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

Jeroslyn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success looks different for everyone and should be personalized to the achiever. For me, success means witnessing and seeing the fruits of my labor and commitment come to fruition in a liveable experience. It involves watching a dream or idea get birthed and cultivated in ways others can enjoy. Success is neverending and lives on through legacy. I certainly consider myself a success today and get excited knowing it’s still just the beginning.

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?

I’m Jeroslyn JoVonn, a Writer and Host with Black Enterprise and Co-Host of my best-friend-assisted podcast “We Watch Too Much TeaV.”

I started my journey in media running my own entertainment outlet and managing a team of writers. The experience helped kickstart my media career and eventually, I went on to work for other media outlets to better learn the business side of running a funded media platform. My natural passion and skillset for journalism allow me the space to tell stories and share information that creates discourse and sparks community across the web.

In recent years, I’ve expanded my brand to include my own web series “The Culture Shift With Jeroslyn JoVonn,” a prison reform series called “Be The Change,” and one-off interviews with celebrities, influencers, and today’s tastemakers. I’m most proud of how far I’ve come running my own blog with no money to working alongside legacy brands that see my value and help me elevate my reach. I’m also proud of the stories I get to share when I help a Black-owned or small business share their journeys to success.

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

I started my journalism career as a side hustle. At the time I graduated college, there weren’t a lot of entry-level opportunities in media, and if there were, I struggled to obtain them. I applied to countless jobs and internships to no avail. But I still had a passion that couldn’t be denied. That’s when I came up with the idea to launch my own media platform and share news and information I felt my audience would engage with. It grew fast and soon I was managing a team of writers with no money. I went back to the drawing board and decided to go work for a media outlet as an unpaid intern. Meanwhile, I did all of this while working full-time office jobs throughout New York City. After working as an unpaid intern for a year while working a full-time job, I became the Managing Editor at a media outlet and was moved out to Los Angeles where I’ve worked full-time as a journalist ever since.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had known about freelance writing early on. I definitely could’ve gotten my foot in the door with a media company sooner if I applied to freelance roles rather than full-time salaried positions. You also have more freedom as a freelancer and I could’ve used more of that during my professional start.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeroslynjovonn.com/
• Instagram: @jeroslyndiva
• Facebook: Jeroslyn Johnson
• Linkedin: Jeroslyn Johnson
• Twitter: @JeroslynDiva08
• Youtube: Jeroslyn JoVonn
• TikTok: @JeroslynDiva

Image Credits
All images courtesy of Jeroslyn JoVonn’s iPhone