She is Inspiring

Hello Fam,

So not sure if any of you tried to “live in the present” this weekend from my post on Friday but if you did, hope it went well Today I am featuring the lovely Ms Shanti Das. I met Shanti because we are both a part of WEEN (she sits on the board). I am so happy for her because she just released her first book…I know it will be a success!

Best of luck to you Shanti!
xoxo
Ally

She-blogs: Who is Shanti Das?
Shanti Das is a girl from Southwest Atlanta who was fortunate to have a loving family that encouraged her to go after her dreams, despite the obstacles of growing up without her father and a lot of money.

She-blogs: What inspired your book The Hip- Hop Professional: A Woman’s Guide to Climbing the Ladder of Success in the Entertainment Business?
One of my best friends, Dr. Cherry Collier, encouraged me to write the book because I was speaking on so many Youth/Women Empowerment Panels.

She-blogs: What sets your new book apart and why do you think it is so hard to break into the industry?
There are a lot in the market place on how to make it in the music industry, but not necessarily from a woman’s perspective.  As a female, it’s bad enough that it’s a male dominated industry, but now it’s even harder because it’s fewer positions.

She-blogs: When LaFace Records hired you as National Director of Promotions, you helped develop campaigns for everyone from Outkast and Goodie Mob to Usher and TLC.  How did you land that job?
I networked alot while I was in college and established some great connections.  I landed a gig at Capitol Records while in college and the same guy that hired me at Capitol Records got me an interview at LaFace Records when I graduated.

She-blogs: Tell me a little about your consulting company Pressreset.me.
PressReset.me is an entertainment marketing and life mentoring company.  We work with established, as well as emerging artists to develop their marketing campaigns.  The company also focuses on mentoring, philanthropy and promoting excellence through education.

She-blogs: What is your average day like?
I usually get up and watch the Today show, check Facebook and Twitter and send out a couple of tweets to get my day going.  Sometimes I have conference calls with various clients, interviews regarding my new book or go through talent for my ATL Live Showcase.  I still have full days, but I do make time for myself now that I’m self-employed.

She-blogs: Tell me about one of the biggest career obstacles you have faced and how you worked through it?
One of the biggest obstacles I faced was when I worked at Arista Records and my direct report and I had a challenging relationship.  I also felt like I was being overlooked for a promotion that I think I deserved, so I made a difficult decision and decided to move back home for a couple of months to re-think my career.  While home I met with some good friends in the business and ended up going back to New York, interviewing wth Columbia Records and got hired as VP of Urban Marketing.

She-blogs: Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I would like to publish at least one or two more books and further develop my non-profit, May WE Rest in Peace.

She-blogs: Name one place that you have never been that you want to travel to and why?
India.  I must go to India one day because my father was from Calcutta and I never got to meet him, so I don’t know alot about that side of my family or culture.  That is something I must do in the next 10 years.

She-blogs: What is your mantra on life?
Work hard, play hard.  What good is it if you are successful and don’t enjoy it?

She-blogs: When was the last time you laughed so hard you couldn’t breathe?
Riding in the car with one of my best friends, April. We were being silly like we were in middle school and I was laughing so hard that I almost had to pull over.

She-blogs: What do you do to stay balanced?
Church and my faith in God.  I have to go to church to get a good word to keep balance in my life.

She-blogs: What do you like the most about the way you look?
The fact that I don’t rock alot of makeup.  I prefer the natural look, so I wear the bare minimum: foundation, eyeliner and lip gloss.

She-blogs: What do you like to do for fun?
I religiously watch football and All My Children.  I love going to the movies, haunted houses, amusement parks, eating crab legs and chillin’ at a cool lounge with my friends.

She-blogs: Are you Happily single or Happily in love?
I am happily single, but if God places the right person in my life, I wouldn’t mind.

She-blogs: Is there anything else you want the she-blogs readers to know?
I want the She-blog readers to know that we support and empower one another. There are so many beautiful, creative, talented and phenomenal women out there; we just cannot be afraid to pull each other up.

Tags: Entrepreneur, Pressreset.me, Shanti Das, The Hip Hop Professional

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 at 3:22 am and is filed under Interviews, She is Inspiring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.