CYLS 160: The Path to Becoming an Award Winning Journalist with Natasha Alford

Create Your Life Series

English - March 12, 2019 09:00 - 32 minutes - 75.3 MB - ★★★★★ - 116 ratings
Health & Fitness Education How To business entrepreneur entrepreneurship marketing finance leadership health success interview fitness Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: CYLS 159: How to Win with Your Personal Finances with Arejay Martin

Next Episode: CYLS 161: Secrets to Becoming Forbes' 3rd Most Powerful Arab Business Woman with Dina Shoman

Episode summary:

Natasha talks about her rise as an emerging journalist and the joy she gets from storytelling. She shares her path to her current career and sheds light on journalism as a career, why she thinks she is meant to do the work and how anyone can adopt attitudes of a journalist to enhance his or her life.

About our Guest:

Natasha Alford is the deputy editor of theGrio, a video centric news community devoted to sharing stories about African American communities that are underrepresented elsewhere in the media. At theGrio, she created and hosts the video series “True Story with Natasha Alford,” where she goes into the field and reports on stories impacting black America. She was awarded the 2018 Emerging Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Before her career in journalism she worked in finance, as a middle school teacher and in education policy. Her passion for storytelling and a restless desire to see the whole world propelled her into journalism.

Insights from this episode:

Strategies for aspiring journalists
How to think like a journalist to inspire your own curiosity
The secret to converting critics to fans
Strategies for navigating the evolving nature of the journalism industry
Strategies to handle social media trolls

Quotes from the show:

“It’s not just about writing, it’s about being able to connect with people so they feel comfortable to share their story.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“Don’t try to be likable, don’t try to do what you think people will like, because you just don’t know all the time how they’re going to react. The best thing you can do is be you.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“I feel uniquely gifted to do this work.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“I have a license to be curious.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“You’d be surprised how many people aren’t curious. They just exist in the world and don’t ask questions.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“Things can be good, as good as you imagine.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“You can convert critics into fans if you remove ego out of the way and you listen before you react.” - Natasha Alford, Episode #160
“I think that we should be more present. You can put down the phones and converse and it’s cool. Being able to be in the moment with somebody else. That matters a lot to me.” - Kevin Y Brown, Episode #160
“A lot of times when you’re growing up in lower economic communities, it’s not cool to be smart. Things like that are a significant part of the culture that needs to be changed.” - Kevin Y Brown, Episode #160
“Being exposed to things that are greater than what you can even imagine just puts you on a different trajectory.” - Kevin Y Brown, Episode #160

Resources mentioned:

LandIt
Canon T7i DSLR camera

Favorite book:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Favorite quote:

Natasha’s motto: “The greatest commandment is love.”

3 keys to Create Your Best Life:

    The fear is in your head
    You have something that the world needs
    You only get one life

Stay Connected:

Show Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/cylseries/

https://www.instagram.com/cylseries/