Keturah - The Jackie Of All Trades podcast + 10 Questions

DJ / Radio Broadcaster / Music Curator / Label Founder and self professed ‘slashie’ (a term for the modern day multi-hyphenate) Keturah is set to launch a new podcast, Jackie Of All Trades, out Tuesday September 27 via all Podcast platforms.

The Jackie Of All Trades podcast explores the ‘multi-creative’ identity and the rise of the ‘portfolio career’ among Millennials and Gen Z in the creative industries. Keturah speaks to individuals who have designed their own careers, successfully juggling multiple creative pursuits, to understand what it takes, what they’ve learned, and how you can do the same.

Season 1 sees Keturah joined by Writer / Podcaster / Presenter Tolly T (Spotify's The Receipts Podcast, Netflix’s 10/10 podcast), DJ / Radio Broadcaster / TV Presenter / A&R / Label Founder Jamz Supernova (BBC 1Xtra, 6Music, BBC Three), Writer / Editor / Director / Broadcaster / Strategist Natty Kasambala (Dazed, gal-dem) and DJ / Writer / Cultural Curator / Artist Manager Elijah (Butterz, Resident Advisor).

Keturah shares - “In 2022 it's super common for people to be unashamedly juggling multiple creative pursuits, but what's less common is an honest insight into how you actually navigate building a successful portfolio career. We see the highlights and all of the wins on social media, but people are less forthcoming about the hard work, the hard lessons and the fortitude it takes.”

Keturah sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:

1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for marketing?

I would say my love of music is actually what brought me to marketing. In 2010 I started a WordPress blog called AllAboutGoodMusic, and I was trying to figure out how to get more eyes on it. Social media wasn't as saturated back then and felt more conversational and community-focused, so platforms like Facebook Groups and Twitter were great for trial and error in understanding and figuring out how you construct your messaging, what kind of content you share and the formats you share it in, how to elicit the response you want from the people you're trying to engage etc.

I never realised it was marketing in the traditional sense, I really just saw it as figuring out how to connect with the people I thought would enjoy the music content I was creating.

2. Who are some creators that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?

I take influence from so many different places, it depends on what creative phase I'm in really. I've just come back from a holiday in Cape Verde and took a lot of scenic and landscape (iPhone) photos, so right now I'm getting back into my photography bag and have been playing around with different aesthetics, adding motion to elements of still photos, visually storytelling etc. I'm just doing it for me (although I've been sharing on @k2rah.jpg on Instagram), but it'll likely influence my day-to-day work in some way when the right client brief comes along.

3.  What projects do you have coming up and can you give us any info on them?

There are some exciting client projects coming up that I can't speak about just yet, but internally at Forward Slash we're about to launch an interactive toolkit and a bunch of resources for creatives and entrepreneurs to help them reach their goals by mastering social media. The majority of us use at least one social media platform on a daily basis, but not everyone has quite figured out how to really use it to their advantage to showcase what they have to offer, and how to connect with the people that are picking up what they're putting down. It's essentially the cheat codes for getting savvy on socials, based on everything I've learned over the past decade as a cultural marketer.

4. How would you describe your company?

Forward Slash is somewhere between a creative studio, marketing agency and cultural consultancy. Everyone in my team is multi-faceted (and multi-talented) and embedded in music, art, culture, tech etc in different capacities. So everything we do outside of work informs our approach and the creative solutions we develop for our clients.

 5. What's your proudest moment to date so far as an entrepreneur?

Solopreneurship is such a steep and rapid learning curve, there's definitely been multiple proud moments over the past few years. But I'm particularly proud of tripling the size of my team in less than 18 months through securing client projects that I'm actually excited to deliver, versus taking on work that is just to 'pay the bills'.

6. Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to thrive in music?

Firstly, create for yourself, make the music you want to hear. Secondly, build up your practical skills like planning, organisation, communication etc. They don't sound sexy but they're essential for navigating and developing your career. In 2022, you need more than just creativity to succeed. Get granular about your music goals and figure out where the gaps in your knowledge, contacts etc are to achieving these goals, then work consistently on building in these areas.

7. Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out? 

Miles From Kinshasa has been making some of my favourite music over the past few years. 

KG is a producer and vocalist that knows who to make a good earworm! 

Kelela recently dropped a new single after being away for a while so I'm looking forward tor her next project.

I have a streaming playlist called Hear For It that I update with all the gems I come across each week!

8. What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?

Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Promo Queen

Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights 

Sango - Great Lakes Influence

Dreams Across Time (compilation by 99GINGER).

9. What do you like to do when you're not working?

If I'm not at the Forward Slash studio, I'll likely be behind the DJ booth in a club or recording my radio show. Outside of music and marketing I play football every week for a team called Romance FC in east London. I love it!

10. Name Three things you can't live without when working?

1. Music (obviously). Got to have something playing in the background, it really helps with concentration.

2. Fruit Tea is my coffee, and sorrel and ginger tea is my go-to at the moment.

3. Kaizen Flow is a 'deep work' Pomodoro timer that lets you work in increments of 25 minutes, distraction-free.

Podcast available here: https://linktr.ee/joatpodcastuk