Terrell Grice and Lori Harvey Honor Black Future Makers
“We have dream lives, not dream jobs.”
As part of AT&T’s Dream in Black series, three young entrepreneurs won $10,000 to grow and cultivate their businesses. The three-part event, produced by TV One, was hosted by entrepreneur Lori Harvey and AT&T’s Black Future-Maker Terrell Grice. Recently, I got the opportunity to catch up with Terrell and the future makers to learn more about the experience.
Here’s What Happened.
It was about noon when I hopped on Zoom to chat with Terrell Grice, and I have to say I was a little nervous. The Black Future-Maker is many things. He’s a former television producer, singer, songwriter, and media personality. But, he’s most known for his popular Youtube series, The Terrell Show. Through the platform, he combines comedy, singing games, and his unique interviewing style to highlight some of the best up-and-coming talent. Terrell has done something that many years trying to accomplish, he’s made a career from doing what he loves while authentically being himself. It’s what makes his content so popular, but it also makes him the perfect host for the series.
As a creative myself, I was curious to learn more about Terrell’s upbringing and how he’s been able to set himself apart. Grice may be killing it in LA now. But, he hails from South Carolina, a state that is not usually connected to media and entertainment. Grice laughed in agreement and shared an exclusive story with AskKirbyCarroll. A while back he was forced to book an SC hotel room just for his family to stream his show! The Terrell Show had hit one million subscribers, and he was having a big concert to celebrate. However, the hotel — one-hour away from his childhood home was the only place that had a good enough television and Wifi capability. Yet, five seasons and more than 100 episodes later he continues to thrive. So I had to get the scoop. What’s the secret sauce? His reply made a lot of sense.
A “Screen-Shot Worthy” Gem
“The only way to blend in is if you’re trying to be someone else. When you’re looking for inspiration but get tripped up and get caught up on what is popular that’s how you get lost in the sauce. The only true way to stand out is to be someone that no one else can be, and that’s you — you’re authentic self. What makes you tick, what makes you weird, expose that to someone else because they may connect with it. I’m a lot of things that make me who I am, you wouldn’t even expect all of these attributes to be from one person!”
The talk with Terrell was great and I immediately went to check out more episodes when the call ended. But, what followed was just as motivating. I was able to speak with the group of entrepreneurs. The call consisted of Coi Mattison the creator of Limbic Lamb, affirmation coloring cards for children, Malik Waseem of Urbane Society, a marketplace app that allows independently owned minority brands to sell their products from wherever they are, and Journey Carter (whose first creation was a hair accessory for young girls fighting cancer) of apparel line, the Journey Collection. Throughout their conversation, they discussed their projects, BLM, and more. From Coi’ talking about the importance of setting an example for her children to Journey’s balance between college and entrepreneurship, it was such a beautiful interaction.
“We have dream lives, not dream jobs,” said Waseem.
By the close of the conversation, one thing was very clear: this is just the beginning for all of them.
