The Monthly Sto #2
Keys for the end of the year and an interview with Maryland creative Kayla Bryant
How’s it going family, I hope we’re resting up and talking to ourselves nice today, it's been a minute. I’m not entirely sure what happened but we’re somehow at the end of the year, my sister’s birthday is this weekend, Christmas is just a few days after that and then a week after that it’ll be 2025. I wanted to make sure I check in and first make sure you all are doing ok, second drop off some end of the year tips for you and lastly give you an interview with Maryland’s own Kayla “KB” Bryant a prolific creator, director and marketing expert. An entertaining and energetic force, Bryant has uploaded a plethora of content including fan trivia, linked with some of the biggest names in music like Baby Tate, Chris Patrick and Cash Cobain and is just getting started. Let me know what you think of these end of year keys and my interview with Kayla Bryant, we’ll talk soon.
1. Create A Newsletter Recapping Your 2024/Previewing Your 2025
Take a second and think about EVERYTHING you’ve done this year. You’ve dropped albums, singles, music videos. You’ve done interviews, landed on playlists, some of you landed on TV, podcasts, radio shows etc. Gather all of that and then compile it into a newsletter to send to your supporters and subscribers. I can almost guarantee that some of your audience missed your highlights, the end of the year is the perfect time to guide people back and to remind your fans of your wins.
Bonus points if you screenshot your newsletter and promote it on social media like you do everything else.
Double bonus points if you go back and post all your accomplishments on your channels again…you know kind of like you did with Spotify Wrapped which you’ve completely forgotten about and left in the dust since it launched a few weeks back. Remember that?
2. Create Content By Documenting What You’re Already Doing
I get it you’re not here to learn about CONTENT. However the sooner you understand how much it helps in the long run, the fanbase will catch on. Content IS NOT fake skits and shitty dances (unless you’re into that kind of thing in which case PERFECT). Content IS DOCUMENTING WHAT YOU’RE ALREADY DOING. If you’re in the studio, your phone films in 4K, 60 frames per second just set it down on something and film your session. Even if you only have FIVE MINUTES of footage you can take that chop it up into TEN, thirty-second snippets and now you’ve got enough content to carry you through Q1 (January-March) if you play your cards right (imagine what happens if record 30 or even 60 mins of content). It also gives you an INCREDIBLE headstart to your rollout…and all you’re doing is being yourself. It blows my mind how many artists spend thousands of dollars on visuals that they never take advantage of, but won’t pull out their phone to show who they are in and out of the studio…which costs $0.
Example: in fact if you’re following me on Twitter or BlueSky or Threads I turned simply writing this newsletter into content. Simple snap of my screen, ADD SOME CONTEXT to my caption nailed it. That took 6 seconds and costs no money at all and allows me to promote something I want my audience to see.
3. Rest
RESTING IS PART OF THE GRIND. I once used to subscribe to the idea of working yourself down to literal dust but family, it’s not good for you. I get it, we gotta get the bag, but we can’t get the bag if we’re too tired and burnt out to EFFECTIVELY chase it. If you haven’t heard it, you’re gonna hear it from me. We NEED YOU out here and that requires us to take care of ourselves especially in this landscape.
Seven Questions With Kayla “KB” Bryant
Sto: For those who somehow don’t know who is Kayla Bryant?
Kayla: My name is Kayla "KB" Bryant, a multi-hyphenate creative, director, and media personality (Host of K, BE FOR REAL) with a passion for innovative storytelling and impactful marketing.
Sto: Now let’s just set the table and make this super clear. You do interviews yes, but you also do a lot of creative directing and have a lot of experience in the marketing. Can you talk to me about how you came into all this?
Kayla: Long story short, with my passion for storytelling, I started off as an A&R in the industry. While in the studio with artists, I would come up with the entire creative strategy along with the record. I realized that telling stories visually was a better fit for me, so I pursued that path, which led to projects with artists like Summer Walker, Chris Patrick, and many more.
With my show K BE FOR REAL, I'm taking storytelling to another level, filling a gap in the market that I believe is missing. We need my perspective in media—for real, lol.
Sto: We see a lot of people out there interviewing stars, influencers, etc. but don’t have any actually experience speaking to the people. Why is it so important for interviewers to understand the journalistic parts of interviewing especially in this day and age?
Kayla: If you're serious about journalism, it’s important to respect your craft because you want to be taken seriously. I always think about this line from Kendrick Lamar's "Wesley’s Theory" — “Anybody can get it, but the hard part is keeping it, MF” LOL. We all have access to a mic and a camera, and we can run up on people to do interviews, but if you want to be serious, you have to commit to it and honor the principles of journalism.
I want the artists and teams I work with to always keep me in mind when they’re ready to do press again because of my respect for the craft.
Sto: What I love most about what you do is that you legitimately get the people involved whether they’re mainstream or not. And when you are working with celebrities you’re still your bright, hilarious self while simultaneously making them comfortable enough to speak to you. Can you talk to me about striking that balance between helping interviewees open up while trying to get the answers you need?
Kayla: I’m just being myself, that’s really it. I’m easy to talk to because I’m comfortable being myself, and that opens up the space for others to do the same. I’m not here to invade artists' personal lives—I want to talk about their art. It may come off as bright and fun, and it is, but at the end of the day, we’re seriously just talking about art from a unique perspective.
Sto: Alright I gotta know, what was your favorite interview so far? And who do you want to interview in the future?
Kayla: All of the guests I’ve had so far are special to me, but my favorite is Rico Nasty. It was so girly, and DMV coded —she’s such a sweetheart and gave me some much-needed validation early on.
My dream guest is Rihanna. I have the utmost respect for her and love all of her interviews. She’s fun, personal, and I feel like we could take our conversation in so many unexpected directions.
Sto: Let’s get into that marketing bag just a bit. Let’s say I’m an artist and I just stumbled across one of your videos. What if any is the best approach if I’m wanting to be seen or covered by you? Probably just spam my music at you right?
Kayla: Don’t spam me, but definitely reach out. If it makes sense, we’ll connect. I’m in a creative space where I only take on projects that I feel called to and where I can truly add value.
Sto: What are you working on to close 2024 and what can we expect from you in 2025?
Kayla: I’m closing out 2024 with a few exciting interviews that I can’t share just yet. In 2025, you can expect K BE FOR REAL to expand into more industries, and God willing, I’ll be releasing a physical product!
#3 is such a good reminder, and will definitely be doing #1!