An Interview With Edward Sylvan
… Jefa In Training will foster the next generation of entrepreneurs by not only being a step-by-step guide to starting your business but by also being a workbook filled with business frameworks and worksheets that put what readers learn into practice and help develop their very own business plan by the last chapter. The chapters also feature anecdotes and tips from successful Latina founders as well as quotes from Latina leaders to help inspire them along the way.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda.
Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda is an author, community-builder, business development coach, and socialpreneur. Originally from Queens, NYC and born to a Mexican mom and French-American father, Ashley’s career started in the music industry in 2012, working at major record labels, publishers, and venues. After relocating to Portland, OR post-college, she created her own network for local womxn songwriters, now a national organization that has been featured in The Recording Academy, called #WomxnCrush Music.
Since the rapid growth of her organization, she has dedicated her career to creating opportunities and developing businesses and communities of underrepresented entrepreneurs through her coaching and consulting and has become known as the Business Hada Madrina (Business Fairygodmother).
Ashley acts as the Director of Business Development for The Mujerista a digital network dedicated to empowering and celebrating the next generation of Latinas making an impact en la cultura. Her debut book, Jefa in Training, the first business toolkit and workbook for Latinas, publishes on February 22, 2022.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in Astoria, Queens with my parents, younger brother and my French grandmother, Meme. I spent my time split between going to school in NYC and spending whole summers in Mexico with my mom’s side of the family. I have a huge family in Mexico and to this day am very close with my cousins. I would look forward to escaping to Mexico (and still do) because it seemed that no matter how far away, I was, and no matter how different it seemed like we were at the surface, my cousins always understood me. They never made me feel like I had to fit in — summers in Mexico felt more like home than most of the year in New York.
The way I grew up has impacted me in so many ways because I got to grow up with surrounded by diversity — and while in high school I knew I didn’t come from an upper-class family like my classmates — I knew how privileged we were compared to the poverty I saw visiting different parts of Mexico. Both of my parents and my Meme instilled such great values in my brother and I — be a leader, be kind to all, be generous, be mindful, and always keep shooting for the stars. Whatever dreams I had — whether it was becoming a professional touring rockstar or becoming a best-selling author — I was always encouraged to go for it.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
I remember being very impacted by a book I read in college called Do Cool $hit by Miki Agrawal. In the book, she talks about how she turned her passions into her full-time career, how she blazed her own path as an entrepreneur and truthfully — she was the only author of this kind of book that at that point in time, that I found myself able to relate to. A woman, creative, of mixed background, with non-white + wealthy parents. It was the first time I ever felt like I could ever start a business and have a career I was passionate about because through her story I saw what was possible.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
In 2018 I found myself in a hospital bed answering work emails. That was when I learned I was a workaholic.
I had just gone through a horrific potentially life-threatening experience of a burst infected ovarian cyst and was in the hospital for about a week recovering. I was at the same time, booking my organization’s first-ever SXSW showcase — a huge milestone — one that at the time, I thought was more important than my recovery. I hadn’t had enough time to sleep, detox from all the pain killers they had me on nor talk to my team about a decision that ended up being unfair for our volunteers and community. Though I quickly realized what I had done and was able to remedy the issue — it all could have been avoided had I just waited until I got home to start working again. That was one of the first times in my career I realized that taking a break from work was not optional, but sometimes necessary.
Lesson: Do the work but don’t fall into hustle culture. The goal should be to have a healthy work-life balance.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
Latina entrepreneurs make up one of the fastest-growing entrepreneurial segments in the U.S. but are given very few resources to succeed. Not only is Jefa in Training one of the few business books out there by a Latina, but its’ format is unique and engaging.
Jefa In Training will foster the next generation of entrepreneurs by not only being a step-by-step guide to starting your business but by also being a workbook filled with business frameworks and worksheets that put what readers learn into practice and help develop their very own business plan by the last chapter. The chapters also feature anecdotes and tips from successful Latina founders as well as quotes from Latina leaders to help inspire them along the way.
I hope that other Latinas will not only find this useful — but will also feel seen and will be able to see what’s possible — just as I felt when I read Miki Agrawal’s book all those years ago.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
The story of how I entered the business world is untraditional — but also proves one of the top lessons I hope people will learn from the book: if you feel there is a need for something, chances are, you are not the only one.
In 2015, I was an aspiring singer-songwriter looking to find herself after graduating college; I made a move from New York City to Portland, Oregon, with no intention of starting a business, just simply looking for a creative community to collaborate with after my arrival. At the time, the Portland music industry was scattered, and while there was an abundance of talent in the city, there was a lack of cultural infrastructure to support it, and when my favorite (though short-lived) open mic shut down, I was at a loss as to how to advance my career in my new city.
A few months later, I saw an opportunity to host an ongoing showcase at a local venue where I could start to create the community I so desperately wanted and needed. And so, I launched a monthly series to showcase the best rising women songwriters in the city. Within three months of launching the series, I had artists approaching me from all over the city, local media started coming and covering the shows, and soon enough, booking agents and other industry professionals began attending the showcases to scout for talent. In Portland, my monthly showcase had become not only a community initiative but a place for these artists to make the connections they needed to level up their careers. Still, I wanted to do more.
I was not sure what the next step was, so I started reaching out for advice to various women in music groups I was a part of. Instead of getting advice about how to grow this local showcase, I had requests to expand it to other cities. That’s when I felt the spark — a lightbulb went off in my head, and I realized that growing this initiative was no longer about me. This need for an online community where rising women songwriters around the country could collaborate and share resources with each other went far beyond what would serve me personally.
Fast forward a year, and I was building little teams to host monthly showcases, workshops, and networking events in New York City, Nashville, and Vancouver. As I saw interest rising, I also felt a little panic: I had no idea what to do next. I knew what I wanted to offer our community, but I could not figure out what to call what we were doing. Had I started a booking agency? Had I started an artist management company? When people would ask, I would tell them, “I just want to help.” After a few months of talking to mentors in the industry, I made the decision to make the community a nonprofit. That way, I could grow the organization and impact as many people as possible.
And that was just the beginning.
The tiny local showcase that started at a venue with a forty-person cap, driven by a need to connect with like-minded individuals, has now grown into an international community of over ten thousand rising women and nonbinary songwriters. We have connected European and South American songwriters, been featured by The Recording Academy, and partnered with top industry companies like CD Baby and Elektra Records to host educational webinars. Our songwriters have been picked up by sync licensing companies and have gone on to open for bigger artists. Unintentionally, I had started a movement.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I’ll never forget how I felt when I took the leap and decided to make #WomxnCrush Music a nonprofit organization. I was fired up about serving the needs of my community and no one could tell me that there was anything more important. I hadn’t felt that way about anything else until I wrote the proposal for Jefa in Training. I was on a mission to serve my community once again, but this time, in a different way.
When I started working with The Mujerista in 2020 and having daily conversations with Latinas in our network who were just starting their entrepreneurial journeys, a common topic of conversation seemed to be the lack of resources we felt were accessible to us. On top of that, the resources that were out there seemed overwhelming, the creators seemed unapproachable — it’s like these resources weren’t made with us in mind. I had started to casually pitch a business book the year before and at that moment I realized what I needed to change about my proposal to truly be able to make an impact. The book needed to serve the women in my community who I had been wanting to help while building this network. My “aha moment” came to me when I was least expecting it or prepared for it, but now that the word is out about the book and our community is truly excited about something like this existing — I’m so happy that it has all come together with the way it has!
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
A small business client came to me looking for coaching about 6 months after launching her business after getting some major press but struggling to figure out what the next step was to help her take the business to the next level. Over the next three months, I helped her analyze her branding, customer journey, sales strategies and together we were able to identify what truly made her products unique and craft a profitable business development plan. Three months later her small business is on track to be a 6-figure business this year.
The same tools we used to get her to where she is now are some of the same tools that are in Jefa in Training. My hope is that there will be many success stories like these as people start to use the book to build their business foundation.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
#1: Invest in the new majority.
Latinos are starting businesses faster than any other demographic yet somehow only 2% of VC funding went to their startups in 2021. Black and female founders face similar challenges and for us to continue inspiring more founders of the new majority to start businesses, they need to see more people like them getting funded.
#2: Give us a platform.
We not only need more spaces where we feel safe to connect with like-minded individuals, but we also need more spaces who will share our knowledge with the masses. In doing the market research for my book, I learned that very few Latinas have business + career books out there — and it’s not because there’s a lack of ideas! We need more media and publishing companies hiring the new majority writers, publishing our authors and we need companies hiring our speakers.
#3: Share our work even when it’s not Hispanic Heritage Month, Women’s Month, or Black History Month. 😊
Thank you.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is a process: it is the act of influencing others, yet ultimately, it is an art.
There are many aspects to leading well, and a lot of the time, it is subjective; but in my opinion, great leaders do what great art does — they influence people and help them feel happy, safe, and supported.
A great example of leadership is someone who not only appreciates their team and helps them grow, but also can learn from them, accept feedback, and hold themselves accountable too. At the same time, externally, they should be focused on building relationships with their community to become familiar with what they need to ensure their business is able to serve them. There must be a balance between being able to lead themselves, their team and their community. It’s a lot, but something I’m consistently working towards.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- It’s okay to ask for help. When I first started my entrepreneurial journey, I thought that by showing that I didn’t know something, displayed weakness and failure. In the long run this mentality only hindered my first couple of years as an entrepreneur. You are not expected to know everything.
- Taking breaks is not optional, it is necessary. Working 24/7 is not sustainable. Period. Hustle culture made me think that if I wasn’t constantly working on my projects, that I wasn’t working hard enough. It’s caused me multiple periods of burnout and overwhelm that have in fact slowed my success.
- Plant as many seeds as you can + water them frequently. I wish someone had told me about the value in building and nurturing professional relationships. Networking, the act of meeting people is important, however, keeping in touch with those people and creating a genuine relationship with them is priceless. You never know who a potential future client is or who you might be a client of!
- Imposter syndrome will come and go. But remember that it is just a feeling caused by whatever expectations society or sometimes, we, put on ourselves. Remember how you got to this very moment.
- Define your personal “why” and opportunities will come. As someone who has always worked on multiple projects at a time, it was difficult to focus on how to tackle everything. Once I homed in on my personal mission, I realized how to prioritize and put myself out there for the right opportunities. Ask yourself, what really fuels your passions?
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” — Frida Kahlo
People have always said they admire my optimism — and how even when everything in my world seemed like it was on fire, I’ve managed to stay calm and see the silver lining. This is the quote that I think of during those times — we are incredibly resilient, even when the universe tests us in the most mysterious of ways.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Arlan Hamilton — 100%. Her journey has been incredibly inspiring for me. I think we’d have a lot to chat about as we both came from the music industry and are now published authors that work with entrepreneurs.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow me on IG at ashleykstoyanovojeda and sign up for my newsletter at www.ashleykstoyanov.com 😊
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
At Sycamore Entertainment he specializes in print and advertising financing, marketing, acquisition and worldwide distribution of quality feature-length motion pictures, and is concerned with acquiring, producing and promoting films about equality, diversity and other thought provoking subject matter which will also include nonviolent storytelling.
Also in 2020, Sylvan launched SEGI TV, a free OTT streaming network built on the pillars of equality, sustainability and community which is scheduled to reach 100 million U.S household televisions and 200 million mobile devices across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV and others.
As Executive Producer he currently has several projects in production including The Trials of Eroy Brown, a story about the prison system and how it operated in Texas, based on the best-selling book, as well as a documentary called The Making of Roll Bounce, about the 2005 coming of age film which starred rapper Bow Wow and portrays roller skating culture in 1970’s Chicago.
He sits on the Board of Directors of Uplay Canada, (United Public Leadership Academy for Youth), which prepares youth to be citizen leaders and provides opportunities for Canadian high school basketball players to advance to Division 1 schools as well as the NBA.
A former competitive go kart racer with Checkered Flag Racing Ltd, he also enjoys traveling to exotic locales. Sylvan resides in Vancouver and has two adult daughters.
Sylvan has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and has been seen on Fox Business News, CBS and NBC. Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Author Ashley K Stoyanov Ojeda Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.