Keep It Positive, Sweetie

Episode Title: Standing On Business with Amber Grimes
Host: Crystal Renee Hayslett
Guest: Amber Grimes (EVP & GM, Love Renaissance)
Date: April 23, 2024

Episode Overview

In this vibrant and deeply honest episode, host Crystal Renee Hayslett welcomes Amber Grimes—music executive, entrepreneur, and newly minted book club founder—for a candid conversation about career growth, standing firm in your purpose, the realities of success, and navigating love and relationships with intention. With mutual admiration and lived experience, the two discuss “standing on business” in both personal and professional realms, the value of intentionality, and the need to carve out personal purpose beyond work.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Full-Circle Friendship and Career Growth

• The episode opens with Crystal and Amber reminiscing about their humble beginnings, how their paths crossed, and their parallel journeys from creative hustlers to industry bosses.
• Both emphasize the importance of not skipping steps in the process:

  “I watched both of us not skip any steps ... I know you come on here and give people their flowers, but I was excited to do this to you.” – Amber (01:54)

• Crystal and Amber discuss how their early struggles shaped their work ethic and self-worth in their fields.

2. Building a Career: From College Parties to Boardrooms

• Amber shares how her entrepreneurial spirit led her to promote college parties—simply to get into clubs free—and organically transitioned into artist promotion and later, artist management.
• She talks about dropping out of college and learning more from real-life networking than from textbooks.

  “I never tell anybody, ‘Oh, drop out of college.’ But that experience ... worked out for me. I knew what I was doing. I was on a mission.” – Amber (04:44)

• On always making her own decisions:

  “I've always made my own decisions. ... I think I maybe don't give my mom enough credit for allowing me to make my own decisions.” – Amber (06:16)

3. Lessons From Humble Beginnings

• Amber details her early assistant work for music executive Boo, being thrown into the deep end, getting fired, rehired, and ultimately absorbing the business by osmosis:

  “I was able to be in the room... hearing how L.A. Reid is talking ... I saw everything in that position. Like, I have more visibility than I would ever give anybody who assists me.” – Amber (10:44)

• Both agree: every rung on the ladder brings lessons, connections, and experience that make you a better boss.

4. Women Navigating the Music Industry

• Crystal brings up the struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated industry. Amber flips the narrative:

  “I do not push the agenda that it is hard to be a woman in music because of your womanhood... My experience was: I’m valuable because I’m a woman... What can I bring because I’m a woman?” – Amber (15:46-16:51)

• She encourages listeners to see their uniqueness as an asset, not a deficit.

5. Taking Risks: The LA Move and Love Life

• Amber recounts her move to LA, initially a flop (two weeks later she boomeranged back to Atlanta), and how subsequent visits for work built her network and confidence to try LA again.
• The decision to relocate wasn’t just professional—it was personal:

  “I realized that my husband wasn't in Atlanta... I also am not one of those girls that want to work, work, work, and have no personal life.” – Amber (21:19)

• On intentional dating and recognizing ‘your person’:

  “I got very intentional about dating because I was like, I want something different... I have my, like, three non-negotiables. I think you should only have five.” – Amber (23:44)

• Memorable moment: Amber met her now-boyfriend on her first official day in LA, exemplifying the power of intention and openness.

6. Dating and Self-Discovery: The Five Non-Negotiables

• Amber introduces the concept of "five non-negotiables" for dating—must-haves that help focus on what truly matters.

  “If you have more than five, you are probably the red flag. ... What in that experience are you not willing to deal with?” – Amber (28:09)

• Both discuss learning from past relationships, growing out of long lists into healthy standards based on meaningful experience.

7. Unlearning Ownership in Love

• Profound discussion on healthy relationship dynamics:

  “When you feel like you own somebody or they're yours, you're like, I want my thing back. ... When you love someone very freely and unconditionally, they can go away ... and I don’t feel like I own you.” – Amber (34:48)

• Crystal’s therapist’s advice: “That is objectifying someone. You're literally making him an object.” – Crystal (36:42)

8. On Interracial Dating & Cultural Differences

• Amber talks openly about her choice to date outside her race and how she’s always focused on who loves her, not their background:

  “It was about who loves me. I don't care what you look like.” – Amber (37:48)

• Navigating cultural differences becomes a process of sharing, learning, and mutual enrichment.

9. Intentional Processes: Personal Growth, Travel, and Book Club

• Amber shares her method for intentional dating—including traveling early in a relationship to see people's true selves under stress.
• She explains launching “Amber’s Book Club” as a way to create community, nurture young women seeking mentorship, and find fulfillment outside of work:

  “I love my job...but not anymore [as her only purpose]. ... The only thing that I enjoy doing for free is reading.” – Amber (45:11 & 45:36)

• Her recommended reads:
  • Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch
  • Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
  • Damn Good Advice for People with Talent by George Lois

10. Work-Life Integration & Building with Friends

• Crystal and Amber discuss the benefits and challenges of working with friends and building a business rooted in trust and communication.
• Love Renaissance label was founded by five first-generation immigrants, and their friendship and group therapy practice set a new standard:

  “We go to therapy together as a group. ... You can't bring toxicity into this environment because it's very healed.” – Amber (57:38)

• The importance of resolving conflict immediately:

  “It is never any residue. ... As long as there is no residue after y'all clean up, because there's always going to be something to clean up.” – Amber (59:52-60:13)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I didn’t skip any steps...and I believe that I got to where I’m going faster and will always have more longevity because I never skipped over.” – Amber (09:11)
• “If you didn't know me during that time, you'd think it just happened for me. But to see what I was going through and then to see how we both made it? It's crazy.” – Crystal (02:09)
• “I'm valuable because I'm a woman. ... I'm not competing with the sex that's dominant in this field. ... Figure out what you appreciate about you instead of thinking about what you lack.” – Amber (16:51-17:49)
• “You make time for what you want to make time for.” – Amber (51:08)
• On purpose: “Your purpose will fuel your dreams, and all these things that you’re doing, but we are thinking the other way around. If I stick to the dream, it’ll fuel my purpose. That is not how it works.” – Amber (49:00)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:28-01:25| Crystal & Amber’s first meeting, early career support | | 02:49 | Amber reflects on watching Crystal’s journey | | 03:05-04:03| From party promoting to entrepreneurship | | 09:11 | Importance of not skipping steps in the industry | | 10:44 | Lessons learned as an assistant | | 15:46-17:39| Navigating the male-dominated industry as a woman | | 21:00-23:00| Amber’s intentional dating approach and moving for love | | 28:09-30:04| The five non-negotiables for relationships | | 34:48 | On not “owning” your romantic partner | | 45:11-47:35| Launching Amber’s Book Club and detaching identity from work| | 49:00 | Purpose fueling dreams, not the other way around | | 57:38 | Label founders’ collective therapy, healthy communication |

Closing Words & Takeaways

• Stand on business—honor every step, refuse to skip the growth, and value yourself as you are.
• Healthy relationships (work or love) require honesty, immediate communication, and grace.
• Be intentional in all things: dating, friendship, career, and purpose. If you don’t see what you want, pivot and create it.
• Rediscover joy outside of your job; don’t confuse career success for life purpose.
• “Keep it purpose-driven, sweetie.” (71:03, Crystal)
• “Keep it intentional, sweetie.” (71:05, Amber)

Follow Up:

• Connect with Amber Grimes on Instagram: @AmberGrimes and @AmbersBookClub
• Submit questions for “Positive Outcomes” to keepitpositsweetie@gmail.com
• Follow Crystal Renee Hayslett: @LoveCrystalRenee (L-U-V)

For Listeners:
This episode is rich not only with career advice and industry insights, but with lived wisdom for fulfilling your purpose, loving with intention, and standing in your authentic truth—always, sweetie!