Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sterling Giles. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sterling, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

If you want to be great at something, you have to study the greats. It takes hours and hours of research and mastery. But what’s cool is with virtually anything you want to master, there’s likely a pioneer who has already done the leg work. Once you’ve studied (which honestly is an ongoing process), you’ve got to find way to let your voice and art to be seen and heard. Be genuine and don’t be afraid to put off promoting your creation until you’re ready. Run your race.

Sterling, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, my name is Sterling Giles. I’m a multi-hyphenate who is passionate about telling and surfacing Black and Brown stories. I’ve loved to write and listen to people’s stories for as long as I can remember.

Within the last decade, I created Sterling Media, a storytelling platform that houses BABL and Sterling News, which leverage Black and Brown stories, as well as faith and spiritual stories. How the platform came to be is an interesting story. I, like most lovers of hip-hop journalism, was applying to the Complexs, Rolling Stones, and FADERs of the world, but to no avail. It was disheartening, but God had bigger plans for me. He wanted me to start my own platform dedicated to intertwining both Christianity and pop culture. After several weeks of prayer wrestling, I conceded and went full steam ahead.

In addition to my platform, I do freelance copywriting. I have more than a decade of writing experience ranging from advertising (B2B and B2H for Fortune 200 companies) to journalism. Holla at me for your writing needs!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I disagree with the notion that it’s better to be a master of one rather than a jack-of-all-trades. I believe you can be a master of more than one skill—you just need to put the time in to do so. I feel it’s viewed as an indictment on your character and discipline to have multiple interests (it’s been less of an indictment in recent years because of how accessible technology and learnings are). There’s the misconception having divided interests will inevitably cause you to short-change at least one of those interests. What matters at the end of the day is execution. If the execution is there, then master as many interests as you like. Just learn to master time management in the process so you’re nurturing all of your passions, which is a skill within itself.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The journey with my platform, Sterling Media, has been a JOURNEY. There are times of imposter syndrome, self-doubt, depression, burnout, triumphs, failures, and pivots. But we’re still here. My advice to all creatives looking to building their platforms from scratch, please realize it’s a marathon process, not a sprint. And PLEASE don’t compare yourself to other platforms, especially nationally renowned ones. Most of them have teams dedicated to producing their content and managing their platforms. Please don’t burn yourself out trying to keep up with The Joneses. I encourage you to study what other platforms are doing, but it stops there. Comparison is the thief of joy. I’ve learned the hard way and it’s still an everyday battle for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sterlingmediadmv.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sterlingmedia__/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sterlingiles.media
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/services/page/1428b3321a2083a8b4
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sterlingmedia__
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf1lRcM17vjk39DxBM7OfVQ/featured

Image Credits
Christian Carter-Ross Barrett Miller Ayden Lawman