Eastern grad goes to work for 'Bad Boy'

Not many people are given the opportunity to work for Bad Boy Entertainment. Centered in New York City, the company was catapulted into prominence after founder and CEO Sean "P. Diddy" Combs fashioned it into one of the leading forces in today's entertainment industry.Ebony Jones, however, a recent Eastern graduate, got her chance in an unorthodox way.

After winning Season 2 of VH1's reality show I Want To Work For Diddy, Jones began working for Bad Boy's advertising and marketing division.

Jones, a native of Radcliff, got her undergraduate degree from Eastern in psychology and her master's in sports administration before segueing into teaching.

"I needed to do something to bring in income, so that's how I went into teaching and [ended up in] Dallas, Texas," Jones said. Jones also took on a coaching job there.

One afternoon, while driving home from a game, Jones said the radio host announced "Diddy just tweeted and he's looking for an assistant" in Dallas.

Jones said she hurried home, got her "business face" on, grabbed her resume and headed down to the 5 p.m. open casting call.

She said the casting call was largely based on personality. She, along with 15 other people, were marched into a room and given literally 30 seconds to tell the judges who they were and what they stood for.

Jones said she felt as if she stood out from the group she was with in terms of responses and attire.

"[It's] never a bad thing to be tall, and I had on heels," she said.

After the castings, Jones said she had an interview every couple of weeks during the long process of narrowing down the 30,000 applicants.

"I [always] kept my phone by me," she said.

Soon, Jones took her place as one of the 11 contestants featured on the show, living in a loft with her fellow competitors. And VH1 viewers watched the drama unfold beginning Nov. 2, 2009.

"[There was] never a dull moment," she said. "[It was like] living in a dorm times a thousand; you've got to figure out the people you're living with."

Jones said the most intimidating factor about the show was that she lacked professional experience in the television industry, so she pulled inspiration from life experiences in order to fill that void.

She said her winning strategy was simply to keep being who she's always been. Jones said it's a priceless compliment for people to realize that she was the same person on the show that she is in reality.

"There are some dreams and things I said to myself as a little girl," Jones said, "[and I believe] the world gives you the desires of your heart."

The craziest moment of the show, she said, was when Diddy made the cast run 30 blocks to get floral arrangements, but the most stressful moment was when the competition came down to the wire and the remaining three contestants had to plan a fashion preview event for the fall line of Sean John.

"I knew it wasn't going to be perfect, we had literally two days," Jones said. "If there was ever a point where I felt I might not go to the end, that was the point."

But, Jones did get to the end, winning the show and her reward.

"I work for Diddy, yes ma'am!" she said.

Jones said she hasn't been working for the company very long, but that she's currently in Bad Boy's advertising and marketing sector, adding that consumerism was a strong point for her on the show.

She said she hopes to stay on with the company as long as they will have her.

"[I'll be here] as long as I'm doing what's required of me and they feel like I'm a good fit, yes ma'am," Jones said.

"[I believe New York] is the city where dreams are made of," she said, admiring the city's intrigue. She admitted she always enjoys any chance she gets to come back home and be with her family in Kentucky, though, and those visits seem far and in between.

Jones said that although her degree was not in anyway related to the entertainment industry, she realized while being on the show how valuable an education really is.

She said that while the long days were tiring, she was able to push through them with determination and perseverance, and was so appreciative of the opportunities she was given.

"I would do it again," Jones said. "I would do it again.