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

Wanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I have always enjoyed being a writer and a reader of literature. My parents set up a small library of sorts in a closet in our home, and as a child it was my pleasure to sit on the carpet floor in that space and read books. Our family subscribed to two daily newspapers and weekly newspapers and magazines that were delivered by mail, and we had a subscription to the Book of the Month Club.

I have been a journalist since high school and college when I was editor of both school newspapers. I decided at the end of 11th grade, after taking my first journalism class, that journalism would be my life’s work. I’m very proud and relieved — that I set my career goal early and I was actually successful at at it.

As an African American woman, I entered journalism at a time when there were no role models who looked like me. I don’t recall any African Americans or women bylines in our local daily newspaper in Savannah, GA, or as reporters on local television news, And I’m pretty sure there were no people like me working behind the scenes as editors, producers or photographers.

While I was a student at Spelman College, an HBCU for African American women, I was a copy editing intern in 1970 at the Providence Evening Bulletin in Rhode Island, I was a first in Providence, and I was a first in other roles at some of the seven daily newspapers where I worked for more than four decades. I entered the business at the beginning of the national push for newsroom diversity. In some ways, we’ve seen improvements. In other ways, we’re still fighting for equity and inclusion in both staff and content diversity.

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.

I became an author at the end of my career — two careers, really.

The newsrooms where I worked ranged from mid-sized to large, including The Washington Post and USA TODAY. When I retired as executive editor of the Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama, I knew I would continue in some role related to my background as a writer and an editor. I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity to become chair and associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Savannah State University in my hometown. Returning home is what led to part of the title of my memoir, “COMING FULL CIRCLE: From Jim Crow to Journalism.”

I am proud of the fact that for most of my career I was engaged in helping newspapers, newsrooms and university journalism programs work on changes and understand diversity. Through professional organizations I created training programs to help enhance learning outcomes for hiring, and retention of women and people of color. I am also a mentor to many younger journalists, and I tell them that the best way to repay or honor me is to pay it forward, to mentor others and bring someone else along.

One of my greatest honors came in 2019 when the National Association of Black Journalists inducted me into the NABJ Hall of Fame. That occasion gave me the opportunity to make brief remarks entitled “People are Watching You.” I wanted the audience of hundreds of (mostly Black) journalists to understand that leadership comes in many forms.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My memoir was published in early 2020, too soon for most of us to grasp what all the hullabaloo would be about COVID-19. I had spent the last few weeks of 2019 preparing for a year-long national book tour, one that would allow me to present my book in university classrooms, museums, book festivals, newsrooms and journalism organizations, book clubs, book stores, and at to community events.

Then When the plague shut us down, I had to pivot.

After being on the road in early February and early March 2020 visiting four states in six weeks (including one time getting sick with what I later figured was my first bout of COVID) my book tour was interrupted.

My challenge, after cancelling travel arrangements, was to figure out how to pivot so as not to loose all momentum for my new book. My good friend, seasoned novelist Tina McElroy Ansa, who was my college roommate, gave me hope: “You may not have a tour but your book will always be here,” she told me. That’s when I got busy creating a virtual book tour. My publisher was understanding but not enthusiastic about a virtual tour. “You sell more books when you are  present in person,” she told me. That’s when I knew I was mostly on my own with the pivot.

There are two lessons here, I believe. The first is that, for someone in her retirement season, I had to be comfortable with the technology to pivot and continue to share my message. The second lesson for me was that God wanted to slow all of us down, to think creatively about how to shift our energies, yet share our gifts at the same time.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

On my journey as a writer and as a journalist, many people have no idea how much work is to be done. As a writer, I hardly ever just sit down and write, I take time to think about how I will craft my stories, sometimes making notes, sometimes reading other writing. I often interrupt my writing to do research, to put my stories in context with history, societal issues and life in general. And then, good writers take time to edit what they write, I set aside everything I write for an hour, a week or longer (depending on pending deadlines) and I come back to it and write. I edited my memoir at least 20 times. Maybe more.

One of my writing prompts is to look at pictures and historical documents, to help me add details to my stories. I have saved a lot of documents and just about everything I’ve ever written. Sometimes I look back at a speech just to get the date of when something happened, or to remember the name of a person or the reason for an event. Once I researched for weeks to remember when I met a former president at a White House party. Nothing on the Internet or in any of books in my personal library helped me remember the date. Then one day as I took a break from writing, I was walking around and enjoying a cup of tea, when I looked up on a wall in the living room and saw a framed picture of my husband and me the White House, and under the picture was a copy of the invitation, which had the DATE!

Then there is the challenge to balance writing time with personal care and family support. Part of my personal care time is spent walking my dog a couple of times a day while listening to gospel music on my phone. Gospel music inspires me, settles me, centers my soul. Others may be inspired by listening to other genres, or running, or taking naps. Creatives have to figure out what works for them. Like any “job,” there has to be an alternative to creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: wandalloyd.com
• Instagram: WandaSLloyd
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wandalloyd/
• X (Twitter): @MGMeditor
• Youtube: Wanda S. Lloyd

Image Credits
Mecca Gamble