Who is Cloe’ Luv and what was the motivation for starting your brand?
I am the CEO of Brook Brovaz Music an independent label and Production Company. We produce a lot of music for labels, upcoming artists, and established artists including some of the hottest artists in the industry including television. A lot of the times when you are watching certain programs such as the NFL, E Online, and VH1, the music that you hear behind the scenes comes from my production company. We have over 500 placements on TV that they continue to recycle across multiple platforms because the music works. As of late, Hip Hop Evolutions who got an Emmy for season one and season two just came out on Netflix. We are also coming out with an EP this fall called "A summer in Brooklyn”, written, produced and performed by the producers of Brook Brovaz. Then I have Cloe’ Luv LLC, which is a talent management and brand company. I manage the Brook Brovaz and I manage Playboy’s Playmate of the year, Jordan Emanuel. I help businesses build their brand from beginning to end from the LLC to the branding, trademarking, finding your niche market, developing a marketing plan and counseling you through your first few clients. Under Cloe’ Luv LLC I have Cloe’s corner which is a co-working and gathering space that I just opened in July half a block from the Barclays Center in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. I want to build a community of entrepreneurs that can work together simultaneously in the space. So if you do accounting, funding, or websites, you can work within the community to get what you need to be done for your business, as well as uplift and support each other. I will be providing workshops, classes, and events to support and give my members platforms. Outside of that we either host events or it is available for rental for others to host their events. I have a few other brands in the developmental stages and visual projects that I am working on but for now, I am focusing on those three.
“ It is very motivating to see all of the projects you are working on. It encourages me to do more. .”
I am a very spiritual person. One person asked me, “What do you do?” I stopped and I thought about it. I said, “I do what I want to do, and God blesses me with a salary to do it”. So if I get up and I want to write a script, it doesn't mean I'm a movie writer. I just have an idea I want to get out and God gives me the resources to do it. When you realize that, there’s no limit to what you want to do.
My first job was as a case manager for people who just came home from jail and after school children. I also had to enroll people off of the street for food stamps, and Medicaid and still managed the reception area. I was doing four jobs for one salary and under one title. No one had a problem with me doing all of those jobs for one salary. But, when an entrepreneur decides to do multiple jobs, some people will say that you need to focus on one thing. Although I was making $30,000 per year doing one job, it taught me time management and how to divvy up my time where everything can still be progressive at the same time. I didn't have the luxury to drop anything in my caseload and I didn't have the luxury to say, the school kids are going to suffer because I'm dealing with all the people who are coming home, on parole, and probation. Everybody had to progress. So it taught me right out of college, how to balance multiple jobs, and still use my 40 - 60 hours adequately.
What was your dream job before becoming an entrepreneur?
When I was about six years old, I told my mom, I was going to be wealthy and rich, like Cruella Deville. I always knew I wanted to be bigger than life but I didn't know what that meant. Growing up, I figured I wanted to be a lawyer, so I got my Associates in Paralegal Studies and my Bachelor's in Legal Studies. Later on, I got my Master’s in Public Administration where I learned how to write both public and private policy. I like the thought of being able to write policies that can turn into laws. While doing my MPA, I met my now-husband who is one of the producers of Brook Brovaz who steered me the other way into music but encouraged me to finish my degree first. I fell in love with the music and ended up leaving my job in social services to pursue a career in the music industry full time. We built a recording studio that we had for seven years. I then went back to pursue my Masters in entertainment, because I needed to know more about the music business. We opened up a non-profit called Brook Brovaz development. For a while, we were taking students from City As High School and interns from different states and honed into their artistic and creative talent. We taught them about engineering and producing. We taught them about the art of being an artist. All of my kids did great. Some of them even performed at Spotify events. One, in particular, was in Vogue in France and was the face of the Timberland and Champion collaboration.
What are some of the main challenges you faced with growing your brand?
I work a lot and it keeps me away from my two-year-old son more than I want to be. I know that I am doing this all for him so it motivates me to keep me going. Before we got this new space, I was home with him working on my other businesses. I put him in daycare when he was about 16 months and since June, I have been at the new space constantly, so it's a change for him. I was fortunate enough to have his godmother take him to Jamaica for a few days and although I became slightly anxious, as it got closer to the trip, seeing how much he enjoyed himself in Jamaica made me want to work harder.
My mom is of great support for me. One of the biggest reasons why I'm able to be as great as I am is because of her. She's helped me through my businesses and supported me through motherhood. My husband is also one of my biggest cheerleaders and gave me the name Cloe' Luv. My sister is always making sure she helps in some way with my son and me. Especially with the awards ceremony. She always makes sure she reaches out to vendors to get all of the items present in the gift bags for our guests.
I'm just so blessed with all these great women that have supported me through things like marriage, motherhood, opening up for my businesses, and being the best I can be. I wanted to create a space for other women to feel what I felt. That's why I created Women with Voices. We had pop up shops and workshops for the first two years and just hosted our 2nd Annual awards ceremony. We had between 150-180 people turn out each year and now we have Cloe’s corner, which is the official headquarters of Women with Voices. I would say my degrees brought me to this exact moment.
What advice would you give to people looking to follow in your footsteps?
Business is something that we were taught is one-dimensional but that is no longer the case. For example, before there was Instagram, there was no such thing as a Social Media Manager where you can get paid $1,000 per client to create content for them. Entrepreneurs have to know what their passion is and to turn that into profit. If you like to bake, put out your menu on Instagram and Facebook. Create a baking contest. Become a leader in your field. Once you do that, you'd become credible and increase engagement. Whatever you do, make yourself an educator and leader in it. Find out what the need is in the market and find your niche. Take a course that will give you the crash points you need in business. If you just like the idea of having a business but you don't want to work for anybody, turnkey businesses are the best option for you. Something that is already functioning such as franchising. It doesn't have to be your passion it can be that you want to get 100 ATMs to put all over Brooklyn and make $2.00 per transaction and that’s passive income per machine.
Just because something's going wrong in the moment doesn't mean that it's going to go wrong. It’s not how you start the race, but how you finish it. Some races are flat, some are marathons, and others are short races but you have to jump over hurdles. Your testimony is not for you; it is for someone else. Don't say “I need $10,000 for PR”. Say, “I need PR”. Do not create a barrier for what you need. You may find someone out of college who wants the experience and will do it for you. So project what you want at all times, not what you think you need.