sons of a Preacher, Turn of the Cheek, and Bigger Than the Game, all of which can be viewed on Tubi.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, the three things I would say have been most impactful to my journey would be: 1) My faith in God, 2) My drive, and 3) My organizational skills.

My advice to those who may be early in their journey would be: Keep going. It may be hard, but it’s not impossible. If it’s truly your gift and passion, then your talent will make way for you.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

While, I definitely believe that it’s good to lean into your strengths, I have personally found it to be beneficial to learn other skills in order to be well rounded.

As a business owner, I have had experiences with people dropping the ball, and it forced me to have to learn new things, which has been a catalyst in helping my business grow.

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