Amber Grimes has spent much of her career guiding strategy behind the scenes. Now, she’s stepping forward with a project that puts her more front-facing. Earlier this month, the longtime music executive launched her new podcast, If You Knew Better, in partnership with iHeartMedia and Charlamagne Tha God’s Black Effect Podcast Network, creating a space centered on growth, self-awareness, and the lessons that often come through experience.
Grimes’ path to this moment has been anything but traditional. A college dropout who worked her way into leadership, she went on to become Executive Vice President and General Manager of LVRN, where she has played a key role in expanding the label’s reach. Her work has extended beyond business metrics, with a consistent focus on creating opportunities and shifting how Black talent is supported and represented.
“I feel like I’m doing something I was supposed to do,” Grimes says of the podcast. The series draws on her own experiences navigating the industry without a clear roadmap, as well as the insights she has gathered along the way. Each episode features candid discussions with creatives and culture leaders who speak openly about the decisions that shaped their paths, including the ones they would approach differently now.
At its core, the podcast is built around access. Grimes is intentional about reaching listeners who may not have direct guidance or mentorship, offering a lifeline that she once had to piece together on her own. Her approach is reflected in both the tone of the conversations and the guests she chooses to spotlight. “I wanted to fill that space for people who don’t get that in their life,” she explains. “To build a resource, to give them things to really take away.”
As Grimes continues to expand her voice beyond the executive suite, If You Knew Better positions her as both a curator of conversation and a participant in it. In the discussion ahead, she opens up about the idea behind the podcast, the importance of sharing knowledge, and how her own journey shaped the way she approaches both.
ESSENCE: Your new podcast, If You Knew Better, launched earlier this month. How are you feeling about it?
Amber Grimes: I feel good. People keep asking me that and I’m like, I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel like I’m doing something I was supposed to do. So, it feels normal and natural. This is something I really wanted to do probably almost four years ago and just prioritizing different things and timing and all of that stuff was a factor. But I feel like this is the perfect time now, so it all worked out, and I’m very proud of that.
Talk to me a little bit more about that. How did the idea of the podcast come about?
Although I’ve run into some incredible people in my life and I have a list, even still on my Instagram, one of those little story notes that I have is titled “Gratitude.” And I thank all of the people who have helped me in my career. But I used to always hear people talk about mentors. And I’m like, “man, I never had one of those. Who is this special, fairy God person who comes and helps you throughout your whole career?” I recognized I didn’t have that. And I know that there are other people who don’t have that, but I’ve had books and I’ve had YouTube videos and I’ve had a person every now and then that I could ask questions to. So, I wanted to fill that space for people who don’t get that in their life, to build a resource, to make tools, to give them things to really take away. People not ever being blessed enough to run into a person that walks them through their whole career, they still don’t miss anything. They still get the opportunity to make their dreams come true the way I feel like I did. So I felt the responsibility to put that in the marketplace for people.
I think titles are very important, whether it be a book, album, even a person’s name. If You Knew Better—how did you land on that?
I’m a marketing person, so when I was thinking about it, I thought about it like a rapper and I’m like, if I yelled one thing out, would people know what to say back? So, I think that everybody knows that quote, “If you knew better, you’d do better.” So the first thing I envision is if I could have a call and response with this? I’m always thinking about the future. When I’m doing a live episode in a stadium, could they yell something back at me? So really, that’s a big part of it. But it’s real because it’s how I feel. Man, I learned a lot of things the hard way. I learned a lot of things without guidance. I’ve made a lot of mistakes or decisions that still turned out okay. But I’m always saying, “Somebody could have told me that. Somebody could have written a book about that. Somebody could have said, ‘Hey, because I do think that pretty much everything that you will go through in life, there is somebody on this planet who’s been through it.’” And I wish that people would share more or had a platform to share more.
I’m passionate about reducing the struggle and I’m passionate about people reaching their fullest human potential, I’ll say. That’s what my gift is, empowering people to reach their potential, whether it be with my artists or in this podcast, the people who it speaks to. So, If You Knew Better just felt like the right thing, because I knew everybody would understand. And if they were coming to look for something so that they could grow, so that they could do better, that ending part, that this would read as the place to come.
Where did that mindstate come from? Specifically, I am speaking about some of the people who reach a certain position, they want to either gatekeep, or refuse to reach back after they’ve “made it.”
One, I’ve experienced it and I also have an understanding for the type of person you’re talking about, the type of executive or anybody. I do respect that things were harder for people who opened doors for me, and I understand that it’s easier for me because of what they did. I respect that and I appreciate it. However, I don’t respect the outcome of saying, “Well, I’m not going to tell you, I’m not going to share. I want you to struggle like I struggled.” And because I experienced that from people, I had two decisions. I could either act the same way or I could be different. And I always chose to be different and I don’t get it. I’ve always had this saying that you can’t be great until you make somebody else great, and I really believe that. And I’ve seen it. I’ve lived long enough now to watch people who I thought were amazing not reach their full potential because they never helped anybody.
They were too busy worrying about making sure that they would become the greatest. And I’m like, “Man, if somebody else is not talking about you, if somebody younger’s not keeping your name alive when you can’t work like that anymore, or you’re too old for this music stuff or whatever it is, you can’t be great because great people get talked about. They’re legends.” You know what I’m saying? And you killed your own name because you didn’t want to help anybody else succeed and be bigger than you so they could keep you with them. And I’m not setting myself up for that. No, thank you.
Why did you decide to connect with Black Effect on this particular endeavor?
Well, on an emotional level, the president of the Black Effect is one of those very special people who helped me in my career. So Dollie Sierra is one of the most incredible Black women ever. Long story, very short, she not only trained me in my first industry job at Def Jam, she didn’t have to get on the phone with me every day and answer all my stupid questions. I think that was at the time, I think Nick was president of Def Jam. I don’t remember what his title was, but she was Nick Cannon’s assistant. I know she had more important things to do than teach me how to use the phones and she didn’t mind and she never made me feel crazy about that and I appreciate her. And then after that, I got to watch her grow in her career and she always kept me with her in some way.
She made her own reality show, and put me on the show. Anytime she would do something, I feel like we spent a lot of time lifting each other up. And so by the time we got to a place where we were both high, we just kept doing that. And even the guys at LVRN, I’ve known them since I was 16 years old. I’m one of the rare people who likes working with family. I like working with people I know. I like working with people that I love. It’s always worked for me. I don’t know what everybody else got going on. I’ve worked with people I don’t like. I work with people I really don’t like, and it feels terrible.
So, if I’m going to make a big business decision, if I’m going to spend a bunch of time, if I have to get on the phone with you, if I have to brainstorm with you, I want to love you and I want to know you love me back and you want to see the best for me and I want to see the best for you. And so it was a no-brainer because of her. But also I respect Charlamagne and everything that he’s built. He’s making other people great. And she told me that they were on a mission to not only amplify Black voices, but amplify Black women voices, and I don’t know anybody else whose mission is that.
So this is a two-part question. Who are some of the guests that you plan on having this season? And how do you decide who you want to have on the show?
I’ll answer both questions in reverse. How do I decide? I spent a while thinking about how I can get the biggest names? I need to hit up all my artists. Then I thought, what if somebody doesn’t really have something to say, and the show fails? So I decided that I need to be more concerned about the message that they have to share, or that I’m dealing with somebody who’s actually on the other side of what they’ve learned or what they’ve grown from. Those are going to be the best episodes. That is the concept. So it’s not about who it is, but it’s more about what they have to say.
I know a lot of podcasts work or they get their big moment because of who the person is sitting down with, but I’ve also respect that I’m on the internet, I’m on Instagram constantly. That the way the Instagram’s for you page is set up now, who doesn’t really matter. They serve you the best message. I want to make sure that I’m saying the right thing. So, I trust people with real stories. The first episode that I had with a guest was a friend of mine, Malcolm Mays. He was on the show talking about what to do with your first big check and the mistake that he made of spending it all on his family, and not making sure that he was okay.
Another person who I’m excited to have is a woman named Burned Beauty. She’s a makeup influencer and her husband set her on fire after 15 years of marriage—she’s got a story to tell. She comes and talks about how to identify a narcissistic abuser because, and she doesn’t ever want any other young person to not be able to make the mistake of being with the wrong person. That happens to us all, but being able to know when to get out of there and to make sure that you’re respecting yourself is important. It’s stories like that that excite me and that makes the best episodes. And the names—if they got something to say, great. If they don’t, I’m going to wait till they go through some stuff.
What do you think is the biggest challenge that you’ve had to face in the entertainment industry?
I think overall for me, it’s a challenge, but not one that I’ve minded, obviously. It’s being allowed to be myself. That’s a challenge in the boardroom. That’s a challenge on the internet. That’s a challenge anywhere that people can see you and they have an expectation of how you’re supposed to act because of what job you have or what title you have or what you look like. And I’ve never cared about that. I’m somebody who’s like, “I want to see every dream that I’ve ever had in my life come true, and there’s no title and no job that will ever stop me from doing all the things that I want to do.” I have a very short time on this planet—I think we all do, and I’ve run into a lot of people’s opinions and feedback about what I should be doing, how I should be doing it, what I shouldn’t post, what I shouldn’t say.
One of my bigger corporate jobs, I had somebody pull me aside and say, “message down from the CEO that I should stop doing so many panels. You’re talking a lot and this big title now, you don’t have to do that. That’s not really what we do.” And it was from a white male. And I was like, “That’s not what you do. I’m going to do that, because a lot of people who look like you may not need to hear from you. I can’t say what they need, but I know people that look like me need to hear from me. They have to hear from me because they don’t see a lot of me. There’s a lot of you. So I’m not going to stop talking. I’m not going to stop doing anything I feel good about doing or sharing with people or my way of giving that because it’s not what you do. I’m not you, and you’re definitely not me.” So I have had to battle and advocate for myself a lot to be able to exist as myself. And when I wasn’t allowed to, I would leave.