Third Annual Pote Day Educates and Inspires Savannah’s Creative Entrepreneurs
Savannah’s historic streets have been the backdrop for countless memories made by people all across the world. For rapper Pote Baby and his manager Donny Slater, those memories run deep.
Along with Bryan Noel, Pote Baby and Slater are co-founders of Club Hous Media, a corporation that houses Club Hous Music Company and Club Hous Creative Company. Together these companies provide music management, serve as a music label, and provide production. While Slater technically serves as Pote Baby’s talent manager, the two consider themselves partners in business.
(Left to Right) Donny Slater, Pote Baby, & Yaz Britt.
Pote Baby and Slater grew up in Savannah and started pursuing their entrepreneurial and artistic endeavors as high school students. They are both passionate about bringing their experiences to local aspiring creatives. Just a couple of their accomplishments include a major sponsorship from Soundcloud and touring around the country with hip hop duo Earth Gang over the past year. In an effort to share opportunities with Savannahians, they offer a three-day celebration of their hometown called Pote Day. Every year, the event takes place on the weekend closest to 9/12, which is a nod to the city’s area code of 912.
In its third year, Pote Day focused on three components: entertainment, education, and community. This year’s event took place from September 9th to 11th. The event kicked off with a concert at Victory North on Friday and ended with a block party at Starland Yard on Sunday. The second day was devoted to four educational workshops collectively called the Gettin’ On Conference and was hosted at The Creative Coast.
The conference, which was organized by Club Hous Media in partnership with Soundcloud and LRG, was created with the long-term goal of catalyzing a cutting-edge entertainment and creative industry in the hostess city with an emphasis on building a more equitable community. The workshops featured the experiences, successes, and insights of highly-successful speakers from the fashion, music, and small business development industries. Also in attendance were representatives from the City of Savannah, the Savannah Economic Development Authority, the Greater Savannah Black Chamber Of Commerce, and The Creative Coast.
Tenisha Clarke, Head of Retail for The Whitaker Grp, shared a presentation on breaking into the retail industry at the Gettin’ On Conference.
Tenisha Clarke, head of retail for The Whitaker Grp, kicked off the event with a workshop on the Fashion Industry for designers, e-commerce owners, and stylists who wanted to learn about expanding their business into retail stores. The Whitaker Group is an award-winning experiential and creative company that manages brands A Ma Maniére, Social Status, APB, and Prosper. Across all four sectors, they have 20 stores throughout the United States.
Clarke, who is a SCAD alum, shared critical insights into her career, including the unpredictable nature of the retail industry: “If you’re someone who likes consistency and don’t like the table to be shaken or the water to move about, this probably is not the industry for you…growing your business is all about understanding capacity and capability. You have to be malleable. This time next year, if you’re growing with your process, your capacity and capability is going to have grown with your business.”
She also stressed that confidence is key saying, “Don’t let other people believe in you more than you believe in you.”
Zeke Nicholson, co-owner of Since the 80s and head of A&R, shared on breaking into the music industry via a Q&A session.
Zeke Nicholson, a Grammy-nominated music manager and co-owner/head of A&R at Since the 80s, shared his insights via a Q&A session. One of the first things he noted was the common misconception among those who are just starting out.
“People think it’s easier than it is,” Nicholson says. “They see all the material things that come with it. I started around 19 or 20 in the industry, and I didn’t start making money until I was 28. You have to have an entrepreneurial spirit and a pure passion and love for it. You’ve got to be open to the experience that shapes your pathway.”
Effort and time were echoed by Sheoyki Jones and Meredith Jones during the small business development session. Jones is the owner of Social Xcurrency and is the former project manager of Creative Industries at Invest Atlanta. Stone is a local real estate manager with Vantosh Realty and an architectural designer at & GMShay Architects.
Their workshop on creating more equity in Savannah’s tourism community included a constant message of high collaboration between the City, its economic development organizations, and local entrepreneurs.
“Whether you’re a business or not, go to city council meetings so your voice can be heard,” says Jones. She also encouraged small business owners to look for economic development opportunities through organizations in the area saying, “They have pull in your city and can tell you how and where you can find investment.” Jones stressed that looking to local business chambers can help with marketing and spreading awareness about your business.
Stone highlighted how local businesses could tap into the tourism dollars. “13 million visitors came to the historic district last year alone,” she shared. She elaborated that businesses should look to opportunities like commercial property, investment property, and commercial lease space in addition to hospitality and tourism and encouraged business owners to get clear on what they need before jumping in. “As small business owners, what are your business needs to thrive? Study your business needs before you invest,” said Stone.
Meredith Stone (top left), real estate manager at Vantosh Realty and architectural designer at GMShay Architects, and Sheoyki Jones (top right), owner of Social Xcurrency, gave a presentation on small business development.
The conference wrapped with a panel discussion on the Indie Music Journey. Moderated by Soundcloud’s head of A&R Yaz Britt, the panel featured Pote Baby and Slater who discussed how they got their start, the hurdles they had to overcome before securing their deal with Soundcloud, where they came up with the idea for Pote Day, and even an overview of their marketing plan for Pote Baby.
On their unique working relationship, Pote Baby expressed, “[Donny] told me, ‘If we work together I don’t want to have an artist/manager relationship, I want to be partners.’ And that, I respected.” They both stressed the importance of transparency and honesty in working together, which makes their relationship work. It’s with this same attitude that they approach Pote Day.
Slater shared that their personal mission for Pote Day is simple: “What we are trying to do is demystify the music industry and make it accessible.”
Pote Baby adds, “and help [others] do it even better.”
To learn more about Pote Day, visit https://www.pote.day/.
