I Did That: Celebrating Yourself When You Finish Something Big with Ayana Major Bey

Ep #153: I Did That: Celebrating Yourself When You Finish Something Big with Ayana Major Bey You finished the thing. Did you stop and say I did that, or did you just move on to the next thing? It's my birthday, and I'm spending it catching up with Ayana Major Bey (https://claude.ai/chat/0864417e-e986-...) , the actress, voiceover artist, podcaster and multi hyphenate creator who came back on the show right as I was coming up for air after 31 Days of Black Business. This one is a shoot the breeze, artist to artist conversation about celebrating yourself, protecting your time, and what it would look like to make your work without needing it to pay the bills. What We Talk About • Why finishing something big and immediately moving on is baked into how freelancers are trained, and how to interrupt it on purpose • How Ayana actually celebrates, including the single thrifted champagne flute she keeps in the cabinet for exactly this • What the bare minimum baddie philosophy really means, and why her 65 percent is still more than most people's 100 • Why planning your off days is the work, and the case for putting laundry on your Google calendar • The behind the scenes of 31 Days of Black Business, including how Threads built the whole guest list • The juicy turn: separating your artistry from capitalism, and what happens when you make something just because you wanted to If you've been grinding and forgetting to stop and say I did that, this episode is for you. Chapters: • 00:03 - Host Introduction and Episode Release Date • 04:22 - Interview — Celebrating Completion & Joy with Ayanna Major Bey • 16:13 - Summer Recap: FIFA, Concerts, and Creative Projects • 26:36 - Origin of '31 Days of Black Business' • 35:51 - Surprising Insights from Guests — Artists, Entrepreneurs, and Career Pivots • 51:56 - The Artist Pivot — Is Podcasting Part of Your Practice? • 01:01:53 - Listen & Follow: Ayanna's Podcast, Website, and Socials All about Ayana Major Bey You're gonna love Ayana. She's the friend who will tell you to sit down, rest, and stop apologizing for it, and then quote Beyoncé at you. She's an actress, voiceover artist, mentor, and the host of the two time award winning podcast The Artist Pivot, where she talks with creatives about the turns their careers have taken. She's written, produced and starred in her own cabaret, she's a production assistant with an events producing company and moving toward event producing herself, and she describes what she's doing these days as intentionally finding her joy every day while surviving these people's capitalism. Things We Mentioned • Ayana's first time on the show, Ep # (https://claude.ai/chat/0864417e-e986-...) • Pastor Brian's episode, where he prayed for our country, Ep # (https://claude.ai/chat/0864417e-e986-...) • My write up about 31 Days of Black Business in Lex Roman's Revenue Rule Breaker (https://www.revenuerulebreaker.com/i-...) newsletter • The Artist Pivot (https://www.ayanabey.com/podcast) , including her Broadway to fitness CEO episode with Michelle West (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Fmf...) • 31 Days of Black Business, the full series (https://www.noseyaf.com/categories/31...) • Denzel Turner and Black Fridays (   / @blackfridayspodcast  ) , the conversation that started it all • Park Manor 75, Charlette Stanton and Jacare Thomas (https://www.noseyaf.com/two-introvert...) • CocoaLuxe, Semoine Boyer (https://www.noseyaf.com/semoine-boyer...) • Obsidian Book Archive (https://www.noseyaf.com/dark-fantasy-...) • Van Leeuwen ice cream, for the record Connect with Ayana Major Bey • IG: @ayanambey (  / ayanambey  ) • The Artist Pivot on IG: @theartistpivot (  / theartistpivot  ) • Website: ayanabey.com (https://www.ayanabey.com/) Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch, all the month's episodes straight to your inbox once a month. → Subscribe here (http://noseyaf.com/newsletter) 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook, simple ways to show up for the people on your block. → Download it free (https://stephaniegraham.myflodesk.com...) Behind the Mic noseyAF is a project of Stephanie Graham's art practice: photography, film, and documentary work rooted in community and curiosity on Chicago's South Side. → See the work More ways to connect • Email: stephanie@missgraham.com (mailto:stephanie@missgraham.com) • Follow on IG: @stephaniegraham (  / stephaniegraha.  .