The Office Hours Interview w/ Ernest Wilkins

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.

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.

(This is what I look like, in case you’ve been wondering)

Before we begin, a little housekeeping:

Beginning today, subscribers will begin receiving two weekly issues of the newsletter. On Tuesdays, you’ll get the newest episode of the Office Hours podcast and Thursdays will be a written newsletter. If you’re getting value from what I’ve done so far, please consider a paid subscription so I can put more time towards creating stuff you love.

Also! We’re approaching 500 subscribers and it wouldn’t have been possible without readers and listeners spreading the word about this little experiment. Do me a favor and keep that momentum going by sharing the newsletter with someone who you think would get value from it.

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. 

Happy Tuesday, folks!

BONUS MATERIAL:

This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at officehours.substack.com/subscribe

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.

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.

Project Nande is a $5/month membership club that gives its members access to curated neighborhood guides spotlighting cool s**t 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. Subscribers get access to hundreds of past guides, a new guide every week, first crack at physical guides (the one above was done as a partnership w/Intelligentsia Coffee) and a concierge-via-text service for those who like to procrastinate on making Friday night plans. An example of the concierge service in action:

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.

YOUR HOMEWORK FOR THE WEEK:

RSVP FOR OFFICE HOURS LIVE! Thursday, November 14th at the Hoxton Hotel Chicago’s new “Working From…” space in the West Loop. Free to attend but I need you to RSVP so we can get a headcount. My guests will be former Chicago Bear-turned Angel Investor Corey Mays and one of the funniest people on Twitter Larry Legend (of SmokedOutCouch fame). It’s going to be absolutely insane and I hope you can come!

Click here to RSVP!

If you like behind-the-scenes business dealings, content, or want to figure out how we got to the current state of tentpole movies and sequels, sequels, sequels, this is a must-read: “In January of 1991, a very critical 28-page internal memo — written by the then-head of Disney's film studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and distributed to his fellow executives in an effort to refocus their approach — was leaked to the press, and instantly became talk of the industry. The recent release of the big-budget Dick Tracy movie had been a disappointment and, as a result, Katzenberg was desperate to recapture the magic of old and rid his studio of their extremely costly "blockbuster mentality." This fascinating, highly quotable memo was his mission statement. It’s subsequent circulation in Hollywood caused a huge stir.”

You’ve read “What’s Left Of Conde Nast” already, right? If not, get on it ASAP.

Sooooooo I was walking outside yesterday and came across this random porterhouse steak just laying on the sidewalk. If you can figure out why it was there or have conspiracy theories, please e-mail me!!!

TUNES:

The Source’s All-Time 5 Mic List

Eight years ago, I made a Spotify playlist of every album that got 5 mics in the iconic hip-hop magazine The Source. Over the last month, I’ve gotten a surge of people subscribing to it. I don’t know what forum found it or whatever, but I’m happy they did!

PRO TIP: If you don’t know anything about rap music, you can honestly listen to this playlist and you’ll be better off than 95% of the population once you’re done. 

If you enjoyed this story, forward to a friend and tell them to sign up for the newsletter!Office Hours is written by Ernest Wilkins. Follow me everywhere @ErnestWilkins or email me here.

This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at officehours.substack.com/subscribe

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.

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!!!