Office Hours w/ Ernest Wilkins

The Office Hours Interview is a blunt and enlightening conversation with the people who power the cultural industries. For more Office Hours Mag, sign up for the newsletter at OfficeHoursMag.com or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @OfficeHoursMag.

The Office Hours Interview is a blunt and enlightening conversation with the people who power the cultural industries. For more Office Hours Mag, sign up for the newsletter at OfficeHoursMag.com or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @OfficeHoursMag

Maria Cristina Sherman is a music writer and culture critic currently living in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked as a senior writer at Jezebel, managing editor at Gizmodo Media Group, senior correspondent at Fuse TV, and contributor at BuzzFeed Music. You may have seen her work at NPR and in Billboard, SPIN, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and many other quality publications. Her debut book, LARGER THAN LIFE: A History of Boy Bands, NKOTB to BTS, was published by Hachette imprint Black Dog and Leventhal in July 2020. If she were in a boy band, she’d be the bad boy. This one is an absolute hoot. I reveal the story of the time I met Harry Styles, we talk all about Maria's amazing book, masculinity, criticism, and what we want young writers to know. This episode also contains the only Baldwin/Buckley-style debate about B2K EVER. 

Folu Akinkuotu is a home cook, prolific baker and rare snack aficionado. Her newsletter Unsnackable features rare snacks, drinks and fast food from around the world and has been in The New Yorker, SBS Australia and The Face Magazine.Folu is one of those world-class talents that manages to hide in plain sight. With one tweet almost a year ago, she’s influenced some of the biggest names in the cultural industry of food and drink media, despite you likely never hearing her name until now.

Simon Owens covers the media industry for his Substack newsletter and podcast The Business of Content. He writes about how publishers create, distribute, and monetize their digital content. There's this misconception that the average newsletter reader is clamoring to pay for content, when in reality converting a free reader into a paid subscriber is like pulling teeth. We discuss this, tactics that newsletter operaters should think about, where we think Substack is going, and the state of the newsletter business in 2021.

Jarrod Dicker is currently the commercial chief at the Washington Post. There, he oversees the business of The Post across advertising, subscriptions and R&D as well as new ventures (like WaPo’s Zeus, which we discuss in-depth during this interview) and is a former CEO/founder in the crypto space (po.et). Prior to his days at the Post, he ran product, engineering and business teams at RebelMouse, The Huffington Post and Time Inc.Before his current media role, he started his career as a music journalist and photographer, amassing over 100 interviews with musicians/bands/artists. When he’s not doing everything I just shared, he writes on the creator economy and the application of it for independents and existing media companies.WARNING: If you’re expecting a “professional” (aka boring) chat about media and the creator economy, you’re going to be disappointed with this one. Jarrod and I go DEEP on newsletters, Substack (duh), how journalists are the new rock stars and how THAT makes newspapers the new record labels.We also talk about the media landscape in 2021 and beyond, why all journalists should learn the business side of media and I reveal why I have 0% interest of partnering this newsletter with a legacy media brand (Not gonna lie, this might be the take that kills the remaining dreams I had of ever getting a fawning profile in the NYT, lol).If you’re a media operator, publisher, writer, editor, advertising person, suit, C-suite person looking to get more in tune or you’re just someone who is really really really nerdy about this stuff, today’s episode is for you.

Brand New A Collective is an enlightened think-tank that translates ideas into actionable, memorable and exciting experiences, which come to life in live events, partnerships, and digital/social content. Let Clubhouse tell it, marketing across cultural industries is a series of tactics or sheer luck that can only be manifested in a reactive way — say, your brand goes viral because a guy did a Tiktok while drinking your product on a skateboard while listening to Fleetwood Mac — versus what it actually is, understanding people in your culture and moving with intention to serve their wants and needs. These two not only understand that, but they leverage a community-focused strategy that allows them to make major moves, like the 1800 Seconds campaigns they did in collaboration with 1800 Tequila, Pusha T, and Future. These two are the best and have so much insight and I lowkey want them to run for office?  Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, IL. For more, check out officehoursnewsletter.com

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, IL. For more, check out officehoursnewsletter.com

Ana Andjelic is a strategy executive and Forbes CMO Next who specializes in building brand-driven modern businesses. Ana earned her doctorate in sociology and worked at the world’s top brands and advertising agencies. She is a widely read columnist, speaker and advisor. She is the author of “The Business of Aspiration”, a book that I strongly encourage anyone working in a cultural field to read over the holiday break.I would go ahead and bookmark this piece of hers. Ana was kind enough to share her reading lists “for everyone who is asking for a recommendation and also for everyone who is entering areas that are new to them.”Some of my favorite pieces of hers: Move Over Influencers, Here Come Curators Predicting a brand's success: signals to look for The end of cultural icons: Why there will never be another Air Jordans This one is HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY on the culture and marketing conversation. We talk organizational behavior, behavioral economics, the aspiration economy, why influencers are dead and how to build a cultural movement. For a full understanding of this episode, you should REALLY read her book — again, it’s on sale now.

Amanda Mull is a staff writer at The Atlantic covering health and consumerism. She lives in Brooklyn but is originally from Atlanta.In 2020 alone, she’s written about why Millenials love canned cocktails, why we shouldn’t believe in free shipping, why the post-pandemic office shouldn’t have a dress code, and the difference between feeling safe and being safe. Her story of spending $1300 on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Finesse-tival GOOP products is one of my favorite reads of the year.Her writing is manna from heaven for forever curious types like myself and her Twitter account is a must-follow.In this breezy little number, we talk about OTP vs ITP, college football in the south vs the midwest, R&B, and her beat.I hope you enjoy.

WELCOME TO SEASON 2!!!!! Making a return to Chicago for the first time since 1988, the NBA All-Star Game and the surrounding events took over the city this past weekend. One of the biggest stories of the weekend was the release of designer Joe Freshgoods “No Emotions are Emotions” collaboration with New Balance.The collaboration included a line of clothes, accessories and two sneakers. One of those sneakers, the DBM x New Balance 992 “Anatomy of a Heart”, will undoubtedly be on the shortlist for 2020 sneaker of the year. Currently, the lowest-offered price on StockX for a pair of DBM x New Balance 992’s is $500. To get to the bottom of how this collaboration came to life, I present “Balance & Fit”, a collaboration between Office Hours and JFG Talks, a new initiative founded by Freshgoods aiming to build a solid platform for cultural conversations. Joining us to provide decades of industry insight and expertise — as well as his encyclopedic knowledge of sneakers — was the legendary DJ Clark Kent. The question we’re trying to answer: “How did Joe Freshgoods, a native Chicagoan, end up signing with New Balance?” To get to the answer, we have to examine two concepts at the intersection of business and culture: Balance and Fit. Balance can mean a lot of things in this context. Balance can mean the balance between business and family. The balance between working for a bunch of different brands and trying to stay connected to where you came from. Fit is exactly that. How do you fit in to a scene, a culture? Do you fit in? Do you WANT to fit in? Creatives like Joe balance life and work, they want to make an impact culturally but also be the perfect family person who never misses a recital. They fit two full lives into one. Balance and Fit.

Andrew Hampp is a brand partnerships specialist, copywriter and journalist who founded consultancy 1803 LLC in 2018. Andrew currently works with a wide range of brand, agency and media clients to help them achieve their goals within the music and advertising industries. Prior to forming 1803 LLC, Andrew spend three years with MAC Presents as a VP-Brand Strategists where he focused on helping blue-chip brands and A-list artists build industry-leading music strategies and experiences. He also spent a decade as a full-time music and marketing journalist at spots like Billboard and Ad Age. We talk about how media has changed since the start of the decade (6:00), trends he sees in the partnership space in 2020 and beyond (26:00), brands he thinks are doing cool stuff in the partnership space (33:00) and why Mariah Carey is still somehow underrated as a songwriter (40:00) TUNES: "Wit Da Team" - Genesis Owusu "Stay Long Love You" - Mariah Carey feat. Gunna

Chris “Classick” Inumerable discovered his love and talent for music at a young age. The native Chicagoan comes from a musically-inclined family and in 2006 built a small recording studio in his parents’ basement. Chicago being the big small town that it is, his clientele list quickly grew via word-of-mouth. Classick quit his bank job and transferred from DePaul University to Columbia College Chicago to study Audio Arts & Acoustics.creative output from Classick Studios this decade has gone worldwide, with Classick’s studio being the home of some of the biggest releases from the city. Classick now manages two of the brightest talents the city has produced in years: St. Louis native Smino and producer Monte Booker. He’s one of a very small list of Chicagoans who have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on culturally in 2019 and I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this.

Last week at the new Working_From The Hoxton space in Chicago, I did a live taping of the podcast. We attempted to solve a problem that I believe a lot of creators struggle with. How do we communicate our cultural expertise to a new audience? Brands and creators out here don’t make it to the next level without being able to take their cultural context — for the folks new to Office Hours go back and read the newsletter How to Build A Creative Movement for an explanation of what that is — and being able to communicate it to people who don’t share the same culture. Corey Mays and Larry Legend are my guests on this week’s podcast and both have applied their cultural context to new audiences and have seen success by being able to translate their day-to-day experiences to people who will never walk in their shoes.

Project Nande is a $5/month membership club that gives its members access to curated neighborhood guides spotlighting cool stuff going on in Chicago. The guides are curated by an editorial team comprised of Chicagoans who got tired of SEO-driven listicles that felt phony compared to their daily experiences. Founder Andrew Tran stopped by the podcast to talk about how Project Nande came to life, what he feels is missing from nightlife coverage and who exactly is responding to those concierge texts. Really insightful stuff in this episode, even if you don’t live in Chicago.

Phil Chang is a Brand Strategist and Creative Director based in NYC who has worked with Nike, Apple, Netflix, Samsung, MTV, The Museum of Modern Art, SSENSE, Bottega Veneta, Dropbox, Mandarin Oriental, Rodarte, adidas, and Calvin Klein. He also wrote one of the most influential pieces of business/culture writing I've ever read. Listen to his thoughts on advertising, marketing, why creatives shouldn't have to be in the office and a LOT more.

Carly Fisher is an award-winning journalist who’s byline has appeared in publications like GQ, Fodors Travel, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, High Times, Leafly, Wine Enthusiast, Brides, Saveur, Edible and NBC. Her work on CNN's "Family Meal" earned her a prestigious James Beard Award nomination in 2018. She’s one of the people in my life who I have to clear my schedule to hang out with because we will talk for hours about anything. This episode, we discussed how legalized cannabis is going to make things boring (3:32), why nobody should aim for the “local experience” while traveling (21:00), media and her forthcoming new book, Easy Weekend Getaways to the Hudson Valley & Catskills: Short Breaks from New York City!!!

There are 48 historically black colleges across the US that operate athletic programs. Despite being members of the NCAA in Division 1 and 2, those athletic programs don't receive the same media coverage as the larger D-1 A (also known as FBS) schools despite averaging crowds that rival some of the programs in big conferences. Enter HBCU Gameday. The self-funded media platform spotlights HBCU sports and aims to fill the wide open lane by creating quality content that resonates. I got on the phone to talk with HBCU Gameday founder Steven Gaither to learn about his background, the sincere need for sponsors and partners in this space and the HBCU teams to watch this season.

When’s the last time you watched professional wrestling? If you’re like most Americans over the age of 30, you grew up in a world where promotions like WCW, WWE and ECW were on television nationally and names like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Goldberg were household names. After years of falling out of the mainstream, this fall will see the biggest slate of wrestling programming on TV since the late 90s. I felt like it was time to take a look at the business of wrestling and who better to help walk me through it than Danny Daniels, the owner of AAW Wrestling, a independant promotion based here in Chicago

Our guest this week is Eddie Sanders, an intellectual property lawyer based in Chicago. In his life, he’s been a part of Chicago’s creative community as both an artist manager as well as a legal aide to countless members of the superstar musical talent the city cranking out on the regular these days. Hear about his upbringing, how he pulled off getting engaged on-stage at Lollapalooza 2019, what brands can do to get better creative partnerships as well as sharing a cultural concept native Chicagoans will recognize anywhere: the art of the “finesse”.

The reveal of XXL Magazine's Freshman List is one of the biggest moments on the hip-hop. Ernest and Alex discuss ways to market around the List to increase it's relevance -- and revenue.

We put together a full episode of recommendations for interesting things that live at the intersection of culture and business like Japanese men's magazines like Popeye and Hail Mary (8:46), Khan Academy (15:20), books (20:30, 41:12) and every Stevie Wonder album released between 1972 and 1980 (33:15)

Darryl "Big Homie Doe" Williams is a multi-faceted creative who currently works as manager to Chicago's King Louie as well as one of the few minorities working in the top levels of the booming cannabis market (39:45). From the first time he met Kanye West to his new partnership in the cannabis space, this is the intersection of business and culture like you've never heard before.

What's the most popular cocktail in Chicago? What are emerging trends to watch in the world of booze? Wine + Spirits Guru Max Heinemann from Nielsen CGA stops by to give us the biz behind the booze.

Learn about the culture and marketing strategy around Chicago's most famous (infamous?) liquor with Sam Mechling, the cultural ambassador for Jeppson's Malort.

A conversation around blind spots in marketing/advertising. We also solve racism once and for all!

If you live in Chicago and have eaten a hot dog at any point, odds are one of 3 businesses in town got it into your hands. From the distribution strategy to the raw economics of opening a hot dog stand in town, we're joined by food writer/Hot Dog University graduate (yes, that's a thing) John Carruthers to talk about how the sausage gets made in Chicago and what the larger culture around hot dogs and street food as a business

Ernest and Alex spotlight 5 brands doing cool things in culture and business.

Hulu, ESPN, Marvel Studios, ABC...all owned by one company. We discuss Disney and the idea of "monoculture" aka how one company can "own" nostalgia across demographics and generations. Ernest also does the single worst Terrence Howard impression of all-time!

This week, Ernest is joined by Mess Director of Strategy Alex Menocal to discuss the Chicago Fire and strategize on how the team can build a larger fanbase locally with marketing

How consuming less and creating more will change your life

This week: How to make decisions when it’s hard to make decisions, Client 101 - How much does a website actually cost? and Ernest shares 3 playlists for your listening enjoyment!

We talk with Tree, a Chicago-based rapper whose new album WE GROWN NOW can be found everywhere. Despite producing for and rapping alongside some of hip-hop's biggest names, odds are you haven't heard of him. He says that's on purpose. Listen to find out why!

This week, we talk about playing Devil's Advocate, debut a BRAND-NEW segment about strategy and get to the bottom of a recent controversy on the Billboard Country Music charts

As Ernest prepares to board a flight to Vegas for his bachelor party, he shares 3 of his favorite books about content creation and management.

If you’re sitting at the office wondering who anyone on that festival lineup is, this one’s for you. Stay tuned to the end for a homework assignment, it's not game over just yet.