- Blog: TheFabEmpire.com
- Niche: Nightlife/Entertainment
- Founder: Joi-Marie McKenzie
- Twitter: @dcfab / @thefabempire
In 2007, Joi-Marie McKenzie noticed a substantial void in the Washington D.C. nightlife scene. There was no accountability to promoters and club owners who made false promises to partygoers of “free drinks until midnight†or a directory of the best places to go in the city. Helping to fill that void, the University of Maryland graduate launched DC Fab in August 2007. The website provides readers with the latest in entertainment news, celebrity sightings and local nightlife. Today, the blog has expanded to several cities including New York, Baltimore and Boston.
The 27-year-old continues to make a name for herself as a “go-to girl†with honors that include: Being named one of six D.C. tastemakers to know in 2012 by The Washington Post, one of For Harriet’s “30 Black Women Bloggers You Should Know†in 2011 and a listing that named McKenzie one of Clutch Magazine’s Top 50 Amazing Tech Tastemakers of 2010. The Fab Empire creator has also served as a Blue Flame Trend Watcher, a Sean “Diddy” Combs program that utilizes high-profile industry insiders to curate online digital content. Additionally, DC Fab was also a part of “The 20,†NBC Washington’s list of leading community voices in social media.
Joi-Marie isn’t just a blogger either. The entertainment journalist and cultural critic divides her time between New York and Washington D.C. balancing her role as entertainment producer at a television network and running her mini “empire.â€
As part of Black Blogger Month, BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the savvy influencer to chat about how she turned a pastime into a full-blown empire.
I started blogging because…
I was a little bored–being an assistant — and I really wanted to start a blog. After a failed blog called Fab University, I realized I needed to narrow my scope in order to bring something diverse in the web space. So I decided to focus on nightlife and entertainment in Washington, D.C. Thus, DC Fab was born. The idea really took off with readers because we were the first blog to hold nightclubs and promoters accountable in D.C. — a sort of checks and balance system. A year later, friends wanted to replicate the same idea in New York and Baltimore. Then we recruited a writer who was doing something similar in Boston. Thus, The Fab Empire!
The biggest influence in my life is…
My grandmother, Ida Murphy Peters. She was the entertainment editor of the Afro American Newspaper longer than I have been alive. I watched her at her typewriter daily covering books, CDs–I remember she was the first to get Monica’s debut album and I thought she was so cool–and she took me to see Immature, my first concert ever. She was definitely a cool grandma, and looking back, her teaching me how to write my name in cursive and taking me to the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore was setting the stage for me to become a journalist.
The Fab Empire stands out because…
It covers nightlife in Baltimore, Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York. We focus our coverage in only the cities we serve — although we get pitches daily for other cities — and we center on what young professionals like to do. Our readers are men and women about town; they want to know what happened on the social scene and what they missed and they also want to know where to go.
People trust my brand because…
We’re authentic. We are the readers we serve. People trust The Fab Empire to tell them what’s best in quality nightlife and entertainment because they see us out partying alongside them. We’re not just telling them to go to XYZ club, while we’re sitting at home eating potato chips behind the computer. We really see ourselves as a resource for young professionals and we strive to improve the quality of nightlife and events in the cities we serve.
The biggest mistake I ever made in business was…
Doing things for free. A lot of people will devalue your worth, your influence and your voice …if you let them. Early on to gain access or acclaim, I did things for free when in reality other blogs, sites and companies were getting a check. Know your worth.
In business you should never be afraid to…
Fail. Early on I realized the blessings failures can bring. If I would have let my failed blog, Fab University, stop my dreams to start my own successful blog, I would have never met amazing people, or been asked to speak on panels, consult with companies or start columns for the Afro American Newspaper and contribute to NBC Washington, NBC New York and Clutch Magazine. There was a blessing in that failure. Pushing through failure was the best lesson that blogging has taught me.
The best piece of business advice I ever got was…
Charge! Early on in blogging, I did a lot for public relations professionals and promoters that others were charging for. They were basically utilizing our influence and reach for free. Once I looked around and noticed the checks being passed, I stopped doing favors and freebies — even to my cousins. It’s a business.
My advice for anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps is…
Rule #1: Surround yourself with smart people to help your dream come into fruition. After I realized I had a solid idea with The Fab Empire, I began to set quarterly goals for my staff and I, whether it be helping one of our interns land a reporting gig at a mainstream media organization or increasing our followers on Twitter.
Rule #2:Â Have a plan. Lastly, there were many opportunities that came because we opened ourselves up to be more than just a site. I always say The Fab Empire is a movement led by young professionals to improve the quality of nightlife and events in the cities we serve. Because of this, we were able to become Blue Flame Trend Watchers, a Sean “Diddy” Combs program that utilized high profile industry insiders to curate online digital content, and influential voices in our cities.
Rule #3: Have a plan, but be able to scrap it.
Be sure to check out the rest of the digital thought leaders as they’re revealed each day by logging on to BlackEnterprise.com/BlackBloggerMonth.