Being the Boss
No matter what business you’re in, sometimes it can be really tough to deal with co workers.
If you’re in a management position, sometimes you have to put up with unprofessional behavior especially if it comes from one of your top earners.
Sometimes when you’re the boss, you’d like to fire everyone who is a pain in the ass and start from scratch.
As the founder of EXPO Weekly, I have a very talented group of people working for me. I love all of these characters in my own special way but sometimes, their differing personalities can be hard to manage.
Take EXPO Partner and Creative Director Cassidy Chase.
I hired Cassidy to take my very popular one man blog Act like Ya News to the next level. Cassidy comes from the world of tabloid journalism that catches celebs doing stupid things and goofs on them. Cassidy aka The Chaser is a pro at this. She’s done an amazing job building the EXPO brand but Jesus, keeping her ego stroked can be a full time job.
EXPO’s Rap Reporter Manny Caballero is my buddy. He really reminds me of my early days in the music industry. As a Manhattan kid, Manny had hip hop in his blood but grew up in the shadow of his older brother Mercilus, a very popular Latino rapper. After a few personal stumbles, Manny decided to try writing and found his voice using the written word. No matter how ridiculous the stories we assign him, Manny always gets the scoop. I catch him spitting freestyles in the EXPO bathrooms at least once a week.
I’ve read Eleanor Wakefield’s column in the Times for years. When Keisha brought in Eleanor to write political op-eds for EXPO Weekly, I was shocked. What’s happening in the field of journalism is crazy. Writers rates are being undercut everyday and buyouts to senior staff happen every week. Fortunately I was able to match what Eleanor’s salary was at the Times. She really brings a level of respectability to this site as the Global Affairs Reporter. However, it irritates Eleanor to no end that she’s working in the same office as celebrity gossip blogger, Devin Cho.
Back when I was a rapper in the 90’s, dudes like this didn’t exist. Today, these gossip girls and guys run things. I can’t front, Devin brings in the hits and he regularly scoops Page Six and Entertainment Tonight just to name a few media outlets. At times, I’d love to wring his neck but that’s Cassidy’s boy. I can only take solace that Devin is scared shitless of our resident Movie reviewer Vic Mancuso.
All I’ll say about Vic (because Vic scares the shit out of me too) is that he writes the funniest, most insightful movie reviews I’ve ever read. I’m glad that he mostly works outside of the EXPO offices.
Mario Vargas, our tech blog expert was one of two guys who first approached me about expanding my personal blog into something bigger. Mario lives and breathes computers and has an incredible sense of graphic design. He designed every inch of this site. It looks better than your average blog doesn’t it? Mario is not known for talking much although to hear his wife tell it, he’s a very sociable guy. Sometimes he really stresses me out when it comes to meeting EXPO deadlines but Mario’s talent more than makes up for it.
Former NFL quarterback Chad Tate writes the sports column for EXPO. Years ago, Chad and I met in the office of our mutual divorce lawyer while he was getting shaken down by his estranged-soon to be ex-wife for millions. Over numerous drinks, the two of us bonded about women, making and losing loads of money and the similarities of the hip hop and sports industries. They both need unions but… I digress. Chad really regained his credibility in the world of sports journalism by writing a weekly column for EXPO and is rebuilding his life and career in the process.
These days, any news website worth its salt has a comics-ahem, I mean graphic novels section. Boris Ryskin is our resident comic book guru. A second generation Russian American and very gifted artist, Ryskin is a very curious fellow. Unlike some of the other staff members, Boris never raises his voice however his sarcasm can cut like a knife. It’s delivered in such a deadpan way, you don’t even realize that Boris is goofing on you. I do feel a bit sorry for the guy, everyone in this office has pitched him ideas that they believe would make for a great graphic novel but no one has any money to pay him to draw the stuff. Plus, Boris says their ideas are terrible.
I hired former fashion model turned television host Fatima Said Ali to write an advice column for EXPO. To be honest, I really expected Fatima to be a Somali version of Naomi Campbell but she’s surprisingly down to earth for such a looker. It was pretty funny when Vic asked Fatima out on a date her first day on the job. It was even crazier when Fatima took Vic to Fashion Week here in Manhattan although I really think it was for the photo op with TMZ. She’s never been seen in the office with Vic since.
Last but certainly not least, I hired Keisha Parks to come in and manage all of these folks. As I mentioned before, she added Eleanor and Fatima to the mix at EXPO Weekly. With Keisha, it’s all about the art of writing and the truth of journalism which puts her at odds creatively with some of the others. Keisha’s doing an amazing job and worth every cent of the top level salary that I’m paying her. I just wish that she and Cassidy could see eye to eye on more things.
I could go on about Will Bennett (Staff Photographer)
and Jill Clancy (Expo’s Underground Music Reporter)
but you get the jist.
The great thing about being a boss is that you can vent like this and not give a damn.
That is, until other companies start sniffing for talent…
Jamal
.
