BIG CED sits down with Tanisha Colon-Bibb, a Harlem native who went from an intern at The Source Magazine to running PR and talent management companies across two continents. This conversation covers everything from navigating rejection as a publicist to building businesses with “delusional confidence” to the cultural differences between doing business in New York vs. South Africa.
Tanisha shares the exact moment she realized she could run her own agency, the audacious networking tactic that landed her friend a Michelin-starred restaurant client, and why being featured in print for the first time hit different after 13 years of getting other people press.
If you’re an entrepreneur, creative, or anyone building something from scratch, this episode is packed with real talk and actionable advice.
🎯 TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro: “My Friends Are Better Than Yours”
1:04 – The Source Magazine Days & Harlem Connection
2:32 – Lennox Terrace Neighbors Reveal
4:54 – Eve the Rapper Lived Downstairs?!
5:39 – Dame Dash, Cam’ron & Jim Jones Drama
6:28 – Why Hip-Hop Was Inevitable
8:00 – From Fashion Intern to PR Boss
9:48 – Starting a PR Company with No Experience
11:06 – The Move to South Africa (Love Story Alert)
13:00 – Building Businesses Across Two Continents
13:45 – The Moment She Started Rebelle Agency
15:02 – Working with The Lip Bar & Black-Owned Brands
15:15 – 2018 Burnout & Career Pivot
15:45 – Tracy G & The Birth of Rebelle Management
17:03 – Why Publicists Need Better PR
17:21 – Handling Rejection as a Publicist
19:12 – The Strategy Behind Great PR
20:39 – Building Editor Relationships vs. Mass Emails
22:32 – When Friendship Meets Business
23:50 – Getting Featured in Glamour South Africa
25:00 – First Time in Print: “Is This How You Feel?”
27:02 – New York Aggression vs. South African Humility
28:11 – The Uber Driver Greeting Incident
30:20 – Being a Black Woman Business Owner
32:21 – “I Can Be All Things, But Not All at the Same Time”
33:29 – The Afro-Latina Experience
35:04 – Full-Time Help & Work-Life Balance in SA
36:08 – Starting a Business with “Delusional Confidence”
36:22 – “I Could Run This Company Better”
38:10 – When Your Brother Becomes Your First Investor
40:36 – Future Plans: Africa, UK & The Diaspora
42:04 – Reigniting The PR Agency in 2026
42:46 – How PR Has Changed Since 2012
44:33 – Doing What Makes YOU Happy
45:13 – “You Have All the Resources to Make the Life You Want”
48:36 – BE AUDACIOUS: The Michelin Restaurant Story
49:30 – Asking the Universe for What You Want
50:01 – How to Reach Tanisha
51:04 – South Africa Travel Tips
52:50 – Outro: My Friends Are Better Than Yours
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ABOUT Tanisha Colon-Bibb:
Tanisha is the founder of Rebelle Agency (PR) and Rebelle Management, representing talent across music, film, and digital media in both New York and South Africa. A Harlem native and Spelman College graduate, she’s built a career connecting the diaspora and elevating Black voices globally. Her work has been featured in Glamour South Africa, and she’s worked with artists like El Varnner, Tamar Braxton, The Lip Bar, and SiriusXM’s Tracy G.
Follow Tanisha:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanishacolonbibb/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanishacolonbibb/
ABOUT BIG CED:
BIG CED is an industry veteran, writer for Black Enterprise, and host of “My Friends Are Better Than Yours” – a show dedicated to spotlighting the people you need to know. With over 21 years in entertainment journalism, he’s The Industry Cosign you can trust.
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#PR #Entrepreneurship #BlackBusiness #Harlem #SouthAfrica #TalentManagement #PublicRelations #BlackExcellence #WomenInBusiness #StartupStory #BusinessPodcast #HipHopCulture #AfroLatina #CareerAdvice #Networking
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💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS:
✅ How to handle rejection in PR and business
✅ The importance of “delusional confidence” for entrepreneurs
✅ Building authentic relationships over transactional ones
✅ Cultural differences in business etiquette
✅ The power of being audacious in your asks
✅ Balancing motherhood and business ownership
✅ Starting a company without traditional agency experience
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© 2025 The Industry Cosign / My Friends Are Better Than Yours
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Tanisha Colon-Bibb: From Harlem to Africa: How This PR Boss Built a 2-Continent Empire: My Friends Are Better Than Yours
