We recently connected with Kayla Rose and have shared our conversation below.
Kayla, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I dedicate my self-esteem to my parents! I can remember my dad singing loudly ” Kayla Rose, the most beautiful girl in the world” every time he saw me or the fact my mother was always there at my dance classes 5 days week. Whenever I was interested in something, my parents made sure if they could, they put me in any programs or activates that I desired. My parents were also at every dance recital and showcase I ever had! I am so blessed that their schedules allow them to always show up for me. The fact that My parents were always there for me and never talked me out of my crazy ideas is the reason why today, I feel like I can do anything!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hello, My name is KayRose and my entrepreneurial journey started in 2018 when I went to Ohio Media School. Growing up, I always wanted to be in the spotlight (that has changed now) but never knew in what way. While I was in high school my senior year, I heard a commercial for Ohio Media School and just decided right then I wanted to be on the radio.
I did the 8-month program for Radio Broadcasting and went back for 6 more months for their Marketing Sales and Advertising program. Going back for the Marketing program was by far the best thing I’ve done yet! I went through the program and graduated ready for my voice to be heard on the radio! But, nothing good comes easy and it takes 10 years to be an overnight success so of course I did not get a radio job right out of college.
Not getting a job straight out of college was ok because I was not prepared to be on the radio at all. Any station you apply to is going to want a demo reel. A demo reel is a recording of your voice so the station can hear your voice and determine if you would be good for the show! With that being said I had no piece of work with my voice on it so, that is how my podcast came about. Then it was “KayTalkRadio”. KayTalkRadio was exactly how it sounded, just me talking. This was also during the pandemic so I did not have many guests in the early days of the show. So, for about 50 episodes I did solo episodes with just me and a microphone talking about current events or whatever was on my mind at the moment.
As I recorded the shows for KayTalkRadio I was applying to radio stations in my city. I would print my resume out and take it with me to each station and wait in the lobby for someone to come out and give me a chance. I even put flyers in the parking lot of the radio station. Just to find out that everyone was working remotely, I was waiting for no reason and the cars that I put my flyers on were people who worked for a whole different company.
During my journey of trying to get hired at the radio station, I met someone close to an angel Ms.Rohnesha Horne. She gave me many chances to grow in the media industry with production assistance and much-needed advice. To this day I will drop anything for Rohnesha Horne. As time went on I was ready to take KayTalkRadio to the next level which was giving my listeners visuals. It was time to put a name to face!
In the summer of 2022, I was on fire! I started to have a guest on my show and started my YouTube channel. In August of 2022, I was invited to volunteer for Cleveland’s hottest concert of the year, Summer Jams. This is one of my proudest moments because I landed this opportunity without actually being an employee at the radio station. After that night I rushed home to apply for a position at the radio station but did not hear from them for months.
So, I continued to podcast and went back to my everyday life. That September, I lost my job and was unemployed for three months. During those three months, I tried my best to continue to podcast. I even took a risk and invested $500 into my brand thinking this was my success story. You know how people say they quit their job and solely focus on their business and it’s been up since? Yeah, that was not the case for me at all during those three months, somebody hacked into my YouTube account and deleted all of my videos.
This taught me a valuable lesson that if my personal life is not good then my media life will not be good. This is only an observation for me. Some people can work through personal hardships but for me, I can not. By the end of 2022, I found a job and in 2023 I started to podcast again but I was not as consistent.
I took a break from podcasts in the second half of 2023 and invested in a mentorship program which saved my media life! Now in 2024, I have the tools and everything I need to run a successful media career. I would be lying if I said I was ready to take on the media world. Even though I have everything I need to run a successful podcast, this is the first time in my life I feel so unmotivated and scared. I have thoughts of ending my podcast every day but I know I have so much more to give and that I am going to do. So, if it is anybody reading this please do not give up! In the beginning, it will be hard but create your team while you are waiting to be a part of someone else’s. While you’re creating you are gaining experience in the process even if it doesn’t feel like it. Also, while creating your own remember somebody is always watching.
The most exciting part about what I do is not just me having my own podcast but it’s my determination! I sometimes am in awe at the all the opportunities I created for myself and the doors that has opened because of that. Something else that is amazing about myself as a person is my ability to pivot. Some of the article was written just a few weeks ago as you read in the paragraph before about me having thoughts of ending my podcast. I have come to the decision to move forward from my podcast and go back to school to get a degree in Marketing. What is so beautiful about my decision is that it did not take too long for me to decide calling a quits is something I want to do. I am 24 years old, and some people are very scared of change. But like I said before thanks to my parents’ support, I am confident in everything I do! I am confident that this decision is the best one for me and I will reap the benefits of having my degree.
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?
Me being respectful and having a bubbly personality is what got me in a lot of rooms! Nobody is going to work with you if you are rude and nobody is going to be around you if you are kind of dry (at least in the media field). Networking is another skill I feel like I am still trying to master but my network has taking me a long way! Being able to go to different events alone and not knowing anybody but leaving with a purse full of business calls and 20+ more followers on Instagram is a skill! The best way to utilize networking events is by going alone, when you go alone you are forced to talk to other people vs sticking to the person you came with. Secondly BRING BUSINESS CARDS , I know we are very tech savvy, but business cards go a long way! The last thing I will say is always remain a student to the game in other words, remain teachable. It’s a time and place to showcase your talent and skills but always remember, you do not know everything. As long as you remember that you will be able to soak up so much information in your field and be ahead of the game.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I have read many books that I have impacted me such as “Letters to To My Daughter ” by Maya Angelou , “Just As I Am” by Cicely Tyson and ” Will” by Will Smith. I read a lot of biographies and auto biographies because I love a triumph story! I can not recall a specific piece of wisdom because every book I have read is not like the other. The best advice I have taken from all the books that I have read is that we all have a story, we all come from different backgrounds but it is not our past that determines our future but more so what we do in present day that will later on lead to better outcomes.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/kayrose22
- Instagram: mediagurll
- Youtube: BackToRealityPod
