We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sárah Lee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
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 Sárah Lee and I am a media personality, host, radio personality, and content creator. I am a graduating senior studying journalism/mass communications at Hampton University. I am a TV Anchor/Personality for HBCU Pulse, Host of my original podcast “HBCU Made,” I am a Youtuber and create content centered around my life as a media personality, beauty, hair, makeup, and college life vlogs. I am known as the Campus host and creator of HU drip check at Hampton University, and I am a interviewer and so far in my career I have interviewed the top entertainment industries most celebrated gurus such as Michael B. Jordan, Michael Rainey Jr., Rubi Rose, Anthony Hamilton, Remy Ma, DJ Envy, and Jay Ellis just to name a few.
I got exposed to the industry at a young age. I started in media at 7 years old. My dad and I had an online radio show together called the “Sarah B. Show,” and my dad was my cohost and the love for media was birthed from those moments. I was always in love with public speaking and communication. I have vivid memories of me picking up our Kodak cameras and pretending I was vlogging and pretending to have my own shows. My passion for tv and radio has always been apart of me, and now I am finally pursuing the work I’ve always wanted to do.
I am most of proud of my growth and confidence as a person. I feel so confident in my craft and in my abilities as a journalist, like I really feel like I’m the best at what I do, and I’m only going to get better overtime.
My brand represents confidence, being a young boss babe, and strength. The main things I want my followers to know about my work is that my goal is to break barriers and create my own lane. I have worked hard to create my own opportunities, and I like to carry a certain type of energy where anyone who sits down to talk to me feels comfortable and safe. I am a very intentional person and I love having meaningful conversations that can be preserved and be apart of history, and I want to be the type of journalist that asks the questions that we all want to know.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part is watching how my work impacts other people and just living out my dreams . I work a lot, so sometimes I don’t stop for a second to see everything or think about everything I have accomplished because I am always thinking about my next project, but I have been having many experiences where young women stop me to take selfies, and just talk to me to tell me that I inspired them. I’ve had incoming freshman this school year, commit to Hampton University just because I go to school here, which is so cool to me. I even get recognized outside of my university, either in the community or via social media.
I also think it’s rewarding just getting to talk to individuals that I have admired my whole life, and to meet them in person and have genuine conversations, just inspires me more to go even harder.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
A memory that sticks out the most is when I went to go cover Michael B. Jordan’s Legacy Classic. When I was there so many events had happen, and in media everything is constant chaos, but I remembered this was when COVID guidelines were much more strict. Top media outlets were there trying to interview Michael, and they kept saying nobody would be able to do so.
So you can only imagine how I was feeling, top media brands were here and saying this, so I was a feeling a little discouraged at first because I thought if they can’t interview him I definitely don’t have a chance. I had to take a moment to get out of my head and I literally went to the bathroom got myself together and hyped myself up to get focus and figure out a plan to get the interview.
Literally, not even an hour after I got out the bathroom, they started the dunk contest, and Michael went out on the court. I got my camera man and myself on the court to record the shots, and as Michael was getting ready to step off the court I chose the perfect timing and I just ran up to him and grabbed his arm, and I told him who I was and asked him for a quick interview and he was so kind to me and did the interview right on the court.
Even the network was mad at me for running out there because they were about to come back from commercial break, but I was prepared for the moment and I didn’t let anyone stop me not the security guards, not the producers at TNT, not anyone. I just went for it. But I was ready for my moment with him.
I think it just goes to show that sometimes you really just have to take that risk even if it seems scary, just plan, think, strategize, and execute. That to me is resilience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/sarahleeonair?fbclid=PAAaYQYVLXP99RoQ18WMXmRTLoZNnLefTSkzP3Tb7TCkBnzKv6c_s4dgo7lbs
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahleeonair/
- Linkedin: Sárah Lee Buckner
- Twitter: @sarahlee_9
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SárahLee1/videos
Image Credits
@sarahleeonair @devin_armstrong_visuals @rogueflicks @envisionedvisions @la.buena.bruja @ @nigelray_ @clauderobins