NJIT Grad Leaves Roc Nation Success With Empire State of Mind
Like many young New Jersey commuters making the morning trek through the Lincoln Tunnel into New York City, Jenessey Amparo-Rosario Morel would shuffle through her phone’s music playlist to find familiar star names like Rihanna, Shakira and Jay-Z. However, for Morel, those particular popular artists would also become clients, and even her new boss, as she entered work for her first day of a three-month co-op role this past February.
Her destination at the time: a 40-story tower at 1411 Broadway in midtown Manhattan — headquarters of Jay-Z’s global entertainment company, Roc Nation.
“I was definitely a little nervous going in, but I was so happy at the same time,” said Morel. “We met all the department heads on the first day, and they made us feel welcome.”
Jay-Z, otherwise known as Shawn Carter, launched Roc Nation in 2008. Since then, the company has grown as a record label and talent management firm that now represents over 250 artists and athletes from around the world —the likes of Rihanna, Meek Millz, Saquan Barkley and CC Sabathia, just to name a few.
Through NJIT’s online job posting system, Handshake, Morel learned about and eventually landed the role of Roc Nation creative strategist, where she would build on her training as a communications and media arts major within the starlit world of the entertainment industry, all while she wrapped up her final semester of courses at NJIT this past spring.
“You could only image how happy I was to hear from Roc Nation. … One day in November, I received the call for an interview,” recalled Morel. “I went in and showed them some of the graphic design work I had done at NJIT. A day later I got an email from my supervisor to be part of Roc Nation’s creative strategy team. It was a great feeling.”
As a creative strategist and part of Roc Nation’s branding team, Morel was involved in helping with recruiting talent and pitching company partnership opportunities, as well as creating and presenting plans for promoting, marketing and branding artists through social media, one-sheet press packages, pitch decks and other graphic presentations.
“I learned so many things, but most importantly I learned what it took for a company to manage, promote and sell an artist or athlete,” said Morel. “I learned what needs to be done in order for a person to be successful in the entertainment industry.”
Some of Morel’s most important work and professional connections in the industry came through her contact with a number of the company’s rising stars. Her main project’s presentation involved building a comprehensive branding strategy to promote one of Roc Nation’s up-and-coming R&B artists, Angelica Vila.
“She is a fresh face in the music industry, so we had a lot to work with,” said Morel. “We were able to sit down with her and ask her about her passions, and we used this information to create a personal branding plan that would incorporate those passions to grow her career. We came up with great ideas for her PR planning, philanthropy and partnership opportunities that we presented in front of the artist’s managers, company executives and department heads.”
On the day of the biggest presentation she would give at Roc Nation, Morel even came face-to-face with the hip-hop mogul himself.
“He’s usually never in the office, but the day of my group’s big presentation I was rushing past the elevator, I looked up, and standing there was Jay-Z,” said Morel. “I was a bit star-struck, but I knew I had to present so I shook his hand and thanked him for the opportunity. He was so nice in-person, and it actually gave me a confidence boost I needed to give a great presentation.
“Everyone applauded our presentation and requested that we send them our pitch deck for future use,” recalled Morel.
In May, Morel made the Commencement walk alongside NJIT’s graduating Class of ’19, shortly after finishing up her co-op stint with Roc Nation. As career-minded as they come, she now says she will use her Roc Nation experience to reach goals that she has already set for herself in the short- and long-term: continue her success as a creative strategist in the entertainment industry, open a recording studio in her husband’s and her parents’ native Dominican Republic, and eventually, build up her own entertainment company.
She’s made progress on some of those goals already.
“We purchased a spot in Miches where my husband is from, and we’re turning it into an affordable recording studio space that the area’s artists and producers currently don’t have,” said Morel. ““I think that [my experience] this past year is already helping me in what I want to accomplish, and will bring opportunities far bigger than I can imagine.”