We recently connected with Sterling “Silver” Wragg and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sterling “Silver” thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Traveling and conversation is the antidote to ignorance. That is my mission statement for my channel “Silver Rides” on YouTube. I started driving for lyft in 2015 full time. During the time, it was hard to stay afloat. Money wasn’t as good as I thought. But everyday I got on the road and drove people to their destinations. One night, new years night to be correct. A passenger attempted to stab me in my car! Lucky me, I wasn’t far from the police station and an off duty cop saw the whole thing since I was in the middle of the street. He was able to capture the passenger. I didn’t want to drive again! Not after that. But I was always told to never live in fear. After that, I was given some of the best advice! “Record your rides!” It was for protection at first. It’s legal and it makes sense. I did for some time. Then I started looking at the recordings and saw how much fun I had with people while driving. So with those passengers consent, I’d make cool videos of the fun rides I had with the people. My friend Craig Estill told me since I went to college to be a journalist, I should start interviewing folks while driving! I loved the idea and have done it since January 2019! Every interaction I’ve had has made the mission statement more true. If you travel and talk to people outside of your comfort zone, you will be more universal and understanding of everyone’s culture. We should all want to learn something new everyday, I’m just thankful my passion allows me to learn from so many people! I’ll pass the exact mission statement on to my 2 kids too so they won’t judge a book by it’s cover!
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?
Hey what’s up everyone, my name is Sterling “Silver” Wragg. I was born in Charleston, South Carolina. I’m the journalist you don’t know just yet! I’ve always loved to talk! If I was getting into any trouble in school, it was because I was talking. I was always curious as well. Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to hold a microphone and be on tv. Weatherman, ESPN, something of that nature. I use to be my elementary school’s news anchor for the morning announcements! I knew what I always wanted to be. Moving to Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of 13 was a tough move for me. I had to leave family and friends and start all over. I dealt with a serious case of depression. But writing and storytelling was always with me. If I wasn’t feeling too hot, I would write out fake stories and act them out in the mirror. I graduated high school and attended Northern Kentucky University for Journalism. There I met my wife, Kay and we’ve been together since 2014. We started a merchandise brand in 2020 for the channel that was named after our son (Marz Kloset). We have 2 amazing kids named Marlee & Skye and they are my everything. My passion for telling others stories and writing led me to start my own interviewing series called “Silver Rides” on YouTube. #AlreadyRollin is my motto because the camera never stops! I show the authentic side of the people I talk to. Emmy winning journalist, Olympic gold medalist, producers, painters you name it! I’ve interviewed them. A what sets me apart from most interviews you see today, I’m not doing it for the camera. Half the time, I forget the camera is on because I really get into the conversation. Currently I do not have a team and that’s ok with me. I book the interviews, record, edit & market them all! All with my 2 iPhones and old iPad, I can get the job done. I think that’s another thing that makes me different. A lot of folks nowadays have a lot of help with their content and that’s fine but I find it satisfying knowing I’ve done my work myself. There’s been many times I got discouraged due to the new trend we see now where everyone is interviewing anyone. I’ve been doing this since 2019 and I love more today than when I began! I thank yal for sharing my story, it’s cool being on the other side of an interview!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Everyone is not going to support you and that ok!I use to take it so personal when no one would watch an interview I did. It was my pride. I had to let that go! That made me find MY audience. I had to market outside, not just on the internet. I would go into local stores, barbershops, libraries and ask to hang up my flyers in their establishments. I had to unlearn thinking help was guaranteed. You have to help yourself if you want to go far and that’s what I did.
How’d you meet your business partner?
Ok so don’t laugh but I DM’ed my wife via Twitter while we were in college. I never saw her on campus due to our schedules of classes and work. One day I friended her on Twitter and asked if she wanted to hangout. It felt like an eternity for her response but she did! The moment I knew she was the one was when she cooked a full corse meal, I’m talking salad, main course and dessert from scratch in her DORM! “I’ve never seen an 19 year old like this in my life!” That was going through my mind. She was just different from the rest to me. And so honest and real. College is how we met, and now we share 2 beautiful kids together, married and I love her as much as I did 10 years ago! My wife is head of merchandising & marketing for Marz Kloset. Without her, none of our cool shorts or shirts would’ve came to existence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://marz-kloset.myshopify.com/collections/all
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clint.silver.18/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/silverrolling?s=21
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@AlreadyRollin
Image Credits
All photos are from my YouTube channel, Silver Rides and my wife Kay!