In Summer 2011 I became the assistant director of the Steve Harvey Foundation. I was able to get my family out of the apartment and into a beautiful two story home. This time we had furniture.
Life was looking good!
Hard work, relationship building within the company, and business acumen helped me climb the production ladder at the company. I moved up the ranks quickly and people who I once grabbed coffee for became people who reported to me. Looking back, I imagine it was awkward, but I did my best to allow hard work and a commitment to fairness and team building, garner me the respect and support I would need in my new positions. I knew that in the Entertainment Industry, much like in life, respect is earned and not given so that’s what I did. Before long, I was promoted to Co-Executive Director of the Steve Harvey Foundation, and later Partner and President of the Steve Harvey World Group. At the peak of my production career with Mr. Harvey, I Executive Produced multiple Emmy award winning and#1shows. But because I was just as focused on the business of television as I was on the making of television, I was able to facilitate partnerships and negotiate big money deals with major companies like the Miss Universe Organization, T-Mobile, Ford, NBC, Fox, State Farm and more. I knew from experience that everyone from Producers, to Production Assistants, to the crew that keeps the facilities in order, plays a vital role in the success of a project. As such, I fought tooth and nail to ensure that anyone involved in a production that I worked on was treated with respect and paid fairly for their services.
By this time, I had a reputation for working hard and making deals. Anything you needed; I could get it done. Patrice and I eventually left Atlanta for Beverly Hills and money problems were a thing of the past.
I was back, baby.
Life was good.
The only problem was, I wasn’t so sure I liked who I had become.
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