Local Producer Turned Passion Into Regional Change

What does it take to turn a region into a creative hub? We sit down with executive producer and community leader Jamar C. Davis to unpack the strategy, grit, and heart behind building large-scale festivals, leading Hampton Roads Pride, and launching programs that actually change lives.

Jamar traces his path from Governor’s School tech theater to founding JAM Entertainment after leaving a corporate event role during the pandemic. He shares how connection—not stages or lights—is the real product of live events, and why working on the soft opening of Pharrell’s Atlantic Park rewired his view of excellence. From artist advances to vendor wrangling, he opens the black box of production and shows how organized teams make magic feel effortless.

Beyond the stage, we explore volunteer power, the “family cookout” energy of the Cousins Festival, and a new wellness series for queer Black and Brown men focused on relationships and health. As the new president of Hampton Roads Pride, Jamar lays out an inclusive mission that stretches far beyond a weekend: scholarships for future leaders, film projects that preserve queer history, and partnerships that make healthcare and counseling easier to reach. He doesn’t dodge the hard parts either—naming the pressure on trans communities and the collaboration gap across the 757 that keeps great work from scaling.

If you care about culture, community, or the nuts and bolts of world-class events, this conversation delivers practical insight and real hope for what’s possible in Hampton Roads and beyond. Subscribe, share with a friend who builds things, and leave a review to help more people find the show.

Transcript

Meet Jamar C. Davis

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hello everyone, I'm Al Neely. Welcome to Listen Up Podcast. And today we have Jamar C. Davis. He is the founder and executive producer of Jam Entertainment, which was established in uh 2022, is based out of Norfolk, Virginia, and he leads the creative vision and production of large-scale festivals, cultural activism, and national artist experiences. Jamar also serves as the president of the Hampton Roads Pride organization, where he leads one of the region's largest annual celebrations and advances year-round the LGBTQ plus community programs that support the community in connection with regional partnerships. Say hello. Hey, how's it going, everybody? Yes. So excited to be here. Yes, thank you. I met uh Jamar at an event where he was receiving an award uh from the Z and for creative uh honors and leveraging cultural um storytelling. Yeah. So you're involved in a lot of things going on around here. Um let's just talk about um how all of this begun for you. You're you're you started in Norfolk, and um you started at the governor school in Norfolk, right? And just talk about your your your journey to this point.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, it's been a journey for sure. Um I s I guess I'll throw it back a bit. My dad is um retired Navy, um, and we he's from Chester, Philadelphia. Okay, all right, yeah. Um and my mom is from Memphis, Tennessee, and they had me here in Norfolk at D Paul, um Deepall Hospital.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

And so, you know, being coming from Do you have to as we do you have to listen to him talk about uh how he missed the cheesesteaks and all that stuff? Absolutely, cold cuts, all of that.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

You gotta hear that all the time.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

We often go and come back with more cold cuts. Okay, I'm sorry to mean interruption, but go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

I just can imagine what that's like.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Yeah, yeah, it's great. Um, so you know, I I you know, I I grew up in a family with different, you know, cultures and being growing up in Norfolk and being at the intersection of so many different communities, like you know, military, it's southern, you got the city, um, you got the suburbs, it's just so much. And just growing up in this area, um, it was amazing to get award awarded the Z honors because I feel like the community made so much impact on me, yeah. Um, and my family. So, so yeah, it's it's definitely been a journey, but I started in governance school, um, within the arts, doing technical theater work, so stage managing, doing light sound, film work. Started in that arena really, and then I kind of that's awesome. Went went went from there.

Roots, Governor’s School, And Early Tech Theater

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Yeah, yeah. Um, you have an organization, um, Jam Entertainment. Talk about Jam. Tell us about what Jam is and what Jam is does. Jam is is is short for Jamar, right? Okay, I kind of figured that.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Go ahead. So I started this production company um actually after leaving the corporate world. I was working for Mary uh as their event manager, left that left that role um during the pandemic. It was you know very wishy-washy then, and got into project management. And I realized a lot of my passion is is from just managing different projects, and so um obviously I was working in events and in live entertainment and live events, doing all these different types of events just on contract work, right? And I was like, you know, I should probably start my own production agency and and start to build experiences and and create an impact within my community. Um, I know I could make that impact. Was volunteering with Hampton Roads Pride, and we were doing productions, and I was like, this is definitely something I'm passionate about, and I just took it serious. So kind of towards the end of the pandemic, I I detoured and started my own business, and and it's and it's been and it's been great since. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Did you work the last Pride event in June? Was it June? Yep, okay. You got a chance to meet Big Frida, huh?

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Yes, okay. Big Frieda's lovely, okay, really easy to work with. I love working with Big Frida, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Yeah, I heard she's a really nice person. Really nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Team, everybody was was great, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

So so your experiences, you were talking about what's it shaped you. What's what would you say has been um the most important thing with your the work that you're doing right now with your jam?

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah. Um, connection. I think that was that's the most important because a lot of these different events, whether it be nonprofit, government work, um, connection seems to be the the thing that keeps it all apart. Right. Um whether that's you know me coordinating the speakers before they get on the stage, getting them comfortable and ready to talk about the different policies or imp things that are impacting the community, um, the networking events, uh putting together, the concerts where you see the fans crying emotionally. It's the connection is probably the most I I get out of all of the experiences I've had. That's that's what keeps me going for sure. Right. Yeah, so you worked the Cuz Festival.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Yep. That was great. And um the event at Atlantic Park with Pharrell. Yeah you worked at tell us about that. What was that like?

Leaving Corporate To Launch JAM Entertainment

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Uh that was kind of a crazy, it was a crazy experience in a good way. Yeah, um, as we know, Atlantic Park property. I know um Pharrell Williams helped with the development of that of that entire area down at the ocean front and got a call from an agency I've worked with before, and they're like, hey, surprise, this is coming up. I'd love for you to be an associate producer for this. I'm like, okay, now what exactly does this entail? So, you know, went through all of the SOWs and everything, and and I was coordinating three-day weekend where Pharrell and his team, um, Yellow came out. It was just so many different artists and and creatives. Um came out, and we essentially did a soft opening for the Atlantic Park that he's built out there, has residents, um, new residential homes, um, surf park, which is crazy cool. Yeah, I got a surfboard, so I will be out there next summer. Okay, I did.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

I was there this past weekend.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

So Nami Nori, have you checked that out? New Japanese restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

No, definitely should check that out. It's a great spot. I will. Yeah. One of the things, one of the things I've learned is that um coming from the Philadelphia area, I'm kind of like a foodie, or yeah, I like different experiences of food. And this area's kind of grown since I've gotten here. And you the the uh food has definitely changed. I was talking with one of one of the chefs that was at the Z event, and uh yeah, we kind of agreed that this area is is coming up with the cuisine. So the place is Nori. I will definitely check it out.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Yeah, yeah. So we opened up all those different facilities, yeah, and I was mainly helping with um artist movement, um, scheduling, timelines, production, vendors, A V, lighting, sound. Um, essentially just getting the weekend ready for that, for for all the different experiences we had going on. It was three days. I was out there for about a week though. So it was it was a good experience working with that team.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah. I had no idea what goes into it. Yeah. So I worked, had the opportunity to work the Timberland event. Okay, yeah. Um, this past uh fall, and it's just so much that goes into it. Um it's it's exhausting.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah. You uh you you must have a lot of energy, high energy to to work with uh doing all of that.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

So yeah, yeah, you you got to. You gotta be gotta be ready. And thankfully I'm I'm young enough, so I'm ready, you know, break break the industry. Okay, I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Yeah. So talk about um what are you some of the things that you have um coming up with do you have events, everything planning that you're working with with Jam? Yeah, so what do you have coming up?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Um I just this past weekend, um on top of the different contracts and different accounts that I have, I volunteer a lot. Okay. And I strongly encourage a lot of my peers and people I work with on a daily to volunteer. So I actually just finished the Grand Illumination Day Parade. I'm on the planning committee for that.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

That's been forever. It's great.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Every year I do it, it's it brings me the spirit. Yeah. Yeah. How long you been doing that? About six years. Okay. Just volunteering every year, getting the holiday cheer ready, you know, getting everybody ready for this week, Thanksgiving and the holidays season. So um, but I've also been working with the LGBT Life Center. Um we just started a new gentleman series actually for queer black and brown men, um, talking about wellness, relationships, how we can grow as a community just here in the in the region. So that we launched that off maybe two, three weeks ago, and we are gonna do that quarterly. So um, we're gonna gear up for our next one in February. That's gonna be exciting. Cousins Festival is coming back. Okay. We're we're starting to get planning going on for that.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

So yeah, tell us exactly what is the cousins festival. Because I go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah, I want you to. Um, so you know, just going to the summertime family cookouts. It it that's exactly the vibe. Yeah, you know, hey cuz, how you doing, you know?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Um, and then it happens, you know. Where does that take place? North for Scope Arena, downtown or downtown.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Okay, it's an inside event.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Inside and outdoor. Okay. So we take over the plaza on the outside, do some um programming on the stages out there, and then we transform inside. I've never been there, but I will be at the next one. Yeah, I will make sure of it. You gotta be there. Okay, it's it's fun, it's a good time.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Yeah.

Connection As The Core Of Live Events

SPEAKER_00 10:47

And uh what else is coming up, would you say? Cousins Festival, Pride, Pride Fest Pride Weekend is coming back up. We've already started our strategic planning for that uh with Hamster Rose Pride. So got quite a few things, and I of course I got some things I can't yet talk about, but it's gonna be an exciting year, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

I'm pretty sure. So um let's let's talk about um the pride event. You are the president, yes, yeah. The um what would you say um you would want people to know or experience about the the pride organization that they may not know?

SPEAKER_00 11:30

It's a good one. So I just became president, yeah, just got in the chair, and so it's it's been an exciting month. Just we just had our retreat. Right. Um, and I realized over that strategic planning time that we were doing with the you know, with for the organization, is that everyone in our community cares about each other, and that's the real true identity of Hamteros Pride. Right. Um, we unite, you know, and our and our mission statement, not if not only are we uniting the queer community, but our allies, you know, it's for everybody to be they all be their authentic self. That's what I want everyone to realize. So, you know, I encourage people every year. I've been doing it for the past six years, to just come out and enjoy yourself, see and experience what pride means for all of us. It's it's it's a celebration for everyone, seriously.

Inside Pharrell’s Atlantic Park Opening

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah, I think you know, if you you you're closed-minded, yeah, narrow-minded, you you kind of shut it off. Um, I gotta tell you, it's an experience. I found out I think last week that the um there is a pharmacy in Norfolk um that provides medicine, um, counseling, and um I just and and I just thought it was just amazing. Yeah. Um, I can't remember the the the person's name who who was um I ran into, but to have a pharmacy and a place where people can go and get medical advice, not even that, but also um mental health counseling. Right. Right. Um, I think that is I think it's amazing because we have not that's another thing that we we try to avoid in this community. Oh, you know, I don't I don't need to deal with my traumas or tragedy, you know, things that have happened to me in the past, but I think we all need to be able to talk to somebody at some point. So I thought that was pretty amazing when I ran into that. Um give me an idea of one artist that you work with that you that gave you a like an aha moment, okay, and you were able to learn from that particular person. It doesn't have to be this could be somebody that's you know regional, but um an aha moment. Yeah, you say, okay, man, this is wow. I never thought about it like that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Ah, I've worked with so many artists. Um honestly, I'll probably have to give it to Farrell. I think when I got that gig for opening up Atlantic Park, you know, you don't quite understand the mission behind, you know, someone of his status on like some of the projects they're working on. But once you like getting the miss, see their teams, understand their drive, it's like whoa. You know, I left that weekend feeling inspired um because I got to meet so many people, part of his teams, um, and just being a part of the team for that weekend, it just inspired me. And um that man is busy, and he and and he's organized, it's just the right example that I feel like is set for me. And he set that example that weekend. I was I was able to realize like what goes into it, how much dedication you have to have. It was it was amazing. I think that was that that was the most recent that I can think of that's really impacted me.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Yeah, yeah. So you probably are pretty organized person. Oh, yeah, very detail-oriented, yeah. So um, I think that based on what you're telling me, so there's different levels of success, right? So, first of all, I don't think you should compare yourself to anybody because you are where you are, you are who you are, where you are, but your experiences inspired you to grow. And I'm pretty sure do you have younger do you have siblings? Oh, yes, younger siblings, younger brothers and sisters. So they're they're they're probably looking at you, looking at your experiences, right? And their friends are probably looking at you and saying, okay, um, if Jamar can do, yeah, you know your kid, brothers and sisters are if Jamar can do it, I could do it, you know. But you're creating a a footprint, a blueprint, and um a legacy for them. Yes. So it's important coming from the inner city. Sometimes we don't know how to get from one step to the next, right? Absolutely, yeah. Okay, so yeah. So what do you say? Um in this area, the Hampton Roads area, what would you say that we could be more aware of?

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Um power of collaboration. Okay. Um, and I know a lot of people talk on this topic for the 757. I am in different markets occasionally, yeah. And the one thing that I see that we're missing is collaboration. Um, I think there's so much opportunity for our area to to grow to its next level, but we're lacking that so bad.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Is there you feel like there's a reluctance to work with each other, or is there something else?

SPEAKER_00 17:10

It's so hard. It's so hard to because you know, you get in some rooms and it's you know, Hamster was proud. My my team there, we we're great collaborators, yeah. But then um, I I'm still trying, I'm just I'm still dissecting what that is. Each event I work with, I bring people together, we collaborate, I'm creating that community myself. Um going out or just encouraging my other creatives to go out and experience other markets, see what they're doing, because you need to know like this is what we're missing, yeah. Um, and just spreading that that message. But I haven't yet quite dissected why that is.

Volunteering And The Power Of Giving Back

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Yeah. Um, I'm gonna tell you my experiences because I want to do a lot of things as well, but what happens is I get focused in one area of what I'm working on, and there's a lot of things that you can do around here. Surprisingly, people wouldn't think so, but there are quite a few. And if you look at the area as a region, um that's probably what you're talking about. That regions probably we probably all need to collaborate a little bit better. But I think I got caught in focusing on particular areas and not looking outside, but you know, I have friends or organizations and people that I work with in Norfolk, so I see different things there. But I feel like I understand what you're talking about, you know. Um, and it's uh it's it's it's been quite an experience. So this area is a lot larger. So you see you're in Norfolk, you're you know, a lot of your influence is in downtown, but you're working with um where Pharrell. Yeah, beach, yeah. Yeah. So uh another one of the the things that you've had an um passion for is is this documentary series? Oh, I love documenteries. Yeah, so what have you um what have your experience been? What have you been doing in that area to you know I haven't tapped into it that much. Really?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Yeah. And I you know, starting in governor school, I was in film work. I I that's what I thought you said. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Do you work with was there someone? Um who is it that you work with Phil?

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Phil, Phil Thornton.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Okay. Who is Phil? Talk about Phil.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Phil is oh, that's a great question. I'm so glad. Uh Phil Thornton is a 757 native. Went to Norfolk State. Okay, graduated. I should know Phil. Yeah, you should. You gotta I gotta yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Phil is a great guy. Um Diamond, I don't want to get I think it's Diamond uh Films is his is his is the film company, but they recently we he recently just released Unexpected Christmas. Um okay yeah, and it was It was a great premiere that we did here actually in Virginia Beach. He premiered it. I got a call from from him and his team, and he's like, This is what we're doing. I want to come back home or partner up with Norfolk State. We gotta make this happen. And I was like, Of course. So we um he did it premiered, I want to say about two weeks ago. Um, uh still in some theaters, um, but he's he's been doing great. He's all over um working with different projects, and it was just great to see him come back, not only to inspire Norfolk State students that were at the pr the screening, but um to just remind everyone, like there's so much talent brewing from our region, and they just sleep. And um from every spectrum, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

It is this area is uh quite a bit of talent. Yeah. So how did you what was what how did you assist with that?

Launching Wellness Programs And Cousins Festival

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Uh mostly um reservations, getting getting the the creatives in the area, the who's who that needs to be in those space using your organization jam.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Using using um amongst other staff that we work with, PR and all that. But um, and then of course, just we did a talk back discussion after the after the movie. Um I love those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just a little coordination. It was it was a small gathering, but the impact was was really great to see, especially to hear hearing some of the students from Norfolk State talk about how they appreciate him coming back and giving us the opportunity to know that there's there's so much more beyond the boundaries here.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

So how do you see the organizations that you're involved with making a difference? Because we talked about a lot and you're covering a lot of areas. So how do you see um Jam's only three years old now? Yeah, about three, four, yeah. Yeah. So, and how how long has um um you've just been the president, vice president of the pride? So, talk about how you see the organizations that you're involved with making a difference in this area.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Um, I'll start with with Ham Toro's Pride. Ham Toro's Pride has been around for over 30 years. It started as a picnic at at City Park, and um it has evolved. Um, a huge education, I think, is going to play a huge role in the future of Ham Toro's Pride. There's so much queer history that people do not know about. We have over the last three years produced films with Dr. Charles Ford from Norfolk State. Yes. Um, we so I I really want to elaborate on that. Um, in my role as president, um, education, we give away scholarships over$30,000 a year. I see future leaders being impacted with just those scholarships. Um and just continuing to create you know, equity around our region because I think that's the most important role of Himtero's pride, inclusion. Right. Um, we work with state, local governments on policies with uh working with Equality Virginia.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

So how did you how has that changed with this cultural this new administration and the attack on uh culture? Has it changed much?

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Has it changed much here?

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

Well now we got a governor in office that that that respects the queer community. So I'm super excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Um it it has. Um, it's put a lot of pressure on um the trans community. I have a lot of brothers and sisters in that community that don't deserve, you know, at all that type of language that that gets spewed out. But yeah, they're amongst the most attacked in our society.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Yeah. Yeah.

Pride Leadership And An Inclusive Mission

SPEAKER_00 23:57

And trans community. Yeah. Yeah, and it's and it's so that's been unfortunate, and amongst other things, but I think Hampton Road's pride plays a role in reminding everyone, especially here in our region, that uh we're an inclusive area, you know. We were, you know, we have military, you just so it's a melting pot of people here. So um we just do our best at keeping everyone engaged and and know like there's a community here that loves you. Um, you are seen, you are heard. Right. And and um we include everyone in in our programming with that. So I have a lot of visions. I I see a lot happening from there. Um I've been working a lot in an artist development, um, getting, you know, local independent artists to take their um take them, take themselves to the next level, using my resources to help make that happen. Okay. Um, get doing more in the national market. Um and just continuing, like I just want to build the entertainment scene here because we have so many creatives. I want to um I guess make sure we're visible, at least here on a local level, and and bring in productions that we deserve because of the talent we're producing in this in this great country. So I don't know. I I I have a lot of different areas and avenues I want to take it right now. I'm remaining in this position where I'm I'm still learning um and growing myself. Um, so yeah, I I see a bright future. Okay. I just can't tell you which avenue I'm going yet. What I think yes, I'm running with it.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

It's it's something you make up as you go. Yeah. Yeah. You just positive and head in the direction. Exactly. Are you still um do you still go back to school? Do you try to tap into um your your educators and student there, students there?

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Yeah, and a lot of that has to do with a lot of the people that I work with in the community um that and like inspire me. Dr. Charles Ford is one of them. Like I can sit and listen to him talk all day long. Right. Um, so yes, uh education has played a role working with Hampton University on some of their programming and and development work they're doing with entrepreneurs. Yeah, you were talking about that. Yeah. Um so what's going on with them? They uh they just opened up a workforce development program. Um, or at least I was helping with some of their projects and initiatives over there. Um, and I just helped them with events and just being but being in those environments is really inspired, inspiring. Yeah, you know. Um so they have a new entrepreneur studio um in on their campus. Um work with them for homecoming, doing one of their brunches. So a lot of different things going on in Hampton. Yeah. Um, so I've just been in that, in that area, in that arena. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

I am uh I just saw something where they were saying that the um they've increased their enrollment, which I'm very thankful for. Um so I've had people that worked with me that were graduates of of Hampton. So and they're usually very, very talented people. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

There's some great alumni coming out there.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Yeah. And um had an opportunity to work with um uh uh one of the film producers and directors over there, so I thought that was quite interesting. Yeah, had no idea that that even took place over there. So, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

They're brewing over there, they really got some good stuff going over there at Hampton.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

So that's good. So you're doing all of this. Describe Jamar C. Davis. How do you see yourself, Jamar?

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Give us a description of how you see yourself Strategists, I'm very detail-oriented. Not as much as some of my other peers, but I find myself I've been called detail oriented. Um I I observe a lot. Um creative mindful.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Yeah. I would probably get yeah. A friend to everyone, literally. Um activists. Yes. Huge part of that is me. Yeah um passionate about about the the work that I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Right. Where does your um your inspiration for activism come from?

Healthcare, Counseling, And Community Resources

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Oh, so many. There's so many. Honestly, I would I would probably say um my local peers. Really? I started in this industry um as an usher at Northoscope Arena. And I was just an usher, you know, got promoted to be super like operations, you know, clean up the puke and taking out the trash and all that, and just kind of worked my way up, oddly enough. Um I interned at seven venues, which is the the company that owns it, but um, I interned there and I never knew what an event coordinator was, never heard about it. I came from theater, film, and got into it, the internship program, and Pride Weekend came up, and that was one of the events that Seven Venues kind of oversaw as the as a part of the city, and I never knew we had a Pride Fest. And at the time, I also wasn't out. So um my first Pride Fest I went to was actually New York City's world pride, okay, and I realized after being in New York City Pride, that was my community. Came back home and was like, hey, I want to volunteer for this. It's like, how does how do I get involved with this? And so I think my community is like where I get my most like activism from, like talking with my trans brothers and sisters, seeing, seeing, you know, or listening to their experiences, you know, um being a masculine male in this in in the queer community is you know, I don't get hit with a lot of some of the troubles that everyone else in my community does. And so that just tells me I have a responsibility, you know, to to represent those who don't have them the megaphone, you know, be in spaces that um some of my my they're not allowed, you know. So I just I really it just it really just because I have really good friends, really good people in the community that have shared their stories with me, and that has inspired me to want to do something about it. Yeah, that's that's where that comes from.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Okay. Would you say you're um I would imagine that you're passionate about that? Is there something else when it comes to a professional that you're you have that same passion for your work? Oh one particular thing.

Lessons From Working With Pharrell

SPEAKER_00 31:36

One particular thing as far as jam or yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that actually goes back to just wanting to do something that I didn't see growing up. So like being in this region and and not knowing why the Special Olympics didn't come here or the BET Awards wasn't at the arena, you know, just not being around the spaces that I've always seen, like on TV or whatever the case may be. So I think a lot of that comes from this just the impacts of uh this region, really. Yeah, that inspiration, at least. Going to other markets and seeing there's so many talented people and they're able to do these things and being home and and and not understanding why we have so much of so many creatives, but not making that same impact. I think that's where that came from, really. Yeah, you have big family, huge, really, yeah. You're a family person, family oriented, yeah, very family oriented, love my family. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

So you probably had a lot of practice keeping everybody in line, you know, coordinated with things, huh?

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Yeah, yeah. Uh between me and my sisters, we play the coordination role. Okay, we share that, but but yeah, it's a lot of wrangling. Yeah, yeah. A lot of nieces and nephews, big family, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Okay. All right. I'm gonna put you on the spot. All right. Like I have it, right?

SPEAKER_02 33:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Wh where do you see the next five years jam entertainment?

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Oh, that's a good one. I see us, I see myself in a more national market. I think making an impact on the national level, possibly international. We'll see. Yeah. Um, but I I I see myself also like taking those from this region with me. Um, but I also kind of, you know, with some of my experience with some of the events we've taken from Norfolk and taken elsewhere, also see Virginia going places and making impacts. Um, and that can mean a lot of things, some of the talent artists, and just creating opportunities and like a roadmap for us to still be seen on a national level, but be able to at least still impact here at home. I see myself growing in that in that way somehow, somehow. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Yeah, it seems like you have a you feel like you have a little bit of an obligation. Not I don't want to say obligation, but what what would be another word for a affinity for bringing people with you from this area? Yeah, you talk about the talent and things like that. So um I I hope that's what happens. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stay grounded to that point because I feel the same way you do about this region. So coming from Philadelphia is a lot of that comes out of that city, yeah. And um you usually got to go into New York or one of the major markets to get exposure, but you know, you still there still has to be stepping stones. And if you're national, even international, that is an avenue, uh, a way to get to that.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

I'm always gonna end or somehow, some way, still find a way to stimulate the economy here, the creatives impact here. Right. That's definitely gonna always be a part of my goal. Yeah. Do you admire that about Pharrell? Yeah, actually. He he comes back quite quite often. Pharrell, Pusha T. He's Pusha T and Virginia are very active in the community here. Yeah. Um, so is Missy Elliott.

unknown 35:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Um Timberlin and all the people he worked with.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

I had no idea until I did that event. How many people there are that he worked with around. Oh, yeah. And worked on events. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

So just creating opportunities for all for all of us, you know? Yeah. Have something special to come back to. And also, I think policy is gonna be a lot with that. Uh um may potentially get into some of some policy work in the future. I have some aspirations for that as well. I'm huge into politics all over, you know, geopolitics. And then so I may see some future there as well. We'll see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Um let's talk about that. Yeah. Um, you you did bring up uh governor-elect uh Spamberger. Yes. Were you helping her or you did you help?

Collaboration Gaps Across The 757

SPEAKER_00 36:17

I didn't canvas, but um Governor elect span, she was the only, she's the only one that came to our programming this past month for pride. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

So um met her earlier in the year. Yeah, had an opportunity to talk with her. She's so, so easy to talk to, right? Yeah, she's so even keeled down there. Very true, yeah. Yeah. Um, unfortunately, I guess, or fortunately, because of my podcast, I've had the opportunity to to meet some of the politicians um on both sides. Yeah, but I would definitely say she was one that you knew that she had people's interests in mind. Yeah. So yeah, yeah. Agreed. Yeah. I agree with that. So I think so. Um politics is pretty messed.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

It is. And I'm very scared of it. But you know, work of being in a nonprofit is, you know, it's kind of like, oh, you know, you're not doing enough. And I'm just I'm just in a lot of different spaces and rooms where I'm hearing conversations and I just feel like I could be doing it better. But then I get, and then you see what all all goes on in the politics. I'm like, eh, maybe not. I'm good. I don't want to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Sometimes how I feel about it. Yeah. Yeah, because I really want to help people.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

And it seems as that you in order to help people, you gotta give or take. Yeah. And you know, I just want people to get back to the point where they are in control of the true democracy. Yep. Yeah. Well, we're not a true democracy, but I would like for people to have more influence on their lives. Exactly. You know? Yeah. Um, so that's quite interesting. I'm glad you're considering it.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Yeah, yeah. It's good. Uh man, the conversations I've been having about it has just been crazy, but I'm like, uh, we'll see. I'll think about that later. That's that's how I've been about it. I like my nonprofit work better because I'm I know I'm making an impact. And definitely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Yeah. So um before we leave, what what would you like for us to know before we we go off? Um, and how we can help you and how we can find you.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

You can find me everywhere, Jamar Davis. Okay. Um, LinkedIn, Instagram. Just type in Jamar Davis. I'm sure you'll find me up, um, jamentertainment.net. If you want to look into partnering with events or or any of your local collaborations, I'm all about collaborating with people. Um, nonprofits, civic leagues, anybody like let's get to work. Um, if it's impacting the community, I want to be involved.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

All right. Yeah. I appreciate you coming in and talking with us and just giving us the exposure and you know, tap into who you are and what you have going on. It's been um an honor to have you in.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

It's been an honor to be here.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, absolutely. All right, there we have it. We'll catch you next time on Listen Up. If you enjoyed today's episode, I'm gonna ask you to click on the links below. Follow, subscribe, become part of the conversation. And remember, listen up.