Today we’d like to introduce you to Royce Bable.
Royce, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a Southwest Atlanta native and I attended Tri-Cities High School Visual and Performing Arts Magnet Program where I trained in theatre, voice, and dance. Then I studied marketing at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and have had an interesting journey to his current position. During college, I interned for Google in San Francisco in their product marketing and TV Ads groups during two summers.
After undergrad, I had to satisfy my New York itch, so I accepted a position with The Nielsen Company in their Emerging Leaders Program — an 18-month rotational program where I worked in different parts of the organization in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. My final role with Nielsen was on the Viacom account team where I supported clients like MTV, BET, and VH1 to enhance their client relationships.
Realizing that corporate life wasn’t my calling at the moment, I left Nielsen in October of 2014 for a 5-month, 8-country backpacking trip in Southeast Asia. Immediately following, I scooted back to Atlanta when I returned to the states in April 2015.
Now that my feet were back on Southern soil long-term for the first time in about 10 years, I started working with A3C Festival & Conference as Partnership Director.
While heading up partnerships at the annual event, I developed, wrote, and produced Not Here Right Now, a live one-man show about my SE Asian adventure. Not Here Right Now was funded from hundreds from over 10 countries via Kickstarter. This experience led me to develop Roycebee Creative LLC, a company focused on productions and partnerships and where I currently serve as CEO.
Not Here Right Now was just performed in Los Angeles at The Hollywood Fringe Fest. I describe myself as a corporate creative.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not a smooth road at all. I’d say the biggest struggle was finally recognizing that I am an artist and admitting that to myself.
There was also the struggle as I realized that I was leaving something pretty (a “good job” in Manhattan) secure and that was incredibly difficult.
The struggle with “net-30.” Creatives know what that means.
The struggle with creating something from nothing with no visibly immediate resources. That one was a doozy.
The struggle with social media. I hate it… but whatever.
Getting through the struggle and realizing it was actually a lit ass victory is really cool though.
Please tell us about Roycebee Creative.
I’d be glad to. :-).
Roycebee Creative or Roycebee as clients call it, specializes in connecting communities via storytelling. We tell stories through partnerships and productions.
Partnerships:
We work with mid-to-large scale events and festivals like A3C, ONE Musicfest and The Atlanta Film Fest to develop brand moments for companies like Toyota, Squarespace, Boost Mobile, and Atlanta United. We are also currently working with DICE, an extremely innovative events, and ticketing platform, as they expand in Atlanta.
Productions:
Our flagship production, Not Here Right Now, is the mixed media live one-man show about my journey from corporate America to my 5-month backpacking trip through SE Asia. This show recently closed a Los Angeles run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Sweet Auburn Stories is produced here in Atlanta and are a live storytelling series with established Atlanta icons filmed in front of a cross-generational audience. This is produced in WERD Studios, the nation’s first black-owned radio station.
The team at Roycebee prides itself on the relationships that we continue to develop here in Atlanta and throughout the world. We want to continue to bring people together. This careful attention to relationships is also what sets us apart.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Traveling to Italy with my parents when I was 10. I got to witness, firsthand, all of the histories that I had only heard about in movies and in school. This definitely sparked my love of travel.
Making a video parody of Andre 3000’s ‘Hey Ya’ in my parent’s basement and hosting a family viewing party is a close second. That video is still a classic.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roycebee.co
- Instagram: @bableliketable (personal); @roycebeedotco (the company) ; @nothere.rightnow (the one-man show)
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