Digital Cover Story - Nap Girl Magic

Our April digital cover story is presented by Life in Indy

Nap Girl Magic: Editor of Midwest Leak, Le'Deana Brown, Inspires and Empowers Community Across Generations

Entrepreneur Le’Deana Brown is the managing editor and creator of Midwest Leak Magazine, a digital and print publication that highlights Naptown’s creative culture. But that’s not all Brown does with Midwest Leak. She also hosts events, assists individuals with marketing, and uplifts creatives in general.

We had the pleasure of spending time with Brown for a photo shoot and interview last week. Check out what she had to say about childhood, community, bookstores, and more below.

Polina Osherov: Tell us a little bit about your childhood. Where did you grow up and what kinds of things did you encounter as a kid that made you this creative person that you are today? 

Le'Deana Brown: I grew up in the heart of the city in Mapleton-Fall Creek. But I went to school in Decatur Township for all twelve years, which meant I was riding a bus for thirty minutes there and thirty minutes home every day. So I was always reading the newest magazines. 

I think I knew early on that I wanted to write. I wanted to do interviews. But I never imagined I would start my own magazine. I thought I would be going to work for one of the ones that I grew up reading. 

PO: What were the ones that you grew up reading? 

LB: My favorite was Sister 2 Sister. I really like Jamie Foster Brown's interview style. I also read Word Up!, The Source, XXL, and Black Beat. And then Ebony and Jet, of course. 

PO: What role have your parents played in who you are today and the things that you’re involved in? Are they all entrepreneurial, or are you an outlier?

LB: My whole family is really supportive. I grew up being told that I was going to be an entrepreneur. My father was always telling me that’s what I would be, and he actually taught me how to spell “entrepreneur” when I was really young.

PO: [Laughter] Who else gave you advice and support in those early days? 

LB: Cliff at Scoop Magazine told me that it was very important not to forget about the advertising part because that's what was going to pay the bills. I was like, “I don't want to do sales.” Well, if you want to own a magazine, you're going to have to think about sales. 

PO: Yeah. I wish somebody would have told me that. Where did you go to college? And how soon after that did you start Midwest Leak?

LB: I went to Butler University. I was majoring in journalism, and in my last year, I decided to start this magazine. Which meant that I had to switch my curriculum up a little bit to take classes that would help me be an entrepreneur. 

There was no magazine major, but I had professors who did independent studies for me so that I could learn more about web design and page layout. I love them for that. And I love Butler’s computer lab. I printed the prototype of the magazine in the lab in the Atherton Union.

PO: What's been the best thing about producing this publication over the years? As you look back, what's the highlight? What's the takeaway? 

LB: Without really doing it on purpose, over these years I’ve been building community and helping people discover, cultivate, and monetize their gifts and their skills and talents. A lot of that work happens through some of the events that I hold like Music Monday where artists come and sell their products and merch. Finesse the Runway is another example where people develop their clothing brands or modeling skills, photography skills. 

All these different people come together, and the community is supporting each other, bringing their best talents to the table. That's what came out of starting the magazine. So it's so much more than the magazine at this point, for sure. 

PO: Yeah, it's a huge community by the sounds of it. How do you track impact at all? Do you collect data from the people that are part of the community so you can better understand the financial implications of all of this activity that you have created? 

LB: I wish that was something that I had learned about sooner because I know I've played a role in helping a lot of people develop businesses, but I don't have actual metrics. As Midwest Leak has grown, I've learned how important it is to track data. I can't go back and get the info, but moving forward, I plan on doing that more. Survey people…

PO: It’s time for a Midwest Leak documentary! 

LB: I definitely need to do that. I spend most of my time putting the attention on everyone else. I'm big about giving people their flowers, but getting in front of the camera is not really my thing very often.

PO: What's been the hardest thing about doing the work that you do? Something you wouldn't have expected going into it. 

LB: I try not to acknowledge the hard stuff so much as being hard, because to me, it's all a blessing. Ups are a blessing. Downs are a blessing, and light comes after darkness. It's inevitable. So I just always keep pushing so I don't sit in it. You know what I mean?

But I'm sure there are some moments that my team could remind me of if I asked them. They're my other memory banks.

PO: Having grown up in Indy, what are some things about living here that you’ve seen improve and get better over the years? 

LB: I think the community acknowledging that there are so many different ways that people can express themselves through art, and there being resources to help people monetize their art. Acknowledging this work and also naming it a “creative economy”, is really valuable as well. I've also seen a lot more creative events that happen that bring people into the city as well as collaborations.

PO: Couldn’t agree more. Tell me a little bit about the events that have come out of the community that you have with Midwest Leak. Got a fun one coming up soon, I think. 

LB: Oh, yes. We have the Leak Awards coming up. That’s an opportunity to showcase community entrepreneurship and entertainment. The next one is going to be in July at The Vogue. It hasn’t been announced yet, so your readers will be the first to hear about that. 

PO: A little bird told me you’re opening a bookstore, too. Tell us more!

LB: When I was younger, I used to go to this one Black-owned bookstore just to sit in there and read. Now, everywhere I go, every city I visit, I'm looking for their small, independently owned bookstores. Whether I'm in Puerto Rico or Las Vegas, I meet the owners of these bookstores and hear their stories.

To me, the bookstores provide a safe place. And I just think it's time to help provide that kind of space for my community here, especially for the youth who need safe places to be outside of school.

PO: What are some other events that are coming up that you're excited about attending just as a guest? 

LB: I'm always excited about the Indiana Black Expo. The magazine launched at Expo. The Youth Video Institute heard that I was interested in starting a magazine, and so they said, “You have a table at the Expo this year. Figure it out. You have a table now.” [Laughter.]

So I had to print magazines, and my friend hand-painted a bed sheet with my logo on it. We hung it up at the booth and collected email addresses. And that was the start of Midwest Leak. 

I would love to rebuild some of the excitement about Expo, because it really is a positive event. In its full glory, people came from across the country to attend it. But if you didn’t experience it then, it’s hard to understand what a big deal it was. 

Aside from Expo, I'm excited to go to Garden Pardi, and I always love going to BUTTER. I attended the Creative Economy Summit last year and will definitely be back at that. 

PO: Does the audience have any questions? 

Samantha: When is your bookstore set to open?

LB: May 10th. I'm very excited. I'm nervous too because the date is so soon, but why wait? It's the biggest space I've ever had. It's located at 5860 Michigan Road, so it's two blocks north of Kessler. It's a bookstore in the front, and then a clothing store, a photography studio, and an event center. I do a lot of events, and so it's time to be able to have my own events in my own space. 

PO: Oh, wow. That's soon, and you look very calm. 

LB: That's what everybody says. I'm working on it. 

PO: You're used to the pressures of entrepreneurial life, right? You just roll with the punches, and you know you're going to pull it all together. 

LB: I just never really saw any other option, and I think that's part of how I was able to do it. Maybe if I had taken business classes and learned what I was supposed to be afraid of, then maybe I would have been scared. But I didn't do that, so I was never afraid. 

I just set my mind to it. This is what I'm going to do. And I knew that if it didn't happen one way, I was confident that it would happen another way. 

PO: Very cool. Anybody else? Emily?  

Emily: Creating your own magazine from the ground up, I can imagine that must have been really overwhelming at times. So I was just wondering, how did you cope with that?

LB: I didn't. I know it sounds crazy, but I didn't. I have a son who was only three at the time. I would stay up all night until it was time to take him to school, and I would sleep while he was at school. I was always out at night at events promoting. I just was in grind mode. I didn't really allow myself to feel overwhelmed. 

When you have a community and a team, you guys kind of keep each other up. My lowest moments have been in recent years, and it’s because I'm not around people as much as I used to be. Working from home kind of isolates you, so I think the bookstore will help me, too, because it allows me to be accessible to my community. 

PO: Love it. Anybody else?

Jenny: Throughout your career, what advice has stuck with you?

LB: Meditate and pray. Stay centered in the light and really just stay true to yourself and your calling. Anything that's not serving that, it's okay to let it go. You don't have to hold on to everything. 

PO: Okay, final question. Give us your current top five books that people should check out. 

LB: I really love Becoming Supernatural and Message to the Blackman. And if I go into fiction, I will say anything by Sister Souljah. Whatever your faith is, keep that with you. Whether it's the Bible, the Quran, whatever your faith book is. And a magazine of your choice.

PO: Awesome. Thank you Le’Deana! We appreciate getting to know you. Congrats on everything. You're doing fantastic work in the community and we’re excited to see what’s next for you. 

LB: Thank you. You too. 

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