Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryant Perkins.
Hi Bryant, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story starts at six months old when I was adopted in Delaware by two loving parents. I grew up as a happy suburban child with a learning disability. My parents made it a point to help me every step of the way while at the same time teaching me how to be the best I can be every day despite any disability. I went from being told I would never go to college because I struggled to read and write to being accepted into college as a journalism major.
While in my second year of college, I managed to find my biological parents the Monday after Mother’s Day 2002! I was 20 years old at the time and had no prior contact with any of my biological family before finally meeting them at my college campus after they drove 12 hours from Delaware to Ohio to see me after our very first phone conversation. We have never lost touch to this day and we are now one big happy family as they are my biggest cheerleaders.
Flash forward to the creation of FubbzMedia, LLC. My company was formed during the middle of the pandemic in 2020 while I was sidelined at home, kept from traveling for work as the Sports Marketing Manager for a footwear company. The country locked down one state and region at a time canceling all sporting events, team buying, and all of the above. I was left with little to do but wait or sit on my hands. And we all know what they say about an idle mind and I was not trying to be consumed by my boredom.
It was while stuck at home in Tampa, Fl, that I got the idea to start a media production company focusing on crafting podcasts and audiovisual content that explores countercultures and traditional narratives told by nontraditional people. For the majority of my lockdown and even before that time all I did was listen to podcasts, so naturally, I wanted to add to that form of media first. The only thing left to do was fill out the paperwork to create an LLC., put up the money for the equipment, and start creating ideas from which I could gather engaging content.
COVID soon moved me out of Florida and I landed in Austin, TX. While in Austin, I stayed and worked part-time in a hostel. I slept in a tiny bunk bed, shared my bathroom, shared my living space, and shared my kitchen. The whole experience amazed me and challenged my perception of what it means to live the “good life” in a first-world country. I immediately thought about interviewing these unique and amazing people to record their stories, their pain, their joy, loss, adventures, and everything in between.
I didn’t have much with me in the hostel in terms of clothing or anything else. I left most of my possessions in Florida at a storage facility. However, my audio equipment was resting in the trunk of my car not being used for anything. I went to the trunk and lugged the equipment up the hostel living room one day and just started recording everyone who entered. Amazingly, almost everyone wanted to share their story!
All the stories were beautiful mixes of every emotion, thought, and feeling imaginable. The collection of those stories became the first FubbzMedia product known as “Bhostel.” We launched season 1 of the show in March of 2021 and the rest is history. We are currently working on releasing season 2 of “Bhostel” this Fall. The team and I are also gearing up for a strategic partnership with a nationally distributed print/digital news publication, and we are currently in the beginning stages of the production process for The Guilty Grape, an African American female-owned wine-centered lifestyle company based out of Chicago.
We are creating a special podcast with them which they will use to highlight a new and more inclusive way of experiencing wine and wine culture. So, the future is bright for this small start-up production company, and I’m blessed and so thankful for everyone that contributed to its start and its ability to get these incredible stories out to the masses this past year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, the road has not been smooth. I created the company with someone near and dear to me. That person has lovingly moved on to follow the best path for them for their personal growth, which I couldn’t be happier for, and I wish them the very best. However, not having, their help, or their support caused me to rethink how and why I wanted to pursue the creation of this company.
I no longer had a life partner, no longer a financial partner, no longer a marketing partner, and I no longer had anyone that was going to help me put in the long hours to cross every “T” and dot every “I.” I had to learn the process behind getting the proper copyrights and trademarks by myself. Challenges kept coming as I had to be a one-person show posing as a lawyer, marketer, sound editor, copywriter, and all of the above. Feelings, emotions, and thoughts ran wild as I tried to center myself.
Many mornings, nights, and full weekends were spent in a hostel bed crying, kicking myself when I was down, and pushing everyone away that loved me. I was alone; I was completely and utterly alone. So I engaged in a lot of soul-searching to find my “why,” and I kept coming back to a need to tell stories.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a producer. I craft stories that engage the listener, but they are more than just stories as I make podcasts and other audiovisual content to pull the listener or viewer into a world — a world they never knew they needed to visit! And I have to say that I’m most proud of my first podcast, “Bhostel,” which highlights almost every aspect of counter-culture the US has to offer, from the cultures surrounding recreational drug use to permanent hostel living to professional sex work.
I think that ability to craft those stories in a safe, responsible, and altogether entertaining environment sets me, my work, and FubbzMedia apart from other media production start-ups in this country.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
One person will remain nameless, but without them, I never would get FubbzMedia off the ground. Currently, two people who have contributed the most to the success of FubbzMedia are Noah and Angel. Both men are the driving creative force behind the sound of the company and the look of the company.
When I didn’t have anyone, both came out of nowhere to listen to my crazy ideas and help me bring them to fruition. Noah is the lead videographer, and Angel and our graphic designer and lead audio engineer. We can’t tell the stories we want to tell without their creative expertise.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fubbzmedia.com
- Instagram: @fubbzmedia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FubbzMedia/?ref=py_c
- Twitter: @FubbzM
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bhostel/id1558789513
Image Credits
Noah Gaard (@noah_gaard Gaardmedia and www.gaardmedia.com) and Angel Kennedy (@angelnkennedy and @craftedbyangel)
