For over two decades, Steve Jones has been a force behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, helping shape the careers of creatives and celebrating Black talent through his acclaimed panel series, Hollywood Confidential. Now, the producer, mentor, and advocate is pulling back the curtain on his own story—and the hard-won lessons he’s gathered from industry icons—in his debut book, Hollywood Confidential: 12 Secrets to Becoming the Star of Your Own Life.
Part memoir, part motivational guide, the book offers readers a deeply personal blueprint for success that blends inspiration, real-life strategy, and spiritual reflection. With chapters built around the journeys of celebrated figures like Issa Rae, Regina King, Angela Bassett, and Tabitha Brown—who also lends her endorsement on the book’s cover—Jones gives readers more than advice. He offers permission to dream, permission to fail, and most of all, permission to evolve. “There’s a chapter about Oprah where I talk about the principle of detachment,” Jones tells ESSENCE. “She wanted The Color Purple so bad, and it wasn’t until she surrendered that desire to God that it came to her. That story still gives me chills because it’s real—and I want readers to feel that.”
It’s that same authenticity that appears in every chapter, along with questions for reflection and affirmations to keep readers grounded. Jones is intentional about reminding people that purpose unfolds on its own timeline. “I had this book on my vision board in 2010. But I didn’t get the deal until 2022,” he says. “This is the divine time.”
With a foreword from Brandy—the person Jones credits as a lifelong source of representation and real friendship—his book also pays homage to the moments and people who helped shape him. Whether you’re breaking into the entertainment industry or simply searching for clarity in your own journey, Hollywood Confidential speaks to the part of you that’s ready to move out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
In this candid conversation, Jones opens up about the journey behind the book, his hopes for young creatives, and why true inclusion in Hollywood is still a work in progress.
ESSENCE: You’re extremely well-connected. What exactly was your entry point into the entertainment industry?
Steve Jones: Well, I was in high school in ‘99 and digital piracy was not a thing yet. Destiny’s Child was getting ready to release The Writing’s on the Wall that summer. I had access to it because somebody figured out how to steal the project, and they put it on a message board. So, I literally had access to the entire project about six months before it came out. I used Net Zero and looked up Music World Management’s phone number and called Matthew Knowles’ office and I said, “put me on the phone with Matthew Knowles.” And they were like, “who the hell are you?” I’m like, “my name’s not important, but track one is this, track two is “Bug-A-Boo,” track three is “Say My Name…” By the time I said track four, they had him on the phone and I was able to email him the link, and he gave me an internship for dc-unplugged.com, which was their official fan website—that was my first entrance into the business. I got to travel with the girls on their tour with TLC, and meet them. After that, I knew that was what I wanted to do.
In addition to Destiny’s Child, you’ve worked with some amazing names in entertainment. What inspired you to put those experiences into a book format with Hollywood Confidential: 12 Secrets to Becoming the Star of Your Own Life?
I was doing our event series, Hollywood Confidential for 12 years, and I was learning so much as the moderator. I love being the conduit between the established actors and the aspiring actors in the audience. But I was also learning as well—you’re sitting with the greats—Angela, Regina, Snoop, Issa. So, there was so much knowledge that I was accruing as that intermediate between both of those worlds. And so I thought it was the appropriate time after doing this for 12 years, I thought, You know what? LA is on lock, but we can reach more people across the country and subsequently the world with these tips that can help them to platform themselves. So that was pretty much the motivation.
I knew that I was blessed and fortunate to be in a position to get this information, but I wanted to share it and I wanted to share inspiration and hope, especially with where we are in the nation of course, but in particular with the writer’s strike that we had, and then the actors strike. We’re losing networks and studios are closing down and they’re not funding projects like they used to and then they’re canceling all of our content as well. So, my thought was to give some hope, inspiration, and positivity in the form of a book that people can go back to and relive those lessons as if they were there in person. A lot of people are DMing me all the time asking me for advice on how to become an actor or how to find purpose. I can just create a book, because all this information I’m giving away for free. So why don’t I figure out a way to have a resource that’s going to inspire people and encourage people, and give them direction around the clock.
With the book, you’re highlighting 12 stars that you’ve interacted with in some capacity. What went into the selection process of who to delve into?
I definitely wanted that throughline of having worked with them as opposed to writing about people that I had not worked with or met. I think that’s a story within itself, right? I’m not only putting out a book, but the 12 people I’m highlighting, I’ve also worked with. So that’s good for press—full transparency—but also it was 12 people who have touched me personally. There is a chapter with Beyoncé where I talk about the internship and how that was the introduction to the industry. Fast forward 20 years later, she gave me an interview in a special that I produced for Oprah, and it was the first special that I had created and executive produced. So she was important to my entrance into the industry, and then she served as a major moment within this television production where I had everything to prove.
I’ve read a lot of self-help books in my life, and there are always common themes that I see—get your sleep, exercise, drink water, meditate. Going back to the 12 people that you’re highlighting, was there a common trait that you recognized in their journeys at all?
I’ve seen a divine thread through the successes of all 12 people, which pushed me to write the book. If I had to choose one defining principle with every story, it’s absolutely “persistence.” Everybody had obstacles, insurmountable obstacles that they had to face in their careers. And it’s through that persistence and being intentional that they were able to persevere and overcome. So, without that belief in themselves, without consistently showing up every day, they wouldn’t be in the position that they are now. And again, with the issues that we’re facing not only in the industry, but in the world, with the shutdown of DEI.
Target ordered 2,000 copies, bro. First time authors, never get in there, by the way. The point is with what we’re facing in the nation, even with Trump in office and the negative news cycle, we want to give up. A lot of us feel defeated, especially when he got back into office. And so I feel like without the ability to consistently show up for yourself in the face of adversity, none of us will get to our final destination. So that’s the through line that I saw—consistency and intentionality through each of those stories. Those people believed in themselves, they persevered and they made their mark, they left their legacy. And that’s what the rest of us aspire to do as well, I believe.
The title of the book includes the phrasing “12 Secrets to Becoming the Star of Your Own Life.” How would you define stardom beyond fame?
First, before I get into the answer, I have to give props to Marianne Williamson. She wrote a book called The Return to Love, and I know I’m here to promote my book, but that book had this beautiful quote in it. She said, “I believe that we as a society are obsessed with stardom because we have not mastered personal stardom.” And I’m like, “that’s it.” So, that is where I came up with my subtitle. That was the inspiration behind it because you don’t have to go to Hollywood to be a star. You don’t have to be in the industry to be a star. You can be a star journalist, a star school teacher, plumber, businessman, executive, whatever it is that you do. You give your best and you give your all and you position yourself to shine. When I think about being a star outside of “stardom,” being a star is being excellent. It’s operating with integrity. It’s showing up and giving your best. And even when you feel like you’ve given everything you have, it’s going an extra mile.
Again, those are a lot of the principles that are in this book, the principles that people can lay hold to for personal stardom, to become the star and platform themselves on the world stage right where they are. So to be very specific, this is not an industry book, it is self-help. It is intended rather to help people get to the heart of purpose. And we love entertainers, we love celebrities, we love movies. So, we’re using these stories of people who’ve overcome in entertainment as a tool or a means to tap into purpose. We’ve got this cancel culture going on right now, where this one’s canceled and that one’s canceled, but the reality is no matter how you think they got there, these people are using their lives as a class to feed our souls when we’re going to television. Watching TV and going to movies to see Sinners was amazing. This is our form of escapism to get away from our problems, but also if it’s used properly, television and film is now a tool that can help to encourage, to inspire us to live a better life. I love the messaging. Wait, have you seen Sinners yet?
Absolutely.
I’m trying to get back a second time. But I loved how he used his platform to send a message. I believe my interpretation, he was sending a message to Black America to say, safeguard our culture. Watch who you allow to penetrate the circle. Be mindful because these people are out here sucking our culture dry like vampires. Literally that line where [Remmick] came into the water and said, “we need your music. We need your stories.” That reverberated in my chest, bro. We are allowing other cultures, the dominant cultures to exploit our gifts, our talents. We’ve got to be careful, and we’ve got to figure out how to build a community around us of like-minded people that can help us to rise.
But to get back to your question, I feel like it’s important that we all figure out how to become a star outside of the business within our respective fields, regardless of location. We all can show up in excellence with integrity. We can give our all, and we all should be aspiring to figure out and uncover what our purpose is on the world stage, because we’re not just here to fill up space or fill up time. I believe each of us has a divine calling and a divine mission to fulfill in this body in this lifetime. Those are the things that I think of when you asked me about stardom outside of the business. Those are the principles that I live by and that these people in the book live by as well, that I think can help us all be stars, not in the Hollywood sense, but in a life sense.
Hollywood Confidential: 12 Secrets to Becoming the Star of Your Own Life also includes a foreword from Brandy, which I thought was amazing. What did that mean to you?
I don’t have a lot of friends in the industry who are famous, and that is with intention. I’m not out here chasing stardom and chasing celebrities to be down with so to speak. I grew up in mostly white spaces and I didn’t have representation. So every day I was going to a school, where I was one of three black people for middle school and high school with racist teachers. I’m not crying a sob story, I’m just building up to when I would turn on the TV and see Moesha—that was the representation I needed. I could see myself reflected in a way on screen in a way that really spoke to me. It’s the experience that I wanted to have, but I did not.
I had the opportunity to meet Brandy in-person about 15 years ago and probably the first seven years of knowing her, I really messed up the friendship because I didn’t know how to be friends with the girl who was also on the television screen in my living room or hanging up in my locker in high school. She would call and I would be getting off the phone quick and shit. But the point is to have her friendship, especially with losing my dad. She called me every day, three times a day, for seven months to make sure me, my mom, and my sister were taken care of.
So I gave her a chapter in the book to pay homage to the representation that she provided for me when I needed it. For her to be a part of the book in any way has been a blessing, and for her to be a part of my life is the bigger blessing. So if you heard nothing that I said with all my ramblings, just know she’s one of the most genuine people that I’ve ever met in this business and outside of the business. She was one of the first panelists that we had at Hollywood Confidential, and I would say probably the last five years, we built a real friendship when I got out of my head. But honestly, I can’t say enough about her and her support and what she has meant to meet personally.