No one thrives in hustle culture like Jamé Jackson. LinkedIn’s Community Manager and founder of Misfit Creative Media, Jackson has been living the creative’s dream: running her own company and blog site, acting, and co-hosting a successful podcast, all the while living in New York City. And while all of her different hustles may seem disconnected, they all find a nexus point within Jackson’s personal career mission: being a mentor and guide for individuals from marginalized communities looking for success within creative fields.
“It’s very important for me to make sure that diverse voices feel that they are getting actionable insights [into the creative industry], because I realize that to some degree, the way in which we have to navigate the workforce might be slightly different,” Jackson tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview.
Growing up in Washington D.C.’s art community, Jackson found her love for storytelling through community theater. After graduating from Howard University with a double major in English and the Classics, she decided to pursue another form of storytelling as a journalist. However, in her early career days, Jackson was met with a jarring realization: many people saw her race and socioeconomic background before they recognized her talent. This realization led to her starting The Blonde Misfit in 2014, a blog chronicling her journey in the creative industry. Ten years later, that same motivator led Jackson to start up Misfit Creative Media, a company focused on highlighting Black and Brown voices within the creative industry.
Even outside of her own ventures, Jackson has sought out ways to incorporate her mission as a guide for marginalized creative, such as with her job as LinkedIn’s full-time Community Manager. Here, Jackson works as a career coach for those pursuing careers outside of LinkedIn’s “big three” such as healthcare, technology, and finance (which already have robust support within the platform). In this role, she creates LinkedIn’s weekly editorial newsletters, provides career coaching through video workshops, and most recently, co-hosts Let’s Talk Offline.
Launched on Sept. 10, 2024, Let’s Talk Offline is an advice podcast, made in partnership between LinkedIn and iHeartMedia, geared toward early-career Gen Zers and those who don’t have access to career development resources and support. The show pulls inspiration from both Jackson’s and her co-host, Gianna Prudente’s, personal work-life experiences, as well as the discussions like workplace etiquette and work-life balance that are taking place on LinkedIn via posts.
Jackson’s favorite part of the podcast is the ability to give back to marginalized communities. “I get to be the voice of the underdog,” Jackson says. “I get to be the diverse voice that people who might look like me or not who just come from different communities can look to and say, ‘I’ve seen her do it and I want to do it too.’”
For Jackson, there’s no such thing as an “average day” on the job. Whether she’s working on her blog The Blonde Misfit, taking acting classes, traveling for work, creating another podcast episode, or networking with other creatives at the LinkedIn office in the Empire State Building, there’s always something new to do. “I love being booked and busy. I love being able to equip people with the necessary tools that will make them feel more confident to show up at work. And I love being able to sit down and do a podcast. It is so fun,” Jackson says.
For those who aspire to have a career like Jackson’s, she encourages boldness. “Oftentimes we — and when I say we, I mean particularly Black or Latina professionals — we’re taught to be quiet in the workforce,” she says. “We’re taught to put our heads down and do good work so that someone will see it. No, shout it from the mountaintops. Let people know the amazing work that you’re doing.” While she of course encourages young professionals to be respectful and think long-term when it comes to speaking up, she’s also all for some boundary-pushing. “It is OK to talk your talk, and it is OK to be proud of the work that you do.”