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Monday, August 15, news release in the media YaGurl TV announced their plan to release/launch their first digital cover ‘JAGURL‘ in January 2023. “We are excited about the evolution of YaGurl TV. The brand as a whole has made a big news presence online and this will allow more celebrity stories to be told in a positive light,” says YaGurl TV founder and CEO Ravin Williams.
The Black Wall Street Times spoke with Williams about the next phase of JaGurl TV and her 15-year history in the entertainment industry.
Born in southern Illinois before moving to Atlanta, at the age of 14, she and her friends thought of starting their own internet radio station while she was a dancer for Souljah Boi and the rest is history. Spotting talent at a young age, Williams was literally on stage in 2009’s “Crank That (Souljah Boi)” video, which has over 523 million views. Williams says she felt comfortable using her experiences in front of the camera to learn more about the artists she was naturally around and to learn about them beyond the typical headlines.
When she’s not doing pilates and jamming to Diddy’s 2010 classic Last Train to Paris, Williams is strategizing to “focus less on the toxic culture that often drives celebrity coverage, we’re intentional about be different”.
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Williams says collaboration is also part of her strategy, “There’s media pushing for different narratives that are in the community fighting for culture and they’re not getting enough light. She continued, “that’s another goal of JaGurl TV — to create that door so that other outlets can appear.”
With the growing success of YaGurl TV and her Real Estate Investment Company, Bente Investment Group, Williams is a full-time serial entrepreneur. Under the mentorship of Les Brown, Williams has had the honor of speaking at various events and on panels for Reebok, Georgia State University, Black Women in Media, Les Brown’s Voice of Power Summit and more.
“Atlanta is the mecca for Black entertainment.”
From her early days interviewing DJ Unk to her proudest interview with Viola Davis, Williams has interviewed more names than most—no mean feat for independently owned JaGurl TV.
Williams credits her brand’s durability to relationships built over time along with a consistent approach to asking smart questions. “I can always tell when I’m done with interviews, people still want to talk because of who I am. It’s humbling, but it also lets me know that I have more work to do with purpose because I put purpose behind everything I do.”
When asked what motivates him, Williams replied, “seeing the results, but in the midst of that, I have to remind myself to worry less about how things are going to be done and trust that they will be done.”
JaGurl TV is on the rise and rightfully so.
Eager to expand her business further north, Williams looks to take JaGurl TV to new heights in January 2023 with the release/launch of their first digital cover.JAGURL.‘
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“We want to serve up talent to show the impact they have with their fans and audiences,” says Williams. “A lot of talent has fans because they see something in them — whether it’s authentic, how real they are — whatever it is, fans relate to that. Our goal is to amplify that so fans can get the most out of our interviews and articles.”