FLINT, Michigan – Flint native Dee Steele is one of the city's hidden treasures and the sharpest businesswoman. Bridging the gap between her successful career in retail and working at multi-million dollars stores like Nordstrom, Steele took her "customer service" oriented business model and applied it to music management. Her credentials in that arena have led to directly managing notable music artist King Ca$hes and other artists, businesses, and clothing brands.

However, at this moment, Dee Steele's new task is being the manager of Wav Village Studio in downtown Flint's Patterson Building. Having been blessed with the opportunity after hosting Flint's first female rap cypher, Steele intends to create new standards for Wav Village and Flint's creative scene at large.

I caught up with Dee Steele inside Wav Village's Podcast room to talk about how she got the position, her vision, and how she manages artists.

Xzavier: Congratulations on being the manager of Wav Village. How did this opportunity even come about?

Dee Steele: “I was asked to host the female cyber by Tay Boogie and Reesé and sponsored by Wav. When I came out to do that, a lot of artists from the city were there. As the evening began to wind down, one of my artists, King Ca$hes, [and I] were standing in the hallway. I’m getting ready to say my goodbyes, and [Ca$hes] says, ‘Dee should have some keys to Wav.’ Anthony’s like, ‘that’s a really good idea.’ So that Monday, I came in and he’s like, here go the keys, and everybody has to come through Dee. I take the keys, the role, the responsibilities, no problem.”

Xzavier: How do you feel about being in the role thus far?

Dee Steele: “I liked the fact that [Anthony] trusts me. He trusts my decision-making. He likes the level of organization and structure that I bring. With me as manager of Wav Village, it’s bridging the gaps. The role is a blessing. The last year for me was an uphill, downhill drag out. [laughs] Finding your people was one of the themes I expressed in prayer, and I feel like I’m amongst my people.” 

Xzavier: I’ve had conversations with people in Flint about standards and setting standards. What are some standards you’re implementing into Wav?

Dee Steele: “I’ve implemented contracts for usage, and they have to sign. You break it; you buy it. You steal it; you ain’t coming back. You don’t clean it up; we charge you $100. Your time starts at the time that your time starts. If you’re late, that’s on you. It’s bringing professionalism to our culture. Not to say everyone is late, but for this particular industry, people feel as though they can show up when they want, and time is money. We would like you to be on time, show up with decency and common courtesy and get the biggest bang for your buck. Being a manager here, it’s a studio, but it’s still a place of business.”

Xzavier: What do you envision Wav Village to become through your management and leadership?

Dee Steele: “This space is going to be our flagship space, and six to nine months from now, there’ll be a secondary location. And if not a secondary location, they’ll be three locations due to the amount of traffic based on the podcast business growing by itself. If we can make this a space for small business owners and entrepreneurs, we can expand and make a second space with multiple podcast studios. We’ll be able to do things like artist boot camp. We gotta go downtown and get comfortable with our neighbors. It’s a church right here. I don’t necessarily see myself volunteering at the court building, but I guess they gonna teach me something. [laughs] If you rap, come see us. If you feel some type of way about City Council and you want to make a podcast, let’s talk about it.” 

Xzavier: With you managing artists like King Ca$hes and assisting others, what is that you bring in that capacity?

Dee Steele: “It’s getting them to understand that, yes, you’re artists, but you gotta go to work. Them making music is only 5 to 10% of the actual business. Everything is what you put at the forefront. It’s the flyers, the visuals, the photoshoots, and the publications. I created a document which I call my artist outline form. It gives them the opportunity to write down short and long-term goals. Then I have it where I can break it down quarterly. I always tell artists you’re a business within itself. All it takes is one hit, but what you do after that is what determines if longevity is going to be a thing for you or not.” 

Xzavier: I know you moved to Nashville but frequented Flint often. Having accepted this opportunity, how is it being back in Flint? 

Dee Steele: “I stepped back into two roles, and things have been thriving. Shoutout to TikTok church [because] one of the pages I follow, he says, ‘the plan that you have for yourself is not God’s plan for you.’ I keep on trying to get away from here, and it’s no, you ain’t did what you was supposed to do yet.”

Xzavier: Being in your position, how do you advise the artists, brands, and businesses you manage to deal with disagreements and social media beef?

Dee Steele: “When people have a disagreement about something, it’s just a disagreement. It’s levels to everything, and I would prefer people not to beef on Facebook. I’ve come to a point where I’d rather y’all sit down and hash shit out face to face. The fallouts we see on Facebook are just based on the settings that people were raised in. We have to stop trusting people in places higher than us that don’t look like us. You got to make this make sense. You gotta understand where we live, where we come from, and what this is.”

To find out more information about Dee Steele, you can find her on Facebook and Instagram. To book studio, podcast, and photography sessions visit Wav Village’s website. Photos and video by Travis Ricketts of Studio/Crypt.