When you hear the name Gladymir Leveille (le-VEE’-yay), you feel like you are in the company of French royalty. It’s one of those monikers that grabs your attention when he’s a designated keynote speaker at a major conference. His name evokes the crème de la crème of social circles.
In meeting this serial entrepreneur, you’ll find that he’s quite humble and more than flaunting his curriculum vitae, he prefers to highlight others’ accomplishments. So when he and business partner Dominga Martin came together to create Crème — an online magazine that highlights the lifestyles of the young and affluent — they filled a void and found their niche.
“We have the power to control our images. With all of the negativity available online, we want to showcase the best of our culture,” Leveille commands when this writer pulled him aside during the New York Urban League Young Professionals Rebirth! 2012 fundraiser at Taj Lounge in New York City.
Leveille, the publisher and cofounder of creme-magazine.com, was among several honorees at the annual event that attracts the city’s most influential young professionals, including Kristal High, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Politic365.com; Baratunde Thurston and Cheryl Contee, co-founders of Jack & Jill Politics; Issa Rae, creator of “Awkward Black Girl”; and Kyle Donovan, founder of NV Magazine.
When asked how it feels to receive an honor from NYULYP along with so many of his peers who are considered influencers. Leveille responds: “I [must be] doing something right. It feels great to be in their ranks … I am totally honored and humble. I do a lot of work with the NYULYP and they saw our work and that we are serious about showcasing good content. At the end of the day, they see the vision and where we are going with the magazine.”
A co-founder of Urban City magazine and former fashion marketing executive, Leveille also owns the Wave45.TV, a Web property that “premieres and showcases the best of urban video content online.”
“The video can be viewed on smartphones, like iPhone and Droid phones, and set-top streaming devices like Boxee and Roku. We saw there was a void to fill in the online space. We’re ahead of the curve. People are disconnecting their cable boxes; they’re like ‘I don’t have time to DVR things sometimes’ or ‘I don’t have cable because it costs so much money.’ Video is becoming popular, and Wave 45 is your one-stop shop to get all of the dope content out there.” –yvette caslin
