This report was originally published in the Feb. 3, 2019, edition of The Daily Courier of Forest City. It is used here with permission.
By MACKENZIE WICKER, Daily Courier Staff Writer
FOREST CITY — About 12 years ago, Jermaine Price was flipping burgers at a local fast food joint.
Now, the high school dropout-turned-Emmy award-winning television producer is living a life he never imagined he would. After becoming the first in his family to graduate from college, relocating to Chicago, and embarking on a career he didn’t consider until his mid-20s, he’s proud to have set a new life standard for his younger family members.
“At lot of times you don’t know that you can until you see somebody that’s close to you do it,” he said.
Price grew up in Forest City in an apartment complex nicknamed “the heights” with his siblings and single mother. He said he was picked on in school for not having “cool” things. He didn’t think much about his future because he didn’t think he had many options.
“I didn’t see people go to college, be successful, do the whole American thing, you know graduate, get married, have kids, picket fence, all that,” he said.
During his second attempt at 11th grade at East Rutherford High School, Price dropped out. He had too many absences and, though he made the bike ride to school a few Saturdays to make up time, he wasn’t focused on his education and eventually gave up.
He got his GED from Isothermal Community College (ICC) in 2000, at the age of 18, walking to and from school every day until he finished. Then, he settled in, working at Burger King, expecting he’d just keep “getting by” for the rest of his life. And it looked like he would, for many years, until at 25 he was struck by a “quarter-life crisis.”
“I was like, ‘oh my God, I am going nowhere with my life. What am I doing?’” said Price. “And that was my wake up moment.”
Price decided it was time for a change. He enrolled at ICC in 2007 and the move changed his life.
“I didn’t know I was smart,” he said. “It sounds crazy. Honestly, when I dropped out, I didn’t know I could go to school. I didn’t know I could go to Isothermal and go to college after I got my GED.”
Price was considering a role in music, so took a broadcasting class, thinking it would help him with studio work. But when he picked up a camera, he realized he had a love for “getting the good shot.” More than that, he said the broadcasting teachers helped him realize his full potential.
“They made me see in myself what I never saw in myself,” he said.
One of those teachers was Carolyn Young, a broadcasting and production instructor who still teaches at ICC. Young said she isn’t surprised to see how successful Price has become since his ICC days.
“He tended to be the motivator for all the other students,” said Young. “In television, you do a lot of group work and I think he was always good about working with anyone and encouraging them to do their best as he was doing his best. He’s always been a people person, but not bossy, fun. He was always a good, fun leader.”
During his time at the college, Young said Price became more confident, but never lost his excitement for the work or his creative approach to problem solving.
Price was also profoundly impacted by his time in ICC’s minority male success program, which was then led by Johnny Smith. The group took a trip to follow the Freedom Ride and visit places like Atlanta, Selma, Montgomery and Kelly Ingram Park. Along the way, Price and his classmates were able to talk to people who marched during the Civil Rights Movement. Price said the experience changed his perspective. He didn’t see the same divisions he once believed existed between groups of people.
“It helped me find my identity a little bit, who I want to be,” said Price.
Price can’t say enough good things about his time at ICC, but eventually, he had to leave college. He graduated in 2010 with his associate degree and took a year off before looking for jobs. Once he did, he applied for production assistant positions “everywhere,” from South Dakota to Canada. He wanted to get out of the state to see what the world had to offer him.
Price had been hunting for three or four months when he got the call from the “Judge Mathis” production company. Out of the more than 100 jobs he applied for, it was the only one to call him back.
“I thought I was being pranked, I’m not even going to lie,” he said.
Price had submitted directly to the production company, so he hadn’t realized what show he was applying to work on. He’d watched “Judge Mathis” growing up and had always related to the judge.
“He had an inspirational story, the whole single mom and his mom was his inspiration,” said Price. “And my mom is my inspiration for doing everything that I do. She’s my reason.”
With the help of some ICC instructors, Price set up a Skype interview. He found out he’d gotten the job in early 2012 and had a month to sell his car and move to Chicago. He admits that he was a little scared.
“It was so many new experiences,” he said. “It was almost overwhelming at the time.”
It took Price a while to fall in love with Chicago, but ultimately he did. He hit a high point when he was able to fly his mom up to visit him in 2016. It was her first time on an airplane.
“It was great to be able to share that experience with her,” he said.
Through the years, Price worked his way up at “Judge Mathis” from production assistant, to associate producer, to producer, which is the position he held in 2018 when the show won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding legal or courtroom program. Price said winning felt like a dream.
“A lot of the time, creatives – we feel like ‘I do it for the love of creating and I don’t need people’s validation,’ but honestly, it feels amazing to get that validation,” he said with a laugh. “… It’s definitely very deserving. He (Judge Greg Mathis) earned it. We earned it. A lot of work went into making that happen.”
When he’s not working on “Judge Mathis,” Price keeps busy. He makes music, is working on a documentary and started a nonprofit with his friends called Next Level Society Creators. The organization offers an afterschool program, teaching teenagers about film and television production. Price said he hopes it helps kids in underprivileged areas see how many options they have.
“Our goal is to introduce the possibilities to these kids,” said Price. “I’m a big believer in ‘your journey is your journey’ and you get there when God is supposed to have you there, but I also know that I didn’t know what my real potential was because I wasn’t aware of all the possibilities that were available for me. You can only dream as big as you know your options are.”
Since Price left Rutherford County, his little sister and brother and his nephew have all gone to college. His advice for young people in Rutherford County looking pursue big dreams is be patient and “don’t limit yourself.”
“Don’t let your circumstances limit you, because you are only as limited as your mind makes you,” he said. “Focus on being the best version of you. That’s really where I found myself.”
