When I started off as a young reporter at my community newspaper, I had grand hopes and aspirations of someday becoming editor-in-chief of a teen magazine. After all, it had been my dream since I was editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper and literary magazine (what can I say? I’ve always been ambitious).
Indeed, I’d selected every credit, every internship, and every job with the goal of eventually reaching the top of the masthead. I like to think my motivations were noble. After an adolescence spent reading teen magazines that didn’t reflect me or my experience as an awkward Black girl, I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world and set my sights on becoming EIC of such a magazine. As a result, I spent the majority of my career set on that mission—until recently.
