We were lucky to catch up with Donald Morton “Doni” Glover recently and have shared our conversation below.

Donald Morton “Doni”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

What a question to make an entrepreneur think! After careful thought, developing a website for our streaming shows has to be the most innovative thing I’ve done as an entrepreneur. It was December 2020 and COVID was rocking the world. There were no in-person activities, yet we still needed to report the news. A friend introduced me to Streamyard.com, a very simplistic system for streaming shows. Before we knew it, we had hosts from beyond Baltimore hosting shows. This lineup includes hosts from New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Oakland, CA.

I am so grateful that Peggy Morris of Sisters4Sisters Network, Inc. once again came to my assistance. This is the woman who helped me also start our awards.

She is a reminder that if we just go for our vision – as opposed to simply thinking about it … if we try, invariably, help will appear. 90% of life simply show up. My late dad, also a business owner, told me that if I get out there and try, someone might see me and they may even help. However, you’ll never know if you never try!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Media called me from a young age. From making the morning announcements in the 5th and 6th grades to appearing on a local television show for kids, my first on-air radio interview was at the tender age of 15. I have been doing radio and television ever since.

My journalism career began in 1994 while being a media student at Coppin State. I served as the co-editor and then editor of the Sandtown-Winchester ViewPoint Newspaper. I did that for 6 years until I started my own outlet.

In 1999, I began my tenure in radio professionally. I hosted my own show on Radio One’s WOLB 1010 AM for 21 years. It is the longest-running show in Radio One history in the country. In 2000, this pushed me into the space of being a political analyst. This led to a couple of CNN spots and an interview on TV One along with several interviews on Baltimore’s NBC affiliate.

In 2002, I launched my own media/PR firm, DMGlobal Marketing & Public Relations, LLC – creator of BmoreNews.com. After writing for the Afro, the Baltimore Times, and the Final Call, it dawned on me that the only way I would truly get my worth was to do it myself.

So, long before we began streaming, we’d provide news stories and tons of videos. Consequently, our YouTube library (youtube.com/doniglover) has over 5,000 news videos since 2008. We provide advertisers with access to this same media. The Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards, now in its 11th year, set us apart from other news outlets. We have honored over 1,900 Black entrepreneurs and professionals as well as the people who support them regardless of race in 9 US cities.

The purpose of the awards is to encourage entrepreneurship and to help preserve little-known Black
Wall Street History.

Also, I’ve published two books to further stimulate interest in my work: Unapologetically Black: Doni Glover Autobiography in 2015 and I Am Black Wall Street in 2021 to accompany and celebrate the 100th commemoration of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street,

With Bmorenews.com, we’ve been able to make people think, especially in the realm of politics. I can tell you that the last 4 governors of Maryland made it their business to advertise on Bmorenews.com. I think we’ve built a solid reputation for covering news at the White House, in Annapolis, and at Baltimore City Hall from an Afrocentric perspective, regardless of party.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

With this being my 20th year in business, I am a witness that Murphy’s Law is real – that is, what can go wrong will go wrong especially dealing with running a website. From securing a domain name (do it yourself, do not have someone else do it because you are dependent on them to give you your user name and password; apply this to anything having to do with your business) to securing a hosting company, the internet has gone through a variety of changes. And these changes can affect a person’s business tremendously. For example, every business owner should have a Google page. I couldn’t imagine. And that’s the thing. In a lot of ways, you learn by experience. There is no manual. Unexpected changes will happen sooner or later, and you the business owner have to deal with it.

Five years ago, for instance, Google went from http to https with “s” signifying a secured domain address. I was faced with whether or not to change over. Let me just say, I changed over even though I do not take credit card information.

As for dealing with web designers, the very first lesson I learned was any website must be accompanied with training so that I know how to update my website. The first person I hired to do a website for me tried to get me to pay her monthly to do my updates. I already knew that I would be doing my own updates. That was common sense because to pay her $150 per month was eating way too much into my profit. I quickly realized she was attempting to keep her hand in my pocket perpetually and that was/is absolutely, unequivocally against company policy; plus, it’s stupid.

Another point: I have learned to do as much for myself as possible – with, of course, limitations.

I am a writer. I am a videographer. I do interviews. I do not build websites. I do graphics but I am in no way a graphics expert. For special events, I hire a bona fide genius. Honestly, my need for graphics is great. To pay someone every time I needed a graphic is … against company policy.

As for technology and the multiple iterations that have occurred over the past two decades, I have had to stay up to date or current with technology. After the lady tried to burn me (there were other issues I won’t get into), I built my own website with Microsoft Publisher. It was the ugliest website in the world … maybe, but it was mine. I was independent of anybody’s interference. I could do what I needed to be done all by myself.

Because I heeded my dad’s advice about trying, sure enough, an angel appeared. His name was Julian Moore. And while he is no longer with us, this brother taught me Macromedia Dreamweaver and Macromedia Fireworks. More than that, he taught me how to better see the bigger picture. He was a genius who put video on Bmorenews.com in 2003 – a year or so into the business. You seem I was still writing for other publications until I started my own publication for 6 months and quickly realized a website – which was brand new back then – was the way to go.

So, I can also tell you that I’ve dealt with almost every threat from hackers to viruses to maxed-out computers – but I kept going. I have been buying, to be quite honest, refurbished computers vs. new computers. Yet, I also own a set of Oculus goggles.

I can also say that there is no way a person can be technologically astute in every aspect of technology. That’s like asking a doctor to be proficient in every aspect of medicine. So, one learns to focus on one’s strengths and at the same time strengthen where possible. This also means having a great phone book and a strong network full of winners. You should be the ‘brokest’ person in your circle. It never works out that way for me because there is this public servant thing I get from my parents that I can’t seem to shake. I have a bleeding heart to help people and give back. I just had to learn my limit.

So, to handle a litany of changes in technology could make a person want to quit. From Microsoft publisher to Dreamweaver to Content Management Systems – I have come to truly understand that the nature of my business is change. Technology never stops and so, we must be ready to adapt at any given time.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Frankly, as much a proponent and advocate I am for Black business, at the end of the day I need and want the best person. For years, I refused to utilize only Black web designers. Then, one day I heeded the advice of a colleague and began to utilize the best I could find, including a white couple from Denver. My current designer is from Turkey, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bmorenews.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donigloverofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bmorenewsdotcom
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-morton-doni-glover-08a6283/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/doniglover
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/doniglover
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/donigloverofficial/ http://blackusa.news/

Image Credits
1. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre 2. Susan Rice, Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council 3. Washington, DC Mayor for Life Marion Barry 4. Chandra Pitts and Willie Jolley 5. MD Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Wes Moore 6. Carol Costello (CNN) and Attorney Sunny Hostin 7. Baltimore Police Commissioner Ken Davis 8. Black Wall Street Honorees