PR, Entertainment & Entrepreneurship: How Lexi Chow Built The CODA Network

Prepare for a journey of music, culture, and entrepreneurship as I engage in a captivating conversation with Lexi Chow, a PR maven who has left no stone unturned in her diverse career trajectory. Lexi's storytelling prowess takes us through her experiences with music industry big shots like Lil Wayne and Flo Rida, her transition to corporate giants like Paramount and MTV, and her roots touching the soil of Jamaica that motivated her entrepreneurial ventures. We delve into the significance of solid networking and the influential role it played in her professional journey. Lexi recount stories from the music and film industry  to her journey in entrepreneurship where we discuss her sea moss company Bontanica Gold, candle company Scene Candele and new venture, The CODA Network.

The CODA Network which stands for Caribbean On Demand All in one place is a curated streaming service featuring Caribbean culture. Discover Lexi's vision for CODA, her growth strategy for the network, and how she plans to balance monetization with the profits of creatives. Hear her passionately speak about her love for culture, travel, and documentaries, all of which are bound together on her platform. 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:39

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Style and Vibes podcast. Today we are joined by one of my good friends, lungtime and other business Lexi. I've known Lexi for years. She's done some really great, amazing work in the PR space, which we are going to talk about. She's also an entrepreneur. She has a number of businesses that we are going to talk about, but we have a special one that we're going to talk about in depth today. So welcome, lexi. How are you? Hi? Good to see you, babe. Thank you so much for having the conversation with me. You and I kind of lost touch over the years, but we met over when I was at Jamrock and you were doing PR work, so we got to catch up a little bit and tell the people a little bit about your career and how you got started in PR and communications.

Speaker 2: 1:30

Yes, so I think it was around the time when we met in Miami. I was working with Big D. He was signed to Sylvia Rhone, a Universal Records, so he had his own production deal. So we were working with his artists. So he had a production deal with I can't remember the artist's name, but he had a group that he was working with. But I mean he's worked with everybody from Little Wayne Lexi, flowrider, what's the name of the pretty Ricky so he worked with everybody in Miami and I want to say that he maybe did some stuff with Jay-Z, but he's an award-winning producer.

Speaker 2: 2:06

So I started my career off with him and he really showed me the ropes and the industry and that's where I really got my footing in the music industry. So I did PR back then and just with artists, brands, athletes and things of that nature and for me I think that I wanted to elevate more. So I left PR, the boutique side of it alone. I ended up going into corporate, working at Avayacom and MTV. So I did that in New York and just learning the corporate structure of everything. And I think that's where a lot of people if you didn't go to college for business it's really good to see the back end of these big corporations, because you know, owning your own business is just not. Oh, I got a website and Instagram and that's it. You have to know the back ends. You have to know the corporate, the legal, the finance side of it, the marketing side of it. There's all these caveats.

Speaker 2: 3:04

So I ended up going to Paramount and I stayed there for a couple of years and I made my transition to LA and it was really LA where I began to start my journey in the film and TV and media industry. So you know, just going back to PR, pr was really my start and just gathering and gaining, really, I want to say, all my relationships that I made over 20 years ago in PR. I still have them today and that's just because you know, when you deal with people correctly in the beginning, you never know where that journey is going to take you and you can call somebody up 20 years later and it's like, hey, I need something. Or you know what are you doing today. You know I'm working on something, let's collaborate, and just having like a really good, solid foundation it helps you in the future.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Absolutely so. Talk to me a little bit about the differences between music, pr, and then media and television, although it's the same industry and a lot of things are similar. What are some of the stark differences that you can share with us here, just in understanding?

Speaker 2: 4:19

Music PR, I would say you're kind of working from the ground up. Depending on the artist. It's a different beast than film. Film is a little bit more corporate. You have to have a footing, you have to have very solid relationships in Hollywood and just the industry, or else nobody's going to work with you in film PR and a lot of the studios have their own in-house PR companies and outside for that extra help. But music PR, I would say, is you have to develop relationships with artist managers and just that music industry and just kind of be really connected and in the know of everything.

Speaker 2: 4:58

So I think that if you're going to start doing music PR, you need to be out and about. You just can't be on your computer. You have to have that face time and I know that we live in different times, but just really getting out there and making yourself known, making your presence known, it's really good and just building those relationships. Your relationships are key. So if you're not building good relationships, nobody's going to work with you. And I always say your network is your net worth and that can also translate into film PR. I think if you're going to do film PR and work with actors and working on big tentpole movies. You definitely need to have come from a big or even a small boutique agency and work yourself up to a bigger communications agency. It's a whole different beast. You got to know the A-listers and the movers and shakers and the deal makers, especially with film.

Speaker 1: 5:55

Would you say there are more of the networking and massaging of relationships in film and television than there is in music.

Speaker 2: 6:05

No, it's both. You have to finesse those relationships. Your relationships is what's really going to get you in the door. Do you have to have a college education? It helps, but your relationships are your net worth. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:21

So tell me about you. Know you're a Yardig Yal. First you have to tell the people where you come from and where your family is, but I think, as a Jamaican woman, you're in green, so you can't have just one team. So how did you start your entrepreneurial journey? First, tell us about your relationship to Jamaica and how you started your entrepreneurial journey.

Speaker 2: 6:45

So my roots are in Mandeville. My family owns one of the biggest sauce factories in Jamaica. I let people figure that out, it's the one with the little parrot, the little bird on the sauce. But my roots are in Mandeville and I always rep shoot as hill. So those are my roots.

Speaker 2: 7:03

And as a Yardig girl, my grandmother had me slaving in the kitchen at five years old. So I was doing multiple things playing with toys, cooking, cleaning, because you know Jamaican people, you have to clean, ironing. So I think it started with my family. You know was ingrained in me on Fridays we clean, saturdays we iron, sunday we go church dissonance. So it's like I had this regimented schedule and it just translated into my adulthood where, you know, I started doing PR. But then I had a day job because obviously I'm a single mom and let's see, here I like, I like nice things, so we have to work and we have to provide and you know. So I started doing PR and then I said, hey, I love candles, I want to make my own candles and I'm very, very big on like holistic living and you know, just, natural, eco, eco, luxe products. So I did my research and I found coconut wax candles. So I did my due diligence and I began to learn the chemistry behind candle making. It's just not candle wick oil, no, there's a whole science behind it. And I went to school for olfaction. So that's one of my many things that I did. So I went to school for cent for cent making perfume making. We call it olfaction. So I went to school here in LA for it and I can make and source perfumes. So I put that into my candle brand and I have a candle studio here at my house. So we started off with seeing candle.

Speaker 2: 8:48

Then I started off making Irish moss. During the pandemic I just saw everybody making it and I'm like, is that Jamaican person? I make that, we've been making it. And then I was just like, if it's not a Caribbean person, then I eat it, because they never clean it properly. And then you go on YouTube and then you see these November's I call them November's you see them washing the Irish moss five minutes. They're like oh, five minutes, you wash the sea moss and then you blend it and I'm like what? You never clean it, you never saw a kid and put like a lime in it.

Speaker 2: 9:34

So I decided to start my own Irish moss brand and it's been doing well since the pandemic. And I thought it was funny at first. I was like, hey, daddy, mimic Irish moss and say so you know what that is for. And I said everybody know what Irish moss is for, but the American people don't, so I go and teach them. So we were doing that and I still have the brand today. It's called Botanical Gold and we have three different flavors of Irish moss strawberry, almond kind of tastes like carmel porridge, so when you're eating it it's reminiscent of it, and then we have the plain. So I've had a really big celebrity clientele and that all goes back to my PR days and just having those relationships. So when I tell you, having relationships transcend into everything that you do, because when I do my events, when I have my brands, whatever I'm doing, I tie that all in and it's one big multiverse.

Speaker 1: 10:34

No, that is amazing. I like how you are kind of taking what you're, elevating your space by what? You've learned every step along the way, and I think that that is truly important. So let's talk about your latest venture, the Koda TV streaming network. So tell me a little bit about how you got into it. I know you have a background in film and television, so what made you really want to start this streaming network and the content you got to tell us about? What does Koda stand for? Let's start with that.

Speaker 2: 11:10

So Koda, caribbean on demand, all in one place. Yes, it's a mouthful, but the acronyms it, but it just, it's perfect Caribbean on demand all in one place, which stands for Koda. And so the way it started is last year I left corporate and prior to that I have been working in Hollywood. It's pretty much, let's say, a lot of people are between the African American films, the Latin films. It's really just starting to get the recognition that it deserves. Over the past couple of years, and I would say that between the black filmmakers and the black actors, they have really done such a great job fighting and vouching for their rights and just getting awareness and just being at the same level as white Hollywood. So you know, I have to really big up black Hollywood. In that essence and within that subspace you have all these little niche markets. You have the Indian market, you have the Latin market, you have the LGBTQ and there's the Asian market. What about the West Indian market? What about the Caribbean market? And for years I've been driving it into their heads but it's just not something that maybe they're ready for or do they recognize it as being a big monster. So what I did by developing CODA, it's Caribbean content Caribbean movies, caribbean music videos. So it's really falling in the essence of what BET was back in the day, what Netflix was five years ago, two B five, six years ago and they all started very small and they are a big, huge monster now. So there are other Caribbean streaming platforms.

Speaker 2: 13:04

However, mine is just a little different in the aspect of it's curated with movies, short films. We have music videos. We like to bring awareness to new talent and whether that's filmmakers, movies, short films, documentaries and just really bringing this into just one hub and I call it the multiverse because it's multifaceted. It's just not movies and it's just not music videos. We're giving you culture, travel and also Caribbean documentaries and we also just added podcast.

Speaker 2: 13:38

So we partnered with a Road Ready TV and they have three seasons and it's the first Carnival reality series ever and it's really fun. It just explores what Carnival is and it's these beautiful people under one roof and it just shows the different aspects of just their lives and built around Carnival, cause you have people that really really build their entire life around Carnival every year. So we have season one right now and we will be premiering season two at Miami Carnival and there's also season three. So I'm really excited about that, and we also have another podcast called On that Note and there's one Caribbean host she's from Haiti and it's a really great idea, cause we're really bringing everybody together in one hub. Cause you go to YouTube and you don't know what the hell you're looking for. It's just so vast with information. But you know, when you come to COTA, you're getting Caribbean content on demand.

Speaker 1: 14:45

Why is the curation piece important and how do you pick and choose what gets? Or is there a team like that kind of does the selection process and what is that like for you?

Speaker 2: 14:56

So there is a team where we have a chief content officer, we have an EVP of music marketing, so we all kind of work cohesively to curate good content because, at the end of the day, whether you're paying for it or it's free, nobody's gonna watch bad quality videos, bad quality stories. We're bringing good quality and really good story pieces that people can connect with. We have stuff for the older generation, for the newer generation and just somewhere in between where you like a little bit of everything. We also partnered with Keeling Reggae. Keeling Reggae used to have all these DVDs on Jamaica Avenue and in Brooklyn, all the little Dutty Skethel videos. We got them.

Speaker 2: 15:41

And who doesn't like to watch the old stuff? Cause, hey, you know, sean Paul and Shaggy just put out a movie called Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall. It's a short film. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and they talk about you know just the origins of Dancehall to where it is now and, yes, they do use foundational pieces from those old videos. So if you're looking for old videos and to look at dances and sound systems and how they used to be back in the day and just seeing you know just some of your icons, like Super Cat, Duggy, fresh, shaba Rangs, you name it. It's on the Kota network and you can watch those old videos in the vault. We call it the Kota Vault.

Speaker 1: 16:26

I really love that. You know how much I love old school, anything, but let me not sound old. The young people said, nah, I don't know, it's not too much, but you know I say it good In terms of like Caribbean content and entertainment. What do you think is the biggest opportunity right now for the space itself?

Speaker 2: 16:52

Oh my gosh, short films. I mean anybody can pick up a camera but it's really capturing the essence of the story. And I think, as young filmmakers, I encourage them to just experiment, go above and beyond. Does it necessarily have to be a Caribbean story? No, a story is a story, you know, and experiences and experience capture it. You know, just test the cameras. I know that one of the challenges for Caribbean filmmakers is not having the right resources or just the funding for certain equipment. It is expensive and I encourage anybody that wants to assist and help with any students with film reach out to me. We're actually sponsoring one of the movie nights, or the movie nights, in association with the Montego Bay Community College. It's called Movie Nights and we'll be premiering six short Jamaican films once a month and you can buy tickets and we're also sponsoring the tuition for one student for, I believe, with a film student body.

Speaker 1: 18:04

So you mentioned and you kind of talked about your career in film and television and executives not seeing the opportunity within the Caribbean space. What does the app mean to that opportunity?

Speaker 2: 18:18

I mean, you don't have to be a big filmmaker, as long as the storyline aligns with the brand and it tells a story. There's something that we can connect to that we think the audience will connect to. We want it on the network. You may put it on YouTube, but we want it on our network as well when people come there. We just wanna have a hodgepodge of Caribbean filmmakers, because when I say it's not just a certain demographic that's on there, we have executives on there, we have directors on there, we have studio heads actually registered on the app and they're looking, they're watching.

Speaker 2: 18:58

So I had one person say I never knew this about Jamaica. This is so cool. Who shot this? Are they available? Where are they located? So you never know the opportunity, and this is why I wanna bring everybody together under one hub. We also promote your Instagram handles just so people can know where to find you, and we also list the directors and the filmmakers and the actors, just like Netflix. So when you're going through Netflix and you wanna know who the cast members are, you can actually see who the cast members are on the network as well, and the directors.

Speaker 1: 19:38

So this is so exciting. I know you're kind of still in the beginning phases, I know you don't wanna give away too much, but what are some things that are in the pipeline in terms of where you're looking to grow, in terms of just development plans?

Speaker 2: 19:54

So right now we I call it phase one, so we're in phase one, but I would say by the end of the year how we want to grow. I wanna bring on sports. Football is major in the Caribbean and just with everything that the reggae girls have been doing, I wanna bring them onto the network, whether it be live TV we are gonna have live TV as well and also pay per view. So I can't speak on the major event that we're doing in Jamaica in the next couple of months, but we will be live streaming and pay per viewing a really big event. So you can come on the network and just like pay per view. You pay 20 bucks or 30 bucks and also we'll be having additional channels on there. So we wanna have original programming.

Speaker 2: 20:43

We're working on some films right now. We'll be going down to Jamaica and just getting some of that content and I can't share everything right now, but we are working on some really big things right now and they're gonna be Coda exclusives and we're working with new filmmakers. We're just working with anybody that has a vision and aligns with the brand.

Speaker 1: 21:05

So yeah, what would you say is the biggest challenge in the space of just streaming networks and content for you right now?

Speaker 2: 21:17

I would say it's just really devising. Right now there's a SAG-AFTRA strike and they're mad with streamers because it's like how do we calculate and how do we monetize just the content? Where does the analytics go? I think that's one of the biggest challenges is just really how do you monetize and how does the actor or the filmmakers or just the studio houses receive profit from that? So we are working really hard and diligently with other Hollywood executives to find the right balance. So that is one of the challenges. I'm aware of it, I am definitely on top of it and it's something that coming onto the network and obviously there has to be a monetization piece for the creative. So we're currently working on that right now. But what I can say, it will be profitable for everybody.

Speaker 1: 22:15

Amazing, so tell people how they can access the network.

Speaker 2: 22:19

So you can download it via the Apple Store and the Google Play Store, and we will be on Android TV next month. Roku we will be on all the platforms that you can think of, so just give us about two months. But right now you can find us on Google Play Store and the Apple iTunes Store and you can download it to your phones and watch it, and you can actually Chromecast it to your TV and watch the films, so you're not on your phone watching a movie.

Speaker 1: 22:52

I love it, I love it, I love it. All right, so, in terms of you know, the podcast is called Style and Vibes. We're gonna get into your style and your vibe, so tell me a little bit about your personal style, my personal style.

Speaker 2: 23:09

I love classic pieces. I love vintage pieces that I can wear and interchange all the time. You might see something that I might have worn three years ago, but I'm gonna remix it Menago tango by some new. If I don't have the time, we're gonna remix it with some bells, some earrings. We're just gonna change it up a bit. I love sleek, modern, clean clothes. I think that I really loved back in the day. I would say I love dancehall fashion, so that was my favorite. But how do we make that sophisticated? How do we not have our cheeks hanging out? So it's like really finding like this, I don't know, just finding this medium balance. So Jay Alexander of FUBU, one of the founders of FUBU, said to me one night at an event in New York he goes you know, you're kind of hood bougie, I love your style. I was like, okay, I'm gonna take that as a compliment. But the fact that Jay Alexander even said that to me, I was like, okay, he's paying attention to my style.

Speaker 1: 24:17

He says you know, I got a little hood bougie. Okay, the personality kind of comes through in the first look. So they know what I'm trying to mess with you Exactly. They can't step to you. They might come without certain certain you know.

Speaker 2: 24:33

Yes, I like to mix it up. I like sexy and sophisticated and clean. That's my style and I would say that you know I'm not into designer names advertised all over my body like all over. I'm not a walking billboard, so my style is very incognito. I could be wearing a $3,000 outfit and you wouldn't even know. And I love vintage fashion. Girl, give me a fur, Listen, I love it.

Speaker 1: 25:08

I love it. I love it, I love it.

Speaker 2: 25:10

I love it.

Speaker 1: 25:11

I love it. So what is currently on your playlist right now?

Speaker 2: 25:15

So currently on my playlist. Okay, let's look. Let's go to my title, because the title is fun.

Speaker 1: 25:23

First title of your playlist. Let me hear it.

Speaker 2: 25:26

First title of my playlist.

Speaker 1: 25:29

Oh, like, I can't share that one. No, no, no, that's good, okay, okay, that's Dany's hip hop and RV style.

Speaker 2: 25:43

Yes, yes All right Now the bashman playlist, all right.

Speaker 1: 25:47

What's the bashman playlist? Okay, let me show.

Speaker 3: 25:50

Oh.

Speaker 1: 26:01

See, jay was right on point because he said honey, but I was driving for some, tune that guy, the R and B, with total hip hop. I don't know if that was the remix or not. Exactly, it was the one tune them.

Speaker 2: 26:23

So you have, you've got your little ditty bop and then I go into my good man. So man tunes. So you know it's. I'm a cross of both. I'm a good balance.

Speaker 1: 26:33

It makes perfect sense. Thank you so much, lexie. I truly appreciate you being on the podcast. Tell the people where they can find you.

Speaker 2: 26:42

You can find me at Lexie Chow underscore and at the Kota network. So follow, share, like tell a friend to tell a friend Awesome.

Speaker 1: 26:52

And until next time, lea, tell me peeps.

Speaker 3: 26:58

Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the styling vibes podcast. If you like what you hear and I know you do share it with your friends and family If you want more, make sure you visit styling vibescom and follow us on our social channels, twitter and Instagram. At styling vibes. Until next time, lea, tell me peeps.