We were lucky to catch up with Andre Ellington recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andre, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned about becoming a writer through pure experience. During the winter semester of my sophomore year at Eastern Michigan University in 2013, I sought to become a published writer. After I wrote my first story for the school’s newspaper, The Eastern Echo, I knew I wanted to capture that particular feeling of accomplishment consistently, so I started seeking internships.

From 2013-2017, I had eight internships. These internships and my professors provided me with the foundation I needed to advance my career as a writer, which is what I’ve continued to do since then.

I don’t think I could’ve done anything to speed up my learning process because I was proactive in throwing myself into uncharted waters from the beginning. I didn’t want to wait until graduation and do a bunch of internships in hopes of me landing a position at a publication. I wanted to be armed with as much experience as possible before walking across that stage which is why I sacrificed so much of my time as an intern while pursuing my bachelor’s degree.

My tenacity and willingness to be a student have paid off for me in my career. I haven’t told my best story yet, so this allows me to be in a place of curiosity, whether I’m covering the Oscars or a meeting on Capitol Hill. I’m never operating as if I have it all figured out because I’m still learning every day — this is how I’ve avoided any obstacles that may have presented themselves while I was on my path to obtaining vital information to become successful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Andre J. Ellington, and I’m an Associate Reporter for HuffPost. I’ve always had a voracious interest in writing, media, and communication, but I didn’t start writing until 2011, during my first year at Eastern Michigan University.

Since my first published story in 2013, I’ve written for publications such as VIBE Magazine, Rolling Out, HipHopSince87, The Michigan Chronicle, and Newsweek. I’ve also interviewed celebrities and prominent members of society such as Nick Cannon, DJ Khaled, Shaquille O’ Neal, John Hope Bryant, and many more.

What sets me apart is my ability to be a chameleon in any newsroom or publication. I’ve written about every sector of society, so there’s no story that I can’t tackle. An asset like this is vital in the media industry because it allows you to thrive in any newsroom in the world.

I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve made all my dreams become a reality and I didn’t take any shortcuts to arrive at my destination.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One book that truly helped me on my media journey was a book called “The Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell. In this book, I learned about the concept of 10,000 hours and how it equates to a person becoming a master at their craft. When I read it in 2015, I only had about a certain amount of time invested in media, but I can now say I’ve put in my 10,000 hours to become the absolute best writer I can be.

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

In college, I was a party animal. I also lost many family members and friends, so I had to learn a ton of hard lessons, but my faith and work ethic never wavered. I knew there were certain things I had to do to make my dreams become a reality, and I accepted those tasks with open arms. There is no such thing as an overnight success because success is birthed from repetitive actions, regardless of the circumstances.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrejellington/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-ellington-a40a33112/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrejellington

Image Credits
All of these are personal photos.