From Culture Creators and the E-SUITE Business Pitch Competition to BET Media House and the BET Awards, the My Butler AL founder spent four days at the center of culture’s biggest weekend.
Most people experience BET Awards Weekend through social media.
A red carpet photo.
A performance clip.
A viral celebrity moment.
But that’s only a fraction of what actually happens.
Behind every camera flash is a week filled with business meetings, media interviews, private networking events, founder competitions and conversations that often shape the next chapter of entertainment long before anyone steps onto a stage.
For Summer Grays, that behind-the-scenes world became her office for four straight days.
As founder of My Butler AL and Ms. Powerhouse Media, Grays navigated nearly every major business and cultural activation surrounding BET Awards Weekend, proving that today’s biggest opportunities don’t always happen under the spotlight.
Friday Morning: Where BET Weekend Really Begins
Before celebrities walked the red carpet, many of the weekend’s most influential conversations were already underway.
Grays began Friday morning at Culture Creators, one of the first major events to kick off BET Awards Weekend.
The atmosphere was less about cameras and more about connections.
Founders exchanged ideas with executives. Creators introduced themselves to brands. Industry leaders discussed partnerships before the weekend shifted into celebration mode.
Culture Creators has become one of the places where the business of entertainment begins before the entertainment business takes center stage.
For Grays, it was the first stop on a weekend that would take her from networking rooms to national media.
Friday Afternoon: Judging the Next Big Idea
Later that afternoon, the focus shifted from conversations to competition.
Grays took her seat as one of the judges for the E-SUITE Business Pitch Competition, one of BET Weekend’s premier entrepreneurship events
Produced by celebrity financial expert Dr. Lynn Richardson in partnership with MC Lyte’s Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, the competition brought 10 entrepreneurs to The Beehive by SoLa Impact in South Central Los Angeles, where they pitched their businesses before celebrity judges, executives and investors for a chance to win $25,000.
The event was supported by sponsors including Walmart and My Butler AL, giving Grays a unique dual role.
She represented one of the companies supporting the competition while also helping evaluate the founders competing for one of the weekend’s most significant entrepreneurial prizes.
It was another reminder that BET Weekend has become as much about building businesses as celebrating artists.
Saturday: Media, Creators and New Conversations
Saturday became a media marathon.
Grays made appearances at BET Media House, sitting down with EBONY, ESSENCE and Onsite!, introducing My Butler AL to audiences following one of Black entertainment’s biggest weekends.
The conversations extended beyond technology.
They focused on entrepreneurship, leadership and creating opportunities through community.
Later that day, she attended the BET Creator Studio Toast Reception, where creators, executives, founders and digital innovators gathered to discuss the future of media.
Unlike the public-facing events, these spaces were built around relationships.
Partnerships were explored.
Ideas were exchanged.
Future collaborations quietly began taking shape.
Sunday: Culture’s Biggest Night
By Sunday evening, the business meetings gave way to celebration.
Grays arrived at the official BET Awards wearing a black gown embellished with shimmering crystals and black diamond rhinestones, joining artists, entrepreneurs, executives and creators on one of entertainment’s most recognizable red carpets.
Inside the Peacock Theater, the energy never slowed.
The tribute honoring Ms. Lauryn Hill brought the audience to its feet, reminding everyone why her influence continues to transcend generations.
The surprises kept coming.
One of the night’s most memorable moments unfolded when Yung Miami, while simply presenting an award, had the audience singing “Spend It.” There was no performance, no choreography and no elaborate production. Just thousands of people instinctively joining together in a moment that perfectly captured the spirit of BET Awards Weekend.
Fashion was everywhere.
Custom tailoring.
Statement jewelry.
Crystal gowns.
Bold colors.
Every hallway inside the Peacock Theater looked like its own editorial shoot.
More Than an Awards Show
For Grays, the BET Awards red carpet wasn’t the beginning of the story.
It was the final chapter.
By the time cameras captured her arrival, she had already spent days helping evaluate entrepreneurs competing for life-changing funding, representing My Butler AL as one of the sponsors of a premier startup competition, expanding the platform’s visibility through national media and building relationships across multiple corners of the entertainment industry.
That’s what BET Weekend has become.
It’s still where artists receive their flowers.
But it’s also where founders find investors.
Creators meet collaborators.
Brands discover partners.
And tomorrow’s opportunities often begin long before the first award is presented.
For those looking only at the red carpet, it’s easy to miss the bigger picture.
Summer Grays spent four days living it.