We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caitlin Leggett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caitlin below.

Caitlin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?

Jay-Z says in his joint project with Beyonce The Carters “We measure success by how many people successful next to you/ Here we say you broke if everybody gets broke except for you” and I stand by that wholeheartedly. I created a digital series of interviews by way of NPR’s WUNC Radio and WUNC Youth Voices, to introduce the station to a whole new demographic. The series “Changing Channels” highlights people of color in North Carolina that are making a difference in their community through their craft. North Carolina produces some amazing talent, from sports to entertainment and more and my goal is to merge the community with a radio that might not otherwise reach it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hailing from Durham, NC aka the 919, my name is Caitlin Leggett and I am a 22-year-old author and multimedia journalist. Using photography, videography, writing, and on-air work I produce stories about the communities I reside in. As an author, I curated a collection of poems on the coming of age of a young Black woman entitled “Mad, Black, Woman.: Diaries on the Intersectionality of a Black Woman.”

In 2020, I began interning at NPR’s WUNC Radio and I have been working with them to produce stories via digital, on-air, and social media. As an upcoming journalist and author, I have interests that are varied. From being a former athlete to being a young Black woman, and being a student of the game as a whole. So, when I realized that I did not have one sole focus, my mentor at NPR’s WUNC Radio Kamaya Truitt-Martin helped me curate the series “Changing Channels” that allowed me to explore my passions. In doing so, I’ve been able to expand my own network as well as the network of those I highlight.

I am a 2022 graduate of North Carolina Wesleyan University where I earned degrees in Mass Communications and Computer Science and minored in journalism. Currently, I’m getting my Master’s in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University. For my class assignments, I work as a sports journalist for the NBA Charlotte Hornets.

I was previously a broadcast operator at WCNC-TV in Charlotte, NC. I am currently transitioning jobs to work at MSNBC as a Production Assistant to Symone D. Sanders-Townsend and her talk show “Symone.”

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, I spent my college experience playing volleyball and looking to leave my mark behind as best I could.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Whether it was poetry or papers, words have always made sense to me. I’ve always loved to write. I started off writing poetry just to get out of my own head. Coming up in Durham, every day was not promised to you or your loved ones and I got the experience of that firsthand when I was 8 years old. My Uncle Ronnie Sturdivant, a visionary of Durham and the Black community, died in true Durham fashion and was shot and killed in front of one of the primary Black Wall Street pillars that he owned. His wife, my Aunt Dianne, died about 10 years later when I was graduating high school. I found solstice in writing and from then on, I wrote.

Once I began interning and realized that Journalism could be a career choice for me, I threw myself into my writing. I was writing papers for money at school and writing poetry for submission at different literary magazines. I was published by Ghostheart Magazine, the Bitchin’ Kissick, and SotoSpeak Journal. In 2020, I put out my book and got my first published opinion piece in Durham Magazine. I also put my own book, a collection of poems and prose on the intersectionality I experience as a Black woman. My family, church family, best friends, and teammates were super supportive. I was actually denied the internship the first time I applied back in 2018, but I reapplied in 2020 and was accepted.

I aspire to be an on-air journalist/anchor for a major network. I also aspire to be a sports journalist. Some key thing for me was figuring out how to start honing the skills needed to be an on-air anchor/broadcaster within a radio station, in the middle of a pandemic. Changing Channels started on the @915WUNC Instagram live page, interviewing artists, influencers, and more about how they impact their community. Fast forward to now, the interviews are in person, usually in a studio, and they include digital write-ups. I’ve been able to talk to some amazing people and create some really phenomenal networking opportunities. Some of my biggest accomplishments were interviewing Starz P-Valley actor J. Alphonse Nicholson, we had an impactful conversation about the heavy subjects that the show touches on. Another accomplishment for me was covering Dreamvillefest, where I was able to photograph some of my favorite artists, including “J. Cole.” He and all of the “Dreamville” label are on my bucket list of people to interview.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I would not consider myself a true creative because I know some insanely creative and talented people but I think my favorite thing about my craft is networking. I’ve met photographers, artists, athletes, actors, influencers and so much more that inspire me daily. One of my favorite experiences was meeting artist Tahmique Cameron and his bandmate Gabriel Fox-Peck from the music group “Youngbull Music,” and later on being in a music video for one of their songs. That type of linear networking creates communities and I love that because we all get to come up together. Soon I’ll be reinterviewing these people on the red carpet.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.caitlinleggett.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ya_dangskippy?igshid=YTY2NzY3YTc=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caitlin.leggett.739?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-l-44a672b8
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ya_dangskippy/status/1323004125462876168?s=46&t=zJuqty3Rx9X6Ro34pdC6Og
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@caitlinleggetttv
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesideout?_t=8YJDmNt6shC&_r=1

Image Credits
Photo of me: Credit: Robert Gonzalez/MoodieVisuals All other photos credited to myself & include: Reuben Vincent J. Alphonse Nicholson Tahmique Cameron Tia Corrine Photos of Dreamville Fest: Credit: Caitlin Leggett