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Jana

The Marketing of Jana

“This is what I do full time,” she said. “People ask me how I’ve gotten to this point. I tell them there’s no overnight success, unless, of course, you’re on American Idol.”

“I have a management and booking agency. I also have the Oneida Indian Nation of New York helping me, along with their Four Directions company, in which Standing Stone records is a part of. But really my manager, Stephan Galfas, does most, if not all of my marketing.”

“Sometimes it’s sending CDs to people,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just calling people up. With major labels, the thing is they have a certain marketing strategy and you have to do things the way they want it done. Being independent, we have the ability to control what is being sent out.”

“There are advantages of being on an independent label, especially if you own it. You don’t have to worry about someone telling you how you should sing this, or who you should sound like.

“If you can do it on your own, it’s better,” Jana said. “I decided that I wanted to make records my own way. If it takes a little longer to get the attention because I don’t have the major label money, then that’s the risk I’m gonna take.”

Marketing included moving closer to the action, but it wasn’t an absolute, she said. “I moved up from North Carolina because the opportunities are greater in New York,” she said. “It makes it easier. And I can just be in the city in a half an hour. But I miss home in North Carolina . . . those are sacrifices you make in order for things to happen.”

Living in New York among celebrities, the power elite, and the media establishment, has put her in a higher circle.

“So I was at this party for Lenny Kravitz,” she said. “I was wearing this cute little dress and I had feathers in my hair, and of course some of my Native jewelry. The paparazzi knew I was Native. But then I read in Glamour magazine the following month that I was on their “worst dressed list”. They had my picture with a caption that said ‘Don’t try to be Pocahontas’ – I was mortified.” I wrote them a letter and told the magazine that Natives wear certain adornments during special occasions and I wasn’t trying to be anything, but me. They immediately wrote an apologetic letter and said they were sorry – they didn’t know I was actually a Native American.”

“I was in the “best dressed list” for In Style magazine when I attended the premiere of a certain movie. At the time in New York I went to parties and premieres and I wore feathers all the time in my hair and that was cool – I was known as ‘the girl with the feathers’.”

But she warns, “Being among celebrities does nothing to further your career. Unless you want to become a ‘wanna be.’ Be your self. Don’t be in someone else’s shadow.”

Jana has been in countless national magazines over the past few years, including Marie Claire magazine, for a featured article on Jana with the subject, “Women Who Make a Difference.”

There’s also an article in the New York Times entitled, “Jana – What I’m wearing now” as well as a New York Post, “Page Six” gossip column story on Jana.

“I did a fashion show for this independent fashion line, and they said I had the gestures of Judy Garland,” she said. “I had to spice things up instead of trying to pretend to be a model!”

She’s also been on the covers of Native Peoples, Natural Beauty & Health, and the Native American Casino magazines.

Jana has a page on MySpace.com. “MySpace is amazing. I have made thousands of friends and I’ve even gotten some bookings from there.”

As an artist in a professional environment, it is a really good marketing resource for me. Ideally I would love to have someone help me work the site every day, because it can be extremely time consuming. I try to answer just about everyone who sends me a message that has a question for me. I believe most of the major artists on Myspace have people working their’s full time.

“That’s cool but I do my own,” Jana said. “I don’t want to lose that personal contact with my fans. All in all, MySpace works great for me. So many Natives are on MySpace and that’s an amazing community to connect with.”

Her Jewelry Line

About five years ago Jana started dabbling in the jewelry business. “My uncle made this choker for me one day. I got interested after that and thought that it would be nice to start a hobby because I was so focused on music and needed a break.

“I started it for fun then a friend asked me why I don’t sell it,” she said. “I thought, well, I guess it could be fun and since then, having been making my jewelry for five years now. I’m doing fine with it now, but it’s not like I have a sweatshop in the basement or anything! It’s a nice diversion from my music.”

And finally, no, she is not married. (Laughs) “I married to my music right now.”
Are you seeing anybody? “I’m not thinking about settling down, yet.” Just the Facts:
Name: Jana
Tribe: Lumbee
Age: 26

Interest/Hobbies:
Besides music – playing golf, going to spas, shopping, making jewelry, watching bad TV.
Best saying: If you can dream it, do it.
Status: Single but married to music
Favorite website: Jananation.com
Favorite TV show: Lost
Who is your role model: Besides my parents – Buffy St. Marie
Favorite musician: Tie – Barbra Streisand and mariah carey
Favorite book: Anything by Dean Koontz
Favorite food: Anything Italian
Last movie watched: Dreamgirls
Education: B.A. in psychology at Davidson College in North Carolina
High School: Providence Senior High School in North Carolina

When did you take an interest in what you are now doing?
I’ve loved music my entire life – I played piano, took dance, etc., but I started to love to sing in church, and then eventually in junior high and the high school choir I gained confidence from my peers and family to pursue singing further.

What is your ultimate goal?
To have my music be heard around the world and to breakdown the negative stereotypes about native people by creating a positive image of natives through my music.

Goals you’d like to achieve this year?
Finish my new movie, Raptor Ranch, finish my next album by this fall, raise more money for my Jana’s kids scholarships for native youth, and hopefully win a grammy!

Next five years?
Hopefully have done a couple of more movies, and had a #1 album on the charts! I would love to do a duet with Buffy St. Marie.

Do you plan on seeking more education?
I have thought about getting my masters in psychology, but right now I’m dedicating my time to music.

Who is your favorite politician?
Though I don’t like to mix politics and music, I’d say that Gov. Bill Richardson is doing great things as well as Hillary Clinton.

What kind of grades did you get in high school?
I was a straight A student – Honor roll, honors/ advanced classes, etc. I was in the top 5% of my class of 500.

Were you the class clown? Class nerd? Jock?

I was a total nerd – meaning, I studied a lot, had good grades, but I still had many friends – so, does that make me a nerd? I just cared about doing well in school – I was definitely an overachiever, though.

Who would you like to meet?
Geronimo & Henry Berry Lowrie

What Indian country leaders would you like to meet?
I have the fortunate opportunity to meet many of today’s native leaders in the past few years.

What non-Native leaders would you like to meet?
I would’ve liked to have met Ghandi and Martin Luther King.

Last NON-business books read: “A Sorrow in Our Hearts – The Life of Tecumseh” and “America – A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy in Action” by Jon Stewart

Last business books read: “Michael Caine’s Acting in Film,” & “Filmmaking for Dummies”

Magazines & newspapers frequently read: all the gossip magazines, In Style, Allure, Glamour, etc. – don’t have time to read newspapers – get my news at yahoo.com and Internet

Do you chat on the Internet? Besides MySpace, no.

Kind of car do you drive? Jeep Cherokee

Where would you like to live? Anywhere warm and sunny that has a beach.