Episode 16 Title: The Truth Shall Set You Free Featuring Patrice K. Cokley

Episode Info: In this episode Durell is joined by talent manager, entrepreneur, and former college professor Patrice K. Cokley. Durell and Patrice begin the episode talking about her earliest memories of being introduced to music with her father holding her head up to the speaker listening to Color Me Badd as an early introduction to ear training. Patrice shared that she dibbled and dabbled in rapping in middle school and early high school as well as organizing talent shows. She talks about auditioning for The Detroit School Of Fine Performing Arts and making it into the school but not going because she was afraid of being a little fish in a big pond. When she got to college she started out as a music major but there was no business program and after a year of music theory and ear training she knew she couldn’t continue as a music major. She decided to attend college and major in business and marketing with the goal of applying her business skills to the music industry.

Durell talks to Patrice about being widely known for her work with Matthew Knowles. She shares how much she respects him because of the way he approached and navigated his way through the music business and achieving massive success. Durell talks about how Matthew designed the success of the members of Destiny’s Child after they each went solo. Patrice shares how she got connected to Matthew by reaching out to him for advice as she began to get frustrated with the music industry. She shares that she sent a long email to him about her frustrations and he responded to her within 15 minutes and a meeting was set up to meet and speak about his girl group Blush. They had the meeting one week later and after the call Matthew was officially her client. She began doing work with his girl group by setting up their online brand across social media and the internet. He was so impressed with her work that he asked her to build his brand online and manage his social media accounts. She shares the story of how she was the one who posted about Beyonce’s twins on his social media accounts that went out to millions of people around the world.

Durell and Patrice speak about processes of how he goes about getting new clients and wanted to gauge her opinion to see if she uses a similar approach when prospecting. She shares that she used to have that approach but has since changed her process because she gave so much strategy during her meetings. She knew a much better approach was to build her case studies so that they can see her value. She now charges for her initial consultation but for those who don’t want to pay they can take advantage of the free content that she puts out on her social media platforms daily. Patrice talks about the fact that she’s not a salesperson and that she doesn’t believe in putting out content to ultimately sell a course or something similar. She shares that there are so many “gurus” on Instagram that promise all kinds of results and most of the time never deliver. Durell and Patrice share that they both enjoy the face-to face one on one coaching sessions with their clients.

Durell and Patrice talk about coaches who build online courses and how difficult that can be. Patrice shares that she rather create a program that might be only for a few people in which she can get her hands dirty in helping them achieve their goals. She shares that when she got hired to teach a multimedia and web development course at SAE in Chicago without any prior teaching experience, and that she was tasked with creating the whole course from scratch. She created the syllabus and even added an element for branding and marketing because she says you can’t build a website and not have those elements intertwined all together.

Patrice talks about even though she enjoys the building process of working with a new artist like her artist Ken The Messenger, she has the aim of working with more established acts due to the fact that bills need to be paid so having that artist with a bigger budget is definitely the most ideal. When it comes to working with clients as a consultant, Durell talks about the fact that working with clients who have a team is few and far between. Patrice states the obvious truth that if a client can’t afford the retainer then there’s no way they’ll be able to pay for the external costs that comes with building a successful career. There is so much work that needs to be done and it costs.

Durell talks to Patrice about her company The Baseline Group. She has had her company for over 7 years. She knew that she loves working so much with music artists so having a company solely focused on music is something that is important to her. Durell and Patrice speak about having merchandise even though we are people who work behind the scenes but the fact that they are the driving forces behind their brands having the most visibility is key for success.

Durell and Patrice dive into some of the misconceptions that indie creatives have when they enter the marketplace. Patrice talks about clout chasing that indie creatives do when they first start out. Patrice talks about indie creatives thinking that overnight success is real. The biggest misconception that Patrice shares is the fact that indie creatives think managers or publicists are magicians. What indie creatives must understand is that just because they pay out some money to an industry professional that means things are guaranteed. Patrice shares that even though she has a relationship with Matthew Knowles doesn’t mean she is just going to send out music to him just because of their relationship.


Durell and Patrice talk about the fact that indie creatives should focus on their brand and building a foundation. They should focus on the marketing only after the brand has been established. Durell and Patrice talk about the Fan Persona and also the fact that young creatives don’t even know who they are. Patrice only works within the element of authentic branding. Patrice shares that one of the best examples of authentic branding is Beyonce.

Durell talks with Patrice about how she's been able to help her clients lock in some awesome brand partnerships with brands like Fashion Fair. One of the major keys in securing brand partnerships for her clients is making sure they know they are and the brand alignment is in place. Patrice shares that you can’t just pitch a brand because you like the brand. It has to make sense in regards to making sure there’s reach on social media and that there’s going to be a return from the brand making the investment.


Durell and Patrice end the episode talking about the need vs. want for creatives. So many creatives need the knowledge that they provide but do they actually want it. So many indie creatives have to show that they need to really know what’s going on in their careers from the business side. Durell and Patrice talk about the fact that when it comes to creating a bigger platform for themselves it’s all about marketing. There are so many of the industry pros that are still riding on the success from things they did 20 years ago.

Patrice and Durell talk about what the main goal should be for indie creatives who are opening for major acts. Patrice shares it’s truly about building awareness and making sure that they have a merchandise table as well as being able to work the room. Having the ability to give a solid performance that people remember. Patrice shares that being an educator and mentor has impacted her journey because she’s learned how to properly communicate in a way that creatives can understand.

For more information on Patrice K. Cokley please visit her website:

http://patricekcokley.com/