Act Up With Alana J

Episode 9 taps in Melissa Chaile aka Melissa Sweets, a digital and music marketing maven, former radio personality for both the iconic Spanish-language station La Mega 97.9 and Sirius XM’s Shade 45 , self-made entrepreneur, and wrestling mom. Melissa discusses her creative and entrepreneurial journey and some of the strategies she employed to successfully self-employ as a digital marketing profess...

This week’s episode features a pillar of the New York City comedy scene, the hilarious and humble Jared Waters, aka Turbo. You might have seen him on ABC's Tamron Hall Show , Amazon Prime, or on stage at comedy clubs nationwide. Listen to Jared's comedy journey from Tampa, FL to NYC in this episode laden with gems of Turbo wisdom, and don’t forget to follow the podcast and subscribe on You...

On this week’s episode, Alana features multi-hyphenate creative Sibel Damar. She’s an actor, comedian, character actor, impressionist and content creator, who’s been seen on CBS’s FBI , and can be heard on the narrative podcast Academy streaming on Amazon and Wondery . The two discuss Sibel’s experience working on the FBI set, the serendipitous story of how they met, and the journey of being a NYC...

On this week’s episode, Alana taps in fellow Bravery podcaster, multihyphenate creative, friend, and former coworker, Jason Enrique. The two discuss Jason’s artistic journey, from being rapper Jay Maverick back in the day, to currently directing, acting and becoming the diligent host of his podcast 1stClass2ndPlace. Listen to the episode and make sure to subscribe.   Follow @1stClass2ndPlace

This week's episode features Telly award-winning filmmaker, Webby and Emmy-nominated Director, Ramon Pesante. Ramon has accolades for days including working for BET, Wendy Williams and Sherri Shepherd to name a few. The two talk about their most memorable celebrity encounters, Ramon's journey as a creative professional and parent, and his candid POV on reality TV. Tune in to learn, laugh a...

This week Alana tags in another very special guest, the lovely, multi-talented Janisha aka Jani. Jani is most commonly known for her rise to Instafame, but she is so much more than meets the IG (see what I did there?). The two discuss harsh truths and stories about being women in the entertainment industry, Jani's journey as a young dedicated mother, and how they were initially connected by Ni...

This week we’re acting up with creator and producer of The HERlarious Show, host of the multi-award winning podcast Latinos Out Loud, the one and only Rachel La Loca. Rachel is also a comedienne, writer, professor, mother, and dear friend of Alana, so this episode is extra special. The ladies discuss the origins of The HERlarious Show, the success of Rachel's film "The Swimmers" and...

This episode is one for the hip-hop history books, featuring the multifaceted Courtney Brown. Courntey is a hip hop historian, journalist, writer for The Source Magazine, and supermom. She enlightens us on her friendship with the late, great DMX, her stint as a "studio rat" for Pharrell and others, navigating independence from a very young age, and being a manicurist for some of the bigg...

On the premiere episode of ACT Up with Alana J, our host is joined by Louisiana native, stand-up comedian, and podcaster, Dwayne Tousand. They discuss their experiences relocating from one state to another, the culture shock that comes with it, and each market's respective comedy scenes. From the Dirty South to Dirty Jersey, there's something in this for everyone.    Follow Dwayne  @dwayne...