Meet Cleavon Davis | Podcaster & Clarity Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cleavon Davis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cleavon, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
One piece of conventional advice that I disagree with is, “just be yourself”. Although it doesn’t have to be, I believe it is lazy advice and a lazy approach to success. It reminds me of a quote by Ian Morgan Cron that says, “If my “self” could have helped my “self” don’t you think my “self” would’ve done it by now?” Telling someone to be themselves actually isn’t the worst advice, the problem is most people do not know who they are. Therefore, the advice to “be yourself” often leads people to settle more into the person they have become rather than the person they were meant to be.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a professional podcaster. I consider that my art form. It is the avenue through which I express my thoughts, interest, and musings. I am creative in other spaces, such as social media and terrestrial radio, but podcasting is my passion. It has not been easy and still isn’t actually. I started podcasting in late 2017 as a 3rd-year business student in undergrad. I started it because a friend of mine told me I said stuff that was “tweetable”. At that point, I didn’t even have a Twitter account but I made one so I could start posting my “tweetable” sayings. That didn’t work. I never really got into the app and the Twitter culture. At the time I was working for my college radio station and was also minoring in music production. I still had an itch to share all the things I was learning about business, creativity, and life with the world so I decided to start a podcast. I had heard a few podcasts prior to then and thought I could do the same thing. I had experience being around microphones and operating a soundboard; why not start a show? In retrospect, those first couple of episodes were absolutely awful but people were actually listening. I soon became known on campus as the radio and podcast guy and I really enjoyed it. I recommend that every college student should look into starting a podcast or some type of interview show, it is an excellent networking tool. Eventually, it was time for me to graduate and I had to start making harder decisions. I had an opportunity to intern in a healthcare administration role after graduation and I turned it down. My Department Chair thought I was a lunatic and making an unintelligent decision, but I knew I didn’t want to sit at a desk I wanted to be doing something creative. I left school with no job, no prospects, and no money. I moved from Alabama back to the Washington DC area to live with my parents again. Soon thereafter, I landed a job at the top Christian radio station in DC. I was a part-time admin, but within a year I worked my way up to a producer role. I enjoyed my job and learned a lot from working in a top-10 media market. I built my network and after 3 years I decided to pursue the vision I had for my life, to be a professional podcaster and entrepreneur. What I haven’t shared is that during those three years I took an entire year off from podcasting. During the peak of the pandemic, I was frustrated and searching for what was next in my life. I started using my creative energy in other spaces like TikTok and was even able to build a following of over 70k on social media starting from essentially nothing. That period of time proved to me that there is no off-and-on switch for creatives. We were created to create and the world needs our creations. I recently recommitted to my first love of podcasting with an entirely new portfolio of work behind my name. I have a presence in the radio industry, I have built a social media following, I have earned two coaching certifications, and I have become an entrepreneur as an independent podcast producer. I haven’t made it yet, but I am building my vision in real-time and that is what my podcast, the Build Your Vision Show, is all about. The transformation of going from a dreamer to a doer to a world-changer. I am in an awesome position to help my audience because I am a few steps ahead of them, not far removed. I understand the creative struggle and I am documenting my experience to help others who come after me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am an outdoor person and love spending time in nature. My favorite nature spots at the moment are Rock Creek Park and parks lining the C&O Canal/Potomac river which separates Washington, Virginia, and Maryland. A place I like to chill out and enjoy art is The Reach, a living theatre and artistic hub on the campus of the Kennedy Center. Even though I’m not vegetarian or vegan, my family is vegetarian. We love to eat at a black-owned vegan spot on Georgia Ave. up the street from Howard University, called NuVegan. As I mentioned earlier, I love nature so I frequent the National Aquarium in Baltimore and National Botanic Gardens on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This is a very hard question to answer. So many people have knowingly and unknowingly poured so much value into my life. But, I would have to shout out my mother, Sharon Davis. In life, there are two types of skills: regular skills and meta-skills. Meta-skills enable you to perform other skills. Without a meta-skill, the acquisition of other skills would be impossible. For example, the skill of balance is the meta-skill for walking and running. My mother gave me the greatest meta-skill I could ever ask for, and that is the ability to think. Problem-solving, creative writing, entrepreneurship, thought-leadership, and my faith, all come from my mother instilling in me through all my developmental years how to think for myself. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Website: https://www.buildyourvision.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleethevisionary/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clee-davis/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cleavon_davis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buildyourvisionllc

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpDhYucO-qVra-HsoP1Cffg

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleethevisonary?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 https://www.facebook.com/cleavon.davis.1/

Image Credits
Eugene Simonov, Denisse Hernandez, Maia Foster