Toya Hankins
- Additional Crew
Business woman. CEO. Promoter. Special Events Coordinator. Caterer.
Decorator. Manager of Events and People. Care giver. Daughter. Sister.
Cousin. Friend. Sister-Girlfriend. Spiritualist. Motivator.
Entrepreneur. These are the many hats of Toya Hankins. She wears them
daily and she wears each of them well.
She is multi-talented and multifaceted; to prove it, Toya Hankins maintained dual roles as employee and employer constantly for most of her career. Her entrepreneurial spirit has always been a driving force in her life which lead to her current status as the CEO of her own entertainment based company, Project Producers, LLC, an artist management, special events and promotions firm that employs a team of Detroit-based contractors and represents two time Gold-Record Selling and Grammy Nominated Artist KEM.
Her company was birthed out of a life-long desire to work in the entertainment industry. As a college student, she pursued courses in Communications Arts and Technology before graduating from Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts in Radio-TV Production in 1989. With some college under her belt, she took the "hard knocks" route gaining most of her knowledge about special events, entertainment and business through trial and error until she got it right!
Her early experiences ranged from hosting a local cable show to assisting on feature films, commercials and music videos. She had the fortunate opportunity to work on film and video projects with award-winning producers/directors: Oliver Stone, Richard Brick, Robert Altman and Spike Lee to name a few. Ms. Hankins' aspirations as a special events manager began in Los Angeles where she worked on celebrity events with Pat Tobin, Founder of the Black Public Relations Society, creating an impressive list of experiences, which included Sony's Celebrate the Soul of American Music, Nancy Wilson's Family Night , Sheryl Lee Ralph's - Diva Simply Singing and the grand opening of Spikes Joint -West.
Upon returning to Detroit, Ms. Hankins officially began her career in the music industry at Undercurrent Records in Artist Development and Promotions. It was the early 90's and her first encounter with music would include developing and promoting KEM on his debut project, Can't Figure You Out as well as the Detroit group, UNV's Gold-selling debut album, Something's Going On. Shortly after, she started her own artist management and promotions company, helping to establish her roots in the music scene. During a brief hiatus from artist management, she began to focus on event planning once more. She planned events at numerous Detroit area venues including Pour Me Cafe, The Magic Bag Theater, Royal Oak Music Theater and Majestic Theater and many more. In 1997, she took a position at the Museum of African American History for five years in special events, serving as coordinator, manager and director at various periods. During this time she managed one of North America's largest outdoor events, the annual African World Festival (1997-2001).
In keeping with her entrepreneurial spirit, she maintained a catering business on the side called Gourmet Deliveries, which delivered continental breakfasts to local companies. Also, in 1997, she began working with KEM again, building his fan base and exposing him to the Detroit music scene. She was able to pursue the KEM Project full-time upon leaving the Museum in 2001. While the KEM project gained momentum, Ms. Hankins worked as the Special Events Manager for Ford Field Stadium. During her five year tenure, she managed major non-sporting events as well as holding a post in the Stadium Operations Center, monitoring systems and event operations, during football games and larger stadium events. Her experiences culminated with the national major event, Super Bowl XL in 2006 during which she served as an Entertainment Advisor to the Super Bowl host Committee & in her role on the Operations Team on Game Day.
Simultaneously, under her company, Project Producers, LLC, Ms. Hankins independently coordinated the marketing, promotions and release of KEM's debut, full-length album, Kemistry. While continuing to promote and secure KEM's presence on the national music scene, she was offered the position at Ford Field... By her 8th month of full-time employment and working as KEM's manager, many, many showcases were coordinated and performed; 14,000 CDs of Kemistry were sold; and several commercial radio stations and many retail outlets were supporting it. These efforts did not go unnoticed as the artist & manager duo achieved a long sought after goal - a five-album national recording deal with Motown Records. Through her management, KEM released two GOLD selling records, Kemistry and KEM Album II, and has gone on to tour nationally and internationally.
Her recent accomplishments include: Managing the release of KEM's third studio album Intimacy - Album III, which debuted at # 2 in the country, August 17, 2010. Her involvement in the release of Intimacy included Producing, the Introduction to Intimacy promotional video for the Album and the official music video for KEM's debut Single, Why Would You Stay. The project's success garnered KEM and Hit Single two Grammy Nominations in 2011 for Best Male Vocal Performance and Best Song as well as a Five-star rated, 36 city Sold Out, Headlining Tour featuring KEM, Managed by Ms. Hankins Company along with National Tour Promoters Atlanta Worldwide & AEG.
On a personal note, Ms. Hankins, a native Detroiter, continues to reside in the city and remains steadfast in her efforts to create opportunities that positively impact Detroit through her business ties. Relationships are of the utmost importance to Ms. Hankins, who keeps her family close for support and so she can keep an eye on them as she has done for her mother. For 14 years, she has and continues to be an active, hands-on caregiver for her mother, who is successfully recovering from a ruptured brain aneurysm. Her ability to love is deep and does not stop with her family. She surrounds herself with reliable and talented friends in business and on a personal level. She conducts every encounter as if she was in the business of making a friend-with integrity and genuineness.
Her professional affiliations have included: National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences; National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment; Board Member of Leadership Paradigms; Founder of the Detroit Area Music Coalition; Inforum; and Co-Founder of Aneurysm Awareness and Support Coalition (AASC).
Clearly, Toya Hankins embodies the word - entrepreneur. She aspires for Project Producers, LLC to be among the Top 100 most influential companies in the Entertainment Business. Well- grounded and a go-getter, she will stop at nothing to successfully accomplish this and any task set before her.
She is multi-talented and multifaceted; to prove it, Toya Hankins maintained dual roles as employee and employer constantly for most of her career. Her entrepreneurial spirit has always been a driving force in her life which lead to her current status as the CEO of her own entertainment based company, Project Producers, LLC, an artist management, special events and promotions firm that employs a team of Detroit-based contractors and represents two time Gold-Record Selling and Grammy Nominated Artist KEM.
Her company was birthed out of a life-long desire to work in the entertainment industry. As a college student, she pursued courses in Communications Arts and Technology before graduating from Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts in Radio-TV Production in 1989. With some college under her belt, she took the "hard knocks" route gaining most of her knowledge about special events, entertainment and business through trial and error until she got it right!
Her early experiences ranged from hosting a local cable show to assisting on feature films, commercials and music videos. She had the fortunate opportunity to work on film and video projects with award-winning producers/directors: Oliver Stone, Richard Brick, Robert Altman and Spike Lee to name a few. Ms. Hankins' aspirations as a special events manager began in Los Angeles where she worked on celebrity events with Pat Tobin, Founder of the Black Public Relations Society, creating an impressive list of experiences, which included Sony's Celebrate the Soul of American Music, Nancy Wilson's Family Night , Sheryl Lee Ralph's - Diva Simply Singing and the grand opening of Spikes Joint -West.
Upon returning to Detroit, Ms. Hankins officially began her career in the music industry at Undercurrent Records in Artist Development and Promotions. It was the early 90's and her first encounter with music would include developing and promoting KEM on his debut project, Can't Figure You Out as well as the Detroit group, UNV's Gold-selling debut album, Something's Going On. Shortly after, she started her own artist management and promotions company, helping to establish her roots in the music scene. During a brief hiatus from artist management, she began to focus on event planning once more. She planned events at numerous Detroit area venues including Pour Me Cafe, The Magic Bag Theater, Royal Oak Music Theater and Majestic Theater and many more. In 1997, she took a position at the Museum of African American History for five years in special events, serving as coordinator, manager and director at various periods. During this time she managed one of North America's largest outdoor events, the annual African World Festival (1997-2001).
In keeping with her entrepreneurial spirit, she maintained a catering business on the side called Gourmet Deliveries, which delivered continental breakfasts to local companies. Also, in 1997, she began working with KEM again, building his fan base and exposing him to the Detroit music scene. She was able to pursue the KEM Project full-time upon leaving the Museum in 2001. While the KEM project gained momentum, Ms. Hankins worked as the Special Events Manager for Ford Field Stadium. During her five year tenure, she managed major non-sporting events as well as holding a post in the Stadium Operations Center, monitoring systems and event operations, during football games and larger stadium events. Her experiences culminated with the national major event, Super Bowl XL in 2006 during which she served as an Entertainment Advisor to the Super Bowl host Committee & in her role on the Operations Team on Game Day.
Simultaneously, under her company, Project Producers, LLC, Ms. Hankins independently coordinated the marketing, promotions and release of KEM's debut, full-length album, Kemistry. While continuing to promote and secure KEM's presence on the national music scene, she was offered the position at Ford Field... By her 8th month of full-time employment and working as KEM's manager, many, many showcases were coordinated and performed; 14,000 CDs of Kemistry were sold; and several commercial radio stations and many retail outlets were supporting it. These efforts did not go unnoticed as the artist & manager duo achieved a long sought after goal - a five-album national recording deal with Motown Records. Through her management, KEM released two GOLD selling records, Kemistry and KEM Album II, and has gone on to tour nationally and internationally.
Her recent accomplishments include: Managing the release of KEM's third studio album Intimacy - Album III, which debuted at # 2 in the country, August 17, 2010. Her involvement in the release of Intimacy included Producing, the Introduction to Intimacy promotional video for the Album and the official music video for KEM's debut Single, Why Would You Stay. The project's success garnered KEM and Hit Single two Grammy Nominations in 2011 for Best Male Vocal Performance and Best Song as well as a Five-star rated, 36 city Sold Out, Headlining Tour featuring KEM, Managed by Ms. Hankins Company along with National Tour Promoters Atlanta Worldwide & AEG.
On a personal note, Ms. Hankins, a native Detroiter, continues to reside in the city and remains steadfast in her efforts to create opportunities that positively impact Detroit through her business ties. Relationships are of the utmost importance to Ms. Hankins, who keeps her family close for support and so she can keep an eye on them as she has done for her mother. For 14 years, she has and continues to be an active, hands-on caregiver for her mother, who is successfully recovering from a ruptured brain aneurysm. Her ability to love is deep and does not stop with her family. She surrounds herself with reliable and talented friends in business and on a personal level. She conducts every encounter as if she was in the business of making a friend-with integrity and genuineness.
Her professional affiliations have included: National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences; National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment; Board Member of Leadership Paradigms; Founder of the Detroit Area Music Coalition; Inforum; and Co-Founder of Aneurysm Awareness and Support Coalition (AASC).
Clearly, Toya Hankins embodies the word - entrepreneur. She aspires for Project Producers, LLC to be among the Top 100 most influential companies in the Entertainment Business. Well- grounded and a go-getter, she will stop at nothing to successfully accomplish this and any task set before her.