We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelsey Nicole Nelson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelsey Nicole below.
Hi Kelsey Nicole, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
Chasing success is what drives me. Success is the culmination of a will to win and the desire to legacy build.
Success is the wake up call for those willing to listen. An output of a larger dream. To be successful, you must be willing to accept an unknown journey that you can help steer and guide in the direction you want life to go. You must accept that success is not simply a destination. For me success is ongoing, onset by a burning desire, a passion that won’t ignite and a relentless will and work ethic to make things happen.
The needle for success always moves for me. I have been successful in different areas but I have yet reached ultimate success. Today in all my roles, success looks different. As a collegiate professor now in my fourth semester teaching at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, success looks like preparing my students in the “Intro to Sports Writing and Reporting” class I launched in the Fall to be able to have ready to publish articles for their portfolios, to expand and broaden the reach in the journalism industry and to make them inspired about the future of journalism. It also means successfully partnering with various entities on campus, like GW athletics, to ensure the longevity of the new course on campus for undergraduate students for years to come.
As a broadcaster, success always seems like growing and improving within my craft. Last year, I added two new sports media jobs to my portfolio, expanding within the college sports scene. I began as a studio host for the Atlantic 10 Conference, and as a color analyst for the American University women’s basketball team. Thus, I now add this to my work as a Host/Reporter with FOX Sports Radio, where I cover national sports leagues, so success for me is now covering collegiate and professional sports on television and radio, and continuing to grow the KNN brand online. As a freelance sports journalist I look back and see I have now worked for an NFL team, the then Washington Football Team (now Washington Commanders), hosting three shows (two digital and one television show), served as an on-air national contributor for Bally Sports daily NBA show, and served as a co-host on a national show for NBC/Peacock “Brother from Another.” As a journalist, I was also recently welcomed to FOX 5 DC as one of the first ever guests on their new show “The Take.” My journalism work is an ongoing testimony to my work ethic breeding success.
As a journalist, my success is watching how journalism has evolved itself into different avenues for me. I’ve grown up as a professional speaker and event host. already is 2025, securing a speaking gig at the CIAA Tournament in partnership with Aetna for the Health and Wellness Summit where I will speak at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. I’ve spoken at Arena Stage, Howard Theater, the National Press Club, the Women’s National Democratic Club, and at countless colleges and universities.
As a journalist, success has also been the pipeline of my former interns and mentees that has bene on to get first jobs and excel in the industry. Success for me continues to be a moving bar of the people I can impact and touch. This is the legacy of success I want to leave.
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?
In brief I am KNN — a network, a brand, and a woman on a mission. My name is Kelsey Nicole Nelson, and I am a DMV native working to create an international impact through the lens of the sports media. In layman terms, I’m just a girl from Germantown, Md. working to fulfill her dreams and help provide for the next generation. Through my businesses, I run four internship programs for college students, recent graduates, and mid-career professionals looking to transition.
Most know me for my decade-long career within the sports industry Now in my 11th year professionally in media I work in broadcast television and radio. I have worked in all roles including as an analyst, host, sideline reporter, commentator and I often make special guest appearances on national and regional broadcast networks throughout the country.
I was recently honored by Media Girls Network/Media Girls on Tour in Atlanta. It was my latest honor in a career where I have been immensely blessed to be awarded by so many organizations. Im humbled by ever honor, as I simply do the work I love each day. As a host, I work with the Atlantic 10 conference broadcasting out of their Washington, D.C. studios as a host for the show “Quick Hits.” As a host/reporter, I also work with FOX Sports Radio as talent covering all the professional and collegiate teams throughout the DMV region. As a talent, I also work with MLBbro.com highlighting black players throughout MLB. Previously, I worked for the Arena Football League, Big East Digital Network covering Georgetown women’s basketball, and covered Georgetown football on DCW50, to name a few of the sports I’ve covered for networks.
As a member of the media, I am also the Founder, Host and Executive producer of “Listen In With KNN” Network, which partners with FOX Sports Radio. The show bi-weekly brings on special celebrity guests, current and former athletes, movie stars and more.
In addition to my sports media work, I am also the Founder and President of “Books Breaking Borders: Books to End Educational Bankruptcy,” a community action project I launched in 2013 that is now for the third year in a row partnering with Meet the World Image Solutions for Black History Month Literary Weekend. I am also the Founder and CEO of KryptiaNN, a multimedia and communications and consulting firm that has worked with groups like the Center for Black Educator Development for the #WeNeedBlackTeachers campaign.
I also co-hosted the radio show America Speaks, providing sports updates for military members and their families. I’ve appeared in sports commentator internationally in places like Great Britain, Dubai and Canada. In the last year, I’ve appeared on NewsNation, New York Post Sports, GB News, and FOX 5 DC’s “Like it or Not” to name a few.
I’ve also covered sporting events at the Embassy of France and the Embassy of Rwanda in Washington, D. C in addition to annually covering Super Bowl week, collegiate bowl games like the Military Bow and top games like the Army /Navy game.
As an avid advocate for diversity and inclusion in the media industry, I just recently wrapped my two-year term as Vice President and Membership Chair of the Washington Association of Black Journalists. During my term on the executive board, we reached record membership numbers and won chapter of the year from the National Association of Black Journalists.
In relation to my journalism work, I am a member of ForbesBLK, the Society of Professional Journalists Sports Committee, the National Press Club and the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force.
I was also named a Rising Star in 2025 by Speakers Magazine and was the December cover girl for Look We Are Included Magazine and Looker Magazine. I also had the chance to be part of the first Black Women in Sports Day at the White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building in partnership with Diverse Representation.
In academia, I helped to build and launch radio classes at Doral College and served as a capstone advisor to graduate students in the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies Sports Industry Management program.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
My whole life I have heard that you can never make it in your hometown. It’s quote “too big” and you have to “leave and try to work your way back.”
But for me, I love a challenge and there was no way in the world I was going to give up on a place that I call home. The place that made me, and bred me. I am who I am because I am from the DMV and I carry and wear the patch of pride everywhere I go.
I provide access inside big events and uplift sports stories within the community. I pride myself on community members that constantly pitch and send sports stories my way. The local schools and conferences that invite me back to speak for National Girls and Women on Sports Day, career days and more, is a testimony and an opportunity for me to show hometown kids they can do it too, bigger and better.
I’m true to it, not new to it. The DMV is home, and I love my “area.” My reputation has come from working in the trenches, paying my dues and coming up through the ranks here. From interning with multiple media entities, including Comcast SportsNet Washington and the University of Maryland and Georgetown University athletics departments, to covering the area’s top sports on cable access television in Prince George’s County, Md. and PGCTV through the iconic sports shows “The Roundball Report” and “The Sideline Report.”
I’ve called high school basketball games for the Capital City Classic, covering basketball tournaments and boxing matches in South East, D.C., hosting a commercial for the first independent sportsbook in the country, Grand Central DC. I’ve done the work, paid my dues and gained a following along the way. I also never forget where I come from, prioritizing the sports coverage of the community. Having the opportunity to discuss D.C. and Baltimore area sports on a national scale, often as an analyst, representing the area means a lot to me. To be a standard-bearer for DC sports coverage it’s something I currently don’t take lightly. I make sure the world knows “the DMV breeds ballers” every opportunity I get to highlight someone from the area.
I pride myself on being real, authentic and transparent in my journey. Whether I was bringing my viewers’ coverage of Angel Reese’s return to Baltimore her last year at LSU when the squad took on Coppin State University or supporting Howard University athletics department events which most recently I covered the Howard men’s soccer 1971 and 1974 championship teams. In particular, my base knows I will keep them covered in all aspects of sports happening in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area.
I have also now touched every major university in the DMV in some way shape or form. Graduating from the University of Maryland and Georgetown University. I continue to engage with my alma mater through alumni programs and as a special guest speaker. Today, I am now working with American University and George Washington University. It’s important to me to touch the core pillars of the athletics community in the area. It’s why I’m proud to sit on the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame board.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, the evolution of myself has been a testimony to the power of trusting in God, hard work and being true to me. The most rewarding part of being an artist is that it has allowed me to showcase what being multidimensional is. Showcasing that I can’t be placed in a box and will not allow society to dictate my journey as a Black woman who does not allow her dreams to be deferred.
I don’t take for granted any of the opportunities that I have been privy to. I grace stages often, and to see how my reach has grown as a professional speaker to now being an emcee for premier conferences that come to the nation’s capital and Baltimore with thousands of people, this is gratifying. To appear often on syndicated shows, being an artist has allowed me to have an infinite reach that forever grows.
It’s taken me into households with the reach of millions when I’m on television broadcasts. The artistic beauty in life is that there is a Mona Lisa in us all and that, while it can be viewed differently, the importance is that you are telling your own unique story.
It never gets old, getting an email from someone who wants to partner, collaborate and/or work with me and my brand. I get reached out to on all my social media platforms and websites. It’s a reminder that while on the journey you never know what opportunities will come up along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kelseynicolenelson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealknelson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KelseyNicoleNelson
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KelseyNNelson
- Twitter: https://x.com/therealknelson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KelseyNicoleNelson
- Other: https://linktr.ee/KelseyNicoleNelson
https://listeninwithknn.com
https://kryptiann.com
https://booksbreakingborders.com
https://beacons.ai/kelseynicolenelson
Image Credits
Photo credit Joy Washington.