Today we’d like to introduce you to Jr Mchenry
JR, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I got started from a belief that I was just as good or even better than the guys in the sports media world as I was completing my degree work at Tennessee State. I knew all about sports from all angles. I would read the sports page every day. Listen to sports radio. Watch sports on TV at night. I even cobbled up some of the money I made doing various tasks in the neighborhood to order sports magazines such as Inside Stuff and others to keep me on top of things. I could hold my own talking sports at the barber shop with brothers 20 to 50 years older than me in some cases as a kid. I got so many reps as a youngster dealing with others’ thoughts and opinions, no matter how wrong they were, debating at the barber shop.
The barber shop is the basis of the show. I wanted the show to have a feel of as if you were sitting in the barber shop just having a conversation. I believe conversations make for the best interviews. I absolutely despise robot radio where the host is reading down a list of questions interviewing a guest. My style is just to follow whatever my guest says and follow up off of that, in my opinion that makes for a better interview and listen for the audience.
Those who see me now and the success of the show are shocked because they know I’m actually anti-social and very much to myself, which is hard to believe, but is very much true. I wasn’t much of a public speaker or being in the forefront, but all the things I excel require me to be a public speaker and being in the forefront. Nowadays, while I enjoy being in the limelight for people to see, but when I’m in my personal life away from the profession, I’m still very much anti-social and want to be to myself to chill and relax either alone or with those who I’m close to.
To get going in the direction to where I’m at now, I started interning at the local radio station to try and learn as much as I could. That was a mixed bag because the program director had a favorite intern and it wasn’t me, so I had to overcome that. After some tense conversations and calling out the nonsense of the program director and saying “I ain’t here to be the doughnut and coffee boy, I’m here to learn some radio!”, I got put on the field promotions team and got to host a Friday night happy hour the station was partnered with.
I parlayed the field promotions role and hosting happy hour into regular guest appearances on other shows to talk about a multitude of topics not just sports because I was well-versed in many subjects in addition to my sports expertise. In the midst of the guest appearances it led me to fully launch “The Bossman Show” and the beauty of it was by being at the radio station and being a recurring guest on other shows, I had a built in audience when I launched.
All these things led to me becoming a co-host of another show in addition to my own show which I enjoyed doing because it gave me more exposure and experience in the radio business. While I appreciated all the opportunities that I earned from hard work, I got to a point where I no longer wanted help lift others’ brands and or represent others’ brands so I could not fully say or do what I wanted to do in some instances, so I terminated my partnerships with the radio station, the show I co-hosted and the hosts I have recurring guest roles with to make “The Bossman Show” my sole focus, which leads us to where I am today sitting before you.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has not been smooth one bit. The road has been rocky and still rocky even today. It’s the price of independence. It’s also a price I’m willing to pay. I’m not a company man, never have, never will be. I’m not willing to sellout to be backed by a corporate entity just for access to events, games and people. If folks can’t see the value of my independent work, then screw them, I don’t need them, there’s enough people who respect the work I do to keep me in business.
See the thing is a lot of these teams view independent media as less than unless a person who is now independent at one time worked for a corporate entity. These teams try to limit independent media’s access to general population press conferences, game access with certain tier restrictions and select special events where the media is invited. Independent media can rarely if ever get an one on one exclusive with a player or coach or access to daily practices or open locker room media availability. As independent media, you have to really decide what access opportunities you prioritize to boost your brand and to enhance your content on your platform.
These corporate media people are lazy and take their access for granted in addition to asking the most idiotic questions one could even think of. A lot of independent media works way harder than the corporate media people because they have to scrap for everything they get. I feel access should be merit based not just granted because of where someone works or doesn’t work. A lot of these corporate media entities hire people and put them on beats of sports that they don’t even have the slightest clue about. I sit there at these press conferences and think to myself this is what you choose to give full access to while I continue to be limited just because I chose to be independent and make my own break.
And then you have these absolute despicable clowns in independent media that will beg and plead with these teams for access, emailing 6 or 7 times wearing them to down to give them access. So, a team deals with a fool like that and then wants to come at me and say something to the effect of “You obviously don’t care enough” because they got simps on their knees begging and pleading like Keith Sweat for limited access. I think not, I have more integrity than that to beg and plead, if you can’t see the value of my work and coverage for your team, I don’t need to be there with the limited access, I could be doing something else, being where I’m wanted. I’ve been in this game for over a decade, I’m not begging and pleading for anything from anyone, my resume is out there, if that’s not good enough, screw you, I’ll keep it pushing.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Bossman Entertainment Group LLC is the entity under which “The Bossman Show” is curated and produced. We are an independent media company specializing in quality content, giving listeners a different perspective on sports, entertainment, and politics.
In addition to being an independent media company, we are an independent Black media company which adds a whole another layer of obstacles and challenges. One would think by being in Atlanta that would be an advantage, it’s not. Three of the major professional sports teams in Atlanta treat independent Black media like second-class citizens and go out their way to deny independent Black media credentials to their games. They like to make independent Black media jump through hoops for an opportunity to be credentialed only to be either denied altogether or given such limited access it isn’t worth anyone’s time. It’s absolutely pathetic that in a city like Atlanta with a population of persons of African descent that independent Black media is treated this way all while these teams have players of African descent that independent Black media could relate to and share their stories.
What sets us apart from others is that we value the truth; the truth is what we believe in daily. We host a show that is based in Atlanta but not limited to Atlanta. We have this back and forth with teams on a daily basis about how we operate as a national show, not a local or regional show. Do we cover things in Atlanta? We do. But make no mistake about it, we are not limited to just Atlanta, we cover things all over and look to engage with players and coaches across the spectrum to distinguish ourselves from those who want to be local. We strive to bring the listening audience things that they can’t get anywhere else, that’s why we operate on a national scale, not a regional and local scale.
We leave no stone unturned in trying to deliver something to the listeners and our sponsors to inspire them or a rabbit hole to research to improve themselves. I’m most proud that we’re unapologetically authentic in everything we do. We offer various advertising, promotional, and sponsorship opportunities for small business owners at different price points. Interested people can reach out via the links at the article’s bottom.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
To work or collaborate with me: Email me at info@bossmanshow.com or at any my social media links below.
To support me on social media: Add, Like, Follow of Subscribe to my social media links below
To support me with a donation:
Cash App: $BossmanShow
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=W8RUMGJJSFYGA
Venmo: @bossmanshow
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BossmanShow.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thebossmanshow
- Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/therealjrthebossman
- Twitter: http://Twitter.com/JRTheBossman
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BossmanShow
- Other: https://bleav.com/shows/bossman-show/
