Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Beam
Cheyenne, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I first entered college, I was a pre-med major at Middle Tennessee State University. I went my entire life saying I wanted to be a doctor so when I entered college, it was a no brainer and probably the easiest decision as you have to declare a major at some point. In college, I naturally started evolving, meeting new people, researching and experiencing different facets of life and my interests and passions changed. Entertainment, blogging, and fashion started to become really interesting to me. Tumblr was this alternate universe and sort of a portal into different people’s lives, other cities, cultures, and style and it became a means of escapism to me and I was really inspired by it. I remember changing my minor to Fashion Merchandising and that was my first taste of entering a new territory that didn’t include science and math and focused moreso on arts and creativity as far as my studies went. As a child, I was always pretty artistic and creative. I played instruments, took guitar lessons, painted, drew, took thespian classes, sang in every choir from elementary to college, and even competed across the state and country. After 3 years at MTSU, I decided that I wanted to delve into entrepreneurship and decided to launch a bow tie line. It was an eponymous collection that was created out from what I saw as a lack of variety and creativity in men’s formal wear. As I was experimenting with my own style, I remember vehemently scouring the internet for a leopard print bow tie for a college party/event I was attending and there were hardly any fun print, materials, or colors and so I wanted to create my own. I thought women could have so much fun with their style and fashion and for men, it was so bland and redundant. I started sketching ideas and coming up with a business plan and I flew to NYC and met with manufacturers. I found a manufacturer I wanted to work with and spent hours in their factory flipping through catalogs of fabrics and developing what would become Cheyenne Beam Neckwear. I remember I launched in Memphis with a pop-up event under the gazebo in Court Square park. I traveled back and forth to NYC promoting, marketing and selling my brand, getting involved in New York Fashion Week, and different fashion week pop-ups in the city with brands like another one of Memphis’ own Brandice Daniel, the Founder and CEO of Harlem’s Fashion Row. My ties ended up on BET’s 106 & Park, Rip The Runway and locally in Memphis, we were sold in a boutique in the Wolfchase Mall and landed the cover of the Memphis Flyer’s fashion issue. We also were involved in Memphis Fashion Week. Once I had a taste of NYC, I absolutely fell in love with the city and knew that I wanted to pivot my studies and the plan for my next steps so I took a year off from school to focus on my new endeavor and refocus and I eventually changed my major to Public Relations and transferred to University of Memphis where I graduated in spring of 2014. After graduation, I moved to NYC in the Fall of 2014 to pursue a career in Fashion PR. Although I interned while in college, once I moved to NYC, I soon realized that I needed more experience under my belt and began interning at several different fashion PR agencies in the city while simultaneously applying for entry level jobs. Throughout my internship stint, I interned at an entertainment PR agency called The Chamber Group where I fell in love with entertainment and knew that music/entertainment was what I wanted to do with the rest of my career. After interning at The Chamber Group, I was eventually offered a job and was super excited to be at an agency that represented some of the biggest acts in music/entertainment including Lil Wayne, Future, Mariah Carey, Jill Scott, Jazmine Sullivan, Memphis’ own Juicy J, 2 Chainz, Kelly Rowland, KeKe Palmer, LeToya Luckett, Mario, and more. I worked at TCG for a few years moving up the ladder from intern to PR manager until my next opportunity came. I always knew I wanted to eventually land at a record label and my next move would be Island Records. I worked at Island Records for about four years leading some very exciting PR campaigns for artists such as Skip Marley, Jessie Reyez, Remi Wolf, Chaka Khan, Sean Paul and more. After Island Records, I was most recently at Interscope Records where I worked across the Tupac and Juice Wrld estates and led campaigns for artists such as Swae Lee, Willow Smith, Jaboukie, Marsha Ambrosius, TiaCorine, Arin Ray and more. Earlier this year, the industry was shaken up as thousands of people were laid off. Unfortunately, I was affected and included in those layoffs and after a few months of a much needed break, I have been freelancing/consulting as I anticipate what will come in 2025.
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?
Of course it hasn’t lol. At different times during my journey, I’ve experienced different struggles. At times, getting acclimated to NYC from Memphis was a struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had the most amazing experiences but it still doesn’t negate the fact that there was also struggle. During my early years in NYC, I struggled so much financially interning for no money, working in retail making very little money and hustling. I look back and there were times where I literally don’t know how I made it but my family was always supportive. NYC will chew you up and spit you out. You have to have a hustler’s spirit and thick skin. It took about 3 years for me to finally find a groove and about 4-5 years before I finally felt like I was making enough money to sustain and be comfortable.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a Publicist with over 9 years of experience across the music, entertainment, lifestyle, and fashion sectors. The majority of my work has been in the record label space working with celebrity, talent and VIP’s, Sometimes, I believe that people have an idea of what they think a publicist is supposed to present themselves as and I’m most proud that I’ve remained and shown up in every room as my authentic self while always remaining professional and dedicated to authentic storytelling and brand building. What sets me apart is my diverse background from agencies to record labels and now freelancing and consulting and my strong connections across different sectors including music, entertainment and fashion. In my day to day, I have strong connections and relationships and pride myself on staying current and in the culture.
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to continue elevating and evolving in my career ideally still working in music/entertainment and/or adjacent sectors. I am seeking new clientele in the meantime and have some exciting projects that I’ve locked in for 2025. I’m also looking forward to continuing to build my own personal brand and taking a leap as far as those opportunities.
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