I'll Just Let Myself In
"I’ll Just Let Myself In" is an empowering new podcast dedicated to people who are ready to take a chance on themselves and forge their own path. Hosted by Lish Speaks, each episode explores personal stories, triumphs, and challenges of navigating industries from the “outside-in.” From entrepreneurship to career advancement, self-care to self-discovery, this podcast provides candid conversations, practical advice, and inspirational anecdotes to motivate listeners to embrace their identity, defy societal norms, and pursue their dreams unapologetically. Join us on this journey as we celebrate the strength and tenacity of our guest and hopefully ourselves! It's time to take a chance on yourself and Let Yourself In!
Video version available on the @lishspeaks Youtube channel
I'll Just Let Myself In
The Challenges of Reinvention - Into Rebranding w/ Joshua Salter
In this episode, I sit down with artist and podcaster Joshua Darius Salter to talk about the power of restarting. Joshua shares what it’s been like to rebrand his platform, launch a new podcast, and release fresh music after stepping away for a season. We discuss the challenges of reinvention, the importance of giving yourself permission to evolve, and how to maintain authenticity while building something new. If you’ve ever felt the need to hit reset, this conversation will give you the insight and encouragement you need to embrace your next chapter
Send us a text with your thoughts, feedback, or questions for the host!
I was upset that I couldn't maintain the legacy I wanted my daughters Gifted. People struggle with knowing where to show up and setting boundaries so that people get the healthier version of you, not the chaotic one.
Speaker 2:Some people they have a name and you're like, ok, cool. And then you get around them and you're like, oh, you're a terrorist.
Speaker 1:This is what I want to do in the music industry space. This is what I want to occupy. This is how I want to do it Blah, blah, blah blah.
Speaker 2:He looked me dead in my face and was like that ain't going to work. What's up, everybody, it's your girl. Lish Speaks, and welcome back to another episode of. I'll Just Let Myself In the podcast where we don't wait for an imaginary permission slip but we go through our God-given doors. I've got a guest with me today who does many things, but he wants to be known as an up-and-coming podcaster because he's about to enter this lane as well, and I'm so excited for you because I know that God is going to use you to help so many people understand their place in love and life and in the music industry, if that's what they're interested in. Ladies and gentlemen, I have none other than Joshua J Saw in the building with me, welcome welcome to the couch, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for inviting me. This is an amazing space to be in. Uh, I really appreciate your extension in your hand, absolutely as as being here. Um it it's. It's a great start. Yeah to what, what I know god is going to do even after this amen, I'm excited about this.
Speaker 2:Listen, y'all know, before we jump into the actual interview, we have the best segment in podcasting right now and it it is called what I'm Stepping In, where we talk about the sneakers that I have on Now. Listen, usually my guests don't join me for this, but Josh has decided he's going to participate, so I'll go. First I'll describe what I have on and then I'll let him go. I have on a sneaker that you guys have seen me wear before. It is the Adidas Samba Soccer version of the shoe. I love this shoe. It is the Adidas Samba Soccer version of the shoe.
Speaker 2:I love this shoe. It's super comfortable, super casual, super chill. I got on my Holy Culture hoodie today so I wanted to keep it chill on the feet, but I love this shoe, as you guys know. You know, for me, comfort is king. I got to be comfortable, you know, I got to feel good in my shoes and I have all sorts of shoes from every brand. But when I want to just have a chill, sleek but comfortable look, I often find myself heading for these Sambas. They have a little bit of a longer tongue than the regular one, so I like that as a little bit of flair and flavor, but that's what I'm stepping in today. Josh, tell the people what you're stepping in.
Speaker 1:Some black, white and red ones. I'm flat footed so they're comfortable. The ones I'm flat footed so they're comfortable. You know I don't wear these a lot but I wear them when I'm, you know, going places of importance. I would say I like that, thank you. Other than that I'm pretty much a ones guy. I used to be a chucks guy a lot but I kind of converted over to J1s. Previously I had the six-ringed Jordans and the fours and some fives in there, but ones are more so comfortable for me.
Speaker 2:I'm tall, it's a vibe. I almost wore my ones that are lost and found, but I decided to put these on the staff, so I love that you have those.
Speaker 1:We kind of matching a little bit, a little bit, a little bit A little black and red moment. I'm kind of rocking my own brand with the the. The Salta brand is, um, it's a good a heart over the guitar string symbolizing passion for music, love that and creativity.
Speaker 2:All right, we're gonna get into that a little bit, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's just. You know just a little my little personal thing yeah, all right.
Speaker 2:Well, y'all know how we do here and I'll just let myself in. If you like the shoes, you see, go get you some, all right? So, josh, first of all, we met on threads.
Speaker 2:Yes all places threats we met on threads and you put out, uh, you know, a call just saying hey, I'm in Atlanta. If anyone you know has a podcast, I would love to be a guest. I see that type of stuff a lot on threads, uh, and so I try to go look when someone says they're in Atlanta and I kind of see and I felt called to say hey, if you would like to come on my podcast, I'd like to have you one. We had a lot of front mutuals.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so I was like all right, he must be somebody worth talking to. If a lot of the people that I talk, to talk to him too, and I just appreciated you know you put yourself out there because I feel like a lot of people they want to do stuff but they don't want to look, they don't, they don't want to be caught looking like they're trying right.
Speaker 2:You have to be willing to look like you're trying absolutely, and so I appreciated you. You putting the call out there. Tell us a little bit about your story okay and uh how you got into the music industry um.
Speaker 1:Long story short, um, or long story long, um. I was, I've always had a passion for music. Music has always been a part of my space, growing up from childhood as a musician. It's every young I'll say black musician's dream to be on a stage outside of their local church because of the passion and the creativity that they have or that they're given the opportunity to do on Sunday morning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I thought that's where the Lord was leading me, and when I got older and I was married, I started to discover that my influence in my lane was behind the scenes and it wasn't necessarily in the forefront. So while I was working through understanding what that would look like for me, there was a love and and a passion being birthed and developed for all things behind the scenes. Whether that was directing things, that, whether that was helping set up things, whether that was the preparation before quote-unquote our big events, whether that's the live recordings, the tours, um, many different programs. You know, growing up in church, you, you don't. You're a part of the event, but you don't know the hands and feet of the people who move it. So, as a kid, you participate but you don't really see those people until the end of the program and they're acknowledging all the people if they do that, but, you know, acknowledging all the people who played a do ministry from behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:And while the Lord was working on me in that area, my ex-wife got a call to do an event and I went with her. And while I went with her helping her, the Lord was helping me and because the the person who was in charge over the tour that I would later go on was there. Wow. And I was able to develop a relationship and come to find out we were family. Wow, we had extensions of one another because we occupy the same space in ministry too. So while that was being birthed and being connected, I was being offered to go travel with Ty during the bloody winter and during the record, while that was being extended and promoted and while that was out that tour his first tour was him, pastor JJ Harrison, who I developed a great relationship with, tasha Cobbs and Ja'Kalen Carr.
Speaker 2:What a tour that was my God.
Speaker 1:For me starting off in the music industry and that being your first tour, what year was that?
Speaker 1:2016, 2017. My daughter was born in 2015, gotcha, so it was right after her one year birthday. So during that time and that's like your first start uh, excuse me to music industry um, it was pretty heavy. It was pretty heavy. So I learned the layers of not just artistry, but what to expect and how many things to expect while working on tour, and the responsibility of what, what it takes to execute a tour. Yeah, so that was my start, my introduction, and developing a great relationship with Ty. I was able to not just watch him but learn from him, you know, even after shows were over, just to hear the wisdom, yeah, uh, from him. Um, and uh, shout out to my first mentor, kelvin Leach Locks Entertainment, and that's who got me reeled in him.
Speaker 2:And, uh, sean Pennington, okay, got me reeled in all right, we're gonna talk, we're gonna get into this because, I I love something that you said is that you developed a love for all things behind the scenes. I feel like we live in an era where behind the scenes doesn't get the appreciation that it deserves oh, yeah, no um I no, I feel like and again I'm saying this as a person who is always in front of the scene I got you, I am the scene.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:But the truth is and I try to say this as often as possible without the people behind the cameras, behind the lights, behind the curtains, the people planning, like, none of this stuff happens. And so I really love that you and people like you have this passion for what happens behind the scenes, because it allows the people who God has placed in a position to influence to actually be able to just do that.
Speaker 1:It, it, it. I realized on the tour how connected I was to the gift of administration, and it's a gift I. I was able to trace it back to my childhood and my upbringing watching my pastor shout out to apostle Joel Rudolph in Patterson, new Jersey, going and preparing for conferences. He was the first one I saw, not just with the ministerial staff but just with others, putting together the pamphlets, putting together the pins and setting things up where it wasn't necessarily just the concern of his presentation at the start of the conference but the beginning of preparing. Way before people booked their flights, way before people registered for the hotel, my mom would sit in meetings in preparation for convocations and conferences and there would be a whole village of people that I saw in my early childhood preparing making it happen making things happen, orchestrating teams, putting this together, while now why I was a small participant because I was in the music um ministry aspect of it.
Speaker 1:So me just coming to rehearsals, that's all I was doing, right, I didn't see the other stuff. I didn't know what my mom was doing while I was in rehearsal. I knew she was in a meeting, but I didn't know what she was preparing for too. Not until I got older and I started to kind of see it for myself, like okay, I caught my pastor, my former pastor, one time while they were in rehearsal. I had to use the bathroom and he's in the office by himself putting the folders together, putting the things in the folder, setting things up. Later, you know, people came and started to help and assist with him. But while I was walking to the bathroom and I looked over to the left, he's just moving it and and and. For me that was like okay, he's just moving it. And for me that was like okay.
Speaker 1:I see where I get it from.
Speaker 2:And that is ministry.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's so much that I do that the other ministers at my church do. That allows for the services. You know my church had a women's service recently and I preached, but two days before I was preaching I was there setting up chairs on bags and putting stickers over water bottles so the water bottle could say women's ministry instead of whatever it said, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And that's the part that's not glamorous is the best part. That's the part where you get to still serve, because when you get to a certain place and I've been blessed to be in this place, in ministry and in the music industry and now in the podcast and media space when you get to a certain place, the temptation if we're all real okay, how much you love the lord, is to make it about you absolutely and those behind the scenes moments is where you get to remind yourself that it's about god.
Speaker 2:So I love the behind the scenes moments is where you get to remind yourself that it's about God. So I love the behind the scenes moments. I love the things you know that no one in my church knows that I do, or whatever you know the studying, the preparing yeah, I love that you mentioned your pastor and his office Just doing the things, because I think I'm sorry it's just doing the things, because I think I'm sorry. No go ahead.
Speaker 1:I'm really understanding If you want the best results on a stage. Your preparation is off the stage before you even touch the mic. That's it. I think curating the atmosphere and the experience is indicative of how you set it up prior to you touching the mic. The reason why we don't have a lot of successful artists in today's space and multiple genres that we're looking for people to stand out is because they're not curating experiences. Their preparation is not where it should be.
Speaker 1:Their preparation is not where it should be and that goes into so many different layers, from lyrical content to production, to being at the venue for soundcheck on time and knowing your audience and being able to and knowing that soundcheck is not rehearsal, Listen there's so many things that allow that experience to go right, and I think we're missing it because the only thing we care about is, as you alluded to is just showing up on a stage, and in today's space, you need more than that, yeah yeah, yeah, and you've always needed more than that.
Speaker 2:Artist development is really important. You know, being able to work on your craft behind the scenes, especially in church spaces. I like to tell people that I mentor um, let the holy spirit show up in your preparation as well. Bingo, don't get on. Don't get on no stage and I ask you to get on with no notes talking about the holy spirit that you will be set down. Okay, you better have some preparation Now.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit cannot come in and help. He is a helper. I hope he does come in and help, but don't be up there needing a band to get the crowd going because you haven't prepared. You know, study your Bible, study your word so that you can show up as someone who's tested and approved to teach it, and I think that's such an important part. That behind the scenes part is super important. I feel like you being on tour, managing or helping to manage different artists' schedules and lives and different things like that can wreak havoc on your personal life, right? So without getting too much into your business, you can get as much in your business as you want to. But I'll pose it like this what advice would you give someone who's on tour with other artists, behind the scenes, helping to make sure other people's lives come together well, what advice would you give them to help their personal life?
Speaker 1:Your house got to be in orders before you, or before you set in order anybody else's. I think it's very important that you understand the the tone of your own household and you understand how much you need to pour to make sure things are in order even at the most chaotic times. You want to make sure that you have a pulse on you showing up, because the worst thing you can do is show up for everybody else but the people that matter in your personal, because, at the end of the day, you're not going home with these artists, you're not going home with these people. You're not. There is nothing that's going to put you at a point where they're going to be really involved in your personal life.
Speaker 1:I had to learn that the hard way of being so engulfed and I even did this in ministry too I was so engulfed into the craft and the love of what I was doing that there was some spaces that I was completely absent in, and it wasn't because I didn't want to show up, I just didn't know how, and it wasn't until post-marriage, um, that I was able to kind of see, you know myself in a different space of what's important. You know, even my parents had to sit me down and be like, okay, like so, marriage is over, so what do we do now? Like, what does order look like for you, what does setting things in place look like for you, and how are you going to show up for you? So, when God does, bless you again, when God does, you're not, you don't have your hands in so many places and it's all in disarray, it's all chaotic, and I think gifted people struggle with that.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, gifted people struggle with knowing where to show up and setting boundaries so that people get the healthier version of you Yep, not the chaotic one. Absolutely, absolutely I can relate, I can relate.
Speaker 2:You told me that you're in a season of rebuilding.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. You're in a season of rebuilding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what does?
Speaker 1:that mean Rebuilding.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You're in a season of rebuilding, yeah.
Speaker 1:What does that mean? Here's something that I've had to learn how to do Be okay with sitting down, be okay with not doing anything, be okay with listening to God's voice. That has nothing to do with doing something.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But more so, just the personal work of development, relearning you yeah, rediscovering you, going before God about the things that were missed in prior seasons. For me is being re represented in a way that allows people to know the testimony and the story, without, without shame, without guilt, without all of the things that you know, the world, would you know, condemn us for or kind of look at us funny. For a lot of times, what I'm, what I'm learning, is, um, my testimony is so relevant to people. But because I'm in a season where God has kind of set me down, he strategically, strategically allowed me to have conversations with certain people, um to to reassure me and to comfort them, so that they can have strength for their journey, and I can be reassured that God does all things well.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He orchestrates everything, from the great to the not so great.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So rebranding for me is more so about rediscovering to represent.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's a great answer. I think I've rebranded several times.
Speaker 1:I have been everything to everyone.
Speaker 2:I was in the music industry for a long time. I still am technically, but I rebranded about a year and a half ago Hard rebrand a year ago as a media personality and a podcaster. And I think one of the most important things about rebranding whatever that means to you is not losing who you are. I think sometimes people want to rebrand and from whatever failure they had like I'll use myself as an example right, I felt like my music career didn't do what I wanted it to do, so I was tempted to try to rebrand and act like that never happened.
Speaker 2:Right Now, mind you, to other people, my music career was great. You know, I was highlighted on very big platforms. I worked with great artists, I wrote for people, but because I never became whoever I, I wrote for people, but because it didn't, I never became whoever I thought I was supposed to become. I was in. I was tempted to be like, okay, that's done, never going to talk about that again, let's just do media. And I feel like God had to tap me on my shoulder and be like baby girl, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that.
Speaker 2:So, don't neglect that story. Now if that's not what you want to do right now, that's fine Right, but we're not going to despise small beginnings.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because the only reason Holy Culture even knows who you are is because of your music. Wow, that's how you got played on Holy Culture first. So let's not try to act like the music doesn't exist, wow. And so my encouragement to you and anyone who's rebranding is tell the whole story. Just tell the whole story, because guess what One day, if you want to do whatever again, right, you're not reintroducing people to something that they never knew existed. And I think that God had to deal with me with that for whatever, I don't know that it was shame, but just yeah, feeling like maybe I didn't, I failed in that area, so I don't know whatever you're rebranding from, but don't be afraid to tell the whole story.
Speaker 1:I think that's probably, and you're you're tapping into me and my mom's conversation a few weeks ago, uh, about how everything is a testimony, not just the great things. Yes, and she was pushing me because I was so focused on highlighting certain things. I was kind of talking to her about what my endeavors were and she said she was in the middle of a fast, so she said she was going to bring it before the Lord.
Speaker 2:I'm on a fast and praying mother.
Speaker 1:Listen, I got the best. So we were kind of talking about that. I got the best, so we were kind of talking about that. And before the conversation ended she was like, don't be afraid to talk about where you were at one point in your life, don't don't.
Speaker 1:I was due therapy. I discovered I had like functional depression. I was addicted to working so I wouldn't have to pay attention to things. I was addicted to doing things so I wouldn't have to see some of the obvious things in my life. And when I got a chance to just sit down and not do so much going to therapy, it smacked me upside my face.
Speaker 1:So, having this conversation with my mom about my personal transition, she encouraged me. She was like this is all part of your testimony. Like whether, whether you realize or not, either you willingly talk about what the lord has brought you through or you get that holy unction, through the holy spirit, to push you to to say what it is um, you you need to say because it's not just healing you, it's going to heal somebody else. You don't know what another man has gone through in marriage and the failure of that and how it looks. And I think probably one of the things that I felt shamed about is promoting marriage as a goal and imagery and not meeting the standard of what was publicly seen.
Speaker 1:I mean a lot of my friends and family who knew me and knew us. We were on social media in every way, shape and form. We even, you know, promoted our daughter in a way where we looked great but behind the scenes there were so many things and layers and things that were not necessarily shaped correctly the, the, the, the severance of the marriage, um, it put me in at a very devastating and depressed state. Yeah, for a while. So the only thing that I felt comfortable doing was the things I was good at, and the only things that I wanted to focus on and highlight was all the great things I was good at.
Speaker 1:I needed a win and I needed something to allow me to not feel what I was really feeling.
Speaker 2:You know what?
Speaker 1:I'm saying Allow me to not feel what I was really feeling. You know what I'm saying, and especially me, and my therapist was talking and he was explaining to me the stages of you know what that looks like, and he encouraged me to not just talk to the Lord about it, but be okay feeling.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Men don't feel, we don't talk, we don't feel, and that was very hard for me. It was very difficult to have to be publicly in places, you know, single by myself, no ring, no, nothing. It was the awkwardest thing in the world After 10 years of being in a space where I was proud no matter what the condition or the season, I was proud to be married and to not reach that, to not have that, it was a blow. Yeah, it was a blow, and my parents covered me during that time. Yeah, um, I ain't gonna talk about the other part where I was wiling a little bit.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about it now. I'm just playing, I was wiling a little bit. We're going to cover you, man of God, we're going to cover you.
Speaker 1:But they even covered me in that season. Yeah, yeah, because they understood you were hurting. I was in a not so great space, yeah, and I couldn't. I couldn't say what I really wanted to say. I couldn't really kind of go through and like talk through my frustrations in a way, about the things and just the position of how things happen. The Lord kept me quiet, but I was hurting.
Speaker 2:Have you forgiven yourself and your ex? Yeah, do you feel like you've forgiven yourself?
Speaker 1:your ex yeah.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like you've forgiven yourself? I think I have.
Speaker 1:I think the sting of it is gone.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:The sting of it is definitely gone, the sting of expectation of what I expected and how I expected things to go. The reality has set in. Reality has set in and I think that is the greatest thing God gave me was to rediscover and re-understand what the real picture looks like, not the one I created, not the delusional state?
Speaker 1:Yeah, not the one the church created, not the one that I created based off of the decisions I made. I looked at marriage from a standpoint of how I saw in church, and I saw ministry, I saw preaching, I saw marriage in a great space, but what I did not see was behind the curtains, and when I got married it was like, oh, now I get it. I absolutely get it.
Speaker 2:But yeah, love that now, if god ever blesses you again uh-huh to be a husband, to be in that space, because you, you clearly honor marriage oh, absolutely right, um, what is something that you feel like you would do differently? Like listen, I will absolutely never do that again.
Speaker 1:You know, if I, if I'm blessed to be married again prioritize more order, not just on the gifts of family, but how to how to implement these spaces at home.
Speaker 1:You can be effective in church, but the training starts at home and I think I've learned the order that was created prior to was great being gifted in things, but the order of it and how it was led I don't think I did a great job at, and I think I know how to more.
Speaker 1:So be present, yeah, and setting order, yeah to a thing so that you can be great and do great exploits outside of the house. That way, you know, the kids, wife, family know this is their order, this is how they do it, and the reason why they do it this way is because the results is how God uses them effectively outside of the home. I want to kind of reverse that because families or gifted families, there's an implementation of just being so gifted that you live a chaotic life and there's no order or balance or boundaries to what you do. And now, um, we have so many gifted marriages, we have so many content creators who are married. There has to be order in order to maintain your gift, that's good um, and if there's not, you're all over the place.
Speaker 1:Your personality, uh, your temperament, your tone, how you deal with people, and this is not just on stage. Yeah, this is off stage. Yeah, I've seen it firsthand.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm saying on stage, minister, and come on stage and you are you are.
Speaker 1:You are crazy, yeah, right, and it's okay to have an outburst personality, but I think even that needs to structure in order for who you are and what you do. That's good, and I don't think a lot of people understand that. The highlight is how great you are and how likable you are on stage, but people really don't care or they don't pay that much attention to what your looks like and the discipline you have to do or not do so that you can maintain um, maintain that gift. I used to watch my mom in many different seasons, whether she was preaching or not. Maintain discipline and order. The oil always ran.
Speaker 2:I love your mom.
Speaker 1:I don't know about hey mom, oh, you might gotta get you on account listen the oil always ran, but she maintained the same space, yeah, the same order, um, so that when she got the call to preach, it was easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It was seamless, yeah, and I used to just sit there and be like yo, how you preach like this.
Speaker 2:But I knew because I seen it every day that you've seen it all life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so it was just, it would just amaze me. I'd be like this is crazy, but it gave me more so of the right idea of what to prepare for and how to prepare and what to do at home.
Speaker 2:First, yeah, so yeah, I love that. Yeah, I love that. Well, it sounds like you'll be ready if God ever.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I know you have a music agency.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I want to talk a little bit about the agency and what inspired you to start it and what all you all offer.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what inspired you to start it and what all you all offer. Okay, so the agency, salt Tree Music Agency, was created after the Bloody Wind tour. Shout out to Ty, shout out to Kelvin Leach, shout out to who else was with me on my journey Sean Pennington, morgan Turner, um, JR Nelson, um, these guys musicians and um managers, role managers and executives helped me build um, or or really look at the passion and love that I had, because they were on stage doing it and I saw their work ethic off stage too. So I remember at the end of one show I went backstage and I was so ambitiously excited. I was talking to Sean Pennington. I was saying this is what I want to do in the music industry space, this is what I want to occupy, this is how I want to do it. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And he looked me dead in my face and was like that ain't gonna work, that ain't gonna work.
Speaker 1:I mean brought me down to here and he said this is the but you need to occupy space in the music industry. You need to know how it functions, you need to know the personalities, you need to know genres, you need to be well aware of people that are in different positions, who occupy and make these decisions, before you can try to institute to some level of change or answer to a problem that you see, and a lot of times, even today with music industry, we want to infuse our ideas and we don't know the space. You don't even know it. You don't know how it's moving or why it's moving in a certain direction. And after sitting with that for some time now, mind you, um, even after the tour, I was still traveling with ty, I was still traveling with pastor jj harrison and you for praise, um, and then serving at my local church. This question was just on me, it's sitting on me. How can I occupy a music industry space and how can I be an answer to a problem? I gotta know what the problem is first.
Speaker 1:So, while occupy and traveling, I was just able to look at and see what artists was dealing with and what their needs were, and you know what their concerns were and then look at the labels and, without judgment, pay attention to why they have to make the decisions they have to make. Why they, why the budget is set for this, why there's no budget for this, why they're, why, why they're and I don't necessarily always agree, um with the decisions of why labels do what they do, but I understood it and so now the agency is a bridge between label and artists, right, and in certain spaces I'm not going to charge you with interest, but I'm going to allow you to occupy a space that helps you move to the next stage. And whether that is in directing, whether that is production, whether that is in songwriting, whether that is in tour relations, I've occupied majority of my administration gift in just curating tours, so I know what that stage looked like and I've sat in rooms and listened to records that I knew was going to do very well and was able to kind of talk through the artist on the plan, what the plan is, to make sure it gets to its audience effectively. I didn't have to necessarily my name to have to on anything, but I was just able to help and assist and have conversations and talk and use my mentors as guidance to help me help them. Because now I'm in a space where I have built relationships. Hey, I am working with the artist and we're going through this and the record says this and his brand says this. How do I make this work? Send it over to me, let me. Let me look at it. And they've looked at it. What do you feel? And they've. I've told them how I felt and they've helped me navigate and you know I've had a few number ones okay, helping them along the way.
Speaker 1:I love it, but it was all because we took the time to have the conversation and build a relationship and they they respected my input enough to follow through what I suggested, what I suggested. You know, I've had plenty of conversations with a lot of people and it was just like this sounds cool, but I don't want to do all that work. I just want to go over here and do this. I'm like, okay, cool, if it works for you, it works for you. But occupying that space, it's a love. I love being behind the scenes and working through these spaces with artists and I love being the bridge and the gap. Love it through these spaces with artists and I love being the bridge and the gap. Whether I'm in connection to a label or not, whether I'm working with the independent artists on a tour and we're trying to put together the budget or work through how to reach the audience, I love being in those spaces because it's going to help them, move them where, where they where they belong, and I love just being behind the scenes. I love it.
Speaker 2:So that's what the agency does how do you choose your clients, like, how do you choose what artists you will work with? Because every you know, every poor money ain't good money, right? Some people they have a name and you're like, okay, cool. And then you get around them and you're like, oh, you're a terror. I'm like I don't want to work with you so how do you choose who you will work with?
Speaker 1:Well, there was some artists that I worked with. That was by referral, okay, and because of the relationships that I built, I was able to have the conversation in connection to others Right. And then there were some people who saw me if it was tour season, saw me out with the artists and they inquired like, hey, what do you do? And I just told him what I did and we just developed a relationship from there.
Speaker 1:Um, a previous artist, independent artist her name is Jessica Tony, out of uh, greensboro, north Carolina. I was with Ty when she saw me um and her parents reached out to me. She reached out to me and her parents reached out to me and we were able to um record and get um things going for her um where she was able to record an ep um move in a space where I got assigned to an independent label that was able to help her get her single and music out and now so now. So now she has the connection of a label. But then she also has connections to a very well-known producer by the name of morgan turner, one of my closest guys, and from that you you help develop solid relationships and get people started people always remember who helped.
Speaker 1:It's like a kindergarten teacher you never forget and, and on top of that, it's a great teaching moment on what the music industry is, not what you think. So I was able to I mean, we've had like three-hour conversations and I pulled out certain examples and I was able to give them certain things to look at and pay attention to. Uh, where they were like okay, this makes sense. Now we had to have some hard truths about music industry, because it ain't all glamorous, but at the same time, we were able to talk through it and I was able to give them the honest viewpoint of what it's going to take to move in a certain space with certain people and, uh, they respected it and they, they did it and, um, she's got a few singles out and she's doing very well so when you're on these tours, what would, what would you categorize your role and title as right?
Speaker 2:what if you rolled manager? What? Because it seems like you're a jack-of-all-trades, like you're pretty much just doing what needs to be done yeah right, but if you had to put on a resume, I saw a role manager yeah what would you?
Speaker 1:uh, simplistically, I would like to say I'm a role manager. I think the people that I've worked with know that I can function in many other spaces. Um, selena johnson, working with her I? Um, there was one city where she needed help with sound Now. So the engineer was doing great, but she just wanted to make sure the sound was actually getting in the pockets, because her voice is, is, is uh is her voices on a thousand Shout out to Selena Johnson.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Selena Johnson, a legend in the game she got getting me started in the in the R&b space her and celicia johnson, her sister, um, which was very instrumental in setting me up for success. Um, there was one particular show where we had to. She wanted to know that the sound was getting into certain pockets. So she asked me go over there and listen to what I need. And while they were incheck I was able to listen to the cues and the things she needed to hear, because once that audience packs in and she's singing, that dynamic is different. So she wanted to make sure that her dynamics was going to be effective and working in spaces like that. So I normally occupy not just assisting with the itinerary but just making sure musically you feel secure and safe, that you can rest on what you prepare for. I don't just focus on just the administration part, but I kind of engulf myself in your music so I know what to expect live.
Speaker 2:And that way.
Speaker 1:I become a real fan, I become a real student of who you are and I pay attention to your audience, how they react, yeah, what they like, what's, and so when we're going back to the drawing board on what we need to maximize on, we have a reference point and I'm able to recall moments and I'm big on writing notes down. I'm able to recall dates, times where this worked and it worked consistently, because we did it here, we did it here, we did it here and this was the results and the marketplace is open for it. So I'm able to strategically move and help them kind of like be a brain for them in case they they forget. They got tons of things on their mind and so they're not going to be able to recall every moment, but some of the most important ones matter, especially when you're trying to gear up for the next tour yeah and you want to set realistic expectations.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's so important. Artists need this type of brain, this type of commitment, because the truth is, you know, even in the podcasting space, which we're going to get into in a second, for you you just can't see everything, you don't know how everything comes off.
Speaker 2:So I have people who I say, hey, when you watch my podcast, can you take notes, tell me off. So I have people who I say, hey, when you watch my podcast, can you take notes, tell me what you like and what you don't like. Tell me what works for you and what doesn't. It could be from set design to questions. So there's things I had to work on, you know, with not cutting people off and not talking more than the guest and all these things. Right, so it's been.
Speaker 2:It's so helpful to have people who are invested and who care about what you're doing, whether or not their name is on anything or not, because the truth of the matter is and I'm sure you've experienced this your name being on something doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:If it's the last thing you ever do with that person Bingo I'd rather my name not be on it, but you call me every time you're in town, rather than I'm so worried about my name being on something and you're like I never want to work with this person again.
Speaker 2:You know, if you keep doing the work, your name will be on it because you're undeniable.
Speaker 2:There's so much that I've done and so much that you've done from what I know that's behind the scenes that I didn't get credit for. But guess what, when it was time for me to get credit, god gave me the credit, you know. And so I think it's so important if you have a gift of administration, if you really love an artist and just want to serve that artist, like make yourself of especially young people in your 20s. You know, when you're young and you're just running and gunning, go after it. You know what I mean, because those are the relationships that you'll build so that when you're in your 30s and 40s and you're a little slower and you're trying to build your own life so you can't just be, like you said, chaotic and all over the place, they'll trust what you've done in the past and still want to work with you and hire you to help them through different seasons one of the things that caused me to operate like that was because I was being asked.
Speaker 1:I want to say, almost after every show or every other show, kelvin leach, without fail, and sean pennington would ask me what I observed. Right, I did a whole lot of stuff. What did you see? What did you notice? You were there for what did you see. What did you notice? You were there for these performances. You were not just a person working and moving. I wanted you to pay attention to all of what it takes, because they were doing this prior to my arrival, so they know what it's like to have to come back and have meetings to talk about these four shows, what went well and what didn't. So it was for my personal build and skill set not to just have a conversation and talk, but to know if, outside of Ty and Pastor JJ and whoever else, any other artists that you work with.
Speaker 1:You want to be knowledgeable, but you want to be a sponge to pay attention to what's important yeah and you want to be able to regurgitate that, to say what's going to allow them to be great, not you, right? Um, and then, on top of that, taking on a consideration of like just having a servant's mentality, I started to really dive into that thing and, without fail, I didn't realize how much I remembered. I didn't realize how much I recalled until I'd have a conversation. They had to ask me what did you see here? What did you notice there? What were certain moments that you heard and you picked up on? Well, I noticed this. I noticed this. This was great.
Speaker 1:The audience kind of moved when you sang this a certain type of way. Your closing song was amazing on this night. It didn't hit well in the previous city, so we may have to kind of figure out how we're going to do that. And they moved on it and they got the response they were looking for and it made me be like, okay, I think I do know what I'm doing a little bit. I think I know what I'm doing. I think I have an idea of what this is supposed to look like. Design is strictly set up for me. So I think me, I'm a different type of role manager and manager because I really take on the pulse of the artist and their music to study what's necessary.
Speaker 2:That's what's up. That's what's up. Listen, let's get into your podcast journey. Absolutely, you are about to start a podcast and get into your podcaster bag and I think it's going to be really great. Tell the people whatever you want them, whatever you're ready for them to know about it um, love, life and music podcast.
Speaker 1:Uh, probably be set to launch this summer, nice, and it's going to be a podcast about all things love, all things life and all things music. I don't want to be a relationship podcast, but I do think because I've occupied a space with gifted people. Love and life play a part in how you set yourself up musically or in any other space in entertainment industry, and I think I want to be a balance of not just highlighting gifts but also highlighting balance into your mental health, into your spiritual health, into what is going to allow you to be your best gifted self. And these things matter because we have a lot of gifted people with chaotic lives and they look great on social media, they look great on podcasts, they look great everywhere else, but there's no balance and there's no order to their lives. So we're not just going to talk about your marriage and how great that is, but we're going to talk about your spiritual well-being and how much time you devote to prayer. We're going to talk about your mental space and how sometimes you need to come off the road. You need to not do nothing and sit down. You need to rest. It's not just about the maintaining being in front of people's faces, but it's about maintaining your wellness to do the job you love to do so well, and the passion behind that and the love you have for it has to go into those spaces just as much as it goes into your rehearsal time, just as much as it goes into your studio preparation, just as much love and passion you have for when the, when the beats and the melody sound great. You need to have that same vigorous attitude for therapy or, um, a spiritual coach, or showing up to church on a Sunday morning when you're not on the road, and not because you're not playing drums, not because you sing in that Sunday, but because you need to be filled.
Speaker 1:That is, I think, the theme of my life. I know what it's like to be chaotic. I know what it's like to be all over the place. I know what it's like to want to set so many dreams and have so many aspirations to do and be, but I also not know what it's like to go, sit down somewhere and really pay attention to what is important. That's going to set you up for success, and the balance of music and the balance of your love, life and your life matters. We have enough relationship podcasts talking about gender wars. That's everywhere. I don't want to do that. Yeah, um, we have enough podcasts celebrating gifted people, and that's it. I don't want to do that either. I want the balance of how are you doing today? Not the artist, but the woman. Yeah, not the mama, but the human. You know what I'm saying. If we can get back to sobriety on what the Lord has called us to, I think our gifts will be fine.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:I think our gifts will be fine. If we can step back a little bit from just, you know, wanting to do everything, I think we'll be fine, we'll see us and we'll be able to minister out of an honest place.
Speaker 2:That's it, minister, out of an honest place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I will be able to minister and be transparent out of an honest place. So many of us can't do that, you know, we have to just sing the song and we can't tell our testimony because we ain't honest. And that's another part.
Speaker 2:We get into that. We're going to be here for too long, but how have you found the courage to let yourself in to a new space, right, this is new for you. This is different. How have you found the courage to let yourself in?
Speaker 1:I had an honest village of family and friends who cared enough to tell me the truth, of family and friends who cared enough to tell me the truth, and I was able to go before God myself and find the truth.
Speaker 1:So it was a combination of the two. It was it was family and friends. Even when I didn't want to have the conversation, even if I didn't want to talk, um, they gave me the space, space to uh operate that I was. It was great that they were able to. They were able to allow me to kind of be in my own little bubble but be honest with me and let god find me. You know I'm saying not kind of be so like. You know, you got to do this and you got to do that. You got to do this and you got to do that, you got to do this.
Speaker 1:They were very strategic in how they were able to talk to me, but then they also trusted my relationship with God that I would be able to find what that looks like for me. So I think me being in this new brand space is because my relationship with God, I've embraced my relationship with God and where, where I was and where I am, and I had a, I had a great support system to help rebuild me be, honest so we ask a question here at the end of our show, and it is in the grand scheme of things, what do you want your be?
Speaker 1:um, it's kind of funny. We were talking about legacy because, um, when my, when my divorce was final and I was having these I call them arguments with god, I was upset that I couldn't maintain the legacy I wanted my daughter to see it was. I didn't get a chance to see that with my, my father. You know my stepfather, my mom has been married to my stepfather for over 23 years and he's been a great implementation of knowing what men are and what a man is, spiritually and naturally. But I was trying so hard to maintain that consistently and when it was over me and Jesus, we was beefing hard, we was beefing real hard. We were, we was beefing hard, we was beefing real hard.
Speaker 1:And because I had made certain promises to my mom, it really put me in a bad emotional space. Because I wanted to fulfill a promise of, you know, being a better generation of what my grandfather, what my father, what my father, what my great grandfather was. I wanted to set a new bar and I found myself in a space where I was like Lord, how am I going to do this? And the Lord strategically told me you leave your legacy up to me um you leave your legacy up to me you do what I ask you to do and your legacy will be intact.
Speaker 1:Now, the the. The crazy thing about this is I was concerned about my legacy because I my goal is to make sure that my daughter has something tangible when I leave here. I just don't want to leave her an insurance package. I want to give her something that allows her to make future decisions based on the gift of what her father gave her, whether that's a business that I can hand over to her, that's created a nice amount of equity. She can make the decision of going to school for what dad left her or doing something that she's always wanted to do outside of that and I'm looking at it from a generational wealth standpoint, because my mom and pops didn't get a chance to have that so, because I didn't see the consistency out of my own marriage, I thought I failed and the Lord was just like. Your legacy is intact. Trust me, I got you guy, I got you man, and now I feel like the Lord is rebuilding my legacy to something different. But I think what I want to leave is consistency of um, of who I am, what people the the evolution I have a tattoo here that says evolve. I want them to see you know, joshua, darius Salter evolve. I want to see them.
Speaker 1:In one season he was here. In another season he was here, but his final destination he got to what the Lord promised him and he got to the promised land. You know what I'm saying. So many of us are. We're trying to do so much great exploits that we're leaving no room for God to build or to do what he said he's going to do. We're putting the promise of God in our own hands and you're self-sabotaging what is strictly God's responsibility strictly God's responsibility. And I think I want my legacy to be built off what what the Lord builds and what he structures. I don't want to try to do it on my own. I know what that has looked like and I've crashed and burned plenty of times. And we look at people's legacy, even in scripture, as what they released and let go, not what they held on to in scripture as what they released and let go, not what they held on to Yep.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. We've seen people crash and burn in scripture. We've seen people do the most craziest things, but it was ultimately what they let go of, not what they held on to, and we look at their legacy as amazing.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Right Because of what they were able to allow the Lord to do, yep, not what they did in their own strength. Love that, so Love that Well, you're well on your way to creating that legacy and um you know I'm I'm encouraged by your story proud of all that God is doing in your life right now and excited to see what he's going to do. Oh, he's going to do something great.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, sir, yes, sir, listen, tell the people where to find you and how they can stay connected to this rebrand and to your agency and all that you're doing so Instagram, it is just jdarius.
Speaker 1:Facebook, it is j J Darius. Facebook, it is Joshua D Salter. Threads is the same. That's pretty much all you're going to be able to find me. You'll know when I start to post more. I've been given a homework assignment, so after I leave here there's going to be more by the time you guys see and hear this episode is yeah, it'll be very easy to find him.
Speaker 2:Website will be uh trust me, we got it because you just got too much good stuff to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sitting on it right now, my new has gotten on me already uh on on what I need to do to move forward. But yeah, that's where you're going to find me and be sure to look out for some amazing things happening in 2025.
Speaker 2:This is going to be a great rest of the year.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Listen. Thank y'all so much for joining us for another episode of. I'll Just Let Myself In. If you are new here, let me tell you a little bit about what we're about At this podcast.
Speaker 2:I often say if you can let yourself into somewhere, that means the mechanism to let yourself in is near you. Right, the key is under the mat, the key is in the rock. If you walk up to the doors, they might just open on their own, like automatic doors do, but you've got to decide that you're going to let yourself in. God wants to give you new territory. He wants to allow you back into some old territory that he wants you to conquer again, but you've got to be willing to let yourself in. We're not waiting for imaginary permission slips. We're walking through our God-given doors. I hope that this episode encouraged you. I hope you heard something or learned something that is going to allow you to go through the doors that God has for you. If you loved what you heard, we want to hear about it. Leave us a review, share, like and comment.
Speaker 2:We appreciate everybody on Holy Culture who checked this episode out. Sirius XM, channel 140. We love y'all Monday nights at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time. Also, if you're checking us out on any podcast app or YouTube, love you for being there as well. If you want to reach out to us, please email us at speakers at Listspeakscom. We'd love to read your letters on the show, love to answer questions or give you advice on the show as well. Holler at us whenever you get the chance and we'll be happy to do it and, as you know, same time, same place. We will be back next week. Thanks for checking us out on this one. I'll see you on the next, peace.