Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Alonda Thomas serves as director of public relations at Howard University and led the PR strategy for TV One, ABC Network, CNN, Walt Disney Studios, and Fox Searchlight

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Alonda Thomas serves as director of public relations at Howard University and led the PR strategy for TV One, ABC Network, CNN, Walt Disney Studios, and Fox Searchlight · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's the show that she
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  Speaker 1: people's success story. That's all I'm asking is their success stories.
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  Speaker 1: Please stop trying to make their story your story, because
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  Speaker 1: success through their own personal effort. So, Money Making Conversation,
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  Speaker 1: understand your plan is for you and you committed effort
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  Speaker 1: to be all about you. My next guess understands committed effort.
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  Speaker 1: That's what she does. She publicizes everybody committed effort, and
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  Speaker 1: for that purpose I'm bringing on the show because she
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  Speaker 1: truly is a person who talks about everybody, but very
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: little information about her is known. My next guest is
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  Speaker 1: Alonda Thomas. She serves as the director of public relations
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: at Howard University. She's recently named the Top Women in
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: PR by PR News. She has worked at three historically
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: black colleges and universities, including her alma MATERA fam Mute,
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  Speaker 1: and her current role at Howard University. Alonda has led
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  Speaker 1: the public relations strategy for number of clients including TV
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  Speaker 1: one That's where I met her, ABC Network, CNN, All
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  Speaker 1: Disney Studios, and Fox SRT Light First Fox search Light
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: excuse me. She's listened to one of the top twenty
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  Speaker 1: African American PR millennials to watch and Huffington Post. Please
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  Speaker 1: work with the money making conversation. I've settled all of
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  Speaker 1: life things about her, Miss Alonda Thomas, Thank you, Sean.
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate you having me on the show. Well, did
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  Speaker 1: I get enough information out about you that set it
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  Speaker 1: up right for you. Yeah, it was like a walk
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  Speaker 1: down the relaye listening to all of those accolades, but
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: many relays like when it's way in the past, these acolytes,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the accolades that I'm talking about eighteen meaning did you
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  Speaker 1: build a momentum in your career and it's only going
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: to get bigger. Talk about Let's let's talk about first
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: of all, your HBCU experience, because in twenty we all
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: know that for some reason it came to the forefront
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: a lot of large donations were made to HBCU schools.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: It was like White America discovered it for the very
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  Speaker 1: first time. The HBCUs exist, and you and I both
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  Speaker 1: know the contributions to hbc you make, to the academic
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: to the stamp community, to the medical community, legal and
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: political community is tremendous. So talk about you influence, the
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: influence HBCUs had them you academically and why you went there. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: well I got my career. My education started at Florida
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: A and M University, which is where I had my
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: first taste of getting into public relations. I was fortunate
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: enough to be a student intern working in the Office
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  Speaker 1: of Communications there and met Sharon Saunders who really became
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: a mentor for me and helped me learn the craft
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  Speaker 1: while I was studying the craft in school. UM. She
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: is the person who also helped me get my first
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  Speaker 1: job out of school. I became a communication specialist under
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: her working at North Carolina Central University and got to
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: spend almost three years creating and writing every press release
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: that came out of that institution UM, and it really
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: just solidified for me the importance of being able to
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: tell our own stories properly and appropriately to the media
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  Speaker 1: in order to use their platforms to leverage the success
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  Speaker 1: of an institution to tell our stories, to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that the experts that are coming out of that institution
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  Speaker 1: doing research are known to the to the greater public. UM,
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  Speaker 1: it helps to promote the interests of students coming into
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  Speaker 1: that institution. And so, even though I still had it
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: interesting getting into entertainment PR, when I was asked years
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: later by Miss Honors to go back UM and work
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  Speaker 1: for her again, but this time at Florida and M University, UM,
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  Speaker 1: it was definitely something that I just couldn't say no to.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: And then, of course, when the opportunity came up years
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: later to leave TV one and go to work at
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  Speaker 1: Howard University. Again, it was something that I definitely didn't
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: mind doing because I feel so passionately and strongly about
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: making sure that our h b c Use, our our
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  Speaker 1: precious treasures had an opportunity to get our message out
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: to the greater world. For a family. For you, there's
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: a lot of schools you could have went to for
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: our family. UM. Family was a family school. My father
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: had gone to both ba Thune Cookman and Florida and
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: M University, and UH I hadn't spent as much time
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: at Florida and M so it was still mysterious to me.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: So when the opportunity to go to one of the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: other came up, I said, I definitely want to go
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: to Family. It's a little other way from my hometown
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  Speaker 1: in Miami, Florida, UM, and I just was ready for
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: that opportunity to branch out on my own and have
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: my own new experiences as a young adult. And it
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  Speaker 1: definitely it did not disappoint. UM. Some of the cultural
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: experiences that I got to have their attending the convocations
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  Speaker 1: and hearing from renowned speakers coming to campus. UM, those
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: are some of the things that UH you experience that
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  Speaker 1: HBCUs that really helped to shape and frame who you
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: are as a person, understanding your identity and your background
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: and and the significance of our culture and our legacy. UM.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And it's just carried with me throughout my life in
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: the different places that I've been able to work and
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: being at Howard University now, UM that continues. Helping to
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: make sure that students understand the great breadth of things
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  Speaker 1: that we accomplished at these institutions is very important to me,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: and so I feel it's much of an honor to
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: be able to do that every day, helping to tell
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  Speaker 1: our stories and if possible, getting them onto national outlets,
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  Speaker 1: so that um, everyone whether they're interested in h b
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: c U s or thinking about places where they can
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: donate their money, where it's going to make a significant difference. UM,
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  Speaker 1: it's very important, you know, the being I've been in entertainment,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: so PR pr agencies have always been a mainstay of
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: my relationship with entertainment. I run into a lot of people,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: young people, people who are already been stablished talking about
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the roles of the PR company or the PR person.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: You are director of public relations currently at Howard University.
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  Speaker 1: Can you help some of my listeners who are interested
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: in going into the field of public relations? How does that,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: how does it work and how can one tart establishing
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: their their feet in the business. Yeah, well, I would
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  Speaker 1: certainly recommend UM training. UM. Getting that college education at
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: a journalism school that specializes in public relations like Florida
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and m did or the Communication School at Howard University,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: which is named after Kathy Hughes, one of the legendary
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: women UM in the broadcast industry, is important because you'll
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  Speaker 1: get the tools there to learn how to right press
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  Speaker 1: releases articles, to learn how the pitch media, to look
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: at the news in a different way, to figure out,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: you know, why are they speaking to that particular person
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: today that just happened by happenstance, if there's somebody actually
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: bring this person in this message to their attention, and
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: that's what a PR person does behind the scenes. It's
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: helped get those stories, whether it's various experts in the
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: world of vaccines right now as everybody is being very
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: conscious about whether or not they should be taking that UM.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the things that a publicist can do to
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: make sure that the right influencers are connected with the
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  Speaker 1: right media outlets in order to be able to tell
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  Speaker 1: a positive story, because you you sand something in your
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: statement about the story telling the right story telling us.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: There's so many stories that are that that would mask
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: me that you have Fox story, Fox News story, you
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: have to see an n story, you have the BBC story,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: you have the MSNBC story, and all of them seem
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to be leaning on a particular audience that they're trying
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: to reach. As in your case, I'm assuming you're trying
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: to reach the African American audience. Are you just trying
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: to reach our diverse audience? When you do public relationships
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: for Howard University, well, I look at it as a
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  Speaker 1: variety of stakeholders that we have at the institution. First
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: and foremost are current and existing students UM being able
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: to make sure that we're continuing to communicate with them
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  Speaker 1: throughout their matriculation because they too need to be aware
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  Speaker 1: of all of the great things that are happening at
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: the institution. Prospective students, helping them to see profiles on
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  Speaker 1: our students who are doing really well, who are achieving,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: wrangle UM fellowship opportunities UM. It's important for us to
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: get out there so that they can envision them selves
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: in those roles. And then when you look at the
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: different schools and colleges, UH, each of those have stories
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: that they want to tell. UM. We are one of
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  Speaker 1: the only one of four HBCUs that has a medical college,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: and so UM it's important for us to be able
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: to UM emphasize the importance of black doctors. There's certainly,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: UM not enough of them. And when you think of
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: the fact that the majority of black doctors are coming
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: out of four institutions across the world, it just demonstrates
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: for you how important the role we play UM in
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: that field and in that industry. And recently we were
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: able to come on the radar of a Mike Bloomberg
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  Speaker 1: who was able to donate to our institution. So he's
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: going to be helping those students UM financially be able
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: to get through college, which is extremely important. Well also
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: internship programs and potential hiring opportunities. It's really what we're
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: trying to communicate when we're talking about going to college
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: getting a degree, and it's such a difficult pr is
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: It's like all fields great opportunity for very difficult I'll
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: ask you this question. It is a's b R A
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: business for the young or the experienced. Well, one of
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: the things that drew me to the field is UM.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I felt that I was a strong writer, and a
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: friend of mine suggested that I try a public relations course.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: I actually started off school UM looking at going into
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: broadcast journalism UM, but I took up PR one oh
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: one course and was hooked from there because I found
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: it interesting to be able to take the written word,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: put together an article that could easily be dropped into
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: the weekly newspaper if necessary, UM, but using that to
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: kind of form an opinion for people, so that a
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: journalist could take a look at that and say, you know,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: this is something that I definitely want to learn more about.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: I want to UM talk to the experts that are
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: referenced in this press release UM and maybe do my
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: own stories about it. And with public relations, you can
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: do it in just about every industry that there is,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: so I felt like that was another way to broaden
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: my horizons that I wouldn't be limited to one particular lane. UM. First,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: my my first internship in public relations was at Jackson
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. UM. I told you about
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: interning at the university in their office. UM at DO
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Entertainment PR, I've done higher education PR and at a university.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: With all of the different schools and colleges that we represent,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I end up doing PR services for all of those
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: UM individual areas as well. So I think it's definitely
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: still a industry that's on the rise UM and I
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: think students would be well suited to think about that
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: as they look at, you know, their place UM in
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the industry that they want to go into. Your clients
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: have included TV one, ABC Network or CNN, the Walt
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Disney Studios, Fox Searchlight. Now you and I met at
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: TV one when we were met before that, but we're
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: working on a particular show the attorney Benjamin Croup and
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: I was doing called Evidence of Innocence, uh and and
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: then and then that we were going back with email.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: We we linked in account message and all of a sudden,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: you said, racheand I'm headed to Howard. What opportunities did
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Howard present to you? That you were not getting the
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: TV one and not saying anything was negative TV one?
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: But Howard is one of the quote unquotes to kind
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: of consider the Harvard of HBCUs. What made that transition
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: one that you wanted to pursue leaving TV, wanted to
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: go to Howard. Well, I'll tell you it was definitely
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: a difficult decision because working at a television network had
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: been a dream of mine. It was on my um,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: you know, board to be something that I tried to
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: accomplish in my life. And so when it finally happened
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: and the opportunity presented itself to be at a television
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: network and I didn't have to go all the way
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: back to Los Angeles in order to accomplish it, it
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: was definitely a dream come true. And I enjoyed every
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: minute of working on the television shows and the films
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: that I got to work on, including Yours and Unsung. Um,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: you know, it's definitely an exciting place to be. So
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: when the opportunity presented itself to come to Howard, UM,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: for me, it was the right move to continue to
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: matriculate in my career as a professional. Um, I would
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: be moving from PR manager back to a director position. UM,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: I would have a larger team that I was going
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: to be able to supervise. And like you said, it
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: was Howard. So I was like, well, if it's not
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: gonna be Florida and M University Howard is definitely not
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: too shabby of a place to go UM, and I've
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: enjoyed every minute of it because I look at universities
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: kind of like small cities. Anything that could go up
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: or down in a city can happen on a university campus.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: So you really get an opportunity to stretch yourself by
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: where in this environment. The opportunity needs to be creative
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: and think outside of the box in the way that
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: we promote things our endless and even something as simple
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: as being able to promote homecoming at Howard University, which
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: you already know has a lot of attention and interests UM,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: there are ways to make sure that we're using that
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: opportunity with thousands of alumni coming from across the country
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: to be able to tell the messaging that we want
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: to share. And so in twenty nineteen, we wanted to
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: make sure that we got out the message about our
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Howard for its strategic Plan and ensuring people that we
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: were constantly working on moving the university forward. And we
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: were able to get that work UM to receive some
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: award recognition UM because of the campaign that we put together.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: So I like being able to challenge myself um to
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: do bigger and better things, and Howard has not disciplined.
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  Speaker 1: E R dot Ai. Well, I believe me how it is?
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  Speaker 1: A synic Can I grew up. We used in Texas,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: so Texas Southern University UH the third Ward, a graduate
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: of University Houston, used to walk down to Third Texas
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: and all the time in Third War priv and priview,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: and it was right down the street. So next day
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: with southernlan grammar. So I've always had an hbc U
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: a fluence, influence around my whole life. But why in
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: for some reason did HBCUs suddenly become uh is a
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: fan favor for endowments by white corporations. Can you, from
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: a pr standpoint, can you explain to me why that happened?
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: In Well, I think the world in the US in
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: general is going through a reckoning right now with all
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: of the social injustice that we're seeing racial conversations that
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: need to be had. Um. I think a lot of
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: people are looking for solutions and they realize that our
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: HBCUs are fitting group of leaders that need to be
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: at the table for that. So I believe that we
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: have a lot of philanthropists who are looking for the
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: leadership that's going to be able to help guide us
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: in HBCUs. Being that we are already training so many
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: of the nation's next black leaders, is a great place
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: to invest those dollars so that we can continue to
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: make sure that African Americans can achieve a degree and
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: go on to be successful in a variety of careers
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: UM as well as we need to be UM part
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: of the solution to help UM this nation heal UM.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: That's what I've been working on with the Office University
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Communications Team to find different ways that we can UM
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: take someone like a President Frederick and allow him to
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: use his expertise in areas that are of important UM
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: in this nation. So we've had him be able to
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: talk on national television about the health crisis with the
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: coronavirus and what we're doing at our HBC used to
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: continue to make our students say. He's been able to
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: UM encourage people to participate in the vaccination process through
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: a p s A that we put together. And as
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: people are seeing this on television, I do believe that
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: they want to do something to help support the work
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that is being done UM. The fact that we've set
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: up different UM sites for vaccine tests UM coronavirus testing
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: to take place UM and resources need to be pulled
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: together to make something like that happens. So we appreciate
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: when a Bank of America steps up with a million
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: dollar grant in order to support that testing, or UM
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: when a Thermo Fisher reaches out and says, we know
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: that testing for your students on campus is going to
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: be very expensive, and so we want to underwrite that
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: so that you guys don't have to take that expense yourself.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: And then a Gates Foundation jumps in and wants to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: support Thermopish year so that again that money is not
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: something that's coming out of the university's bottom line. Because
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: in today's day and age, we are still UM reaching
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: out to a lot of students who are first generation
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: in their families to go to college. UM, it's very
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: expensive and there's still students who really can't afford an
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: opportunity to go to college, and h b c us
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: have been standing in that gap to help make those
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: financial ends meet UM in order to continue to train
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: this very necessary, important generation of leaders who are going
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: to be coming out of these hp scads. So we
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: really applaud those who are stepping up to the table
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: to do their part in any way possible, whether that's
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: financially or through their resources. With that being said, you
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: know you are pr person at how university. You know,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: we noticed that this year, unfortunate Chadwick Boseman passed away.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: That's only overall campus global perspective, the brand relationships that
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: he's brought. He's I think the only famous person from
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: an entertainment perspective that has come from Howard University. Then
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: on the sports side, a five star basketball recruit and
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: rolled into Howard University explained to me how u s
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: the PR director of Howard University. How little both situations,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: one from a charismatic global talent who will passed away suddenly.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: I think the world was shocked when he passed away.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: And then the unbelievable statement that a five star recruits
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: in basketball, what's going to enroll at Howard University. Well,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Chadwick Boseman is a has was a great friend to
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: the university in the years leading up to his unfortunate death. Um,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: we were blessed to have him come and serve as
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: our commencement speaker in team and that was part of
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Dr Frederick's strategic plan to be able to let our
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: students here from people who have been just where they
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: have been, UM inviting a I'm not to come back
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: and tell their stories so that we can hear from them,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: you know, give them their roses while they're here in
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: a sense. Um, So we were so appreciative of the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: fact that we had had that time with Chadwick on
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: campus UM prior to his passing away. UM, we were
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: not aware that he had been sick at that time,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: which we later found out through the news reports. And
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: UM that day when the news broke, you know, that
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: was definitely a all hands on board, let's jump together
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and make sure that we celebrate and recognize him in
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the way that was fitting. So UM, we immediately put
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: out a a notice to social media to let them
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: know that our condolences were with the family. UM. A
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: larger note to campus was distributed UM talking about the
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: significance of his career, his charisma, UM, what he brought
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to the world through the different roles that he played,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: and how he will truly always be remembered. UM. And
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: and still to this day, we get a lot of
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: requests for copies of that commencement speech to be included
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: in various shows. So we continue to monitor and manage
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: those requests as they come in. With a student like
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: mccare maker, UM, you know, those are the kinds of
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: moments that University's hope will happen based off of all
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: of the work that's currently being done with the young
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: people that we have and so to have someone at
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: his love will be interested in coming to UM Howard University,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: even though he had his pick of the choice of
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: places where he could have gone to school to play
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: UM is definitely helping us to again remind people of
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: everything that we have to offer at a Howard University
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: beyond just the sports, but the academics that clearly he
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: was thinking about the legacy that comes out of here.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: UM obviously was very important to him, and we want
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: all student athletes to consider coming to HBCUs because we
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: do definitely have UM but know how and the talent
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: and the educators to help them get to where they
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: want to be in life outside of the sport. So
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: from an athletic standpoint, you know, HBCUs are always been
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: recognized as delivering on the sports, delivering on the entertainment
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: from the halftime bands. Now from an academic standpoint, I've
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: always felt that HBCUs have not been given their just
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: do and that's what angers me and angers me because
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I feel that, you know, predominant white institution basically taking
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: credit for some of the academic successes that are happening
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: with HBCU graduates. So I can't say it's been debunked.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: What do you in the landscape of HBCUs, What can
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: we do? What can we do to promote the value
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: to success stories of HBCU. So finally is recognized and
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: it's not like a surprise. Well, I have to commend
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: the place like Howard University and investor singing the resources
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: that it needs to build the right team to help
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: tell that story. Unfortunately, because resources are thin, um, investing
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: in your communications team is just not something that happens
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: um at the rate that it needs to at all
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: of our HBCUs. So this do definitely goes back to funding.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: You know, of course you think of donations to a university,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and obviously the first and most important place to do
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: that is into scholarships. But I would definitely employ your
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: audience to think about making sure that they do donations
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: that are unrestricted so that the university has options to
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: be able to use that those resources in other ways
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: that will still continue to support the work that they're doing. UM.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Howard University has invested in its Office of University Communications
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and will continue to do more as the dollars become available. UM,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: but at a lot of places you might find that
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: the PR team is a one or two person shop,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and so it makes it really difficult to do a
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: whole lot with the small team like that versus I'm
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: blessed to UM when work fully booked haves for senior
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: communication specialists that work under me, so that we can
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: divide people up to different schools and colleges and work
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: on helping to spend time diving into what's the stories
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: being told here, what research is being told here, what
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: students are having significant internship opportunities that we might want
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: to profile to let other students know this is an
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: opportunity for you when you become a student here. UM.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: And so again, just that's another something for people to consider,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: is beyond just investing for the scholarship opportunities at your
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: hbc U s UM, to think about those other places
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: where unreprestricted funds would be definitely UM appreciated. And even
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: if you didn't go to an h b c U, UM,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that you can't UM invest your dollars
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: there because we all know that it's going to benefit
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: the larger community. Well, he did so front part about
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: my conversation because when I look at the hbc U s.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: And as we turned into twenty one, you look at
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: what happened in Georgia with Stacy Abrams, HBCU graduate reverend
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: or Raphael warnackt HBCU graduate. And then we have to
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: talk about the ultimate uh HBCU graduate about to make
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: history as the Vice President elect, Kambala Harris, who was
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: also a member of the Serrity A k A. S.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Talk about the impact of her being the Vice President
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: of the United States, being a graduate of HBCU, being
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: a graduate of Howard University, and a prograduate who talks
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: somebody who communicates it brings it up. Way before she
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: was elected, she's always hun had probably being a graduate
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Howard University. What impact has that had on your brand? Well,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: first and foremost, we are so proud of the p
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: elect Kamala Harris, and um, it's just been such a
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: pleasure to be this close to her transition from candidates
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: to VP elect on a national ticket to now just
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: days away from becoming the Vice President, the first black woman,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: first African, well, first black first woman to send to
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: that role. And um, it's been amazing. It's been amazing
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: the amount of media attention and interest in Howard because
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: of the fact that you UM is an alum, a
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: very proud alum of our institution UM, as well as
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: what it's meaning to the students. I'm particularly in a
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: time like as it was, being virtual and and being
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: able to turn on television and see someone that looks
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: like you in such an impact for role. And like
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: she has said herself, she won't be the last person
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: to have that opportunity UM. But before her, there were
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: so many people who paved the way through going to
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Howard University, like a third of Marshal and so many
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: other elected officials who have transcended through Howard to go
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: into the political arena UM. And we're big in the
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: arts as well, we're big in the sciences. And while
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: you may not end up knowing every single name, having
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: her name out there demonstrates the power of an HBCU education,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: So that I hope that we will be able to
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: uh in for good this conversation about what can an
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: HBCU degree do for you? Because we've been doing the
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: walk people like myself quietly for years to come, and
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: now she's doing it in a way publicly and visibly
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that everybody can relate to. Wow, I'm so glad you
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: took the time. In Carminal the show before we leave,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: I talked a little bit about PR. People want to
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: be an APR field It sounds so easy. It's about relationships.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: As you spoke earlier, your opportunities were fueled by the
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: relationship that you created. Uh, what is your career advice
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: for aspiring your professionals that we want to go into
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: public relations? Well, I would definitely suggest that you take
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: the time to intern throughout your college of a career
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: and experience. UM. It was definitely something that was instilled
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: in us at Familues j School that it was important
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: to intern. But not only for you to have that
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: on your resume to check it off, but also for
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: you to get an opportunity to experience a variety of
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: different companies of organizations to see what's a good fit
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: for yourself. You don't want to end up being at
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: your senior year and that's the first time you're going
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: someplace to intern. If you can intern in the middle
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: of the fall and spring semesters, definitely take the time
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: to intern over the summer. And these days, a lot
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: more internships are end up being paid opportunities than there
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: were years ago when I was in school, so definitely
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: take advantage of that. And then I would just also
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: encourage you to follow your dreams and understand that the
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: path from entry level to vice president or president is
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: not always going to be a straight path. But it
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that it's something that you can accomplish. They're
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: going to be challenges along the way. They're going to
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: be tests that are going to happen in obstacles that's
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: coming in your way. But every test is an opportunity
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: for a testimony, So just put your all into it,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: move forward, and eventually you don't have a story to
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: tell about how you succeeded. Awesome. I want to thank
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: you for coming on money making conversations. Uh, I know
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: that you are a star behind the scenes. I hope
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: they put too much pressure with my courses. But you
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: tell a great story and you take a great tell
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: a great HBCU story. And my whole thing is about
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: pulling those diamonds. And you already diamond. You are a
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: person that arrested recognized success story and millennial awards. You're
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: looking like you it'd be a champion back the super
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Bowl champion in your Cabinet. Thank you for coming on
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations a lot to Thomas, thank you so
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: much for having me. I appreciate it. If you want
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: to hear more interviews on money making conversations, please go
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: to Money and Conversation dot com. I'm with Sean McDonald.
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