This week’s featured media mogul in the making is content curator, podcaster, and journalist, Corein Carter. Corein is the host on budding podcast Play on Words with her work being featured on platforms such as XO Necole, Blavity, Sheen Magazine, and Business Blurb. Learn more about Corein’s journey below.

You are a multi-talented individual dipping and dapping in a bunch of other expressive fields. So, what was it about journalism or media that piqued your interest?

“I’ve actually been writing since I was in the 5^th grade. I started doing poetry which I became very good at and it landed me the opportunity to be nationally published in a poem book at the age of 11 years old. My passion for expressing myself thru writing was a love of mine, so much so I went to college to study mass communications with a focus on journalism at Winston Salem State University.”

How did you get your start in the media field? Did you study communications in college? Internships? Hobby writing?

“After college, I didn’t see many opportunities available for me at the time to share stories of POC’s in the magazine industry. I felt discouraged by the lack of opportunities and discrimination at the time and essentially gave up on my writing dreams. After several failed attempts to secure an internship at some of the known publications we are all familiar with, I went on a six-year hiatus where I wrote nothing, not poetry, not journal prompts nothing at all. I focused on traveling the world as a flight attendant with hopes of making my way up in the rinks of corporate in the company I worked for. In 2016 I had a life-changing event occur that turned me back to writing as a form of therapy. I started journaling more often and creating stories and came across an old college friend who inspired me to take writing seriously again. I felt empowered thru writing and wanted to tap back into it. In 2018 I started my own blog/podcast called Play on Words that helped get me back in the groove of writing and media.”

Tell us how you built up your platform. What’s your mission/goals? Who’s your audience?

“I built my platform up initially thru my personal blog and podcast Play on Words. I have a very raw, rare, and real style of writing and podcasting. It’s sort of an “in your face’’ style where I would hold nothing back but still leave my followers with a message to receive. People seemed to Love It! That boosted my confidence enough to reach out to local magazines. In 2019 I started off writing for The WERK Magazine when I was living in Atlanta, it was a great opportunity to get my feet wet and launch my professional writing career. I currently write for four large publications as a contributor. xoNecole, Blavity, Sheen Magazine, & Business Blurb. My mission is to tell authentic stories of POC’s rather it is dealing with current news, relationships, social justice, mental wellness, or motivational tips that will help other people stay inspired. My audience is millennial women and men of color between the ages of 25-34. I like to call them young professionals.”

So far throughout your career, what has been your proudest personal media moment?

“My proudest personal media moment would have to be becoming apart of For(bes) The Culture group. It’s a branded partnership with Forbes including a group of young professionals, who are banding together in the community to share resources, tools, knowledge, and opportunities with likeminded POC. The amount of support, comradery, and opportunities this group has extended to me thus far is beyond what I could have asked for as a climbing journalist in the game.”

What advice would you give aspiring mediapreneurs looking to enter the field? 

“My advice would be “Stay Patient with Yourself”. What you ultimately desire will be yours in due time. I learned thru this process of breaking into media it’s necessary to give yourself room for growth and life understanding. Timing is key. If was to start my writing career straight out of college my focal point in writing would be a lot different. Allow yourself room to mature as a person and an artist b/c that’s essentially what writing is. It’s a form of art thru words. Write a story even if you feel it’s bad, you may have an ‘AHA” moment, later on, realize that material is relevant or worth using accordingly.”

Connect with Corein Carter on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with her. To view her latest work, visit https://linktr.ee/inlivingcolored.

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