Meet Kristen Daniel | Strategist, Executive Coach, & Game Inventor

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

Hi Kristen, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I don’t think most people ever give up on anything as much as they surrender to alignment. There’s very rarely a time when we pursue things for which we don’t know our true intentions. If you’re working on something aligned with your purpose, then what you might need to give up is the fixed vision of how your work is “supposed” to develop. For those of us working on something that is at its core only there to serve our ego, we are not exhausted from the work itself, but rather the extra energy being used to take on an endeavor that isn’t part of our calling.

What should our readers know about your business?
The vision for Heard It All Before is to drive new paths toward music discovery through gameplay centered around music sampling. The games are hybrid physical and digital playing experiences designed to bring players of different generations, backgrounds, and music tastes together.

We just launched the first version in the Fall of 2021, the Hip Hop edition. Players compete to see who has the best ear for music samples by guessing the original or the songs that sampled the original, along with a bonus trivia. The first team to 20 wins the round.

I’d say what sets us apart is our Mystery cards. You don’t know which song your team is about to play until you scan the QR code on the card. We have the ability to change songs on the back end. So no one will ever have a stale deck.

I’m super proud of the feedback we have gotten so far about the game. Many of the customers, though we only have met via email or social media, feel like co-creators. We receive messages with suggestions and requests. In my opinion from a product perspective, an authentic relationship and sense of community is the best thing you can have with the folks you’ve designed a product for.

This was an idea that I came up with and developed during quarantine. It wasn’t initially something I planned to explore as a business to build for scale. I was just having fun testing the idea as a passion project, which I believe might have been why it was relatively quick to come to life. Basically, the biggest lesson learned so far with the game is: Stay curious, Have fun. The market will tell you how it sees value in your idea.

With our brand, I envision us becoming catalysts of story sharing and music discovery. Samples connect so many people–parents and children, siblings, co-workers, and couples. A song that might be attached to a childhood memory for me could remind someone else of the day graduated from high school. We all know music is universal. As a brand, we music sampling to be more accessible to everyday people–not just extreme music enthusiasts.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
– The SoundTable used to hands down be my favorite place to bring my out-of-town visitors! (R.I.P. SoundTable)

– Local Green Atlanta (I love the face people make once they try the Salmon Philly)

– Carroll Street Cafe

– LePetite Marche

– The Beltine

– My personal tour five-cent tour of the Atlanta neighborhoods-I love sharing the history and showing folks older homes.

– Tassilli’s Raw Reality

– Beetlecat

– We have a dope creative scene, so if there’s an exhibit or show, I like to bring folks to those events.

– JoJo’s Beloved

– My front porch 🙂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My village is amazing and includes so many supportive friends, FAMU & Georgia Tech classmates, mentors, and more. But I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my family, especially my parents and grandparents. My family tree is made of builders, thinkers, and creatives. As the years go by, I continue to see how much each of my family members has impacted my journey so far.

Website: HeardItAllBeforeGame.com

Instagram: @hearditallbeforegame

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristendaniel/

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