Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa DeAndrade.
Alyssa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Sharon, MA and a couple of my cousins I grew up with lived in Stoughton, MA. I ended up meeting my now two best friends – Rodney and Cliff. Ever since high school, we have pretty much been attached at the hip and they truly became my second set of brothers. After we graduated college (the University of Rhode Island for me, Umass Lowell for Rodney and Framingham State for Cliff), we became closer as we dove into the adult world. Breakfast Club started to become so popular and it made me realize that our group chat should be recorded and shared with the world in the Breakfast club manner. I brought up to them that we should be a podcast. For a while, we joked about it and even called ourselves ‘The Podcast’. Then one day, I put the idea into full force and said let’s just do it. We created a season of 5-8 episodes and named ourselves The Podcast. It ended up doing extremely well within our communities that we decided to keep going. By this 3rd season that we are currently releasing, we wanted to rebrand and really take this to another level. We did a photoshoot, got a new logo and decided to name ourselves The Art Of Realness. 3 seasons later we are now on iTunes, Soundcloud and soon to be on Spotify.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been the easiest, but definitely not as hard as I pictured. We found an amazing studio easily and close to us. I think the hardest part of the process was being the only female, so finding topics that all 3 of us could speak on and have knowledge on was and has been our biggest challenge. I am a perfectionist so making sure the episodes were good quality and good topics is something we still are trying to make seamless. I also go with the flow more than the guys so they definitely give me a hard time on saying “I’m good with that” on things like logo and what episode to drop next. For women, I would advise to just stick to it and to always just do it. At first, I felt like the guys were too “chill” and not serious, so I had to push for things but now I think they might be the one pushing me! I would always just advise never to be scared, you will never know the outcome without trying it. If it fails, you learned a lesson and if it prospers you gained a blessing.
We’d love to hear more about The Art of Realness Podcast.
Our podcast is really just to show others that we talk about what others are thinking. All of our episodes are different topics and we feel they are topics people talk about with their friends or maybe never even thought about and we can shed some light to new things for them. In our group, I think I am most known for the girl perspective and the ones who keep the guys in check in the classiest way, LOL. I let the guys be as honest as possible but I do not let them speak from a woman’s perspective and I think that is what sets us apart. We have such a strong dynamic and chemistry that no one else can really replicate. We have so many years in our relationship backing us up that our chemistry really shines through the mic/speakers. I am most proud of our brand showing that minorities can have a corporate job and do something that we have a passion for. We don’t allow how others view us change what we do and we show that men and women of color can come together to make something so unique.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
The book I would say Black Privilege by Charlamagne the God and radio show The Breakfast Club pushes me and my team to have that ‘just do it’ mentality and motivation to keep going. I would also suggest others to tune into my good friend’s podcasts which also help us do our best – The Bau & Dro Show and Y U Need to Hear This.
Contact Info:
- Email: thepodcast.boston@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ad.120, instagram.com/youngandeducated, instagram.com/rj_doesthis
Image Credit:
Hakeem Ottun (@qcvm_llc on Instagram)
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