“Unfortunately, everything is funny to me—this is code for I’m childish and I need to grow up and please don’t sit beside me at the funeral, because you will not mourn.
“We will laugh,” said content creator, brand ambassador, author and comedian, EJ of Ejspeaks.
And I believe her and would be in tears laughing at what is supposed to be a somber occasion. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to sit next to this funny lady at a funeral to bust a gut, just get through 2020. I discovered EJ last year, surfing social media when I found a skit with her complaining about the heat and have been an admirer ever since.
An Arkansas native, born and raised, EJ attended high school, college and received certification in Criminal Justice. Although headed in one direction, she stated, “neither school, nor program, would be successful—I was all over the place.” EJ shared she had aspirations for acting, writing and storytelling.
“Why I allowed myself to waste my time and the resources of school, is still a great mystery,” said EJ. “This is code for I have a great deal of student loan debt.”
Starting the journey into content creating and comedy was a natural direction for EJ, although she did share there were some other factors involved.
“I began making Youtube videos because I was afraid to sleep alone,” said EJ. “My husband and I had just moved to a new location, I had just had baby #2, and my husband was working graveyards.”
She continued, “Basically, I was a wuss, a scaredy cat, if you will—any noise alarmed me, any slight sound from the upstairs or next door neighbor could have easily prompted me to call to the police. So, since there was no way I could actually sleep in fear, I started making Youtube channels.
“I went through a few changes, tweaked a few things along the way, and comedy was just something that really worked for me. I’ve been creating content (good, bad and indifferent) for a decade now, and it has been quite the journey.”
EJspeaks has something for everybody but is geared towards people of an adult persuasion. Her content ranges from skits, to hot topics to talking about everyday situations, but always laced with pure comedy. She talked about her content, keeping things clean and the challenges of staying in your created lane.
“I just wanted to tell stories and make people laugh,” said EJ, “I wanted to cuss like Kirk Franklin, but I didn’t see the value in it. I wanted to make videos about funny stereotypical stuff, but I just couldn’t. I never saw my mother drink, smoke, or go to a club. She wasn’t vulgar and she never cursed until she got in her 50s and to be honest, she’s not very good at it-at-all.
“I am, what she showed me—that’s it.”
She continued, “I have found that being clean keeps me in a lane of my own, and not overcrowded by all the other types of content. But I also feel like that’s what has taken so long for the world to catch on. I also feel like I boxed myself in, by continuously creating clean content, to the point that if I did create something stereotypical or something with profanity, that my core audience would feel betrayed.”
In one of her videos, EJ shared how her daughter and friends don’t actually say the word “pandemic” by substituting another “p” word in its place. She spoke about 2020 and how the “pastrami” helped her brand produce revenue and what future content creators need to know.
“Being in the ‘Paramount Studios’(pandemic) really showed me that creating content could be super profitable and rewarding,” said EJ. “Again, I had been creating content for 10 years—the money was there, but barely.
“I had discovered my niche was content, but being laid off gave me time to create even more, and to do more tweaking to my brand, and to even challenge my stagnant productivity.
“I say the same thing, every time, if you want to do something, just get started. There will always be someone with more followers, more views, a better camera, a better aesthetic, BUT THAT’S LITERALLY NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. You are responsible for creating the life you want to live—it will not create itself on your behalf.”
She outlined four important points for content creators to remember: finding out what you are good at, putting it into action, continue doing it and let the world know that you are doing it.
Oftentimes, doing skits and conversations with her husband, FJ, this funny gal balances her talents with being a wife and mother. She shared how she manages wearing all her hats while still having time to entertain us.
“Honestly, it is the trickiest thing ever,” said EJ. “Most days, I think ‘Do I really need to feed my kids, or can I create more content?’ (This is sarcasm- a mere joke. DO NOT CALL THE COPS!). Thankfully, my husband has been there every step of the way.”
She continued, “FJ and I make an awesome team, and he understands that this is me building the life I want to live. He has never made me feel like I had to have one or the other. It does take planning and sacrifice, and it takes a million reminders on my phone, but we get it done.”
EJ made 2020 a lot easier and a whole lot funnier as we all navigated the “paleontologist” with the hand-washing, barren grocery stores, social uprisings, the worst president ever and a lot of crazy people. She shared that the out-pouring from people across social media made a difference in her life as well.
“Not everyone will tell you how your work has helped them, or how you’ve gotten them through some rough times, but I receive messages like this daily,” said EJ. “It keeps me going, especially on the days when I want to quit.
“And even for those who may never message me, thank you for the screen time, the shares, the tagging of friends to my videos.
“I am swollen with thankfulness.”
To find out more about EJ, please visit www.ejspeaks.com. You can follow Ejspeaks on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
