Ep 149 - Detavio Samuels, CEO at REVOLT

Minority Report Podcast

In episode 149, Kerel Cooper talks with Detavio Samuels, CEO at REVOLT, a Black-owned and operated multimedia platform servicing content 24/7 across digital, linear, and live media channels. Detavio shares his excitement with the changes he witnessed at The REVOLT Summit held in September 2022 in Atlanta, GA, the impact being made on black culture by the black community, and how he feels his passion is the thing that makes him the most dangerous than anyone else in the space. He also shares his thoughts on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the media space and how more work has to be done to credit black creators for their work, how REVOLT is shifting the narrative for black people, not just in the United States, but the entire black diaspora, and where he draws inspiration from, including the one and only Sean Combs. “I always say that I'm not the smartest, I don't have to be the brightest, but in this role, and in this space, I'm one of the most dangerous. And I'm dangerous because of everything you just said, because I'm aligned with my passions, I'm aligned with my purpose, I'm aligned with my mission, I'm doing all the things that feed my soul.” Timestamps :47: Detavio Samuels, CEO at REVOLT, talks about The Revolt Summit in September 2022, bringing the next generation of future leaders together and strengthening the REVOLT brand around black culture 2:40: Why REVOLT moved to Atlanta, how Atlanta is the black mecca for all things black culture, and being able to create more opportunities for the black community 4:14: Detavio’s family life growing up in Boulder, Colorado, to his mother whose family is from Chicago and who helped cultivate his faith and his father who is Jamaican, born in Costa Rica, who was immersed in black culture 6:05: Detavio shares his college journey starting at Duke University, his favorite Duke basketball player, his goals of being an executive, pledging to Kappa Alpha Psi, and discovering marketing which was the thing that set his soul on fire 9:26: Detavio’s start at Johnson & Johnson, while creating a company on the side and figuring out what to do with his career 10:09: The importance of following the footsteps of people who are in the position you want to be in, studying the anomalies and how Detavio used that strategy while in college and moving into his career 11:50: How Detavio moved to REVOLT, coming from Johnson & Johnson, GlobalHue, and getting into the media game to create content that people wanted to watch 13:17: Detavio’s journey from starting as COO at REVOLT and moving to CEO 14:27: How Detavio feels about being the face of the REVOLT brand, the challenges he faces internally and externally 16:26: The part of being CEO at REVOLT that Detavio enjoys the most and how his passion for the work he does makes him more dangerous than anyone else in the space 17:59: Detavio’s thoughts on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the media space, how there has been movement, but still so much more ground to cover, and closing the gap between what black culture creates and how much they get credit and paid 21:43: What’s exciting Detavio at REVOLT right now, the change that is being created, shifting the narrative for black people all over the world by building the world’s largest, most powerful black storytelling engine 23:42: Where Detavio draws inspiration from, his first interview with Sean Combs, and the importance of being able to be yourself wherever you’re working 26:12: Detavio’s top three apps he uses to chat with people all over the world, help him create content for Instagram, and to help him unwind 28:49: How to find Detavio and REVOLT on social media Follow Us: Newsletter: bitly.com/2QLEY8U Linkedin: bit.ly/2ZZUBxG Twitter: bit.ly/2Qp0SzK Instagram: bit.ly/2QLfEQc