Today we’d like to introduce you to Jermaine McNeese.
Hi Jermaine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
One morning I woke up, got ready for the day, walked outside, and my car wasn’t there. At this time, it was just my wife and oldest daughter. I called the authorities and found out it was repossessed for over $250, which was a year late. I was baffled. See, I had previously believed that my last $1700 payment to that dealership was over in the Cahokia area (Yeah, I know, I know, it’s a wrong area to do car business, but I was young. I thought that the interest would be wiped away since I paid in full per my calculations. I was wrong. They didn’t do their accounting that way. After going to the dealership, pleading my case, and saying that I paid $1700 the year prior, the owner looked at me and said I was the worst customer paying late. I just couldn’t understand. After me continuing to try and explain how I believed that the final payment was all I had to pay, he then walked up to me and sternly said, “Look it, either you pay this, or I keep the car and resell it, either way, I’m getting my money.”
They had tacked another $600, bringing my bill to get the car out to over $850. I had to scrounge to get it and ask so many others to help. No one did, so I sold my motorcycle that I had finally gotten after so long, and from that day on, I told my wife I would never be confused or uneducated in the world of business again. We both enrolled in business school, and so much more came afterward!
See, I never really wanted to work for anyone. I respected it but never settled with being someone who only took orders and walked a path that I did not define. One could say that is a controlling mentality, and I would agree, but I saw it as the fire that kept me driven towards education, life lessons, experiences, and the pursuit of happiness.
While completing my bachelor’s degree, instead of waiting to work a job and trying and get experience, I learned to work on vehicles. I then realized that they were much more valuable to sell. While in school, I would take those lessons, implement what I was learning in theory, and convert it into real-life applications. I discovered that social media and the online world was such a tool that enabled me to reach many more people than I had imagined. I had rented a spot on the corner of a bustling street in Alton, where I started my dealership. It was massively successful. I learned how to run social media advertisements and do business on a level I had never experienced. I ensured every customer I had was never to share what I did with the dealership owner in Cahokia, Illinois. My wife Pamela McNeese would always be right there making sure that I was doing the best I could and that being there for others is great, but I still have to keep my eyes open for those knives that come swiftly to my back, and when I say she was right. I mean, she was more accurate than a bullseye!
Fast forwarding some years, those knives came, and things happened, cops, jail, crooks, people stealing from me, setups, and becoming the guy being “thrown under the bus” by his supposedly business partner. I had found a new way to create happiness and joy. And that was through the lens. I started my production company Black Horse Productions, while traveling back and forth to Chicago. Now a lot of people do not know this, but I was taking pictures and doing videos up in Chicago, but at the same time, I had to drive for Lyft to make ends meet. My cousin, Sylvia Donald exceptional individual, was such a saving grace because she owned property right on MLK Drive! She opened her home to me, where I slept most days. Sometimes I had to sleep in the car.
One day, she must have been knocked out because she didn’t hear my calls, and I didn’t want to wake her, it was very late, and I had chosen to sleep in my car that night. I had driven for about 18 hours nonstop that day. About an hour later, I heard gunshots blazing across the front of my vehicle. I gathered myself and decided to drive back home. It was a 4-hour drive, and I had to stop many times.
Fast forwarding, even more, Black Horse Productions picked up massively! I was creating videos for local businesses all around. The gem came when I decided that the right thing to do was not to have my physical body in a place doing the work. But to assist those businesses with financial growth, customer service training, and a better understanding of utilizing social media to maximize their business. During that time, my now daughters (Plural) could see me more as I was finally getting one of the most valuable things back. I spent that time making videos with them. Silly videos, informative videos, and some educational ones as well. That’s where our Tiktok page developed. Our video creation fun led us to meet so many amazing people. I’m not going to name-drop drop, but some are famous actors, comedians, music producers, songwriters, and so on.
Black Horse Productions turned into a social media strategy business that assisted with ghostwriting and organic growth, and it was successful. Many top YouTubers and even some on-screen television show utilized our services. Even then, my cousin Sylvia was a massive help because she helped with hiring and strategizing and even did many of the consultations for the clients. We had suddenly lost my little sister, and I was floored during this time. I was so traumatized from losing her that I didn’t know my left from right. She took some pictures I shared and even my company’s short video ad. But in her light, the work continued, and with her smile, it became even more remarkable.
From there, a small but big company reached out to me for exclusivity now. I won’t say much now, but to give preference to the one and only Joseph Sedmak, I went deep into the advertising and marketing world and can now do things I’ve never dreamed of. Now I’m not one to throw the world inspiration around another person outside my father, but Joe said these words to me, and I will never forget them. He said, “Jermaine, I just want you to be able to dream bigger, and that’s why I do what I do with and for you.” Words I treasure. That freedom and experience enabled me to enjoy creating even more, and that’s where my other channels, such as BarryDidit (aka JermaineDidit) and my pride and joy, AutoBeef, were born.
I was able to entertain and bring smiles to people’s faces just from those channels, and AutoBeef allowed for a space for me to be me in every aspect that I could. Be it my loud ways, my comedy that I find rather corny, my creativity, or my randomness, and with all of that, I bring it into a community that people enjoy. Who doesn’t love cars, right? Even without being a car person, those videos get people laughing, and sometimes, I get messages about the fact that it has genuinely changed someone’s day. Some of my favorite comments are those from veterans. They told me how terrible their day was and how my little video from Autobeef truly brightened their spirits. That’s nothing but joy right there didn’t cost me anything but a little bit of my time. I’ve recently lost my father, which solidifies my values with time and the people around me. A father, husband, brother, and friend, and in the words of Jay-Z, I’m not a businessman. I’m a Business Man! I’m a family man.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all. As previously stated in the last summary. All were detailed in that write-up—theft, wrong business partners, and police. And I am fighting my own belief in myself! Whew, the list goes on.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Black Horse Productions was a social media strategy and ghostwriting business. As a ghostwriting company, we kept clients confidential. Still, I can say that some of those massively large YouTubers, Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok creators, yeah, all utilized our services for creativity and our ways of implementing the creative into their business to reach their customers or viewers. What set us apart from everyone else was that we analyzed the client’s needs and provided feedback that resulted in the client’s goals being fulfilled. Not many people can say that, and we were proud of it. Right now, BHP has since been bought out per se. It is closed as I am focusing on creating more with AutoBeef. The team and I will make two animated shows from the creation of AutoBeef for Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Disney, or whoever the best fit for us shall be. However, in the day-to-day work, I conduct as a Sr. Executive Creative Director. I look for people to hire for advertisements, and I have my Talent Coordinator Krysta Craig do that both locally and nationwide in hopes of giving others a beautiful chance at creating and getting paid to do so!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Pamela McNeese: Wife
Kaydence McNeese: Daughter
Louis McNeese: Father
LeJeanne McNeese: Mother
Janay McNeese: My sister always looked up to me as though I was a king. She saw the greatness that I didn’t.
Joseph Sedmak: Mentor
Sylvia Donald: Cousin, business partner, fantastic individual.
Krysta Craig: She’s my diligent friend and has been hired as a co-worker.
Megan Jacoby : first employee that has blown all expectations away and really has been a treasure to have around.
Contact Info:
- Website: JermaineMcNeese.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/auto.beef
- Facebook: Facebook.com/justautobeef
- Youtube: Youtube.com/c/autobeefs
