‘SuperFest’: Mona Scott-Young shares the core tenants of her ambition

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Following  “Byron Allen Presents The Comedy & Music SuperFest,” Allen Media’s John Kelley caught up with Mona Scott-Young. The variety show is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. ET Monday on theGrio Cable Network.

John Kelley [00:00:00] Well, first off, congratulations on everything you do and have done up to this point.

Mona Scott-Young [00:00:04] Thank you.

Kelley [00:00:05] I appreciate you. First, take us through the weekend. I mean, you’ve been on quite the whirlwind.

Scott-Young [00:00:08] Oh, my God. It’s been just an amazing, amazing weekend. First of all, as you know, I represent Missy Elliott. We started out the week with the announcement that she’s the first female hip-hop artist to ever be nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And this is her first year of eligibility. So how amazing is that?

Kelley [00:00:26] And well-deserved.

Scott-Young [00:00:27] And well-deserved. And then we were preparing for this epic Grammy performance that was spectacular, to say the least. They celebrated 50 years of hip-hop, the anniversary, and it was – I don’t even know the word to describe it.

Kelley [00:00:42] It was mind blowing.

Scott-Young [00:00:43] It was electrifying.

Kelley [00:00:44] Yeah.

Scott-Young [00:00:44] Was it not?

Kelley [00:00:45] Yeah. You know, I come from old school, back when variety shows were on network television.

Scott-Young [00:00:49] Remember that? Yes!

Kelley [00:00:51] Now, Byron is bringing that back for someone like you who’s in this industry, what does that mean to know that we’re getting a taste of that all over again?

Scott-Young [00:00:57] Well, for me, I’m a personal fan, right? This is the convergence of my two favorite things in the world: music and comedy. There’s sports in there, but I know nothing about sports. But like, to be able to listen to some of my favorite comments, laugh, especially now that I’m like exhausted so I need a good laugh, but then have the musical performances as well. I think it’s phenomenal. I think it’s going to do extremely, extremely well because people love, you know, this kind of entertainment packaged.

Kelley [00:01:24] Talk about what Byron Allen is doing and the things he’s been able to bring to this and his importance right now in this game.

Scott-Young [00:01:29] Listen, when you talk to me, a serial entrepreneur, Byron, is the Holy Grail, right? He is the model to follow. And what I love about it is it’s stealth, right? There’s no fanfare, there’s no rah rah. He is just getting it done and, slowly but surely, taking over the world. Right. It’s incredible for our community. It’s incredible in general, right? What he’s been able to do is mind blowing.

Kelley [00:01:54] And you’ve proven like Byron Allen to be a force of nature. What does it take to sustain that and keep that energy up? Because he doesn’t stop. You don’t stop. What would it be? Flintstone, vitamins, Gatorade. What are you doing?

Scott -Young [00:02:04] Sheer manic energy. You know! Listen, we have one life. And what you know, we’ve learned over the last couple of years is that it’s fleeting, you know, and you just never know what’s going to happen. For me, every day I get up, it’s just about being at my best, living it to the fullest, doing everything that I want to do, that I aspire to do, that I’m here to do. Right?

You’ve got to understand your gift and step into it. And I just want to know that when that moment comes and I’m taking that last breath, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I’ve done every single thing that I set my mind to.

Kelley [00:02:41] I love that. You know, I tell people all the time, “This is the most exciting time in our industry,” with so many platforms and streaming and just many outlets. What are some of the tools, some of the tools you can share with some young people out there that are trying to get into this game, that are learning, want to be a part of this? What would you share?

Scott-Young [00:02:57] I mean, you know, they’ve got to be relentless. I say half jokingly that what the pandemic has done, as much as it created a sense of urgency for us with not knowing what the world had to offer. It also, I think, created a sense of complacency because that fire in the belly just isn’t there with a lot of, you know, our younger workforce that’s out there. And what I say is do not let up, right?

Do not sit back, do not get complacent. You’ve got to keep that same energy. You’ve got to make sure that every single day you’re pushing. You’re pushing yourself, you’re pushing everyone around you and you’re pushing towards your goal.

This isn’t getting any easier for us. As much as there’s so many more platforms, so many more opportunities, there are just so many more other people out there trying to do the exact same thing. The competition is fierce, right? Know, your business. Know, whatever it is that you’re trying to sell. I don’t care if it’s a project, if it’s a talent, if it’s yourself and your skills. Right? Know it inside out.

Be ready to articulate it at the drop of a dime, because those opportunities, when they pop up, you better be ready and just stick to it. Stay at it. Everyone you know is not going to be supportive. Everyone is not going to see, you know, the superstar in you. If you don’t see it and you don’t believe it, then you cannot expect anyone else to.

Kelley [00:04:16] Well, you spent a career showing that superstar you are inside and out. What is next? What do you have on your horizon? What’s on your vision board?

Scott-Young [00:04:25] You know, scripted for sure. We’ve been developing films and series projects, so I’m definitely pushing our company towards that. We’ve been doing unscripted for a very long time. I’m an actual physical production company, so a lot of people don’t know that. They think I’m just, you know, an EP, but we actually run physical.

And really just continuing to expand the company and expand the brand. And I always approach things with a 360 kind of view on what are the extensions, what are the ancillary revenue streams. So a lot of what we’re doing is kind of building out those tentacles of the core business.

Kelley [00:05:01] We love what you do. Congratulations on everything. Continued success. And now we’ll be keeping an eye on this one. She doesn’t stop.

Scott-Young [00:05:07] But for now, I want some comedy and some music.

Kelley [00:05:09] That’s what we’re here for.

Scott -Young [00:05:10] That’s what we’re here for.

Kelley [00:05:11] Bravo to you. Thank you so much.

 “Byron Allen Presents The Comedy & Music SuperFest” will be available for streaming Tuesday on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and other platforms.

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