Daily Inspiration: Meet Jermaine Sain

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jermaine Sain.

Hi Jermaine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I relocated to Atlanta in 2008, I was trying to find ways to meet new people in Atlanta, particularly people in entertainment. That’s when I came up with the idea of starting a YouTube channel to host a talk show called, When We Speak, dedicated to spotlighting Atlanta artists. I set out to interview artists wherever I could find them, whether it was in their homes, at music venues, or at a studio. Eventually, the talk show started to get a buzz and I was getting requests from artists, publicists, and even venues for interviews. One day, I was invited to an event by an artist but not for an interview but as a guest. While I was sitting there, I felt out of place because I didn’t have a camera in my hand, so I started bringing my camera to events and I would record footage of the event. People then started asking me if I could come out to their events and cover it, which evolved my talk show, “When We Speak”, into the media company, “When We Speak TV”, that it is today.

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?
I believe that any path you take is going to have bumps along the way. I can definitely say that I have experienced plenty. I started When We Speak TV with no formal training, only determination. But I think the biggest challenge I faced, that would actually encourage the readers is the fact that for over 15 years that I was running When We Speak TV and speaking with celebrities on red carpets, covering events, and all these other things that took up so much of my day, I still had a full-time job. Sometimes when I think about it today, I wonder how I did that. I would go to events sometimes and edit the footage until the morning then take a nap for about an hour and get up to go to my job. At the beginning, I worked a job that had a pretty set schedule from 7:30am to 4:30pm but later I went into a payroll position in film and television, which my typical workday was easily 12 to 15 hours days. And many times, on the weekends. It was so difficult managing my time, scheduling interviews, being at events, editing footage, and basically running the whole company alone but I did it. I did, however, think about stopping because it was just so much to do but I managed and I’m still managing to do it. The reason I wanted to mention that particular hurdle is because I’ve seen that most new entrepreneurs think that they are going to start a company and have the ability to leave their jobs immediately and sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Therefore, your love for what you are doing has to outweigh your desire to just leave a job or make money. If not, you may give up along the way but if you are truly passionate about what you’re doing, it will succeed because you will continue to do what you need to do for it to succeed, even when you don’t want to.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As the owner of When We Speak TV, I wear many hats– from being the owner to the editor, and even getting behind the camera at times.

When We Speak TV focuses on bringing authentic and engaging content to our audience. Whether it’s interviews with rising stars or coverage of events shaping our culture, we aim to keep thing inspiring and fun.

What sets us apart? Well, I believe it’s our hands-on approach. I’m deeply involved in every aspect of production, ensuring that each piece of content is present in the best quality I can. Plus, being a media personality myself, I bring a unique perspective to the table.

As for what I’m most proud of, it’s tough to pick just one thing. But if I had to choose, I’d say it’s our professionalism. I am so proud of myself and my cameraman, Chester Lawrence, for how we step into an industry with no true knowledge about it and managed to implant ourselves among many prestigious people in the field. Just like any company, we have challenges, but it always feels great to hear someone that you admire compliment you on your professionalism, especially when you know you just jumped out there not know what you were doing.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have two that I would like to share, the first would be my grandfather, Odell Rivers. Our as my sister and I like to call him “The Legend”. My grandfather was around 62-ish when my mother was born, which is his only child. My grandfather was in his mid 70s when I was born but he had one of the greatest impacts on my life. Often times I wish that I could be as “even keel” and as positive as my grandfather was. Even my mother says that even on his bad days, he always seemed happy. He was poor but I don’t think he even knew it and he didn’t have much formal education, but he would tell me this, “Me grandbaby gonna be a millionaire one day”. I can hear him saying those words to me like it was just yesterday. I also remember that he always had sweets and snacks in his closet and my mother would tell him not to let my sister and I have any sweets. As soon as my mother would leave, he would open the closet and it was like he opened the door to cookie, cake, and candy heaven!!!! It seemed like he had purchased the entire store and put it in his closet but now that I’m older I think he only had a few boxes. My second favorite memory would have to be entertaining my cousins when we were in elementary school. They would ask me to sing to them and they’d request songs for me to sing, so I guess they prepared be for being in front of the camera back then!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whenwespeaktv.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jermainesain
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jermainesain
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jermainesain
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/whenwespeaktv2