We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amara Agomuo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

One of my most memorable internships was with Andrea Mitchel at NBC News in Washington, DC. Andrea was one of the most confident and powerful women I’ve ever met in my life. When she walked down a hallway, people parted like the Red Sea – anxiously scrambling to get out of her way while simply admiring her. As her intern, I was an aid to her researcher and help briefed her before her weekday show. Almost every story I assisted with was classified and it gave me the maturity and precision to understand and communicate high-level stories. Also, working alongside the greats of NBC News helped me build up my self-esteem to the point that I never felt intimidated in any room I entered. I attribute my confidence today primarily from that internship.

Amara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

It’s always hard for me to write about myself – but here I go. I came from a traditional Nigerian family which a strong emphasis on education, thus leading me to major in Pre-law & Political science with a focus on Nuclear Warfare and Terrorism. I researched NATO’s strategic arms during my tenure, which granted me an internship with NBC News in Washington, DC. After working on two high-profile cases for MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell’s show – Benghazi and military sexual assault – I landed a job as an NBC Page in NYC, and later CNN. My job soon became predicting what news would become viral overnight. I became an expert in predicting what stories would become popular based on their demopgraphics. My news experience led me to my current occupation: freelance content strategist and writer. Setting the agenda for news now helps me curate content for companies that want to attract a millenial audience. I’m most proud of being one of the lead writers for Kroger’s “Zero-Hunger Zero-Waste Initiative.”

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

The NBC Page Program is one of the hardest programs in the country to get into – they only select 1% of applicants. Getting accepted was only the first part of the battle. As prestigious as it is, you only earn a whopping $12 an hour in New York City. Unsurprisingly, many of my peers in the program came from very affluent families. Not having a financial cushion like my colleagues, I trained my body to survive on one meal a day and stayed at an all-girls hostel to cut costs. I also picked an arduous assignment at NBC that had me working almost 13 hours a day to make ends meet. Through this struggle I passed the program and graduated to a multitude of higher paying jobs.

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

The most rewarding aspect is that everything I do is for myself, not for a corporation. I can follow my mental health and work in ways that keep my mind and happiness at ease. I can pick my breaks and decide what I want to do. Yes and no, all comes down to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elephantlair.com/work
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miss_amara/

Image Credits
MSNBC