By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
August 2011 seems such a lifetime ago.
My brother, Aaron, and I drove back from the University of Colorado at Boulder to my hometown of Overland Park, Kansas. It was the height of the Great Recession, and finding a job was finding a diamond needle in a golden haystack. Entertainment journalism was at a turning point. TMZ’s Harvey Levin and Perez Hilton were taking respective dumps, and I wanted to counteract their toxic reporting.
That’s how Jake’s Take got started.
I have never imagined that my thoughts on pop culture and entertainment news would have gained traction or lead me to countless opportunities. There are stories that I will take to my grave, such as Dolly Parton singing a few bars of “Kansas City” when I spoke with her in 2014 with two-dozen reporters on a conference call. Or chatting with Don Cheadle and Jeremy Scott, when their respective films – Miles Ahead and Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer, visited Kansas City. And that time, Wendy Williams thought my hair was a wig when she visited Kansas City for her sit-down tour.
Other moments made me giddy with enthusiasm. Whether it was speaking to the American Idol: Season 15 semifinalists at CBS Television City in Los Angeles in 2016 or seeing the American Ninja Warrior course in-person and meeting Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, the Ninja Warriors including Lance Pekus and Roo Yori,and even Logan Paul when they visited Kansas City in 2017, I was grateful to the gatekeepers that trusted my work and reporting.
Jake’s Take also lead me to meet some of my favorite pop culture figures. I never imagined shaking hands with Stan Lee at Planet Comicon or fist-bumping Howie Mandel at America’s Got Talent: Season 11 auditions in Pasadena. I was even lost for words when I shook hands with Dr. Oz, Kenan Thompson, Simon Cowell, and Travis Wall.
But more importantly, Jake’s Take allowed me to have conversations with hundreds of people. Over the past ten years, I have corresponded and conducted interviews with entrepreneurs, influencers, up-and-coming performers, and alums from countless Reality TV shows such as America’s Got Talent, American Idol, American Ninja Warrior, Big Brother, Britain’s Got Talent, The Challenge, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Songland, Survivor, The Voice, and The X Factor. I want to thank every guest who has visited this platform and the publicists who have trusted their clients with my brand and storytelling.
I also want to thank my family – my mom, Gloria, my dad, Matthew, my brother Aaron, my sister-in-law Whitney, my nephew Nash, and my doggie nephew Maxwell. Thank you for encouraging me to follow my dreams and my passion. I love you all very much.
Finally, I want to thank you, the readers, and listeners, for taking time out of your schedule to read or listen to the Jake’s Take platform. I am very grateful to all of you. Here is to the next ten years!
Want to listen to my podcast conversations? Head to the Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast channels on Apple Podcasts, Deezer, Google Podcasts, Spotify, & Spreaker!
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