Black Voices Heard All Around the World with Selena Hill
Written by Erica Jeanine
Selena Hill is an award-winning writer, on-air personality, event host, and content creator with a passion for empowering marginalized communities. She currently works as the Digital Editor for Black Enterprise, where she writes stories about current events, small businesses, education, and social issues within the black community. She also covers events around the country and conducts on-camera interviews with celebrities and business luminaries like Wendy Williams, Spike Lee, and Stacey Abrams. Selena has made guest appearances on NBC, WNYC (NPR), and Bold TV as a guest anchor. She has spoken at the National Urban League conference and given a keynote address at Prairie View A&M University.
“No matter the environment you’re put in, it will become your norm. You decide if you want to leave it or excel beyond it.”
WHAT WAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY LIKE GROWING UP?
Selena: My parents separated when I was one years old and I spent a lot of time with my mom, bouncing all around with different family members. I stayed with my dad, my grandmothers and my aunts, from that I was able to spend a significant amount of time with my grandmother who by that time was retired and living on a fixed income. That really affected my money mindset because she herself had a fixed mindset on how money worked. It gave me a fixed mindset but also a mindset of lack in ways as I was growing up. Since then, I’ve learned in Black families it's taboo to talk about money but make it a priority to have those conversations with my own family. Also, similar to you Johnny, my grandmother also played a pivotal role in my life and like I said was retired by the time I was like six. At the time she was receiving social security and a pension and because of that was able to still live a very generous life. Although she wasn’t rich or wealthy, she had enough to help us out as often as possible and her house was fully paid for. Having that asset as a family instilled principles in me and taught me ownership because I was also able to watch my grandmother be the landlord. To generate revenue she rented out the upstairs of the house and managed the tenants. I remember her taking me shopping, us doing things and always making sure she spent time with me. My favorite and most relevant memory with her is when we’d always count the quarters when we got on the bus. I think that somewhat implanted having a money mindset in me at very early age. But my mother and grandmother could only teach me as much as they knew for themselves. As a result of that, I feel like I always was able to understand the importance of giving back and donating whether it’s to charity or tithing at the church.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MONEY MINDSET?
Selena: Witnessing my grandmother owning and managing her own property, then leveraging it to create more streams of income and turning the property into a family asset. That financial literacy absolutely rubbed off onto me and inspired me to do things to enrich my financial health and do things like taken home buyers classes. It's always been in my immediate goals to buy homes and I’ve placed bids on properties, unfortunately nothing has come through as of yet but I’m able to learn from the process. It has also always been ingrained in me that, not only do I want to buy properties but having a multi-family unit and seeing that revenue come in. It’s important to me to be able too sustain consistent income and help out the rest of my family, that was imparted in me very early on and another immediate goal. Even if my grandmother and family didn't always articulate it properly, they set the example. Because of the example set for me I’m able to put all the pieces together and shape the life that I want to build for myself.
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH JOURNALISM, WAS THAT JOURNEY ALWAYS YOUR GOAL?
Selena: I originally started at a smaller black owned company, it was called Envy magazine. At the time I was in New York and went on to write for the New York, Amsterdam news, which is also the longest black owned newspaper in the nation. After that, I worked for Global Rhyme, which was under Russell Simmons at the time. Basically a lot of minority owned outlets and publications was where I invested my time and talents. I also spent some years working on WOR 710 radio, in New York and that’s probably one of the only white owned outlets I’ve ever worked for. Finally, I started working at Black Enterprise where my entry point was as a freelance researcher in the freelance department. Then, six months in I was promoted to assistant digital editor and six months after that, I was promoted to digital editor and promoted again in April of 2021 to deputy digital editor. And prior to my journey with Black Enterprise my college career exposed me to a lot of what I needed to know too be successful. Sometimes in our college careers and in a lot of educational spaces some of the data is antiquated. They don't keep up with the time, I didn’t learn digital media until afterwards and when I left I still learning radio and television. However, my goal had always been to create impact, inform, educate and empower marginalized communities. Not only does that mean becoming more politically and civically successful but also financially. All of the opportunity to do and be this came later on, through working at black enterprise and some other outlets that put a major focus on economic empowerment. Those experiences are what opened up my eyes to realizing we have and need to prosper as a community in all three of those ways. We have to begin to understand why it's important to vote, why getting involved civically is important, the power of our dollar, buying black and supporting our own businesses.
“You can be skillful, you can be talented, you can keep your ear to the ground but ultimately it’s about getting in at the right time”
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS IMPORTANT FOR BLACK AMERICANS?
Selena: It depends on how Black Americans in our community define success. But I absolutely do think Black Americans have the ability to acquire wealth or obtain a certain amount financial freedom through other avenues besides entrepreneurship. Particularly corporate America, does have some reservations or can have some limitations. So utilizing resources is important, doing things like being mentored or watching interviews. There are so many Black American corporate leaders would’ve done well with their resources and taken that income and invested in properties. I know some also invest in Bitcoin and have build a diverse portfolio in the stock etc. To me entrepreneurship is definitely one stream or vehicle to acquire wealth but I don't think it's the only stream. It always goes back to information, for example a lot of the folks who are watching this have been privileged enough to access this information. When I go back into certain communities, whether I’m speaking at schools or just the connections within my own family. None of them have that same access to things like this which limits their ability to live out to their fullest potential. And it’s not only information, but our community doesn’t have exposure to what's out there resulting in them developing a limited self-belief system about themselves. This lack of access to resources also keeps them from heir highest earning power. So, if you're asking me as a journalist there’s always information, which is why my mission in life has become to inform, educate and empower but it starts with inform. Being informed is one the keys needed for our advancement as a community.
IS DIGITAL MEDIA AN EASY INDUSTRY FOR 1ST TIME ENTREPRENEURS TO ENTER?
Selena: No I don't and the reason why I say no like that is because so outside of black enterprise you mentioned be her talking my introduction. That was the radio show that I started in college took a hiatus and then have been doing professionally with a core team of other folks right who work in media or have some part in media and that whole journey which was entrepreneurial in nature has not been easy. Rewarding and fulfilling absolutely like we've monetized and we evolved from a radio show to a podcast and a live streaming show but when we started it was because we did not see any representation when it came to young black and brown voices talking about issues that really matter in our community. All we have is like CNN, MSNBC, cable whatever right now today. Everyone you know has a podcast everyone has a YouTube channel everyone is in this space and everyone is producing content in fact the creator economy is one of the biggest booming economies in the last like decade. It's doing phenomenal so it's harder to I think sort of rise above the noise. So I would say you know for anyone in the digital media landscape that you have to for me I would say like understand your market understand your target and understand your goals and be willing to evolve with the times. And re-strategize and recalibrate because this market is changing so quick this industry is changing so quickly. And the to me you have to always be on the cusp of what's next.
“We have to prosper as a community, politically, civically but also financially. ”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS FOR HAVING A SUCCESSFUL MINDSET IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
Selena: I would say definitely it goes back to self-belief understanding your God-given gifts and talents. Realizing those and identifying those and if you haven't already asked the folks around you because they see it. And hopefully they can articulate and encourage you to develop those gifts and talents. And then putting in the work doing the research like are you a skilled carpenter? Are you skilled at digital strategy and marketing Are you skilled at building things whether that's a startup company or maybe something tangible? Whatever it is do the work to perfect that and then also research how you can monetize it because I also think for you know a lot of especially creatives and black creatives. We're so dedicated and myself included so dedicated to the art and the mission and the impact and we forget that we can't do anything if we're not feeding ourselves first. So in order to be impactful we have to be fully fed physically, financially, spiritually, and mentally. So putting in that work and effort into ourselves first to make sure that we are stable and then that's how you become a blessing to others and again that goes back to my grandmother who was full. She was not a rich woman but she had enough to give and whether that was physically or just the example she set she gave so much.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS AND WHAT HELPED YOU REACH THAT POINT?
Selena: I define success as leaving a legacy of change that empowers other people and I’ve developed that mantra years ago and I’ve stuck to it that's how I see success. I do not see success is linear in you know an amount of yes it comes in money form but how is that money being used to help others by example by investment. Eventually through philanthropy so that is how I define success. I’ll ask you what do you feel separates those who have made their dream a reality and those who have not?That is such a great question Johnny for me the people that do not make their dreams a reality from my observation is a lack of discipline and a lack of self-belief. And a lot of times people do not practice the discipline needed to realize their dreams because they don't believe in themselves in the first place. So if you don't believe you can do it and that you'll reach the dream why dedicate x number of hours a day into realizing it as opposed to living either mediocre or just living out the norm that was created for you right. No matter the environment that you're put in that becomes your norm and if you want to leave it or excel beyond it. It's going to take a lot of mental energy and a lot of labor but in order to have the ability to put that amount of work in you have to know and believe that it was meant for you to be there and that you can do it. And I love that question because there are a lot of people along my journey that and I’ve seen a lot who are ambitious but those dreams aren't realized. I’ve seen a lot who maybe have a dream but it flounders. You know and then I’ve met some of you know the most successful people you know that we see and I see what separates and that's the conclusion I’ve came to.
“This system wasn’t designed for Blacks but we are more empowered than ever to advance, regardless of the limitations.”
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT AND WHEN DID YOU KNOW?
Selena: My passion it all goes back to informing, educating and empowering my community. And I knew that when I was a little girl or maybe a teenager at that it was so my parents were divorced my father he went on to he had another child and I just saw the big difference in how I was growing up. And the resources that I had access to not a lot but much more and it affected me so much just seeing that first handily, excuse me. Just seeing how you know we talk about generational wealth we don't talk enough about generational poverty and when I saw generational poverty firsthand and saw how cyclical it was. I was so moved that you know my college admission essay was about changing the world because I was so upset that any child had to grow up impoverished whether they were in my family or not. And I wanted to make changes. So that is where the passion stems from and it just so happens thanks be to god that I develop vehicles to express that. You know my voice through writing my voice through my radio show now my podcast. Everything I do on camera the work being aligned with black enterprise and the other outlets that I’ve done that has always been my passion.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
Selena: Oh wow that's a good question it's a good question Johnny my greatest fear I don't oh not to sound cliché. I don't know if I let fear stop me too much I’ve developed you know earlier in my career a lot of my friends and colleagues with said particularly Stanley Fritz who I’ve worked on my show with for years he said Selena you're a star and everyone sees it and knows it everyone knew it except for me. And now that I have decided to believe that and to lean in I’m at the point where I’m just like I don't think there's nothing that I cannot do if anything scares me or fear or is fearful it's maybe the success right. Like because with success a lot of times especially for those in our community comes with massive changes right. Our families do not live you know in Beverly Hills so that means that's a huge shift in my life. So maybe just how big my dreams can be maybe that is something that I could say I will be fearful of. But other than that I don't I don't know.
Are you interested in connecting with Selena Hill?
Instagram: @msselenahill
LinkedIn: Selena Hill
Website: msselenahill.com