Bryant “BeMo” Brown Talks Daydreaming + Quitting Code-Switching

It’s past time we remixed the entrepreneur archetype. The tried-and-true definition of an emerging or aspiring business owner feels tired. The modern entrepreneur is a mover, shaker and doer who’s not content with simply breaking all the rules. Our 52 trailblazers featured in the October issue are rewriting the rules, tearing them up and doing it all over again. It’s creation at its purest, because the fruits of one’s hustle are not actualized overnight or by following one jet-lagged recipe. It’s no longer adequate to measure entrepreneurs by the brick-and-mortar spaces they manifest or the jobs they create. Those are all important elements but fall short of what it truly means to build something — often with blood, sweat and tears. Whether you’re revamping the vintage clothing industry, introducing a fresh dining concept, cultivating an advocacy-focused creative agency or advancing the cause of equality for the LGBTQ+ community, the only thing that matters is freedom — the freedom to march to the beat of your own badass drum. Read our full rundown of trailblazers here. 

Bryant “BeMo” Brown, the executive producer and owner of BeMo Productions, enhances stories through a multiplicity of mediums — including VFX, animation and immersive content. And through his entrepreneurship, he’s refused to bend because he knows where his value is: his business.

Advice that keeps you hungry
I don’t have advice or a quote from someone else to inspire me. I’m driven because time is violent, and attention is intentional. I don’t depend on outside expectations, or comparison or the rent because my hunger is neither generated nor maintained. Hunger subsides. My hunger and I are synonymous.

What your day is incomplete without
A daydream. The perfect place is a park bench with a cup of coffee — no book, no phone, no music. My business is to involve myself in the business of other people [and] assuming a perspective can be draining, regardless how fruitful the results. In order to refresh, I need a few disconnected moments.

Your power outfit remix
I’m a product of the Gordon Gekko products who believed a suit was the pentacle of business attire. I have come to understand the power in that suit was the white guy wearing it — and not the suit. I’ve worn that suit and still witness clutched purses, get requests to valet or even clean up spills. It doesn’t matter what I wear: My value is in my business. I quit code-switching when I became an entrepreneur five years ago. You [gon’] get my culture’s business formal.

What every entrepreneur needs
Know when you fail and know how to fail. You are going to fail, and I don’t mean typos and payroll oversights. You are going to make the wrong investment. You are going to trust the wrong source. You are going to miss opportunities. Only a fool can convince themselves that a loss is a gain. Accept failure and then adjust.

@BeMoBrown, @wakenbakewithbemo + @erbayne // BeMoAuthentic.com

Enjoy this piece? Consider becoming a member for access to our premium digital content. Support local journalism and start your membership today.