Why I do what I do featuring Kristen V. Carter

Erik  00:03

We want to welcome all of our listeners to another episode of MRP, Minority Report Podcast with Erik and Kerel. Each episode, we talk with real operators and leaders in media, tech and business. And today joining us is Kristin V. Carter, who's an executive producer, podcaster, and speaker. Let's jump in and get to know Kristen. Kristen, welcome. How are you?

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Kristen V. Carter  00:25

Oh, wonderful. How about yourself?

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Erik  00:28

Oh, pretty good, pretty good for Monday, and excited to talk with you and get to learn a little bit more about you and hang out with you.

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Kristen V. Carter  00:35

Awesome, I'm excited. (laughs)

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Erik  00:37

Yeah, Kristen, for those who don't know you tell us a little bit about what Kristin V. Carter is up to today for work. You're an executive producer, you're a podcaster, you're a speaker, tell us a little bit about each.

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Kristen V. Carter  00:50

Sure, so I'm originally from Newark, New Jersey and I always say that because my roots come true just in everything that I do. Like you said, I'm an executive producer. So I just finished Gospel Live, which is a project for PBS that premiered in February and really excited about that show. So that concert special features, Erica Campbell, Anthony Hamilton and John Legend, among others. I'm also a podcaster. So I have a podcast entitled trust your magic, and we are filming Season Two. And so that show is all about people taking leaps of faith to uncover their best lives. And then also I'm a speaker and entrepreneur, so I love giving back, I love mentoring. And I'm very, very serious about financial literacy, business, all of that and making sure that, you know, we all achieve our dreams. So that's a little bite size nugget of what I'm up to. (laughs)

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Kerel  01:42

I know I'm gonna enjoy this podcast already, because I was born in Newark, New Jersey at Beth Israel Hospital, so there ya go. (laughs). 

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Kristen V. Carter  01:49

I was born at St. Michaels. (laughs)

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Kerel  01:51

Alright. (laughs)

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Kristen V. Carter  01:52

Down the way! (laughs)

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Kerel  01:53

Yep. (laughs)

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Erik  01:54

Newark is here! Great! Kristen, I want to come back to the Gospel Live Project is pretty cool. A whole lot of exciting talent showcase and a tremendous, tremendous story. And we'll talk about that in a little bit because there's so much there. But take us before, you know, actually working on this really, really great PBS special, you've had a tremendous background working with several other companies. And tell us a little bit about that.

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Kristen V. Carter  02:23

Sure, so I've been in the business now for 22 years. And I got my start, actually, as a head writer for an entertainment news show for BET. I continued along the way, I was an executive speechwriter for Debra Lee, who's BET's former CEO, as well as other executives and then climbed the ranks as a producer, development executive, things like that. And so I began show running in 2020, actually show ran a project for Kevin Hart entitled Hart Of It All, which was on the Chase platform. So it was a Chase four part financial literacy series. And then I went on to executive produce a project for Discovery+ called Profiled: The Black Man. And I executive produced that with Tina Knowles. And that was an amazing experience. And so that was about debunking stereotypes that black men face. So each of my projects, I always look at what is the objective? What is the purpose? And then also, can I bring something of value to it? So it's not only about me accepting my next show, it's like, what is it about it that I feel like I can take to the next level? And so with those projects, and even with Gospel Live, I have a personal synergy, I have a personal connection to each of those. So I'm always really excited to champion each of the projects. They're all very different in nature. So that's a little bit about my background. I absolutely love television, answering the reason why, you know, there's a lot of shows out there that you know, are fluffy and then there's a lot of shows that are very deep and I think for myself, I started out as a dancer, I wrote poetry growing up, I also became debt free in 2018. So when it comes to certain shows I'm on, like, I did the financial literacy series because I wanted to champion literacy. You know, I wanted to do Profiled: The Black Man, because I wanted to celebrate black men. I decided to do Gospel Live because I love gospel. It's gotten me through and it brings me back to my music programming roots. So that's just a little nugget in terms of, you know, all of that synergy, and why I choose the shows that I do.

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Kerel  04:18

And Kristin, within that I see a theme with what you do. And that is storytelling as well, too. Why is storytelling so important to you? What draws you to storytelling?

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Kristen V. Carter  04:31

Yeah, so I've always been a storyteller. I started reading very early, I was three and a half when I started reading, I started writing short stories, you know, as a youngster as well. And I think for me, story has always been my reason why, you know, in terms of what brings me to projects, and also what brings me to what I love. So storytelling is always the one thing you know, I'm an executive producer now as a title, but the one thing in all of my titles just like you said, storytelling is always my bread and butter. So as a writer, I'm always thinking about what's interesting about this? How can I elevate this? How can I encourage and inspire people? What is the background that I can help shape? So even with Gospel Live, yes, it is a concert special, but the project is actually connected to a companion piece called Gospel. It's a four part documentary series that Henry Louis Gates hosts. And so my job was figuring out how do I put the history the gospel past, present, and future, how do I infuse that into the concert special? So there's still storytelling within it. So when you watch the show, you'll see that it's a gospel music timeline. We start from the beginning, where we honor Thomas Dorsey and Sally Martin, we honor Mahalia Jackson, we represent all of these people, we shout them out. And then we have artists sing songs from back in the day that they love. So not songs that you typically hear in their catalogue, but songs that inspired and influenced them into being R&B and gospel artists. So, storytelling is everything to me.

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Erik  06:01

Kristen, I want to ask you about your roots. And I want to ask you about your background. So you were born and you were raised in New Jersey, but tell us a little bit about your family and your parents, and your grandparents. 

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Kristen V. Carter  06:11

Sure, that's a great question. I don't get asked that very often. So, my grandparents are originally from Newton, Georgia. So I have deep roots there. And even though I was born in North New Jersey, I actually, my first three years, my formative years, I was raised in Newton, Georgia, my great grandmother helped raise me while my mom was finishing school. And so being down south being in the woods, our family owns a lot of land. And so for me to have that lineage and that heritage has meant a big deal to me, we still have that family land. And I carry that, it's very, very important to me. But I would say growing up in the South, you know, my great grandmother played James Brown, we sang Michael Jackson's album "Got To Be There." I would literally stand on a little ladder and sing, "Got To Be There." And we used to play Louis Jordan and things like that. So a lot of soulful music, and also just a lot of lessons of perseverance. I mentioned my great grandmother, but my great great grandmother was also alive at the time as well. So there were five generations. So myself, my mom, my grandmother, my great grandmother, and my great great grandmother. And so I learned, I learned the alphabet on Wheel of Fortune, watching Wheel of Fortune with my great great grandmother. And so those kinds of things, like those memories always stand out to me, actually above the seat, like if I were to move my camera, we have our five generations photo on my wall. And so that's something that just is really important to me, my heritage and really representing, you know, all of the people that have fought the good fight for me to be here. So I'm always acknowledging of that.

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Erik  06:19

That's fascinating. And I think also really exciting. Not a lot of people get to sort of grew up with a multi generational household so close, right? Kristen, what was that like for you? What are some really interesting life lessons that your great grandmother, your grandmother and like other family members taught you and that you feel like you carry forward today?

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Kristen V. Carter  08:06

Yeah. So just one note before I answer that question, I was named after my great great grandmother. So before we hit record, I asked you to please say Kristin V. Carter, because my middle name is Victoria, my great great grandmother's middle name is Victoria and so is my mom's. So that is why the V is very important to me, because it is our legacy literally being passed down. In terms of the lessons, I was raised around a lot of old folks. I was the baby, I was the youngest everything. So I was the first great great grandchild, the first great grandchild, the only grandchild, like I was the only everything so I guess I was spoiled, but I will also say that I had a lot of love around me. My great great grandmother used to tell everybody like "Kristen's either gonna be a whole lot of something or a whole lot of nothing." She was like, "it's either gonna be one or the other, it's not going to be a gray area." And I think for me, I've never lived in the gray area. So it's funny that granny called that from the time that I was little. Like, "we hope that she's gonna be a whole lot of something." And so I'm really happy that that has (laughs) run true. But I think in terms of the lessons, it would be to keep pushing and to keep going, to remember where I come from, to always be humble, you know, to always give a lot of gratitude. And also, I already said this, but really and truly remember who you are. And I think as I've continued, especially moving from New Jersey to LA, that's something that I always live by. I'm the same person that I was before titles and companies and working with certain celebrities. That to me, that grounding has always sustained me and I feel like will always continue to sustain me on my path.

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Kerel  09:49

Thank you for sharing that, Kristen. That's a great, great story. As you think about 2024 and the year ahead, what excites you about the work that you're doing?

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Kristen V. Carter  09:58

Yeah, so... these are great questions, let me just say. I was not expecting it [inaudible]

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Kerel  10:05

We appreciate it, we appreciate it. We try to get to know people and have a real conversation.

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Kristen V. Carter  10:10

I appreciate it. For 2024 I'm really excited about expansion. Gospel Live really restored me in a lot of ways. It's challenging being first on the call sheet and being the liaison between network and production company and everything, but Gospel Live pull together so many things that I love personally and professionally, it also gave me the opportunity to work with people I love. Because of the strike, the blessing, like there's an up and downside to having the strike, right, so like, most people were not working. Gospel Live was the only project that I knew that was up. And so I was able to call upon people that I love and respect, and was also able to work with my pastor on this show. So I say all this to say that this project really restored me and got me fired up for what I believe is my next phase. And so with this project, I had the opportunity to also create a screening and Q&A talkback tour. Basically, PBS loved the project, was really excited about it and I wanted to amplify the ways that we were going to reach audiences. And so I asked them, do I have your blessing for my production company to take on doing this tour. So I had to look for sponsorships, my team went on the road, it was a fully Kristen V. Carter Entertainment production, which was a huge deal, in association with PBS and also our parent production company McGee Media. And so being on tour for three weeks has totally ignited not only my love, but also me galvanizing audiences, looking for production money on my own. It's one thing to be a show runner for someone else, but when is your production company that's on the line. There's another level of not only ownership, but I think, real passion to make it work. So I think coming off of this promotional tour, I've only been home a week now. I'm very fired up for pitching, seeking and securing funding, and also continuing to build partnerships, you know, beyond this moment, so I'm really excited and fired up for the year.

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Kerel  12:14

Does it feel less like work when you're super passionate about something?

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Kristen V. Carter  12:19

Absolutely. The tour almost felt like a field trip in a lot of ways. We went to four different churches. So it was a screening and Q&A talkbacks where we went to different regions in the US. So we started out in Largo, Maryland, we went to my hometown of Newark, New Jersey, our hometown. We also went to Harlem, New York. And then we went back to Greenbelt, Maryland, and having the opportunity to literally watch audiences experience this show - like I feel it's special because, you know, I was part of it, but also in the edit, I felt like we had something special. Like I felt like the praise and worship was really great. All of the artists took everybody there, the audiences were up on their feet, but to be in churches, and people are watching something praising and worshiping was like, so different for me like, oh, my gosh, we have a proof of concept. So I feel like it has been so affirming. And it has really been fun. And so I'm excited. This whole, I want to say, last six months has totally reignited me, so I'm really amped.

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Kerel  13:23

Nice, nice. What does a good day look like for you?

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Kristen V. Carter  13:28

Wow, a good day looks like getting up in gratitude. I would say I always try to make sure that I spent about 30 minutes before I'm on my phone just being grateful, meditating, getting my mind right. I sometimes go for a walk or run. Some days I don't work out, some days I do. I work out like four times a week. And then after that, I'll set my intentions for the day. I typically set my intentions the night before but sometimes, like, they change. So I will say okay, like I'm gonna take some calls, or I'm going to do particular meetings. So I would say a good day for me is one where I have set my intentions, where I'm not double booked (laughs). I try to make sure, I'm trying to be really clear about my time. And then also a good day is having some work and play involved as well.

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Erik  14:20

Kristen, tell us a little bit about Trust Your Magic. What is that?

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Kristen V. Carter  14:25

Absolutely, so Trust Your Magic is a brand that I created in 2016. So at the time, I had worked on all these hit shows but didn't feel like I had a lot to show for it. So at the time I was working through financial literacy and things like that. So I was paycheck to paycheck, if I'm honest. So I was trying to figure out how to get out of that. And so I had a dream that said "trust your magic" and at the time I thought - I was building, like, a stationery brand at the time - because I loved stationery and I loved writing - and in the dream it became very clear that I needed to do something, you know, expanded beyond the stationery. So like, workshops, merchandise, things like that. I thought Trust Your Magic was something that I needed to give to other people. What I didn't realize, you know, until like a few months in, was like, oh, this was an affirmation for me, too. That I get to trust my magic, that I get to trust all my gifts and talents and really utilize and expand it all. So I'm not just a writer, I'm not just a producer. That's when I decided like, I'm going to do workshops. So I started a workshop series called Blessed, Booked and Busy. I also do workshops called Trust Your Magic as well, but at the time, I was doing workshops around becoming like a six figure freelancer and also understanding financial literacy, how to negotiate your rate and your title, all the things that I was going through that I had, like started to champion, I wanted to share with other people. So even with that, for example, as an independent contractor, I've always worked 12 months out of the year. And number one question I get all the time is like how do you work all the time if you've never been staffed? So I built a workshop series, like, around answering that question. So becoming a six figure freelancer, negotiating rate and title were all the things I realized I was doing. So Trust Your Magic now has expanded. It has now become a podcast as well, where I sit down with people who have also had those aha moments. So even for me, like I said, I was paycheck to paycheck, I was working on great shows trying to figure it out. Then I said, oh man, I need to start consulting, I need to start saving money. I became like very aggressive around having work life balance. I did that then I started sharing about it. So Trust Your Magic was like me sharing about it, then it became, oh, I want other people to share about it too. So Trust Your Magic is like my brand where we expand and talk about our gifts and talents. And I am really excited for the future of Trust Your Magic because I keep building things every year, because that is eventually where I want my life to go. Where I am traveling around the world, sharing about you know, people, young professionals trusting their magic, having a book series, so it is a gift that keeps on giving.

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Erik  17:17

That's awesome. That's fantastic to hear. I'm curious, you know, I feel like anything Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is working on I'm instantly drawn to. I get sucked in way longer than I thought. I watch episodes and listen to things I've already seen. What was it like working with him? And I have a follow up to even that. What was it like being at the Oasis Church in LA with all that energy happening?

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Kristen V. Carter  17:42

Yeah! It was really exciting. So first of all, when Gospel Live even came across my desk, I was immediately excited because I love Henry Louis Gates. It doesn't matter how old you are, so even for example, I visited Newton, Georgia, where I'm from, like my family is from, visiting some elders and they're like, "Yes! We watch Henry Louis Gates!" Now, my family typically supports things that I do, but they might not know the talent, but they knew Dr. Gates like everybody that I talked to liked Dr. Gates. And so for me, understanding his goals of wanting to reach more people in a different way, I was really honored that they wanted me to expand the gospel brand and do something with the concert special. So he was our co host. So he wanted to just do our intro and outro. Initially, I had written the script where, I had written the format, excuse me, where I have like him in a bunch of different places in the show. He's like, "No, no, no, I want to watch and enjoy the show." So he welcomes us in, and then he closes the show out and to be able to have his energy and his blessing, he said, and I quote, it was one of the greatest nights of my life, and I'm just so grateful, you know, I think that he's used to being in the documentary space of traveling to different places and speaking to people. With this show gave him a little bit of a challenge, which is like, standing in front of a live audience, greeting everybody and working on teleprompter and working through notes and things like that. But he was a trooper, he was great. And you see him in the audience dancing and singing. So it was a delight to work with him.

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Erik  19:14

That's great. That's how I imagine how it would be. (laughs)

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Kristen V. Carter  19:19

You mentioned Oasis Church, so-

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Erik  19:21

Yeah, tremendous production. I mean, you could just feel the energy from every shot, not only from the talent, but from the audience and from everything, so I was just deeply curious.

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Kristen V. Carter  19:34

Yes. So, when I came on to the show, so as the executive producer, I, one read the deck, signed on to the project, and so it's just me in the beginning, so it's just me and our production company partners. I put together a rough format, which just means how I felt like the show should move. And as a note, what I pitched in June is what made air. That almost never happens. So I pitched a format, a rough format of the project. And then we started talking about where we wanted the show to be. And so we looked at some historic churches that were in LA, but then also just wanted to have a feel that was welcome for people that were church goers and folks that are not. You know, we wanted to have a blend, we wanted to have something that really felt inclusive and welcoming for everyone. And so I started scouting locations with our production company, well one of our production companies Done and Dusted. And I made the decision that I was going to scout literally like four churches in one day because I said, I visited Oasis church, I was like, I think this is the church. It just had a vibrancy about it, it was big enough and small enough, you know, sometimes you have these mega churches that are so huge, I didn't want the show to get swallowed up. I wanted it to feel very intimate, but also, like, oh it's packed in here. So that was one thing. Another, I wanted something that had a great lighting system. We did actually come in with our own lights, but I wanted something where it was a canvas for us to have a really great color palette. So if you watch the show, you see we have like a lot of purples. That was very intentional from the word go. So I was looking for something that really fit all of that. Had the vibrancy, had the ability for us to come in and change a couple of things. And also very inclusive. And I feel like Oasis Church and shout out to the pastor, their pastor Julian Lowe, was just so incredibly warm. You know, we came in and the downstairs of the church, we had to turn that into a bunch of control rooms. So my executive in charge of production her name is Ross Sandefor, like when we went in for a scout, I paid attention to stage and set and she paid attention to like, "Okay, where are we going to house everything?" So it was so interesting, like how production minds work, because I immediately went to stage and as my EIC she immediately went to, okay, logistics, how are we going to move? How are we going to be able to, you know, usher talent in and out? And so we were able to literally build a control room downstairs. So we had seven cameras. And so our director, myself, our other executive producers, we're downstairs, like, wow, the whole show was going upstairs. And it was just a phenomenal experience. A lot of firsts, but also like a lot of slam dunks as well, I'm super proud of this project.

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Erik  22:27

That's exciting. And you should be. For those who haven't seen it, I hope that you go and get a chance to watch a tremendous show. So, well done. You know, it sounds like also you have a lot of exciting stuff, you know, moving forward, you've got a tremendous sort of fire, you know, that's developed the being on out on the road, all that sort of thinking forward, I'm going to ask you, tell me what comes to mind, now, Kristen V. Carter now, when I say these words, essence, Oprah Winfrey Network, Fox, Bravo, E, Food Network, NBC, MTV, I could go on and on and on. But Kristin V. Carter today when she hears that, what does she think of when she hears all of those tremendous names?

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Kristen V. Carter  23:17

Wow, I think gratitude. And I think growth. As soon as you said those names, I thought about the projects that I had worked on. And then I've also thought about the conversations that I've had with some of those companies, and really grateful that people have witnessed my growth. You know, I think that I have always stood for excellence, fun, transparency, vulnerability, those are all the things that I think make a great leader. And at the time, when I worked on some of those projects, or some of those titles that you mentioned, I was not the leader of the ship, I was a part of a team. But I knew what I felt like was great leadership then and I'm really grateful to, I think, embody the things that I always loved about certain leadership, and also the things that I know really works in terms of moving forward with a team. So yeah, as I hear those, I'm like, just grateful. It's been an awesome ride, and I'm really excited for the future.

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Kerel  24:20

Nice, nice. What advice would Kristen V. Carter, today, give Kristen V. Carter just starting out in her career?

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Kristen V. Carter  24:30

The advice I would give Kristen V. Carter starting out is to always be myself, to bring myself to the party. And I say that because I was one of those young ones that, really ambitious, also a little quiet. But I think there's advantages of being a quiet storm, but I would say, you know, speaking up a little bit more. But I think as I've gotten older I've really learned to trust myself and that's where you know, Trust Your Magic comes from. I've really learned to trust myself and to not be afraid to speak up, to always honor my first thought, to fight for my team, to fight for people. To even know that everything that I share is from a great place. And so when you remember those things, goodness always prevails. So I think I would just, I would tell my younger self, yeah, to like, bring myself to the party a little bit more. (laughs)

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Kerel  25:32

Gotcha. Gotcha. Alright, fun question. What's in your music rotation right now?

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Kristen V. Carter  25:38

I would say definitely Usher. So happy that he came out with this album, it's been a long time coming. So "Ruin" is definitely on my playlist right now, which is on his album. I would say Victoria Monet. I'm a big fan of hers. But then also like, I'm a total old school head as well. So I listen to The Jacksons all the time, every day. So, Heartbreak Hotel slash This Place Hotel. They call it This Place Hotel on the album, but it's really Heartbreak Hotel. That is on, (laughs) I'm playing that. And also, you know, you always gotta go with Beyonce. So Beyonce as well.

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Kerel  26:19

The new stuff? Country music?

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Erik  26:20

(laughs)

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Kristen V. Carter  26:21

You know what? I want to line dance so bad. I'm seeing all these TikTok versions, I'm like, I need you to drop the real dance. So you know, she's making me go over to country. (laughs)

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Erik  26:36

That's great. Kristen, been a lot of fun talking with you, getting to know you. A lot of our audience likes to stay in touch and sometimes reach out. What are some ways that our listeners and viewers can follow you and stay in touch?

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Kristen V. Carter  26:49

Absolutely. I am on Instagram. So @kristenvcarter, I'm also on Facebook at the same name and then if you want to drop a longer line, you can go to my website at KristinVCarter.com.

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Erik  27:06

Great, Kristen V. Carter, thank you so much for spending some of your time with us. It's been a pleasure and a lot of fun. Thanks, everyone, for listening to another episode of MRP with Kerel and Erik. We have so many more episodes for you to listen and get to know great folks like Kristin. You can find more episodes on all of the places that you find all of your audio and video. Thanks for joining us.

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