Nikoleta Morales says....: A Chat With CEO Sharifah Hardie - "Hollywood is an Invitation Only Place"

I had the enormous pleasure of talking to Sharifah Hardie (also known as Ask Sharifah), CEO of XRoadsTV. After just an hour of talking to her I felt inspired, energized and learned so much about the industry, business and the entertainment world. More about her:

Sharifah served a key role as a Consultant and as Director of Marketing of Punch TV Studios. As such, she was able to assist the company to expand its reach, gain national exposure and raise millions of dollars in its Initial Public Offering (IPO). In addition, to the success Ms. Hardie has experienced at Punch TV Studios, she has also consulted with such companies as the Hollywood Film and Acting Academy, Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles, Pit Bull Energy Products, Jordan's Rooter & Plumbing, Southern California Black Business Expo, Radiance Magazine, Sandy Chasteen, BOTI Studios, and countless other businesses.

For those of you who don't know Sharifah, she is based in LA and she is now the CEO of XRoadsTV, a new upstart company that has the ability to meet the high demand for original content quickly, inexpensively and with the potential for licensing on the major networks. "We love producing content for film and television. Having access to distribution is something that is extremely rare for a company that is just starting out. I am just grateful and humbled to have an opportunity such as this," said Sharifah. "Hollywood is an invitation only place and I am definitely enjoying the party!"

XRoadsTV was found on March, 2018. She started it with her business partner Marvin Williams.
Sharifah's journey began 25 years ago. She has been through it all - success, divorce, poverty, homelessness and she has made it to the top through perceiving and believing in herself and working hard. "I wanted to be a stay at home mom but even though I worked from home I never achieved that. I knew the Internet very well before anyone else did and I was ahead of my time. I could build websites and people and companies were impressed," she said. She had to learn SEO, she became a radio host and launched her own radio show in 2009.

In 2009, she also published her first book "And Here's Your Box - From Laid Off to Loving Life," which was about a period in her life where she found her purpose after being laid off. What I love about Sharifah is that she is very spiritual. She believes in God and while she was laid off 8 times she knew there was a reason behind it, a purpose bigger than she could see but felt God was calling her to help people. "Everybody is given a talent to survive. I knew God was pushing me to help people. I was stressing out that I wasn't employed but self-employed. When you look at things differently those things change," she said.

Sharifah was also married and divorced twice in addition to being homeless but her faith kept her going to provide for her and her kids. "I helped build a television network with 50 million dollar IPO. When I was homeless I slept in the TV studio, I did what I had to do. I slept in hotels with crack heads and I worked in the room without stopping. My car got tolled with all my possessions. But as long as I had a laptop with WiFi, a roof over my head and food, I kept working. I was talking to God a lot asking him that he didn't bring me this far to bring me this far. I trusted God and I never did anything illegal," she said.

Sharifah went back on her feet when she drove Uber for a while, which let her save enough money so she could invest in herself. After she found an opportunity with a TV network and being let go, she met with her business partner Marvin who believed in her and since 2018 this year she has been the CEO of XRoadsTV. "My kids said mommy we are hungry. I had to do something," she said. "I can take any business and monetize it. My job is to increase your cash," she said. Her advice to businesses is to use the power of Social Media and invest in Faceboook ads as it is more "cost affective" than other adds. "Post, comment and share," she says.

Sharifah was also ranked Google's No 1 "Professional Business Consultant" by overcoming disappointments, life lessons and victories with a bottom-line technique that reaps success for devoted listeners.

Sharifah also does interviews with celebrities and influencers so if you would like to be featured in her show, get in touch with her. More information below.