We were lucky to catch up with Sunny Morgan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sunny, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I feel like there were many times I felt this way, especially singing at an early age and always wanting to be informed. Asking my dad questions until he had no more answers. But I remember in high school, the dean recommended me to the principal for the morning announcements. I started doing them every day before classes, for the rest of my four years. This moment I realized that a pathway in media might be for me. It felt good to be in the know before all my peers and get to know almost everyone in that special way.
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 Sunny Morgan, I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I’m a General Assignment Reporter for KYW Newsradio, Philly’s number-one news radio station. I also teach young people and their teachers media skills for WHYY, Philadelphia’s NPR and PBS partner station. I love informing people and have a passion for uncovering the inner workings of life. I’m a nostalgia buff for my hometown and music. I’m also a singer/songwriter and create content online around music and pop culture.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Since I was young, I knew I had a goal in this life to impact and inspire others. To use my passion to create relatable and informational content. In high school, I realized I wanted to pursue journalism. I admired a lot of news personalities and researched about the career endlessly. But I also never denied the side of me that wanted to couple it with entertainment. I loved staying up to watch late-night television, researching all the facets of what makes late-night TV great, and I felt as if this medium of delivering news and vital information was incredible. It’s my mission to one day merge my love of entertainment media with connecting with people in their home, giving them the information they need. I also love documentary films, and would love to one day create an impactful one.
I want to use this time in my life to truly build my reporting skills while I’m living in my hometown, and telling the stories around me. I’m proud to be reporting in this city, and that is a mission fulfilled within itself. However, I know I’m still young and I have very big dreams, and I want to look back on this time in my life as perfect preparation for the long career I know I’ll have in media. Long story short, my dreams and the goal of connecting with people in the most relatable ways possible drive me to keep going in my creative journey.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A big lesson I had to unlearn was being okay with starting from the bottom. Amid the pandemic, I was working at a bank. I was depressed and felt far away from my dream of being in the media business. I kept going and paid my dues (and my bills) and kept pushing. Coupled in this lesson is also fear, and moving through the fear of starting over and feeling alone. I encourage younger readers to seek mentorship in the industry, but value the guidance of people outside of the industry you seek too. Sometimes it takes a while to find people who are in the place to guide you, but it is important and will help you feel less alone. Even having a few peers who are on similar journeys, your network is definitely your net worth as they say. Learning to bring yourself through tough moments and believing the light at the end of a tunnel exists will get you there.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @hisunnymorgan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HiSunnyMorgan
Image Credits
@BrandonCaptures
2 and 4th studio pics @BoujeeMustard