The odds may have seemed stacked against Wayne Ayers, a 25-year-old entrepreneur from a tiny hamlet in Washington State, after facing several adversities during his upbringing. Wayne overcame adversity to achieve success, despite the obstacles he encountered.
Ayers’ mother, who had raised him and his sisters as single parents, became ill and had to quit working while he was in sixth grade. He was homeless by high school, moving between friends’ sofas and sleeping on the streets. At 18, Ayers relocated to Los Angeles, finally getting a solid job at a bank, but departed at 21, when he had enough money saved to create WhereistheBuzz, an entertainment news company with a million monthly visitors.
In only one month, his online journal, WhereistheBuzz, has average over a million monthly visitors on website and 15 million impressions a month on Instagram. It took WhereistheBuzz more than a month to get those numbers.
WhereistheBuzz sheds light on stories that aren’t usually told in the mainstream media. This is one of the reasons why it has a big following. Wayne says, “People come to us to see what’s going on around the world. We also connect to our audience very well.”
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Wayne Ayers:
Brief our audience about your journey as a visionary leader. What challenges did you have to face to get where you are today?
I have faced many challenges running a black-owned media company. We have no investors, and we haven’t raised any money. The money we do bring in comes from advertising or events, but since the pandemic we haven’t thrown many in person events. Sometimes we must create opportunities for ourselves because we aren’t given any. I have experienced racism since the beginning of my career and probably until the end of my career.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in this industry through your expertise in the industry?
We have been the disrupters of the industry. We have exposed the truth many times since being a company. My team is great at researching and getting the truth out to the world.
What are the challenges you and your team at WhereistheBuzz come across in your day-to-day operations?
I think we give way more than we take, but the rare times we ask about a certain opportunity, We rarely get the opportunity or a response. Sometimes companies want us to promote their projects but never want to do an interview or any other collaboration. Also, black media companies aren’t treated as well as other media companies. I feel like we set the standards or trends sometimes, but never benefit from the moment.
What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?
Some of the things that influenced me are my family and Bremerton, Washington, the city I’m from. I think without those two things, I would be a lost individual. The prince has really inspired me as well. He is the reason why I take ownership so seriously. They are people out here getting robbed of their own work and freedom. I watched a lot of Prince interviews in which he told his fellow artists to own their masters.Muhammad Ali inspired me as well. It’s hard not to feel confident about yourself when you see Ali speak.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drive WhereistheBuzz.
My team is so special. I think it starts with them. It’s really one of the greatest things in the world when you have a team that supports you through the good and the bad. This company doesn’t go without them, and that’s the bottom line. Nobody is selfish, and everyone wants to see their peers win.
Where do you envision yourself being in the long run, and what are your future goals for WhereistheBuzz?
I really want us to become our own network and branch off to do other things like producing TV shows and movies. Create a podcast network. Open a massive studio. Possibly start up our own school teaching courses about how to get ahead in the media. I really plan to buy some land and start building soon. I would love to collaborate with our media companies or any company that wants to collaborate. We also plan on having offices overseas, like in Europe and Africa.
