We were lucky to catch up with Alanis “Laney” Broussard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alanis “Laney”, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

“Commit your actions onto the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

Whenever I think about success, I immediately hear the sounds of my grandmother’s slippers hitting the kitchen floor. I see yellow sticky notes all around the house with Bible verses scribbled on them. And somewhere etched on my heart, whether it be a conscious memory or a default frame of reference, is Proverbs 16:3. Because of this, my understanding of success has always been different from those around me, even family.

In fact, my mother used to ask me and my sister all time: “Do you want to be crème brûlée or jello?” It was often a playful saying that eventually became a running joke in our family. It essentially meant that we could either choose to do our best in every situation and rise to the top or choose to be complacent. That question would run on a loop in my head.

However, at the same time, I would hear my grandmother’s slippers on the floor as she heated up something in the oven for us or as she was getting ready to go outside to plant in her garden. She, in my eyes, was successful. She wasn’t wealthy. She didn’t go to college. Her career didn’t define her life. Instead, she kept God close and, in return, I saw the ways in which He blessed her with an abundant life, family, and legacy. Through recognizing her weaknesses and inability to do life on her own, God was able to show His power and capability. Her plans were made successful, and she completed her journey with her children and grandchildren by her bedside as evidence.

So, what is my definition of success in my life? It’s to look for ways to serve God and others in whatever I do since I know my future is already secured in Him. I’ve seen His faithfulness in allowing a shy girl with social anxiety to intern at places like CNN, NBC, Essence Magazine, and even give her own TED Talk. I’ve seen His anointing in sending me places to cover stories affecting His children and to have conversations with people that bring joy into their lives. I’ve seen His love in how I capture moments in history, collecting videos and photos that preserve the memory of a life lived. I know that wherever I go next, He can work miracles there too.

If you read this far, I don’t have a list of the top ten social media tricks to generate clicks or a testimony of how waking up at 4am each day has made me a billionaire (sorry…I would love some extra money in my pocket too), but I do have a lifechanging mindset. It takes the burden of having to figure out how to become crème brûlée, puts it back into the hands of the Creator, and then serves people who are hungry for richness here on Earth:

Completely commit to what you do and always remember who you are really doing it for.

Alanis “Laney”, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Alanis “Laney” Broussard, and I am an aspiring broadcast journalist and media maven. At just 21 years old, I have worked with Essence Magazine, Warner Bros. Discovery, the Boston Globe, WGBH, CNN, the Massachusetts State House, and most recently NBCUniversal. My specialty is true storytelling — immersing audiences into a person’s lived experience and changing their outlook on the world.

In my reporting, I try to focus on how I can best highlight those not mentioned in mainstream media when it comes to larger issues — such as educational inequity, behaviors in pop culture, housing policies, or the effect of certain ballot questions on at-risk communities. Besides just reporting, I try to integrate my visual and digital creativity into whatever I do, finding artistic ways to complement the message that needs to be delivered by utilizing different mediums.

I first got into the media industry through a organization called the Miss Media program where I got to interview R&B singer Keri Hilson. It was the first time that I felt uncomfortably challenged yet excited to jump back in. From there, I decided to pivot from my pathway of pursuing a career in STEM and completely commit to doing what I felt I was called to do with my natural talents. Since then, my journey has been full of constant learning, a commitment to growth, and blessings upon blessings.

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

The most rewarding aspect about being in the creative space is that your work truly takes on so many different forms. Since a newsroom is collaborative, I love starting with a vision for a story and watching it morph into a finished piece after everyone pitches in their ideas. Most importantly, being an artist means that your work is left up to the interpretation of the audience who will consume it. Once it is seen or heard by them, it can prompt people to move towards an action or think about things differently. Our power lies in the pen. Our speech creates significance.

I once wrote a story for the Boston Globe about an oncologist who raised money for her patients through yoga events. When I was attending the actual event and doing the writeup, I was simply a fly on the wall and was enjoying watching people come together for a greater cause. It can be easy to not feel like your job isn’t as important as a doctor saving the lives of patients or someone out on the frontlines. But as soon as the article was published, I remember waking up to the most beautiful message saying how my words “got it right.”

As an artist, we have the power to reveal truth and nuance in our work. That is the most fulfilling thing for me: seeing people the way they see themselves. It’s whenever I get it right.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was the idea of always striving for perfection. The mentality is too constricting and honestly isn’t what people are looking for on television nowadays. When I first started out, I thought I had to look a certain way or talk a certain way for people to notice me. The viral videos of news anchors speaking in their conventional “anchor voices” didn’t help much either.

At the end of the day, people want authenticity and realness. Breaking out of the plastic of perfection and learning how to become real again has surprisingly been my main focus as of late. I think reporting becomes storytelling when a reporter allows their emotions to drive the story home.

The mentality of progress over perfection has allowed me to place faith over my previous fears of insecurity.

Contact Info:

• Website: laneybroussard.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laneybroussard/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanis-broussard

Image Credits
The Plug ATL