We were lucky to catch up with Esther Dillard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Esther, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

I recently published a book called: Raising an Autistic Young Adult, with Archway Publishing, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book launched in mid-February. The idea for the book came from first a concern about what I should do to prepare my son if approached by a police officer in a stressful or violent way. I honestly wasn’t sure if my son would freeze or run or what he would do. And I wondered if other Black parents who had teens or young adults on the Spectrum had advice on what they did with their children. I pitched the idea of talking to different Black and Brown parents about this to management at the BIN. They liked it. And when I began arranging the interviews I realized there would be a lot more questions I’d like to ask these parents outside this particular topic. So I arranged to interview each of them outside of my work time to talk to them about a series of other questions that related to school, home, dating, looking for jobs and medical issues. And I wanted to talk to parents of those on the Spectrum who had varying levels of challenges. So I could get different perspectives from parents. And that’s how the book was born.

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 back background and context?

My name is Esther Dillard. I have a background that spans authorship, journalism, podcast hosting, and public speaking, I consider myself a multifaceted communicator and storyteller. You can catch me on the 24 hour news radio source: The Black Information Network. And I hosts my own podcast segment called: The Color Between the Lines where I interview authors of color who have new book releases. Replays of the interviews are on my YouTube Channel The Color Between the Lines with Esther Dillard.

I am originally from Buffalo, New York where I started my career as a journalist at WGRZ-TV 2. I have since then worked in a variety of television markets for television and radio. Those include: WBGO-FM, KTVU-Ch2 in San Francisco, CBS-3 in Philadelphia, and WEYI-Ch 25 in Flint, Michigan. This extensive experience has not only honed my skills in journalism but also deepened my understanding of diverse communities and stories.

Beyond my work in media, my passion for education and communication led me to Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where I served as a communications professor for seven years. There I taught students in courses like Writing for Radio and Television, Broadcast Journalism (TV production), News Gathering, Intro to Mass Communications, and Public Speaking.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had to pivot in my career when I moved to the New York/New Jersey region with my husband and became pregnant with my son. It was a point in my life where I was both happy about the pregnancy but stressed that I wasn’t doing what I loved as a career. I had for more than 10 years at that time been a television reporter. And I liked it. But I also wanted to me a mom. My husband and I had tried to get pregnant for about seven years. We tried IVF and it didn’t work. And finally when my father suggested I go for an all out vegan cleans for at least 4 to six weeks, a pregnancy happened.

My agent had left his career and put me with someone in their firm. That person told me by phone that I was “older” (39 at the time) and that was the reason why many news directors likely weren’t looking my way. I was frustrated because I knew as the time progressed my pregnancy would likely move me completely out of the running for television news jobs. So I decided I would look for teaching jobs. And thankfully a friend who knew my husband contacted someone at Bloomfield College who was looking for a professor in Broadcast Journalism. Well, I had never officially taught in a classroom. I had my masters degree from Syracuse University in Communications. However, I didn’t have a PHD. But I knew could definitely teach someone how to do what I had done for more than 10 years. Dr. Jeanne Nutter, who recommended me for the job, told me if I could structure a few courses with my approach to hands on learning, I would be welcome to join the college.

A few weeks after I started, Dr. Nutter had a medical crisis which made her have to go on medical leave. The Chair of the Humanities Department then asked if I was willing with their help and guidance to step into a more prominent role and work as a full-time professor and administrator teaching a full load of courses. I agreed. And for seven years I taught at the college, helping students learn the craft of journalism and also create short documentaries.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson I think I had to unlearn is that just because a job description may call for a certain degree like a PHD, that you are automatically unqualified or unable to handle a job.

I believe the college teaching experience showed me that being open and willing to learn while using your own personal experience is often enough to help you in many challenging situations. I had to step outside my comfort zone. And that made me even more open to taking on other challenges like writing two books within about a year’s time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.estherdillard.com
• Instagram: @iamestherdillard
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamestherdillard
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-dillard-28a13b35/
• Twitter: @estherdillardtv
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ysoqsauboDsx0EyDcAOVw

Image Credits
Esther & Graham Dillard