Jemel McWilliams, an accomplished dancer, choreographer and artistic director, recently spoke with Alignment Strategies founder and CEO Dr. Vanessa Weaver about his professional journey and how he has broken down barriers along the way. He shared details about his transition from corporate America to the entertainment industry, the challenges he’s faced as a Black man in Hollywood and how working with Janelle Monae has shaped how he approaches his work. The following is an edited excerpt from their conversation.
Dr. Vanessa Weaver: You went to Drexel University, one of the top universities in Philadelphia. You got a degree in both Marketing and Management Information Systems and went to New York and got a job in corporate America. Tell me about how you made the transition from corporate America to the entertainment industry. What did it take and what adversities did you face?
McWilliams: The first adversity I would say was facing myself. Facing the internal questioning of am I following my heart, which is super insecure, there’s no stability to it, or am I staying in the corporate space where yes, I’ve spent over a hundred thousand dollars in higher education bills and all of that, do I follow that? I said, “Jemel, follow your heart.” So, I stopped corporate work and started teaching afterschool dance as a part-time job. So I’m literally going from a secure job to working two hours a day, but it was something that was fulfilling. I’m teaching hip-hop dance to my community, to the Black and Brown kids in the Bronx.
It was my kids who encouraged me to go back to professional dancing. They said, “You’re getting these opportunities. Why aren’t you doing them, Mr. J?” I said, “Because I need to be with y’all,” and they checked me. They said, “No, that’s your fear. You teach us not to be subject to our own fears. So you need to get out there, Mr. J, and go for it.”
Weaver: You hear so many stories about how difficult it is for Black and Brown people to really break in, in Hollywood, in a major way. How were you able to do it? Was your diversity an asset?
McWilliams: I ended up being aligned with Janelle Monae and I credit Janelle for so much in my life…. Connecting with her, I really got to explore the fullness of my creativity and of my mind and she challenged me so much…. As a Black creative, we’re not given those opportunities often, right? Once I was exposed [in the industry] via Janelle then opportunities came because people were like, “Wait, this guy is actually really good.” In the back of my mind, I’m like, “Yeah, you just haven’t taken the time to see me prior to that.” That was eye opening for me. From that point forward, it became part of my mission to make sure that I did as much as I could to give as many Black and Brown creatives platforms to be seen.
Weaver: In the work that we do in Alignment Strategies, particularly in that corporate sector that you left, we work with Multicultural folks, particularly Black and Brown, and this whole issue of showing up and being your authentic self is one that’s talked about. They’re trying to figure out just how do they show up? What does authentically being Black or authentically being Latinx really mean? For you, even as a creative, that’s a reality that you are also facing.
McWilliams: Even in the creative space where you’re supposed to be free to be yourself. I was able to realize when I did more self-reflection that I changed when I walked into certain rooms…. It got to the point where I am sitting in these rooms with the head of the Academy, pitching ideas and at one point I was trying to pitch the idea the way I think that you’re supposed to pitch ideas. I realized that I’m not giving them my fullest self and my fullest self is so beautifully uniquely made. I started doing exactly what I’m doing with you right now, being my full self in these meetings. I didn’t care who it was sitting across the table from me.
Weaver: I really would like for you to give some advice to young people who are interested in breaking through the industry.
McWilliams: Breaking through the industry or just pushing through in life, be yourself, follow your heart, listen to your heart, have a spiritual guidance there. Sometimes you’re in environments where you have different spirits of negative energy or different spirits of jealous energy, wherever it’s from, whomever it’s from. I think that a spiritual grounding for me has been the key to keeping me sound daily and pushing through this and understanding that I am here for a purpose.
