Community Highlights: Meet Jasmine Baskin of Xperienc

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Baskin.

Hi Jasmine , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My grandfather is a musician and I was surrounded by music growing up. He played all instruments; drums, guitars, piano, trumpet, I even remember him having a huge xylophone in the music room. He has rooms of records and I remember going to school every morning – begging him to play Rock With You by Michael Jackson – singing my little heart out. That is where it all started. I soaked in music and it became a part of my DNA. Although I loved music, as I grew up, I didn’t know initially about what all could be done in the entertainment business, because generally you just saw the artist (and I was no artist 🙂 ) and you didn’t see everything that goes on behind the doors to help make that artist who they are. The P. Diddy’s and Jay Z’s of the world.

So as most of us do, I started to explore – searching the web and felt it was out of reach, so when in high school, I pivoted and I took college courses in criminal justice. I just knew I would be in the CIA somewhere doing intelligence. I am an analyst at heart; I love data and propagating solutions to an issue – so this was the best fit, right? Wrong.

I quickly decided to change my major before starting college and before you know it, I landed at Tennessee State University. I had graduated high school a year early – so I felt extremely young when entering TSU and had no idea where to began. I found my way to the school’s radio station (WTST The Blaze); which was so great because they actually had a local station – so the school’s station was community-driven and became bigger than most college stations; giving it’s students the opportunity the have real-life experience while in school. I met a young lady named Me’Ashia King – who was the Manager of the station. You had to be a Senior to have this position. She took me under her wing – and before you know it as she was graduating, I was putting together a proposal on why I felt, as an upcoming sophomore I could be in what was a Senior role. Mr. Joe Richie, along with the other board members, took a chance on me and I was operating a station that had both radio and tv. I was able to work on concerts for K. Michelle and hosts and manage the interview set up for artists such as Marcus Canty, Plies, Justine Sky, Pleasure, Trevor Jackson, T-Pain, and so many more.

Looking back, I just feel so blessed to have people who believed in me enough and to guide me along the way. Mrs. Tameka Winston who was my advisor at the time and one of my Mass Communications Professors; started sharing the other roles that were available in the industry and this started my business bug.

I, later, transferred to Wilberforce University and remember sitting in the hallway waiting for the gym to open and sat beside a gentleman named Edward Lewis. I didn’t know at the time, but he was a powerful singer from Detroit and started talking to me about this media program they had there called WUMedia and told me I should come to a meeting because there were building a full-blown music studio on campus. I did just that and met who is now my mentor, the program’s founder and director, Mr. Gerald Poe Jr.

After demonstrating my capabilities and sharing my history from TSU, I stepped into a leadership role at WUMedia and helped grow the program from 8 students to two years later – over 120 students. WUMedia was truly a magical space – we learned and were taught everything from orchestrating songs, the foundations of music, the roles in the entertainment industry, and real-life skills. We made commercials from scratch, produced music videos, edited, held live concerts- building them ourselves from start to stream, and so much more. It was definitely an eye-opener on what was to come.

I learned quickly that I loved the business aspect of entertainment and started to fall into it quite naturally. While in WUMedia; I helped run a music distribution company – Executive Decision Media Group, co-owned by Mr. Domonique Mitchell. It allowed me to learn the process of music royalties, rights, distribution – as we had access to release music through The Orchard, Sony Music. We have released music- giving the grandest distribution deals to many artists in Gospel, R&B, and Hip-Hop.

I had always been very driven, but always felt I could do more. I am extremely tough on myself. Also while in school, I started working for the National Park Service under Dr. Joy Kinard doing PR and Marketing. After much research, I later wrote a manual on how to communicate the stories of the LGBT Community through national and historic monuments with the Greening Youth Initiative in Washington DC. This granted me a different acumen, as I was able to learn more about how to communicate in writ, how to manage a story, how to build a brand – in a more corporate and government ecosphere. This eventually led me to land management roles in the advertising world, which I have done for years and now do with Xperienc Agency. We merge media and advertising. – to create compelling stories for entertainers and media professionals from all walks of life.

Prior to the agency, Xperienc Inc. was born, where I was commissioned to assist with operational management and product development.

We took what was a concept to help content creators maintain ownership, and three years later turned into a one-stop-shop, where both independent content creators and established content creators can distribute all mediums of content (video, music, audio) – and have a direct team to help them with marketing, advertising, and getting their labels and media businesses off the ground. I currently now am the President and CEO of Xperienc.

Outside of entertainment, I became further inclined to gain mastery in different mediums of technology and started to explore alternative options to keep me well rounded, in which I achieved my FAA Drone Pilot License in 2019, several technical, project and programming certifications, and launched a drone company called Trio. While being in the background and assisting others is my happy place; I have been able to serve others through community efforts as well as joining organizations such as the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Urban League, and The Order of Eastern Star.

My power is people – and I am just ecstatic to see where my journey continues to take me. Life is truly grand and if you can dream it, you can achieve it. I believe in hard work, dedication, mastery of skillsets, and simply being a genuine person and one of her word.

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?
Starting a business, or for that matter being a part of any start up business is never a smooth road, but planning and the right people certainly help. I believe in leading and being led – and as long as you’re headed in the right direction – great things happen!

The biggest hurdle was learning myself, what I aspired to be, and do– as I was fortunate to have started tapping into what I wanted to do before I entered my 20s and was able to gain real-life experience early. The entertainment industry is a tough cookie in general – and forces you to swim or sink, but more importantly, it encourages you to determine what type of legacy you want to leave and what you want to be known for. It was important for me and remains important to me to be who I am – and showcase my talents without losing myself along the way.

We’ve been impressed with Xperienc, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a media distribution and entertainment hub that focuses on globalizing content through technology and marketing. While there are many platforms that allow creators to distribute their content – we focus on all mediums of media – as many creators do more than one thing. We meet all of our creators where they are and help them expand from there compared to sharing their content and that is it.

We’ve been able to work with some of the most magical creators; just as Darrin Henson, JoJo Brim, Christoper ” Play” Martin from Kid N Play, Comedian Bruce Bruce, Artists; just as Ruff Endz, Babbie Mason, Raleigh Hall, Khao Cates, Professor Griff, Cast from tv shows: such as Married To Medicine and many more.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
For Xperienc – readers can reach me at j.baskin@xperienc.tv

For all other inquiries – readers can reach me at hello@jasminebaskin.com

Contact Info:

• Email: j.baskin@xperienc.tv
• Website: www.xperienc.tv or www.jasminebaskin.com
• Instagram: imjasminebaskin
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasminebaskin