Ep 187: Montego Bay to New York A Story of Adaptation & Success ft Kerry Ann Reid Brown

Raphael Harry [00:00:00]:
What's going on, guys? This is a special rerelease of white label American. And on this rereleased episode going back to April 8, 2023, we have Carrie Ann Reid Brown. Hope you guys enjoy. Welcome to white label American podcast. This is a podcast that brings you bold in-depth interviews with interesting people that are mostly immigrants taking down artificial walls one story at a time. This is a podcast that empowers immigrants to share their stories and listen to those of others. Thank you for joining us. Welcome to a brand new episode of white label American.

Raphael Harry [00:00:46]:
I'm your host, Rafael Harry. Thank you for joining us today. I am honored to have a very special guest. And before we begin, I would like to thank everyone who's been showing love and support, giving us 5 stars on your favorite podcasting platform. If you haven't done that, hey, what you're waiting for, man? Weather has changed. Spring is here. Be a nice person. You know? That that that made me come find you in your dream.

Raphael Harry [00:01:12]:
So, hey, do the right thing. You know? Otherwise, I might send John Wick after you. You don't want coming to find you. It's an immigrant podcast, so we can pull scary person from each person's, culture from, you know, any culture out there. And or I might pull one from Mali too. You know? We have a Malian hiding in the studio here. So that made me do that. So do the right thing.

Raphael Harry [00:01:34]:
Go to www.whitelabelamerican.com. Can give reviews over there. Five stars only. If you wanna give less than 5 stars, Papa Yaga will come find you. So, you can give us donations. We accept dollars, pounds, sterling, euros. If you wanna give naira, man, will come for you too. So, you know, you know, Nigerians know what I mean by that.

Raphael Harry [00:01:58]:
So, yeah, we don't do that here too. So with that being said, we don't wanna waste time on any other thing. Buy our merch. Give us love, show love, and we show love back to you. You can support us on Patreon for as low as $3. We have the last of us, discussions over there. There's more shows we're talking about, everything everywhere all at once. We have, Wakanda forever and other good shows.

Raphael Harry [00:02:23]:
Immigrants love love to talk. So, you know, we have other things we're talking about. And, maybe the African Nations Cup and other things will be coming up too. So what else? Yeah. I think we've done all the announcements. So let's jump to today's guest. You know? I'm I'm more interested in guests. So, we have someone who's based here in New York.

Raphael Harry [00:02:46]:
She's responsible for bread food Breadfruit Media. It brings a couple of podcasts that are under her company, Bridge to You, Carry On Friends, Strictly facts. I've been loving that podcast. You know, it's, I've been learning some great history from the Caribbean just by listening to Strictly facts. So, man, it it's it's just fantastic, the work that she's been doing. So with that being said, let's meet Carrie Ann Reid Brown. She's a fantastic woman, entrepreneur, mentor, leveraging our expertise, and years of experience to give feedback and guidance to help podcasters develop and grow. Welcome, and thank you for joining us.

Raphael Harry [00:03:34]:
How are you doing today, Carrie Anne?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:03:35]:
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I loved your intro. If we are going to send anybody, you know, the Jamaicans, we'll have the doppies coming for any listener who has the support.

Raphael Harry [00:03:48]:
I love I love that word, doppies. Doppies.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:03:51]:
Doppies. Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:03:52]:
See, that that's why I love Jamaicans. You know? They'll they'll always have Jamaicans, your lingua always just make me excited and happy. So Oh. Yeah. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:04:00]:
We're all family.

Raphael Harry [00:04:01]:
Yeah. Well, big time. Big time. I I think every from the first time I came across anything Jamaican, it's always just been love. So, yes, straight up family. So welcome again. How are you doing today?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:04:14]:
I'm doing good. I'm doing good. I'm excited. Looking forward to having a wonderful conversation with you today.

Raphael Harry [00:04:20]:
Yeah. Me too. So let's go to the very beginning. Have you ever wondered what the meaning of your name is and if there's a story behind it?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:04:30]:
Which name? My personal name or Red Fruit Media?

Raphael Harry [00:04:34]:
Let's start with your personal name.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:04:36]:
I mean, Carrie Anne, I mean, there's a there's a running joke. Almost everybody in the Caribbean is an Anne Carrie Anne, Shelly Anne, Stacy Anne, Terry Anne, Tony Anne. There's a lot of Anne's, and that is a holdover from our British colony. Wow. So, the name Carrie is actually Irish Gaelic. And Anne, of course, is a nod to the queen, as a lot of places in the Caribbean, not just Jamaica has Anne. So you have a parish in Jamaica called Saint Anne

Raphael Harry [00:05:10]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:05:10]:
And all that good stuff. So yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:05:13]:
Wow. You know, I did not think about how many Anne's.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:05:20]:
Yeah. Carrie's accounting Ireland. Carrie Anne, Shelly Anne, Stacy Anne, Tony Anne. You know? All the ants. Katie Anne. There's a bunch of ants. So, a lot of times when I say I'm Carrie Anne, people are like, you're Caribbean. Right? Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:05:36]:
Like, yes.

Raphael Harry [00:05:37]:
Wow. Wow. Wow. That means wow. Yeah. So if if any anyone is, a secret service agent from Jamaica, they definitely can't go with Anne.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:05:52]:
No. They can't go with Anne.

Raphael Harry [00:05:54]:
That that's yeah. Gotta strike that out. Okay. Wow. And, so I so Carrie also speaks because I I know there's, an Irish history with Jamaica.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:06:03]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:06:03]:
So that Kerry also speaks to the Irish history.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:06:06]:
Yes. Yes. The Irish is what the British, empire at the time, they used to be the overseers on the plantations, or the Irish would go if they were criminals, they would go and serve time and be, like, the hands on the plantation and so forth so forth. So

Raphael Harry [00:06:27]:
Oh, wow. Wow. Wow.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:06:32]:
And you could learn some of that on StrictlyFAX because we talk about Jamaican language, Caribbean language, and where that came from. And there are some Irish mixed and English and African language mixed in the Jamaican language.

Raphael Harry [00:06:48]:
See. Wow. That that's what that's why I love this question because you you just yeah. I know Open up the whole

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:06:55]:
new world. Open open

Raphael Harry [00:06:57]:
up so much and, like, man. You know? It's my brain is just going pop up pop up pop up pop up. But I'm trying to suppress, like, come down. Come down. Let's let's let's stay on track. Let's stay on track. So, so Carrie Anne is a combination of two names brought together as one. Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:07:15]:
Okay. So that'll be 2 different meanings.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:07:18]:
Yes. But, I'll I prefer Carrie Anne. A shortened version of my name is held for very personal relationships like my mom, my husband, and my siblings. So Okay. Good. Kerry Ann is the name I prefer.

Raphael Harry [00:07:33]:
Okay. And was there any particular story as to why you were given those names?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:07:40]:
Yes. There is.

Raphael Harry [00:07:42]:
That you can share?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:07:45]:
So the story my mom said, my grand aunt, which is my grandmother's youngest sister, Turns out that we have the same birthday. And there was a whole lot of drama around when my mom went into labor. And she did the honor of giving me her my name because her husband's so basically her sister-in-law, so a whole bunch of people were involved in picking my name. But it came through my grand aunt and her sister-in-law liking the name Carrie Anne. But there was a Marissa thrown in there that was up for consideration, a bunch of other names. And so it landed on Carrie Anne. I that's the story I was told.

Raphael Harry [00:08:32]:
Wow. Fair enough. Fascinating. So is it common for women to pick names for kids?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:08:39]:
I don't know. I mean, my experiences with my children, it's it's a very democratic approach. Yeah. I give all the options and people might put in names, and I tell everybody to vote on it. And we did a combination, but I'm extra. Right. So, that's how my kids got their names. But there was a story, and I'm not gonna say it.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:09:05]:
My brother, my grandmother had a name that they wanted to give my brother. My uncle was like, no way. And he did not get that name. So I would say that the the the choosing of names is an equal opportunity process with men and women.

Raphael Harry [00:09:22]:
Okay. Okay. I like that. Yeah. Because I know some cultures have, it can be names can come from women. Some can come from men, or you know? So it's it's I I like you know, I use this question to also find out about different cultures.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:09:40]:
Right.

Raphael Harry [00:09:40]:
So, you know

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:09:42]:
Yeah. No. I don't think Jamaican culture specifically Mhmm. Have. Even though, I guess, traditionally, most of the Caribbean, it's a matriarchal society in a way. Like, women are centered. It's it's confusing because then there's talks of patriarchy. But the women, they are the center of the family in some ways Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:10:05]:
Depending on, the the makeup, I guess. But it varies. Every everyone has a different family setup.

Raphael Harry [00:10:13]:
Okay.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:10:13]:
I know my grandmother was the boss. That's

Raphael Harry [00:10:16]:
Awesome. So, with that being said, can you introduce us to where you were born and what your childhood was like?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:10:26]:
So, yeah, I was born in Jamaica, and I had a great childhood because I come from large families. So my grandmother was one of 9. And so you can imagine her siblings, their kids, their kids' kids. You know? And one thing about growing up in the Caribbean, we don't say first cousin, second cousin. You're just cousins because most of the time, you're all living a similar vicinity. So I had a cousin across the street, next door, down the road, down this road. So everyone was everywhere.

Raphael Harry [00:11:05]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:11:06]:
And then on my dad's side, it was just I just had very large family. And it was, you know, one of my cousins made the joke that said, you know, you didn't your foot didn't touch the ground until you were 3 because I was the first baby. And so they spoiled me a lot.

Raphael Harry [00:11:26]:
Oh, Fox. Amazing.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:11:27]:
Yes. So all the guys spoiled me, because I have uncles. I have only uncles. And so they just took me around, and I was always in somebody's hand. And and they were like, yeah. You know, for the first 3 years of your life, your foot didn't touch ground. You were a queen. They love to remind me of that.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:11:48]:
But I had a good childhood. I loved being around my family. I was always around the old because I was so young and everyone was older, it was just being around them, observing them, admiring them. They were football players. My dad was a big football player. He passed away last year. And when we had his funeral, you know, his coach was talking about when my father did a head dive for a ball and, you know, there's like nobody would have done that. And he was just known as this big ball.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:12:19]:
And I have a lot of family members who were just really great soccer football players, and

Raphael Harry [00:12:24]:
I

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:12:24]:
grew up just in that environment. I I just I just enjoyed it. I had a lot of great experiences. And when I moved to this country and the first time I moved back to Jamaica after I moved to this country, you know, I was telling a friend, like, you know, I don't like this song because, you know, it was a Beanerman song, and he was like, you know, my big up and trust all the ghetto girls. And I was like, why am I big up only to get to girls? And my friend was like, where you think you come from? I was like, I didn't think I from the ghetto. And, and I didn't think I was poor either. Mhmm. You know? But it was when I when I shared the story with my teacher when I came back the summer, it's like it's a state of mind.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:13:07]:
You didn't grow up thinking that way. You had very rich experiences. You didn't have that. And so my my childhood was spent summers going to different places in Jamaica where tourists would go to, and I went on those on church trips because, you know, we lived in church, so there was always something. So I had a very interesting childhood. My grand uncles were fishermen, and, when I'd spend the summer with my dad's side of the family, which literally the airport separated both communities, I would get up early, and it was like watching them go out and come back with big marlins and all these other fishes, and people would come and buy. So it was for me, it was just an amazing experience growing up.

Raphael Harry [00:13:57]:
Wow. So, first of all, condolences on the passing away of your dad. And, you've mentioned you were born in Jamaica, but you didn't say what city in Jamaica.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:14:09]:
I'm from Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Raphael Harry [00:14:11]:
Bay. Yeah. I've heard of that place.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:14:13]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:14:13]:
Yeah. Because I like kinda I I don't want to just you know, I don't want people to have that picture of, oh, it's Jamaica is one big city. I'm like, oh, no. That's that's multiple cities. Yep. Yes. So, Montego Bay. Wait.

Raphael Harry [00:14:27]:
Where am I? I'm thinking of, somewhere else. Montego Bay is not the capital, though.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:14:33]:
Montego Bay is the second city,

Raphael Harry [00:14:35]:
and city. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:14:36]:
We are the tourist capital of Jamaica, and it has the largest airport in the region. And so most people, if they're going to Negril or Ocho Rios, they're flying into Montego Bay and then driving to either destination.

Raphael Harry [00:14:50]:
Oh, so one thing that you said that I relate a lot to is, you know, when you were talking about not thinking that you grew up poor. Mhmm. I think I've been doing the podcast for a little bit, and that's when I I can't remember who I was talking to, but I made that, I made a similar summary. You know, looking back, there were times when you know, because I knew people who were poor

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:15:22]:
than Yes. Right. You're comparing yourself.

Raphael Harry [00:15:24]:
Those were the people I considered poor.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:15:26]:
Poor. Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:15:27]:
But there were days that I 100% remember clearly where there was no food in the house, and I've been saving my pocket change and all that. And, you know, the family the family didn't hide it, but we knew there was no food. And I had nieces and nephews. And, my mom was like, you know, we'll have to wait until she gets to work and see if they'll finally get paid. She was a senior civil servant, a federal civil servant. And I was like, oh, I got some change on me. You know? Matter of fact, can I borrow you? Or, like, you know, maybe if I say borrow. Right? But then I was thinking I was there was the way I said it back then as a kid, as a teenager, it was I thought I would have my shoulders pumped up and but I think she used burrow.

Raphael Harry [00:16:19]:
Like, what can you tell me to make me sound like it wasn't like she was in need? Right. But to make me feel good, that it it wasn't like we're in dire straits.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:16:32]:
Right.

Raphael Harry [00:16:32]:
And I said, oh, yeah. I'm coming to the family's rescue. But Right. Yeah. Things were bad because there were periods where even up to now, it's still happening in Nigeria where the federal government doesn't pay certain workers for a long period of time depending on what job you do. And how do people supposed to survive? So what if the families, how they're surviving? People don't consider that. So there are people who have to go borrow, people who have to take drastic measures. And we faced that a couple of times, and it was money I've been saving.

Raphael Harry [00:17:04]:
Mhmm. And then there were times where I'm like, okay. Give back that money I owe that you owe me, and then, like, who who pays the rent in this house? You pay rent and all that. You know? So that's as a kid, that's what I was remembering. I'll be holding grudges.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:17:16]:
Right. Right. You know, for me I mean, as an adult and a parent, you look back and you're like, oh, okay. You know, there were some challenges there. But in the moment, as a child, I did not think I was poor. I think how I related that I wasn't well off because how our house was structured. Right?

Raphael Harry [00:17:39]:
Yes.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:17:39]:
So and it's so interesting. I was having this conversation the other day with my husband. So our house is what the front half of the house is what we called a boarded house. Right? It has, like, you know, regular rooms. It has a enclosed veranda, and then the back of the house was concrete. Right? So it had different structures. And so in that way, I was like, well, I don't have a fully concrete house. Right?

Raphael Harry [00:18:06]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:18:06]:
But as we watch, like, HGTV, and we're looking like, that's the type of house we grew up with and didn't like it. And now they call it shiplap. You know? And that's literally the structure of our house, the front part of the house. I think one part of it, it was both economical, but it was also practical. Yeah. Economical was they couldn't afford a fully concrete house. But practical, if you think of electricity and, you know, heat in Jamaica at the time, a fully concrete house is not necessarily the best for a very tropical weather. Right.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:18:47]:
Right. Especially if you you don't have, you know, resources to cool the house a particular way. So, that was that. And then, you know, when you look back at it, this the things, the foods that we were eating, I said, okay. Yeah. Maybe their money was tight, but I never saw it that way. I know I always had food to eat. I know I had to go to school.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:19:12]:
I never had to, you know, there was never a day where, you know, or a period where my school fee wasn't paid

Raphael Harry [00:19:20]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:19:20]:
Or, you know, I didn't have food. You know, we always had. And if we didn't have, like I said, a cousin live across the street, next door. And what I loved about growing up in the Caribbean at the time, you know, the the yard is filled with food. You know? There's a breadfruit in tree in the front of the yard. You could pick it. You roast it. There's the ackee tree in the yard.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:19:44]:
You know? Also, you could tell that the community understood that different people had different financial challenges. Right? Yeah. So if you go to a store here in the US, you're buying a bread, you're buying a whole loaf of bread. True. Back then growing up, and I know it couldn't be only my community, but if you go to the store, you can buy half a bread Yeah. A quarter of bread. You could buy one stick of butter instead of the whole pack or half or a quarter. Instead of buying a hand of bananas, you could buy 2 fingers of bananas.

Raphael Harry [00:20:22]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:20:22]:
Right? So the the community accommodated for people in their different, you know, scenarios. So, like, we grew up in a house where there was indoor plumbing and we had electricity. So we sold ice, you know, to our neighbors because they wanted dinner and cool drinks, so we sold ice. Or my my my grandmother would make certain pastries, then she'd sell that. That's another way that she was able to to bring income in.

Raphael Harry [00:20:52]:
See, you guys reminded me of something that, I think that was 3 episodes ago with Yuan Yuan Wang. She grew up in Southern China, and she was talking about growing up at a time when there weren't big supermarkets around. And there was more of a commune a relationship with the pop mom and pop stores Yep. Around, and it's it reminded me of just what you said, reminded me of that because I remember, because one thing about me was that we moved around. My mom being a federal civil servant, she got transferred around the country.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:21:34]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:21:35]:
So, we didn't stay in one place for too long. And but you could, you know, go to the little store and just like you guys, like, you got, instead of buying the whole pack of sugar, they they we mostly got the cubes, the sugars in, that were cubes. So instead of buying the whole pack, you'd be like, give me I need only 5 cubes of sugar. And they'll open a a box and give you 5 cubes And, all stuff like, a can of milk, you couldn't get some of it. You have to buy the can. Like, yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:22:11]:
Yes. Some things you could

Raphael Harry [00:22:13]:
things you couldn't, but some other stuff, they they could split it. Like, even I remember cigarettes because I I I used to go buy cigarettes for my uncles. They'll give me change.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:22:20]:
You buy it? Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:22:20]:
You give me 2 sticks, and then give me 2 sticks.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:22:23]:
So my But

Raphael Harry [00:22:23]:
there was a relationship. Yes. But back then, the dream of everybody was like, oh, I wish I could go shop at a supermarket. Yes. But you didn't understand what you'll be giving up

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:22:33]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:22:33]:
To go shop at a supermarket because there was, like, only one supermarket in the town Yeah. Exclusive. That was the name of the market. I remember and I remember when my brother-in-law who had moved South Africa came home and, you know, you have to show off. You have to take everybody to go show off. Then we're like, oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:22:49]:
We're so excited. But you don't know what you're giving up Right. Because you can't say, hey, man. Can I come pay at the end of the month?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:22:56]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:22:57]:
You can't get credit.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:22:58]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:22:58]:
Nope. Yeah. You gotta pay Yeah. Right there and there. Yeah. So all these things were included as part of community.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:23:05]:
Yeah. But we don't know.

Raphael Harry [00:23:06]:
We don't understand all that. There's accommodation.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:23:09]:
So the story I told about selling the ice and the pastries, that was my grandmother, my mom's mom. So my father's mom, I when I visited her, she was the night think of it like the night corner store. Yeah. So she had the same little, you know, sandwich biscuits, the cookie cream biscuits or whatever we call them.

Raphael Harry [00:23:32]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:23:32]:
And, you know, after the regular mom and pop shops closed at night at night, they would come and knock and say, you know, can I get 2 Rizla, 2 cigarette, 2 crack you know? And I used to love playing shop because, you know, it was the only time I got to do that exchange in the currency. You know? Also, my brother and I loved it because then we ate all of the stuff that we liked. But, it was to me, I'm not trying to say that. You know, as an adult, I can see they as adults, they had challenges.

Raphael Harry [00:24:07]:
Yes.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:24:07]:
But they did a good job of us as the kids not necessarily experiencing that lack. And if there was lack and they had to be creative, we enjoyed being part of this creative process of how are we going to make a meal,

Raphael Harry [00:24:23]:
How

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:24:23]:
are we going you know, that type of thing. So that's what I remembered.

Raphael Harry [00:24:26]:
I relate to that too. And if anyone listening has any, similar experiences, feel free to let us know. You know? Hit the the contact form on www.whitelabelamerican, or you can leave a voice message. Hit the mic also on the website and share your experiences with us. Alright. So I think you may have touched on this question that I'm going to ask, but, yeah, feel free to hit me with your best answer. So what do you consider your favorite childhood memory to be at this very moment?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:25:11]:
I I I don't have one. Like, I honestly don't have one. There's so many swirling. Alright. Give us 2. Alright. So my favorite childhood memory would be anytime my grandmother took us on church trips.

Raphael Harry [00:25:31]:
Okay.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:25:31]:
And we would travel around the island. So, every time there was a church trip, we went to a different historical spot or a recreational spot in Jamaica. So that collectively would be wonderful childhood memories because I'm there with my friends. We're experiencing a new part of the island. So I loved it. We've we've gone to so many places. Lovers Leap is a beautiful place in Jamaica. The story is 2 sleighs.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:25:59]:
It's, you know, couldn't be together, and they jumped off the the leap the the cliff to their death. There's a song about that. I don't maybe. I don't know.

Raphael Harry [00:26:09]:
Oh, no. It sounds familiar.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:26:11]:
Lovers' Leap. And then we've gone to Treasure Beach, which is most people know Jamaica for white sandy beaches. Treasure Beach is black sand.

Raphael Harry [00:26:23]:
Oh, wow.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:26:23]:
Yes. And it has waves almost like if you, I guess, if you would wanna go surfing, you'd try the the beach at Treasure Beach because the water is more conducive to that type of water to to surfing. And that was amazing. That was like, wow. I've never seen this, and I've lived in Jamaica, so it was beautiful.

Raphael Harry [00:26:47]:
That is amazing.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:26:48]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:26:48]:
I never, yeah, I've never heard of Black Sand Beach in Jamaica. So that is, yeah, I don't think you can quantify that that experience.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:26:59]:
Yeah. It's different. It's it's it's completely different. I was like, the water is rough. Why is there so many waves? But it was just like, this is a completely different experience. And if I told anyone that we did this, they wouldn't believe me. So those collective trips were wonderful. A childhood memory, my first concert my dad took me to was reggae sun splash.

Raphael Harry [00:27:25]:
Reggae sun splash.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:27:26]:
Yes. And Why not? Yeah. You guys are

Raphael Harry [00:27:29]:
sure reggae sun splash on Sundays on state TV. Wow. Wow. I can't remember last time I saw that. It just brought memories that I forgot my back Yeah. Completely.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:27:41]:
So, yeah, that was one childhood memory that I I really loved. I got to see the first time I saw Berris Hammond perform. So this was, what, like, 1992? First time I saw Berris Hammond perform. 1st time I saw Bujure Manton perform. And then a a a childhood memory would be 95. This is when Buju first came out as till with his Till Shiloh album. I was in Jamaica at the time.

Raphael Harry [00:28:06]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:28:07]:
And his video, a lot of the the visuals from that album was shot in and around Montego Bay. And his I wanna be loved video, I remember being in the area trying to get from one side to the other side, and it was all blocked off because he was filming. So I loved it. And then later that 95, I went to Madison Square Garden for the first time because Bujavanton was on, tour with promoting his Till Shiloh album. So it was Wow. That was amazing. Those are some standout moments for me.

Raphael Harry [00:28:41]:
I'm still the biggest song splash still bubbling your head. Yep. Ah, you you brought a memory that, yeah, that's yeah. I'm I'm like, yeah, that used to be big part of our Sunday. That was Benin City. Yeah. I think that was the first time. I think that was the first time I saw you, one of my one one of the greatest reggae artists that we just loved for absolutely no reason.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:29:11]:
And that is?

Raphael Harry [00:29:12]:
Yellowman.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:29:13]:
Oh, king Yellowman. Zunga, zunga, zunga, zunga, zunga, zunga, zunga, zing.

Raphael Harry [00:29:19]:
He don't know. He doesn't know how many fans. He hasn't been a city of my generation because I don't think I think he may have been the 1st, al Albino we had seen him singing.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:29:30]:
Yep.

Raphael Harry [00:29:31]:
And then we realized that we we had Africans who have been singing too. Yeah. But we just love seeing him. I remember our kids. Well, other kids were my age. I was like, wow. Just this wow. Look at this yellow guy singing.

Raphael Harry [00:29:44]:
Wow. We're gonna whoo. We just it just it was and they they show him on Sunday. This show come up on state TV, and we're like, woah. At first, I think I used to be mad at, the because I think they stopped showing cartoons and they'll replace it with Regisun Splash. So, like, I used to be a lot of anger at first, but then, you know, later on, we start bumping our head. Music's not bad, though.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:30:06]:
Yeah. Reggae sunsplash is a really big festival, for many years in Jamaica. Yeah. And, a lot of people came down. It started in the late seventies, early eighties, and, it would go it was 7 days of shows, and it would go all the way in the overnight to the wee hours of the morning. And it was just something. It was just like an all night thing. So now it's, so reggae sun splash is no more, but there is reggae sum fest.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:30:42]:
And that was because, you know, change in venues and stuff like that. And reggae sum fest still happens every summer.

Raphael Harry [00:30:49]:
Okay.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:30:50]:
And, it's actually coming up, but, you know, it was a big part because reggae sun splash and reggae sum fest, they are both based in Montego Bay. So as growing up in Montego Bay, you get to experience that.

Raphael Harry [00:31:02]:
Wow. I man, that's yeah. Well, shout out shout out to Montego Bay, but I'm I'm glad I got to see that on TV. And Yeah. That's, it I complete it it's like it had been erased from my memory.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:31:17]:
I'm I'm glad I'm helping to jog some memories.

Raphael Harry [00:31:21]:
And, you know, I I don't think we because we we we always amazed back then as kids. Like, who are these people? Where are these people come from? Like, we always see the crowd. Like, wow. Like, yeah. But there was no information about where they are performing. Mhmm. Where's this concert? So it it always looked like I think to our kid memories mindset back then, it's like on the day of the the show on TV, then the crowd just shows up. We're like, wow.

Raphael Harry [00:31:49]:
This is amazing. That's why we took it back. That's all the discussions that we had as kids. It's like, wow. This this musicians, anytime they are singing, we call it people that just show up. Mhmm. It's amazing. They call it a Renaissance Flash.

Raphael Harry [00:32:02]:
Wow. On Sunday, it's when I go to church. They just come here. Yeah. Oh, man. Well, ignorance is, bliss. I have to I have to hit up some of my classmates now. Like, hey, man.

Raphael Harry [00:32:18]:
I I I solved the the redo. You know? Yeah. It's

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:32:21]:
People plan months in advance. They're starting promotion. You buy your tickets. You're there for the whole 7 days. And, recently, my friend's father passed away. And at his memorial service, his friends were telling the story how they were at 1 night at reggae sun splash, and they wanted to see Dennis Brown perform. And it was 7 in the morning, and Dennis Brown didn't hit the stage yet. And by the time they left, it was 11 o'clock in the the day, 9 or 11 o'clock in the morning.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:32:57]:
And I was just like it's just so fascinating. But as kids, because we grew up and that was part of our culture, you know, we didn't realize, like, my gosh. You've been here all night, all night into the morning. The sun is blazing, and you're at this concert. So, yeah, it's a big thing.

Raphael Harry [00:33:14]:
Wow. Wow. This is Yeah. This is yeah. That's to be one of the best. It's yeah. This this this this gone up. This gone up.

Raphael Harry [00:33:24]:
I'm ranking it as one of my favorite channel memories for me. Alright. So we're gonna take a quick break right now, and when we'll come back, we're gonna jump into your arrival in America, and then, we'll get to breadfruit media. Hi, everyone. If you're new to the podcast or a returning listener and you enjoy what we are doing here, did you know that you could enjoy more of our content and also support our work via Patreon? For as little as $3 per month, you will get access to loads of bonus content that you will find nowhere. And be the first to the latest news. Don't miss out. Go to patreon.com/whitelabelamericanpod or just search for White Label American Podcast on Patreon, patre0n.

Raphael Harry [00:34:22]:
Welcome back, and thank you for staying with us. So, Carrie Anne Mhmm. You decide to, well, you make the migration to United States. Was there any particular reason for New York? Was there, well, a reason for United States, instead of United Kingdom, like, many others tend to go, or Canada?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:34:56]:
Or My immigration was not my choice. Okay. You know? So, my mom, she she moved to the US, New York, specifically, because her father lived here. And he filed for us because that was the immigration option at the time that when you have family, you could bring other family. And so that's how we ended up in New York. I didn't learn until 2013, 14 that what my mom did was unusual. So my mom came to this country, and she brought all of us with her at the same time. Oh.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:35:37]:
And yes. So we were all figuring out life in the US at the same time. And so, yeah, I didn't have a choice. I was still in school. I left Jamaica at the end of my 9th grade year, which is what we collectively from the British Empire colonization process called 3rd form and, moved to the US. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:36:01]:
So that was secondary school. Right?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:36:03]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:36:03]:
Yeah. Yeah. I'm still struggle with the the grade system here. Yeah. I'm I'm beginning to learn. I might, yeah, I might get the hang of it now that I have a kid. Right. But, yeah, I've never fully gotten the grasp of it.

Raphael Harry [00:36:17]:
It's still either a junior secondary, you know, in primary school.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:36:22]:
Primary school, secondary school. Yeah. Then university level. Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:36:27]:
Yeah. But that's odd. I talk about schooling. So people like, what? Yeah. Yeah. The British still with me. Sorry. So you arrive in New York.

Raphael Harry [00:36:40]:
What time of the year what season of the year did you arrive?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:36:43]:
Yeah. So, I'll tell the story. So it was the summer of 1993, and we all file on American Airlines and fly into JFK. And I live near the airport in Jamaica, so I'm used to seeing planes, but I was not ready to come in. When you're coming into landing from JFK, you're almost on the highway because you at one point, it's like hovering close to the street. The airport is huge. So it was just like, are we going to land on these cars? You know, that's what I felt like. And so, we landed at JFK, and my uncle picks me up with the rest of my family.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:37:30]:
And I'm like, it is late at night. There are a bunch of people on the street sitting, playing dominoes and not doing anything. You have to understand that even at that time in Jamaica, like, it's late. People aren't outside doing all of these things that I was seeing. So it was a hot August night that we moved to New York.

Raphael Harry [00:37:52]:
So at least the weather was on your side.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:37:54]:
Yeah. The weather the yeah. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:37:57]:
And then came Winter.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:37:59]:
Winter. Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:38:00]:
How was that switch for you?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:38:03]:
Well, so well, there was a gradual buildup to it. So even though winter was coming, as Caribbean kids, we're still outside standing on the step kinda looking because this concept of always being inside the house was still kinda new. Mhmm. So growing up, you know, that you have the house and you have the yard. You can't go outside the gate.

Raphael Harry [00:38:30]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:38:30]:
So because in Brooklyn, there's no yard, really, you're standing on the stoop, and you don't leave the stoop. So as it was getting colder, you know, I'll be on the step, like, shivering, but looking up and down the block because I'm not used to just being inside the house. You know? And when winter came, I remember the first time I was, like, getting ready for school, and I'm like, they're like, you should take a shower the night before. And I'm like, I don't do that in Jamaica. You take a shower in the mornings. You take a shower first thing in the morning. Like, what what is this mess about not bathing in the morning to go? And I tell you, took that shower, went outside. I was like, lord Jesus.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:39:15]:
You know? Like Yeah. So, you know, adjusting to those things. Or I remember my hands being cold, and I came home and turn on the hot water and washing my hands. And I learned very quickly, don't do that again. Yeah. Because it made the frost bites worse. Yeah. So just having to learn how to dress, you know, dress warm.

Raphael Harry [00:39:38]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:39:38]:
I didn't like to wear hats, but I had to put something on my head to wear layers. That was that was an adjustment that nobody can accurately prepare you for.

Raphael Harry [00:39:48]:
Oh, oh, yeah. I yeah. The the the shower one, yeah, that's I don't know what I've forgotten about. But, you know, I I was 25 when I arrived there and, you know, so you think, you know, you think I'm like, I I got this. Don't I'm I'm the one who give me no advice. Yeah. Even from the airport, I already said that a couple of times. But, I already joined Navy.

Raphael Harry [00:40:13]:
I joined Navy shortly after, and then so you you you're supposed to be grown. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:40:20]:
You know, when you first come here, that's an adjustment. Once you've lived here, I think it was it's like nothing to get up in the mornings to shower and then get ready to go out. But when you're first adjusting to the weather, they were just like, you wanna ease yourself into this situation.

Raphael Harry [00:40:35]:
Arrived during winter. They just asked for yeah. I arrived November 1st. So, you know, Virginia and then Northern Virginia, and it was the cold already began. Mhmm. And, well, it was it's still nice, but for me, coming straight from Nigeria, that was winter already. And I was like, hell, no. This is terrible.

Raphael Harry [00:40:54]:
And then, you know, joined Navy. Well, I I survived, then join Navy, move, go down south, Mississippi, come back. November again, I'm down in Virginia Beach. I don't have the car. You had to walk to your duty station. And I still got that mindset of you gotta take a shower first thing in the morning. You know? You're doing all that, and then you now go outside and, oh, the the wind.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:41:27]:
And and to just even lotion yourself properly.

Raphael Harry [00:41:30]:
Yeah. You know? I I even tried to look at some of the photos back then because I know it was ashy. You know?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:41:37]:
You know? Or or even adjusting to the the time change. I remember when the time change, I was like, 3 o'clock. It is dark out here. Like what's happening. Like, I was just like, I'm not used to this life. You know, you know, you went from 9 o'clock light outside to wait. We lose 1 hour of sleep because I come from Jamaica. We don't observe daylight savings time.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:42:02]:
So wait. What? You know, you you gain an hour. So whatever the situation I want you gain an hour because you're you're falling back. Right? Mhmm. And then it gets really dark, and you're just like, why night come so quick? You know? So those adjustments were just part of the acclamation. Just it it was it was just a culture shock. You know? Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:42:27]:
So going through all that Mhmm. How did you navigate when it was time you know, did the show make it when it was time for you to go to college?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:42:42]:
I went to the school that gave me the most money. I mean, the family was very excited because I got accepted to a lot of colleges. Right? So applied to I think at the time, you were encouraged to apply to for CUNY, for SUNY. So CUNY, City University of New York, SUNY, State University of New York. And I applied to a bunch of other schools. And I got accepted to a school in DC, and my uncle was like, go here. And I was just like, I don't know if I wanted to go here. So everyone at my school teachers had different ideas of the schools that they wanted me to go to, and I ended up you know, The other thing of note was college was 2 years after I came here, so I was still new here.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:43:28]:
So the idea of going away to college, I don't know if I was fully ready for that because I was still new to the country.

Raphael Harry [00:43:36]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:43:37]:
And so I ended up doing a compromise. I stayed in state but stayed at a college that was in Pleasantville, Briarcliff. So it's, like, maybe an hour and a half outside of the city as opposed to going away. I'd probably make different choices now, but, you know, it was hard, you know, navigating that because, again, my mom came to the country at the same time. So, you know, we're all learning about this college process and what it involves. But, yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:44:11]:
So you were staying on campus?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:44:13]:
Yes. I did stay on campus.

Raphael Harry [00:44:14]:
Okay. So that was another,

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:44:19]:
Yeah. It was another experience.

Raphael Harry [00:44:21]:
Experience entirely. And but that also probably helped to create the carry on that we have here today.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:44:31]:
Well, yeah, my experience in college is a little different because, I guess, culturally, like, you told the story that your uncle sent you to the store to buy the cigarettes. Right? But you wouldn't dare smoke that cigarette.

Raphael Harry [00:44:46]:
Oh, hell no.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:44:47]:
Exactly. Right? The same thing. They would send you to the bar to buy stuff, so you wouldn't dare so I grew up around this where alcohol, the cigarettes, or stuff was there, but you didn't use it. Right? Whereas when I went to college, this idea of this binge drinking or drinking a lot on a Thursday night was very new to me. Yeah. You know? I'm in Brooklyn. We're having a lot of house and basement parties, and this excessive drinking wasn't something that we're used to. I mean, it's there, but it wasn't like, oh my god.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:45:20]:
We're going drinking in this whole beer coat. That wasn't something. So that was that was interesting. And just watching how people got really drunk

Raphael Harry [00:45:29]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:45:30]:
And how beer was a big thing, and I I I didn't necessarily, relate to that. So that was also a a very new experience. And, Thursday night was the party night, and I guess it made sense because people went home on a weekend, whereas we're coming from a culture where it's like, it's Friday. We go party Friday Saturday. Right?

Raphael Harry [00:45:52]:
So it

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:45:52]:
was just just very different. It was in a way getting to see other cultures outside of my my immediate culture, my Brooklyn enclave, and just experiencing a a wider culture.

Raphael Harry [00:46:05]:
Yeah. So a gentleman who was on the podcast not long ago, and I was actually gonna introduce him to you. He's gonna listen to this episode anyway, so he he wouldn't know what I'm talking about. He Right. He's of Caribbean, heritage, but he grew up in Africa. Mhmm. And he has a wonderful story. He's here in New York.

Raphael Harry [00:46:25]:
And, yeah, I was I was already thinking of introducing him to you. He had something similar because he he attended college in New York. Walter, I was shaking his head. So he knows who I'm talking about. You you 2 had almost word for word. Some you just said it was the same thing. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:46:42]:
It's it's very different for us. Like, you know, you grew up just you grew up around alcohol. You grew up around these things, but you didn't you don't you don't use it. You don't do any of that stuff. So experiencing how people react to it, it was almost like you know, in in in those moments, I'm grateful Yeah. Because I feel like it led to maturity, and I made some good decisions or wasn't put in a position where I didn't I'd have to make a poor decision because I was just like, I don't really care for alcohol, and I'm okay with that. You know?

Raphael Harry [00:47:18]:
And another thing that it you remind me of is to add, 3 wonderful women from my daughter's school, and 2 of them are from Germany, one is from Switzerland. And they were talking about one of their shocks, culture shocks with, American educational system, and they were like they they they can't understand why, like, college is like this binge drinking. It's like for them for, like, Europeans, it's like, they got to be teenagers when teenage when teenage years, they got to be teenagers.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:47:56]:
Right.

Raphael Harry [00:47:56]:
Whereas, like, American College is where people never got to be teenagers Right. Dare to be teenagers Right. In college. Right. So they they were always fascinated by that Right. By that. We're always seeing Americans do that in college. And even in the in the navy, I I got to see that, but I never put that I never was aware of I'll put it that way.

Raphael Harry [00:48:20]:
I wasn't I wasn't aware that this was, like, the the the the teenage thing happening because, like, when I was stationed in Bahrain, we had this thing where because ships all the ships coming, going through the Middle East area, we stopped in Bahrain. And before they come, like, all of us, we have to disappear from base because you don't wanna be around when the ship's coming because they've been on the water for, like, maybe 3, 4 months.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:48:44]:
Right. So they're at liberty, and they're gonna

Raphael Harry [00:48:46]:
go crazy. But the drinking age overseas is 18.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:48:51]:
Right.

Raphael Harry [00:48:52]:
Here it's

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:48:52]:
and and that's the thing. Culturally too in the Caribbean, it's the same thing. Yeah. You know? So

Raphael Harry [00:48:56]:
Well, these kids, once they come out, it's like the and the base has beer taps everywhere just specifically for these ships coming in. And these kids, like, oh, there's beer here. I can drink. They just run and start putting them they just it's like, dude, the beer is not running. It's not running away. Yeah. Just drink. It's okay.

Raphael Harry [00:49:14]:
Yeah. And they just start acting a fool, and you're like, wow. Yeah. Okay. I'll be and you before, you know, I was on the base. It'd be like, wow. America's a do you guys not be in your country or what? What's happening here? Right. Right.

Raphael Harry [00:49:27]:
Right. Be staring like, wow. These Americans? They're like, oh, yeah. It's Americans. It's, yeah. It's, I don't know how to tell you, man. Just let's go outside and hang out outside of of base and, well, I don't well, America's passing out. I'm falling out ever falling down everywhere.

Raphael Harry [00:49:41]:
They're like, I don't know. If you wanna make a video, you can make a video. That's fine. Yeah. Just see it. So but by the time you start looking at that and they're looking at the college binge drinking, like, oh, yeah. It's it's something that Right. People never got to be teenagers, and they just start it's, oh, I'm free now.

Raphael Harry [00:49:58]:
I'm free. Let me drink everything now. I was like, wow.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:50:04]:
I I could see that because I kinda said that, you know, by the time I got to college, you know, I I've been to parties. You know? The rule was at the time, whenever we went to parties, it was my cousin and my brother. All 3 of us had to go. Mhmm. I mean, you still had to ask my mother, like, 2 months in advance

Raphael Harry [00:50:23]:
of the party, right,

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:50:24]:
if you could go. And you better be on the straight and narrow of p's and q's all the way up to the minute you wanna leave. Because if some if she feels like, you know what? You guys not going anywhere. You're just not going anywhere. Right? So we we had those opportunities to go out and go out by ourselves even though we were, you know, still in high school under 17, 18, but we just knew we had to be responsible. And, also, there's a level of trust that they gave us that we just said, you know what? We honored those in those moments. So, like, if mommy said, you know, alright. You guys could go but get home by 12 o'clock.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:51:03]:
We're like, alright. Let's reach home by level 45. So the next spot issue you know, we were very strategic about the approach, but there were moments where mommy definitely was just like, she cramped our style. We were just like, alright. She said, come home 8 o'clock. I'm like, 8 o'clock? What she talk about come home 8 o'clock? And then my mom came up to school and was like, didn't I tell you to come home? I was like, yeah. That was

Raphael Harry [00:51:29]:
I laugh it because, yeah, that that yep. It's same for us. Yeah. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:51:34]:
There was another incident where

Raphael Harry [00:51:35]:
We looked for the legal loopholes we could use to

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:51:38]:
There was there was another incident where we were at a party, and there were gunshots, not at the party, but in the neighborhood. And I don't know how my uncle whip around the car. He had a old school BMW, and he come home he comes. It's like, you don't hear gunshots, and all 3 of us have to pile into the car. We're like, but it's not happened at this party. He's like, I don't care. Let's go. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:52:03]:
So those are just moments where you're just like you're just like, ah.

Raphael Harry [00:52:08]:
Oh, man. You know? So Oh, man. Yep. Shout out shout out to the uncle and mama. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:52:16]:
You know, they they they we we definitely had moments where we're just like, oh my gosh. They're killing our style. But at the same time, they they gave us so much freedom. We we we had a party in our I mean, we had a basement. We had a lot of parties out there, and they allowed us to have parties. So I guess by the time I got to college, there was just like, this isn't new. Been here. Done this.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:52:41]:
I've been to parties where adults were there. Like, my cousin was sharing the food, and I was behind the bar helping to serve. You know? So but you didn't drink it because you just knew that. Like, what? You did

Raphael Harry [00:52:54]:
what? There you go.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:52:54]:
You know? So

Raphael Harry [00:52:56]:
There you go. True. So you in college, how did you know what career path to, when when did you decide this was the career path you were going to go with? Was it before you got into college or while in college?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:53:19]:
My career path has how I ended in my career because even though I podcast, I do podcast production, I still have a full-time job. Mhmm. And, my career has always been meandering. I lean into wherever it takes me and leads me. The one thing I knew for sure was in high school, I had the opportunity to do moot court and mock trial and and did that competitively in high school. And so I just knew I wanted to be a lawyer. And, as the episode that you said you listened to with Shamira, you know, maybe I didn't actually practice law, but I get the talking and the podcast into lawyerly activities. But, I went to my second college because I transferred to another college, and I took some pre-law classes.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:54:14]:
And I was just like, I I like this idea. I like the theory, but the writing that accompanies being a lawyer was not something I was feeling at all. And I ended up just doing a bunch of different things before I ended up back into law working as a paralegal, leaving the legal field and just working the way where I am. And I think it's leaning into the exploration of what my career meant to me or what my interests were. That's the guiding factor

Raphael Harry [00:54:49]:
Mhmm.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:54:49]:
Of is this something that I really enjoy doing in every one of my jobs? And I've had multiple jobs. I've worked in interior designs. I've learned so much. I worked in a dentist office. Wow. I've done a bunch of different things, and they were all interesting. And I've made it my own or learned in a particular way, but I think the career that I've had in the last couple years is well suited to who I am, which is I'm curious. I get to be strategic.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:55:20]:
I get to, you know, organize, do all the things that I wanna do. And then it allows room for me to do my podcasting and grow from that, apply skills that I've learned from podcasting to my career, and take what I've learned in my full time career and apply business principles to what I do in podcasting.

Raphael Harry [00:55:39]:
Fantastic. So I just gotta ask because I know you said the right team you you you you couldn't deal with the right team and and with the law. That's what kind of puts you off with law. Now that we have AI, a lot of AI helping, if you had AI around then to help with the writing, would that have changed your perspective on on law? No. Not not the chart GPT type. I'm just on the on the right hand side.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:56:17]:
The best output from any of these AIs is dependent on the inputs you give it. True. So you still have to give it something good

Raphael Harry [00:56:27]:
for

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:56:27]:
it to expand on it. Right?

Raphael Harry [00:56:29]:
That's right.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:56:29]:
So I think I still I mean, now I'm better at it. And and here's here's a moment of vulnerability. The reason why I didn't like writing was I remember I was in a political philosophy class. I loved the class. I loved it. It's like it was like talking head 101. It was just like a bunch of talking. We were talking about, you know, everything from to everything.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:56:57]:
And when it came to doing the finals or midterms and I'd, you know, write the essays, teacher was like, your writing is crap.

Raphael Harry [00:57:06]:
That's what

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:57:07]:
and so my final for that class, he was like, I can tell I can tell that they didn't spend a lot of time on writing in high school for you because your writing isn't very good. And that broke me.

Raphael Harry [00:57:24]:
Wow.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:57:25]:
So, he actually gave me a failing grade, and he said, I'll give you a better grade if you redid this final paper. I never did it. I couldn't recover from that comment.

Raphael Harry [00:57:36]:
Wow.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [00:57:37]:
And so Mhmm. In my head, I say I'm not a good writer. Other people beg to differ. They're like, you know, you're the one I come to proofread my stuff. Right? But I just remembered that comment. And so I was just like, yeah. No. Writing isn't for me.

Raphael Harry [00:57:54]:
It is a strong comment, and It is it is I I I I I can I I can relate on that because, I I once wrote a book when I was someone else has given me a different feedback on that, but I think I was how old was I then? Probably I was level 12 between 11 and 13. And I wrote a vampire action story. Probably yeah. Yeah. Back then, you didn't know about plagiarism, and I gave it to somebody in my family to read, the person who I thought I was closest to. And all I was, the guy read it and started laughing. Mhmm. I was just laughing.

Raphael Harry [00:58:36]:
I was like, what the hell is this? Mhmm. So, my head down and just in a walk of shame, I walked away. And the person was just laughing. It was just what? And that's all I just had in my head. Anytime I try to write a story back then and well, like, group of boys, 6 of us, and we had an acronym for our first names. But not our first names. We had a our names are for some reason, we ended up with Boston boys. I don't know why we ended up with Boston, but, yeah, we formed Boston with our names, and we all love to write.

Raphael Harry [00:59:18]:
We just loved reading and decided we're gonna write, and the I never brought a story Mhmm. After that. And then down the line, I started to write, from arguing about soccer. I will start writing, and somebody will invite me to write on our website. And that was the first time I will end up well, I will do a podcast, but I will have stage fright because I was the only black person there. I claimed back then that was because I thought I was trash, that, there was a journalist who was on the panel. I didn't even think about a journalist inviting me to come talk on a podcast with other journalists, what it meant. But I said, well, I was really black person.

Raphael Harry [00:59:56]:
In my head, I said, oh, I wasn't a journalist. I must have said trash. I refused to listen to it. This was in, like, 2010. It was black. I I blamed myself. I was a little black person there. I just stage fright and all that.

Raphael Harry [01:00:08]:
And by the time I got stationed in Middle East, one day, I just couldn't write. I just couldn't write.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:00:14]:
I mean, it was the same thing for me.

Raphael Harry [01:00:15]:
But I try to write stories every now and then. I don't know. I just can't write a story, but it's like that flash I always have that flashback to that memory of the person laughing. And then when the person hit me up, and I've, proofread the person's book, person wrote, like, 3 or 4 books down the line. And, well, I think, over 20 years ago, the person one day just, out of the blue, hit me up. I was like, hey. I remember you wrote one book when you were a kid. What happened to, you know? Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:00:43]:
Why didn't you ever write another story? I it was a lovely story. Why didn't you write? I said, do you remember your reaction when I wrote when you read what I wrote? He said, I thought I thought I told you you did a good job and all that. No. I'm like, no.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:00:57]:
It's not the same.

Raphael Harry [01:00:59]:
It's not the same. But but he the person did not remember what he told me. He he claimed, oh, I thought I thought I praised you. Man. But it Yeah. Was a laugh of shame.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:01:09]:

Yeah. I mean, it's it was the same thing. And what I've done over the years, I journal a lot. I go through a lot of

Raphael Harry [01:01:17]:
That's what I need to do.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:01:17]:
Journal. I just journal every day, just kinda journal. So I got past that I can't write situation, but then I had a recent a recent encounter and something similar. So I'm like, I'm not writing a book. I'll stick to just doing my journal. But those things, they create a block. Like I was telling the engineer earlier about, you know, audition and being that experience. It just blocks you, and you you're trying to get past that.

Raphael Harry [01:01:46]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:01:46]:
But the feeling of failure or there's a book I read recently called The Artist's Way, and the author spoke about these creative wounds because what we're doing or creative works are children. Right? And if someone attacks our child, you know, we get defensive and protective, and we don't want to share a new child, our creative work with someone else. And it was exactly the experience. It was just like, I don't know if I want to do this again. If I do this, I don't know if I wanna share it because I don't want the humiliation and the hurt of someone rejecting my baby. You know, everyone remembers, you know, that famous line Erika Badu said, you know, with Tyrone. You know, I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my, you know? So it's it's it comes part of the creative process. And, it just reminds me we have to be careful who we share that initial work with.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:02:51]:
Are they creating a safe space? And it's not to say that, you know, Raphael, you're gonna be like, Carrie Anne, that was great. That was awesome. But can you give me feedback that is a constructive? True. Right? Because telling me that my high school didn't pay attention to writing is not gonna help me to rewrite it because I don't know exactly what I did wrong. You know? So is it gonna be constructive, actionable? And are you gonna give it to me in a space where I can receive it and do what I need to do to improve on it? Because at the end of the day, we want to improve, but are you giving us a feedback in a way that we can hear it, receive it, and act take action on it?

Raphael Harry [01:03:29]:
Very important. I do right now, though. I've been writing a newsletter. Actually, I forgot to send one this week, so I need to that's a reminder. I I will I will for those listening. Well well, by the time you get this episode, don't worry. You'll not have gotten a newsletter. That's the point.

Raphael Harry [01:03:45]:
I will. But, I do I think one good thing was that I've I've I've I've set up a Patreon, and, I think that's why I set a test run-in my writing.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:03:54]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:03:54]:
And, the person who gave me a different perspective when I shared that story with him about, he was on the podcast. He's also a writer. He's, he con considers himself a critic. Although I think he goes too far with it. That's my personal take on him. He he likes challenging governments. But he said, about the reaction of my family member laughing at me as a kid. He said, art always has different forms of reactions, and laughter is a is a reaction.

Raphael Harry [01:04:29]:
I should always remember that. I said, yeah, but I was a kid. But, I I get his point, but I said, I I I was a kid, and he's he said, yeah. He agrees, but I shouldn't forget that I've brought out a reaction from the person.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:04:42]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:04:42]:
So when I've I've that memory pops up in my head, I should let that be a a remembrance. I should remind myself to that also, but a positive reaction Mhmm. That can repurpose that too in my in my my brain. Mhmm. I said, okay. That's one way of looking at it too.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:04:58]:
Yeah. For sure.

Raphael Harry [01:04:59]:
Yeah. So, you started a company called Breadfruit Media. How did you come about the name Breadfruit Media? How well, how did you how did you settle on the name for because I'm trying to do something similar to, not not I would say I'm trying to set up my own thing officially, but I I don't think I've been able to settle settle on a name. But I I love that name that that you have. So when how did you decide on a name, and when did you decide that you're going to start a company? Now what's your motivation for that?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:05:37]:
So, how I came to this name was out of exasperation, really. So, let me back up a little bit. So one of the things that I was experiencing after doing my own podcast, I started my I launched my podcast, Carry On Fringe, January 2015. And around 2017, I was feeling exhausted because there's this pressure on creatives that if you're doing this thing, you gotta make money. You gotta make money. And so you you spend a lot of time focusing on how to monetize it and less time on really doing that creative work.

Raphael Harry [01:06:21]:
Yep. Which is

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:06:21]:
why you wanted to do this. So it becomes this work, this drudgery of what am I gonna do to make money? And it's like somebody else is always telling you that this is not doing enough to make money. And, at the same time, my grandmother, who you've heard me talked about since we've here, she passed away. Turned out I was pregnant. There was all these things happening, and I was just exhausted. And I had to take a step back and said, if I never made a dollar from doing this podcast, would you still want to do it? The answer was unequivocally yes. So I had to take a break. I needed that break emotionally.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:06:58]:
And the I went to a podcast conference. My first time I went to podcast movement in Anaheim in 2017, and I met someone. And he said to me, I he's like, why did you stop? I said, I didn't stop. I did a pause because I'm grieving. I'm grieving, and I'm pregnant. And there's a lot of emotions going on right now. I need to, like, check myself because almost every episode, I'm I'm, like, whimpering because I missed my grandmother. And the last time I was pregnant, she was here.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:07:29]:
So there was just this cycle of emotions. And he was like, you made a commitment to record. You should record your podcast. I said, 1. He said, 2. Like, what else is happening? I said, you know, everyone is saying you shouldn't focus on the Caribbean. It's too small. They're not checking for you.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:07:47]:
And he was like, don't let nobody tell you that. You know? And he was like, you are doing something good. You're focusing on your lane, and that's it. And he's like, you could even do much more than what you're doing. And at that conference, a bunch of people said, are you you should be doing more with Caribbean podcast. And I was like, I don't know if I want that responsibility. I'm just trying to record my next episode because at that point, I had told the audience that I needed a little break just to just, like, breathe emotionally. Right? And so, in 2018 about I've had the baby.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:08:29]:
I've restarted the podcast, And it was just like, I'm I'm I I didn't wanna say I'm bored, but I said to my friend, like, what if I quit the podcast? What if I just stop? And they were just like, what? They couldn't believe it. And what I realized I was going through, what I recognize with a lot of artists. Like, you get creatively burnt out. And I was experienced a creative burnout, and I needed something different to do. And so I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna figure out what I'm gonna do. At the time, I had a guest on the podcast, and they had a podcast. And I was giving them feedback on the podcast. I'm like, you should be doing this.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:09:13]:
Why did you do that? This is crazy. You should be doing that. And they were like, why don't you edit or a podcast and produce our podcast? I was like, what are you talking about? And that was the first time I realized that editing or production or being a producer was an option. I didn't even think of myself producing my podcast. I thought I was just the host. But, I am the producer of the podcast. And so my friend, I was telling her to do our podcast, and she was like, I will only do it if you edit it. I was like, great.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:09:44]:
Because of my experience in legal, I was like, alright. If I'm a do this, there has to be a legal entity.

Raphael Harry [01:09:50]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:09:50]:
And so I was just like, alright. What am I gonna call this? I was looking at what everybody else is calling their stuff, and I was like,

Raphael Harry [01:09:56]:
I don't

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:09:56]:
know if I like that. I don't wanna do this. And I was complaining to someone. I was like, I can't find a name for the show. Might as well just call it Breadfruit Media. And they were like, for real? And I was just like,

Raphael Harry [01:10:08]:
no,

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:10:09]:
I'm just playing. Because I was trying to find these other names, fancy names. And they were just like, no, I like that name. And I was like, okay. And then I sat on it and I was like, breadfruit. Well, it could work. Breadfruit is the one thing that every Caribbean country agrees is called breadfruit. And as I was doing more research, I was like, breadfruit is the one thing that every country in the world agrees is called breadfruit.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:10:39]:
Wow. I'm gonna call it breadfruit. Breadfruit is a colonizer plant because it originated in Polynesia, and the British took it from Polynesia Mhmm. To the Caribbean Africa, and that's how breadfruit is all over the world.

Raphael Harry [01:10:59]:
Wow. Right.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:11:01]:
Yep.

Raphael Harry [01:11:01]:
Awesome. Awesome. Great story. Yeah. I never thought about breadfruit being from Polynesian. I think I always thought of associating with with Caribbean.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:11:12]:
Yeah. We do. And and if you look at the plant, it is it is adjusted in shape based on where it resides. So it looks different in the Caribbean. It's evolved, right, versus what it looks like in, Polynesian cultures, but that's where it was originally taken from.

Raphael Harry [01:11:33]:
So you've been in podcasting for a few years now?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:11:37]:
Yep.

Raphael Harry [01:11:39]:
What has been your greatest let me see. What would what what do you consider your greatest accomplishment as the founder of Breadfruit Media?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:11:54]:
I would say the ability to help others create their own shows. I love that creative process. I love giving people that experience or partnering with people for that experience that they could create something, and they can make it amazing and beautiful and entertaining and informative. I really enjoy that process. So, what I consider success is if we start a new show and I'm able to let it be as successful or more successful than the podcast that I created in 2015. That is the benchmark. I'm not creating it to stifle anybody's success. If it's more successful than mine, that is the goal.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:12:48]:
And I'm very proud that all the shows that I've worked on, they are successful in their own lanes. And, we've created different definitions that for each host and what success looks like for them, because they're obviously different people and their shows have different topics. And so the goals obviously have to be different. And so so the success has to look different.

Raphael Harry [01:13:14]:
I love that you recognize each person's success has to be diff has to be different and will be different. Mhmm. And, yeah, I think that's something that needs to be said out loud and always needs to be recognized.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:13:30]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:13:32]:
Yeah. I think you're doing a great job. Thank you. And you you you you you'll go further with that. Yeah. Yep. I got faith in you. So in what ways, you know, and I'm gonna make this this question is gonna step up a little bit from Breadfruit Media since you're in the podcasting industry.

Raphael Harry [01:13:52]:
In what ways have you seen the podcast industry change over the years, and where do you see it going in the future?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:14:08]:
So if you had asked me this question 2021, I'd have an answer. The truth is in the last couple years, I've taken a step back from the industry ness of the podcast, and I've really just focused on the audience. Okay. I think we spend a it is great that the industry is doing all of these new things with technology, but the industry still has not mastered how to reach audience

Raphael Harry [01:14:43]:
is

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:14:43]:
new audiences. It's still so so I I decided to take a step back and focus on the people who listen to the podcast. Yeah. Because without the people who listen to the podcast, we don't have an industry. True. Period. And I felt like I had spent a lot of time trying to be known in the industry or to know what's happening in the industry, losing sight of the most important people, which is the audience.

Raphael Harry [01:15:15]:
The audience. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:15:16]:
And connecting with them and giving them what they want. And really, that is my priority. I still observe what's happening in the industry. I try to be aware of what's happening in terms of technology. But at the same time, my listeners, the audience that I want to reach, they don't care. Your audience doesn't care. It's I think the it's great that the industry cares, but does it have a huge impact on the audience that you're trying to reach? And if the answer is no, then we gotta focus on what gets the audience to listen and to tell other people to listen about the podcast. And I haven't cracked that code yet.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:16:01]:
The the industry still hasn't cracked the code on monetization for smaller independent podcasters, which is which is important. 90% of this industry okay. Let me be more conservative. 80% of this industry is independent podcasters. It's you and me who are just creating stuff. Yeah. The rest is really small, and they're, like, reflective of or regular society. You have the extremely rich, the very poor, and those in the middle.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:16:31]:
And, you know, it's we we are we are looking at old models to monetize, and it doesn't work. And we have to figure out a better way of compensating creators or educating advertisers. Advertisers, are you doing based on volume? Are you doing it based on the the relationship the host has with the audience? Who are you trying to reach? Are you still saying a 1,000 downloads per episode is still the benchmark when you have a a host that they're getting 3, 400 downloads an episode, but that that audience is so dialed in.

Raphael Harry [01:17:07]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:17:07]:
You know, like, when I also understand that I'm speaking from maybe a place of privilege because when I started podcasting, there wasn't all of this hoopla. You know, when I started, I was top 10, top 20. I didn't know anything existed. Someone emailed me and said, you're on this list and your podcast is, you know, 20, whatever. And so I can say that I've had the longevity on my side.

Raphael Harry [01:17:35]:
Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:17:35]:
But as more podcasters come in the space and my audience has more options to listen, I can't sit on those laurels and say I'm fine. I have to figure out how to keep the audience engaged and want to come back to listen. And there's less focus on that. There's more focus on how we're going to advertise. The reality is that we are creating content for the platforms. We're not creating plat the platforms aren't created to accommodate our content. We are creating content for them.

Raphael Harry [01:18:09]:
Platforms. That's true. Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:18:10]:
Right? And the more they get us to create, the more we get into this hamster wheel of creating. And we're thinking we'll get more downloads, we'll get more listen, and we're just working for the algorithm as as as opposed to working for the audience. And I had to take a step back for 1, I was just burnt out.

Raphael Harry [01:18:31]:
True.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:18:32]:
I was burnt out. And also, I just took the year back. You we we met through Corey, and I had to take the step back because he thought I was pod fading. I was like, no. I'm not pod fading. I'm like, I'm grieving. And at the time, and I wrote this on the blog, I had to do the bare minimum, like all the extra ness. The bare minimum was I needed to edit my client's episode and made sure that my podcast had this episode.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:18:57]:
And those are the things that I focused on and my audience. And so I've just been doing that. And in the process of doing that, regaining the creativity that I have and being excited about projects and figuring out, okay, how am I gonna kick off this new project? And then worry about the industry later because if I have a conversation with any of my listeners, they have no idea what this podcast industry is nor do they care. They don't care. And I had to balance that and say, you know what? I have to push my energy to what the audience wants. You know, don't focus on what anyone else is doing. Figure out what I want to do that I'm excited about that the audience is gonna hear and be like, yes. This is what I want.

Raphael Harry [01:19:42]:
You know what? I think I needed to hear that. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. And, yeah, I also took a a a big break towards the end of last year. I was just, like, after my 3rd year anniversary, I was just like, yeah. You know what? Yeah. I'm I would take a break and come back, and a few people were worried.

Raphael Harry [01:20:00]:
No. It's not. It's not.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:20:01]:
It's but it's important. And people people cannot take a break, and I wrote this also on the blog. Like, you know, creative burnout is a thing.

Raphael Harry [01:20:12]:
It is.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:20:13]:
It is a thing. You know? Religious, you know, I'm Christian, but, you know, there's almost every religion, there's a balance. There's there's harmony in work and rest. True. And if we're always working to get the most downloads, if we're always doing this, when do we have time to step back and say, you know what? Rafael, you and I, we need to do, like, a creative retreat where we just kick back and we just relax and say, alright. We're just enjoying and let the mind then take over and bring us to creative options or opportunities. We can't do that if we're constantly just driving the mind to just record and create and create and create. We need that balance of rest.

Raphael Harry [01:21:00]:
Exactly. So We do. Alright. I I could talk to you all day, but I I have to start wrapping up before Walter kicks me out of here. So, let's step away from your company and podcast team. So you've already touched on this earlier on, but we know we're gonna, come back to this again. So everybody who's been on this podcast is considered a dancer. If you say you don't dance, will you stop recording and kick you out of the studio right now? Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:21:31]:
So we need you to give us at least 3 artists that can keep you dancing for an hour, and we know obviously that you dance. So you can't you can't even deny that. You didn't No.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:21:42]:
No. For sure. For sure. In high school, I was the dancer. You know? Like See, that that that's alright.

Raphael Harry [01:21:47]:
That's why we love you. You know?

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:21:48]:
I was the dancer.

Raphael Harry [01:21:49]:
When you give us at least 3 artists that can keep you dancing, so no. No. You you you you gonna give me a conundrum now because how how usually, I try to make this a trick question. I can't even twist this anymore because, how am I gonna twist this? And I know I know Zu here is happy now because he's like, ah, somebody finally got rough. Because every other person have been making this difficult for them. Mhmm. So are you gonna say that you can't give us the most popular artists? But, I know you're still gonna give us some names that I'm gonna be like, that's that's still a popular artist. But even though it's not a popular name, I'm like, oh, but you already gave me, Regan Sunsplash.

Raphael Harry [01:22:31]:
So you know what? I'm I'm I'm I'm I won't make the rules tough for you anymore. It's it's all good. You're already on the you're you're already on one of the favorites.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:22:38]:
Listen. Listen. I have cat my catalog is deep. Alright? I have a whole history of

Raphael Harry [01:22:45]:
I I was thinking of how to twist this, but I'm like, you know what? It's all good. It's all good. So, yes, at least give us at least 3 artists that can keep you dancing for an hour. If you wanna make it all Brooklyn or all Montego Bay, whichever way, you you it's all good. You're good to go.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:23:03]:
Alright. Alright. I'm a give you categories. So, if it's present day, ding dong.

Raphael Harry [01:23:10]:
Okay.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:23:11]:
If it's just dancehall period, anybody in that catalog, Beanie, Bouncy, Spraggle Benz, all of those guys. Even if it is not dancehall, we got Barris. We have Dennis Brown. Any or I'll I'll be dancing. If you're talking hip hop, we could go old school. We could do, Salt and Pepper.

Raphael Harry [01:23:35]:
Right.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:23:35]:
You know, I was listening to Biggie on the way. You know? So we could go

Raphael Harry [01:23:39]:
Throw Brooklyn in the house.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:23:41]:
Yeah. You know, we could we could do whatever. We could do, you know, house music. You know? So we could let me think. You said specific. Let's see who we're gonna pick. We could go wide. We could go wide.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:23:59]:
So Black Box, C and C Music Factory. They're old school, so I can still dance to those.

Raphael Harry [01:24:05]:
See. Yeah. You see? Yeah. That that that's yeah. We we got real

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:24:09]:
ones. We got range. We'll we'll dance.

Raphael Harry [01:24:12]:
Alright. Alright. Well, that that's enough. We we we that's enough collection right there. That's that's that's yeah. You're a real one. Alright. So you live in, you know, New York City.

Raphael Harry [01:24:26]:
One thing this place is known for is good food. And you're also from Jamaica, good food. So when it comes to cuisine, we need a go to meal. So but we're we're gonna make this question too, Break it in 2. So if I arrive in Montego Bay right now Mhmm. What's the go to cuisine that I need to have? And then tell us your favorite go to cuisine in New York City.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:24:58]:
Oh, boy. I don't I don't I don't know what to tell you. Montego Bay. I mean, it depends. It depends on what you want.

Raphael Harry [01:25:06]:
Oh, no. You gotta you gotta give us one that you know, it can't be like I visited Montego Bay without having this. Like like, if I don't have this cuisine, it doesn't count. I've been to Montego Bay.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:25:17]:
I mean, what what I like, they're very authentically Moby, which is short for Montego Bay. So my favorite place is, it's not a food. It's I I don't know what you call these things, but it's like a a a cracker. It's big. So they're really big biscuits as we call them culturally. And it's from a bakery in Montego Bay called Regal, and we call them Regal. So there are these big round biscuits. I love them.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:25:51]:
And you could try it. The other thing is, I I'm staying away from the traditional jerk chicken and all of those things. Right? Because everyone's gonna tell you to try them. If I if I wanted you to try something, there's nothing like Devon House ice cream in Jamaica, so I would say try that.

Raphael Harry [01:26:13]:
Alright.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:26:13]:
You know? It's just such it's just amazing ice cream. And then you can't go wrong with seafood. You know? Conch soup is really good. You know? So that's what I would say.

Raphael Harry [01:26:29]:
Okay. That might be tough for someone like me, but,

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:26:33]:
yeah. Yeah. Well Conch is fish, well, seafood pescatarian. You know?

Raphael Harry [01:26:39]:
Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm I'm from a riverine tribe. Fish we we love a lot of fish except me. If it's like roasted fish, then I'm Yeah.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:26:47]:
I don't really eat fish, so we we have something in common. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:26:49]:
I don't

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:26:50]:
I don't care for the fish.

Raphael Harry [01:26:51]:
That's why we're cool. That's why we're cool. That's for other people. You you guys don't eat conk conk.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:26:55]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [01:26:55]:
So yeah. Alright. So can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast. Final question. What would you like to leave the audience with? Just a freestyle moment. All yours. Wow.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:27:18]:
Your life and experiences are not mistakes. They're opportunities to grow, mature, and they're also opportunities to help others. They're they're they're for you, but they're to help someone else grow and mature and learn. And, we can spend a lot of time beating ourselves up for making a silly decision because then we end up this place or that place or going through something. But those experiences are to sharpen us, shape us, and help others. That's it.

Raphael Harry [01:27:57]:
Beautiful. So as my people say, and, I was trying to remember how your people say thank you too. I forgot that one. K. Yeah? Yes. I mean, you ought to make it easy for me. Yeah. I wish I is the simpler one.

Raphael Harry [01:28:15]:
I'm trying to remember, maybe I forgot the Gambian one. See, I'm I'm so many people have taught me how to say thank you on this podcast. I keep forgetting each and every one of them. But Dankashin is my my missus. That's, you know, that's an easy one too. But all to say thank you for coming on the show. Please let people know how they can reach out to you and how they can find your awesome, podcasts on your company's network.

Kerry Ann Reid Brown [01:28:38]:
So you could go to breadfruitmedia.com and, Breadfruit Media social media. My podcast, Carry On Friends, at carry on friends and carry on friends dot com. That's typically where we are.

Raphael Harry [01:28:51]:
Oh, yes. And please do check them out. I've been enjoying them. There's great history. I've been learning about the Caribbean, and wow. Yeah. Man, just just know that I've, yeah, I've been updated. I've been updated and I've been upgraded.

Raphael Harry [01:29:06]:
And please, yeah, then for everyone listening, if you have any memory you wanna share, but don't forget, you can go on whitelabelamerican.com and, yeah, hit the contact button. Hit the microphone. It's 2 minutes. So if you talk longer than 2 minutes, it cut you. So you can leave as many messages as you want. Nice messages. If it's not nice, hey. You know what I'll do? I'll cut you off.

Raphael Harry [01:29:29]:
So, thank you for the privilege of your company. See you next week. Thanks for listening to White Label American. If you enjoy the show, please give a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app. You can follow the show on all social media platforms. Visit the White Label American website for links for donations, episodes, feedback, guests, merch and newsletter. Don't forget to download the free White Label American app on the Google Play Store and Apple coming soon. Thank you for the privilege of your company.