We recently connected with Ashleyh Korgar and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashleyh, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When it comes to media, I had to learn that it is all about being your authentic self. This is a field where many desire to be a part, but some don’t realize how head strong and courageous you have to be. Everyday is not a good day, and some days the “numbers game” will have you questioning your craft, but identifying your “why” and always hanging your hat on that is what will keep you motivated and pushing through the obstacles.

I personally had to learn to be ok with the fact that everybody will NOT like you and everybody will NOT support you, from your friends to even family and THAT’s OK!

Learning that, being myself and allowing others to experience my personality is the prize, and the minute I begin to switch up who I am to appease the “crowd”, will be the minute I have lost sight of my “why.” Learning from others by watching their story unfold, or studying how they interview and run their major platforms helped me decide the type of produced content and interviewing style I wanted to be known for. That was essential! Everyone has their own thing, and I had to find mine !

For a while, playing the comparison game held up my progress. It wasn’t until I defined who I was going to be in the media industry that I begin to see results and catch eyes. Im not the drama girl, I’m the interview plug that wants to tell true stories that heal, provide guidance and preserve my culture.

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 background and context?

I started my first show “Coastn With Yemia” back in 2012 ( I was a high school student about to graduate.) The show was created to be a space cultivated to have girl talk and really break down the issues and concerns of our generation, in hope to heal and change behaviors and toxic patterns. It was for millennials to have a platform they could send in questions and topics and I would answer them. Originally, I also opened it up for artists to showcase their music / music videos at the end of the episodes as a way to promote their craft. Well, I was 17 at the time and all of a sudden, things started falling apart on the production side and I had no help. So God had me stop the production and I went to college.

Now looking back I understand exactly what happened. I was about to create a platform and have people looking for advice or conversations to be had and I literally hadn’t been through anything to sit in such a position. Needless to say, when I went to college, the experience I needed to be able to help young ladies began, and I experienced life FAST! Fast forward to after pursuing my masters, I brought the show back and it has been way more of a blessing than I originally thought it would or could be. The show was even put on an international platform based out of Liberia, West Africa, London and Australia.

Out of that show, birthed a new show called “The Hot Seat with Ashleyh Yemi’a.” This interview series was created to separate and allow entertainment industry personnel born and raised in NC to have their own platform to promote their craft and tell their stories without taking away from the “girl talk” space. This show is me interviewing those who are doing major things in the community and in the world of entertainment that mainstream media hasn’t picked up on YET. I love it because I have literally had the honor to watch some artists grow and blossom, adding on to their story after coming to my platform.

When it comes to separating my brand and platform from others, I want people to know that, yes, I am a media / radio personality that has worked for radio at one of Raleigh’s Top stations, but i’m not too big to remember where I come from. I am all about pushing others to heal from their past and become the best versions of themselves in their craft. I give flowers to those I sat in classrooms with or played on playgrounds and neighborhood streets or on basketball teams with, because it shouldn’t take mainstream media outlets to lift them up. I believe it should be the village from which they come from that does it first.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yes; I cant speak too much on what the end goal is, but I know I want to be a resource and epicenter for creatives all over the state and nation to come and do what they love most without limitations. I want to be a portion of what the old BET show “106 & Park” was for the culture ! I want to bring people together to have a good time based on others living out their dreams and being who they are in full, unapologetically.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of what I do, is being able to speak life into others and that, you cant find everywhere. It’s also rewarding to be able to meet and chat with individuals who I know one day will be in high places and I get to say, I remember when they started out and I had the pleasure to sit with them.

Yes, there are a million other platforms that do something similar to what I do, but there’s a vibe and force of energy you won’t find on other platforms because with mine, I let God lead and he is in the midst of every single step I take. My platform is divine driven.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ashleyhyemia.com
• Instagram: @Ashleyh_Yemia
• Linkedin: Ashleyh Korgar
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA8rAdwDX9oiT6LtzAqdTIQ/videos

Image Credits
Some Shots were taken by : Oneclickphotography Under the Direction of Lamont Johnson