In this episode of Embracing Your Voice, Atima welcomes music industry veteran, writer, and cultural commentator Naima Cochrane for an inspiring conversation about building a career that aligns with your true self. From her early days in entertainment law to leading marketing at iconic labels and managing artists like John Legend, Naima shares her journey through a changing industry. Tune in as they discuss navigating creative careers, the evolution of Black music and culture, and lessons on embracing the parts of yourself that make you stand out.

Key Takeaways

1. Career Alignment Comes Over Time: Naima shares how her current career—teaching, writing, and storytelling—is the most aligned with who she has always been.
2. The Power of Storytelling in Marketing: Through her marketing work at major labels, Naima learned that telling the artist’s story is as critical as promoting their music.
3. Managing Talent Is About Trust: Her time managing John Legend revealed how essential communication, trust, and healthy boundaries are in artist management.

Episode Highlights

[00:01:00] — Naima’s early life growing up in a musical family; roots of her love for music.

[00:09:00] — Moving from a corporate marketing career into freelance and entrepreneurship.

[00:17:00] — How #MusicSermon began as a passion project on Twitter.

[00:24:00] — Building an authentic community online and resisting pressure to monetize early.

[00:31:00] — The moment #MusicSermon unexpectedly launched her journalism career.

[00:36:00] — Balancing full-time teaching with creative and entrepreneurial work.

[00:42:00] — Dealing with perfectionism and ADHD when creating content.

[00:49:00] — How her values drive her work and decision-making.

[00:55:00] — The challenges of scaling as a solo creative — when and how to bring on help.

[01:03:00] — Learning to embrace being seen as a thought leader in music and culture.

[01:14:00] — Community is the true driver of #Music Sermon — why she continues to resist monetization that changes the experience.

[01:15:00] — How #Music Sermon opened doors to journalism, teaching, and partnerships.

[01:23:00] — Leading the award-winning marketing campaign for Aaliyah’s catalog release.

[01:27:00] — Learning to promote her own voice and accomplishments after years of building others’.

[01:33:00] — Final advice for creatives: sell your unique voice, trust the process, and give yourself grace.

Quotes

"Everything that I do now reflects little Naima in a really great way—even the parts of myself I once tried to turn down." — Naima Cochrane

"Marketing is where you get to tell the artist’s story, explain the vision, and help shape how the world sees them." — Naima Cochrane

"As a manager, your job is to free the talent to be creative. You take on the logistics so they can focus on their art." — Naima Cochrane

Naima Cochrane is a music industry veteran who is a storyteller, and leading voice on Black music and culture. She spent 20 years rising through the ranks at legendary music labels Arista, Columbia and Epic Records. She would then work on the artist management side with EGOT John Legend and Emmy, Grammy, and Tony award winning Cynthia Erivo.

Now, she is best known for being the creator of the viral storytelling series on Twitter and Instagram called #MusicSermon which prompted a move from the business side into more music journalism and commentary. She also now a visiting arts professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and she has been named to Essence’s Power 40 list for Music.

https://naimacochrane.com/musicsermon/

If you enjoyed the show and you want to join our community of other women of color who are embracing their voice head over to https://embracingyourvoicepod.com/

Connect with Atima on:

Instagram

Linkedin