We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Princess With The Real a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Princess With The Real, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Going through so much at an early age and wanting more out of life taught me resilience. I knew the only way to have a better life was to create it myself. So regardless of what I am going through I push through it reminding myself that things could be worse and with hard work and determination there is nothing I can’t put my mind to. With all that I have been through or go through I have taught myself to stop looking at the bad instead look for the good because I know everything in life happens for a reason. There has been so much in my life that should have broken me but I can’t break. I have two wonderful children that need me and that I want to be an example for so because of that I might bend but I will never break.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Back in 2012 I said I wanted to start doing something where I sit down with everyday people to hear their story because I wanted to inspire and motivate others through people’s life stories. I had been through so much in life and still not fully ready to tell my story but as I was telling parts of it I was seeing how it was healing others and I wanted to be that support. I feel everyone needs somebody and the day that a past coworker came to me speaking as if she is ready to give up in life and I was able to brighten her day I said I had to make it happen. So I worked hard to kick off my show where I didn’t charge people to tell their story and I know it helped so many but the money it cost to continue this type of production as well as the guest that I had now wanting to remove their story because they said too much it made me take a step back but at the perfect time. I had met Don P, one of the Executives at 2HotRadio on the set of my show and he connected me with DJ Outlet who I didn’t know at the time would take my career to the next level allowing me the opportunity to help thousands.
I started at 2HotRadio as an on air personality every Wednesday from 6pm-12am EST with my show What’s Real Wednesday just delivering real talk every week. I knew I wanted more and didn’t want to push anyone out of a position so I waited until it was my time but along the way I made it my mission to show the team what I can do. I got my first opportunity to do a show and Oumar didn’t like the person working his room and requested me and in that moment I said it’s my time to shine. Let’s just say I did so well that he recommended I come on the road with the team. As I began to travel I said I got to show more of my skills so they see that I am much more than personality. So I started helping in every department because I wanted a smooth show and also wanted to prove that I am a team player willing to do anything for the success of the business. Then as employees were growing and finding other work or leaving because they didn’t believe in the business I got the opportunity to show more of what I can do on the administrative side. Working alongside DJ Outlet who not only allows me to be me and bring my ideas to the table but also takes the time to help me grow more skills. My background is in administrative and management plus I have an BA in Human Resource Management as well as an associate degree in business. So I said let me introduce him as well as the business to that side because they only see the event host and personality side of me before. Doing that put me in position to take over as the Operations Manager managing multiple departments at 2HotRadio. Which put me in a better position to help others by touching their life on a whole other level. Taking on this responsibility didn’t take from what I wanted to do in my career; it added to it and allowed me to do it at a much higher scale. Now I have never been in the music business. I have always just been in the business of helping others so having someone like DJ Outlet to teach me the ends and outs not just of the music business but also how to manage the day to day while growing the business has just set me up for so much more. This is why I love what I do. My brand is Princess With The Real which is me so who wouldn’t love to get paid to be themself but not just get paid and be put in a box but given the wings to grow with the sky being the limit.
Speaking of the brand, we at 2HotRadio have an indie artist showcase coming up BET Awards Weekend in LA this June. What we do is give indie artists a platform to showcase their talents and bring artists out from all over the world. Not just an opportunity to perform in front of hundreds but also a networking opportunity. You never know who you can meet at our events and as an artist how those people can help in the success of your career. We don’t just cater to the artists at our events it is also an opportunity for vendors to come in highlighting their business and making money in the process. Along with that we are always looking for people to sponsor our events and make sure to highlight our sponsors every step of the way. To learn more about this opportunity you can click https://www.2hotradio.com and to see highlights of past shows you can click https://www.2hotradio.com/pages/event-highlights.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I would say that believing in myself was the first step because if you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect others to? Then the next thing is not allowing myself to be put in a box gaining all the skills and knowledge to be able to deliver on multiple levels because that puts me in a position with anyone I have ever worked with of being hard to replace. That means I learned to stand out from the rest by not doing the bare minimum but always going above and beyond. I never in life believed in just getting by. I know with hard work comes success so I get up every day to make a way. Now my personality is who I am and who I’ve been so that is not something I have to work at and when people have a problem with it I don’t change it because it is me. I had to learn to live for me and not what others wanted me to be. I lost myself in life before and when I found myself again at age 26 I said I will not allow myself to lose myself again trying to fit in. Yes I can adapt to any situation which is a great skill to have being able to sit in any room but I am always going to be true to myself. Through life I have gained so many skills and I don’t always speak on them all but knowledge is key and the more you learn the better off you will be in life.
I want others to know not to let their past define them but allow it to lead them to a better future. We all have bad days and there is always something or someone looking to get in your way but if you stay focused on your end goal you will always know what you need to do next trust your instincts and if you need help it’s okay to surround yourself with people that you can trust to help you grow not just people who are going to say what you want to hear. Going after what you want in life is never easy but anything worth having and worth working for trust. Continue to invest in you, your brand and bettering your life and through all that you will gain strength as you see things coming together but also remember when something bad happens don’t let it get you down find the good in it and continue to build. Remembering everyone in your life now is not meant to be in your future so rather than trying to hold on to people go after what you want and those that were meant to be in your future will be.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
It’s hard to say that one person has been most helpful in helping me to build and develop my skills, qualities or knowledge that is leading me into success. I say that because my parents taught me so much through the struggles, watching their relationship and seeing how they handle business. My kids inspire me daily to go hard and not give up knowing that they are watching and wanting to set great examples for them. The many jobs I have had along the way I have learned from so many rather than teaching me or me watching and learning what not to do. I first entered the radio on DJ Emortal MOB show MOB Radio and that is where I first learned to book guests and be an on air personality so I learned from being on that show that I wanted more and loved showing my personality. Working in corporate for over a decade taught me the corporate side of things helping me learn how to adapt in any room. Now working in radio but on a whole other level not just booking interviews and being on air personality I have learned so much from DJ Outlet the COO at 2HotRadio gaining more skills and more knowledge not just about the business but ways to grow my brand as well.
Of course in life I knew everyone was not honest but through working in corporate I really got to see how you can go hard for the company and someone else takes credit for that hard work advancing off your skills and there is nothing you can do about it. I also learned that you have to have a backbone and not allow them to walk over you because they pay you and through that I honestly grew the strength to take a chance on me and my career rather than continue to make someone else millions. Now working with 2HotRadio I am working with a business that I can continue to grow skills and knowledge because the business is always evolving.
Contact Info:
- Website: princesswiththereal.com
- Instagram: princesswiththereal
- Facebook: princesswiththereal
- Linkedin: Princess Haynes
- Youtube: storytelling4201
- Other: https://www.2hotradio.com IG @2hotradio Signup for our upcoming talent showcase: https://www.2hotradio.com
Image Credits
Emoni Haynes & Emanual Haynes
