For hip-hop. For art. For culture. For life. That is exactly what you get once you enter into the world of Gang Starr Girl, a popular blog created by Brooklyn-based writer Starrene Rhett Rocque. Starrene, a woman of essence and empowerment, discusses the burnout she experienced writing for the entertainment industry and her love for pole dance fitness. A recent mom to her first bundle of joy, she chatted with us about work/life balance and her career—one that any newbie writer would dream of—writing for some of the biggest hip-hop magazines: Vibe, Allhiphop.com, Jet, and more, while shedding light on her belief that everything that glitters isn’t gold.
“You may think that these big-name magazines have large budgets to pay for writers, but they are experiencing the effects of the economy just like the rest of the world. And to top it off, there isn’t much loyalty in the game; they will let you go as quickly as they say, ‘You’re hired.’”— Starrene
http://https://vimeo.com/25207710
Who is Starrene Rhett Rocque?
I am a friend, new mom, wife, New Yorker, author, and entertainment journalist making a major life transition. I’m getting used to life with a newborn and trying to figure out my next career move where writing is involved.
You are a recovering entertainment journalist, sounds cool. Please share what this entails for those of us who don’t know.
Entertainment journalism can burn you out. It burned me out, so when I say that I’m recovering I mean I’m at a place where I’m learning about how to apply the idea of a work/life balance to my life. Entertainment journalism can also be a negative field, so for me it’s about figuring out a career transition where I can still write and apply some of my journalism skills, but also be happy. I’m just not into the sensationalism and click baiting, and that is what the core of journalism in general has become, so I need to shift.
There are so many cool job titles for being a writer and a large variety of platforms for us to share our work. Which path (platform) did you choose first to share your art?
I chose Blogger at first, but I now prefer WordPress. As far as sharing on social media, Facebook and Twitter do really well for me with getting the word out.
Aside from being a writer and a digital producer, you also run three websites—GangStarrGirl, The Hollywood Shuffle, and Grunts and Glam. Which is your favorite child?
Grunts and Glam came about because there was a time when I was burnt out by media. I used this as an outlet to relieve the stress; I started getting really into pole dance in particular. This led me to being more interested in how the human body works. I started documenting on Gang Starr Girl at first, but realized this content needed its own house to live and that’s how Grunts and Glam started. A lot of the popular fitness influencers you see are already fit and buff, but me I’m fit but I’m not rocking a six-pack, so I wanted to reach the average audience. I love talking about food, being healthy, workouts, and keeping yourself sane. Like now, I can sit here and eat this burger and onion rings but later have a salad; it is about balance.
You made an appearance on Love & Hip Hop Season 2. How did this happen and how was it for you?
That was funny actually. So what happened was that on the show you see me interviewing Erica Mena, but that interview actually already existed and that’s what got me on the show. This interview was done for Vibe and we saw the trailer for the season and my boss, Datwon Thomas, saw Erica in the trailer and was like oh that’s the homie, I know her, it may be good to get up with her. So I reached out to her and interviewed her for the site and she was talking reckless about the cast member Kimbella, who she had a beef with at the time and when the article ran it created more beef and at the time they were still filming. All of a sudden I get a call from one of the show’s producers and they wanted to re-create the interview so the people could have a frame of reference for the beef. The interview created a visual for people to see what was going on. The experience taught me a lot about reality TV; it was interesting.
Did you ever watch Mona Scott’s show The Gossip Game. I was really looking forward to seeing more of this, women in the industry as writers and journalists. What are your thoughts on why we didn’t see a second season?
There wasn’t enough drama. There were a few things wrong with the show; for instance, some of the people they picked weren’t right for reality TV or they didn’t focus on the right stories. Realistically, for a reality show you want drama. You can see some of them tried really hard to create drama but that’s not who those girls were. So I think the show should have been more career focused, rather than the producers taking it in another direction. These weren’t women being taken care of by rich husbands, no shade to those who are, but they had jobs to go to and more people would have liked to see that.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP9NtSzycfY
You’ve written for several top magazines, Jet, Vibe.com, Bet.com, The Grip, and Allhiphop.com. How did you land these opportunities?
Networking. My first job out of college I ended up doing PR. I always knew I wanted to write but those jobs weren’t coming, so the opportunity came for me to intern at a cosmetic company and while I was there they liked me enough to hire me, but the position never opened up, so from there I ended up assisting my cousin friend who runs a PR boutique, Akila Worksongs. I was an assistant there and connected with people who were writers. She dealt with a lot of artists in cultural affairs. Occasionally, I might write about an event on Myspace and people started friending me. Allhiphop.com gave me a chance as a freelancer writer, and Andreas Hale, editor in chief of HipHopDX.com, brought me on as freelancer writer and a position became available and that opened the floodgates for others to see my writing and for me to see what jobs were out there and to network. Getting in the loop for what jobs were out there and available.
Should I get compensated for my writing, or should I just build my portfolio first?
If you have no writing samples at all then you should start doing a few things for free. When I started out, I did something for free to get a name and portfolio. But once you’ve put in some real work, it is time to get paid. Once you start to get request after request and things start piling up that’s when you should start getting paid. You want about five to six good, strong writing clips and then you can start asking for money. Even though it is good to have brand affiliation, don’t sleep on your blog or website, because that can help you get gigs too.
What advice would you give a new writer just off the bus in the big city who is looking to make a name for him/herself as a writer?
Know that it is going to be hard, I can’t stress that enough. Logically you may know something but once you experience it it’s different. Come with a backup financial plan, crash on someone’s couch, whatever you need to do. Try to network with people in the industry before you get here. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, are great tools for networking out of state. Build those relationships with writers, editors that can point you in the right direction. Some people may not be open to you depending on their personality, but most people will be if they remember where they came from, so ask questions.
Being a writer, especially nowadays, can be challenging because while we love the craft of writing, it doesn’t always pay the bills—at least all the ones we have. How do you personally manage the balance of passion and needing a full-time income?
I lucked out with where I am. I can still get editorial gigs that are helpful that can help me not give up completely, but I’m also married so that helps. I won’t lie; the money is different from when I first started. In 2009 I was able to do it and was able to make what I would make at a full-time job freelancing, but it is different now with budget cuts. Now I’m focusing more on the book and like I said, I have a husband so I can fall back on that, but if I didn’t have that I would have to move on to something else. It’s really rough now. The prices people come with to you now it’s like, You can’t be serious, I did this for you last year for this price and you want to pay this now? And so this is where you have to branch out in terms of what and how you write. Like now there is something called brand journalism, where you speak for the brand; there are many opportunities out there now to write. Take advantage of them.
How has social media marketing paved the way for your success?
Social media marketing has definitely helped me network, jobs to find me, and it kind of helps you develop a skill. It’s something that can help you monetize. You would be surprised by how many brands don’t get social media and they need someone to help them out. It can be a full-time job in itself. Because people don’t get it, they will pay you to do it for them.
As a female author and businesswoman, do you find it challenging to balance it all—motherhood, the many hats you wear, and making a name for yourself in the industry?
It is scary and challenging. I don’t believe someone who says they can balance it all. Something will fall through the cracks. You have to find how much time you can devote to this and that. For me, family comes first. I used to be career, career, career, but the clarity I was able to get from my burnout I asked myself, Is this worth my sanity? So, I will take some downtime to spend with the baby, but I will have to get back in the game, but I also can’t stay until 10 pm anymore, now there will be a cutoff time. I can’t be that person anymore who is there at 9 am, leaves at 10 pm, and works at home at 11 pm.
Let’s talk about the book. Bloggers Can’t Be Trusted, your debut novel, loosely based on your experiences working in entertainment media was self-published. How has the journey been for you and what made you choose self-publishing over traditional publishing?
The journey has been interesting, very up and down but that’s entrepreneurship—highs and lows. I’m happy to finally have the book out. It took me five years to write, and it’s not even a literary masterpiece; it’s a very easy read. It was just finding the time and motivation to write, so it took me a little longer.
Do you feel you have been judged for being a self-published author rather than if you had been published by a large publisher?
I do. Even though the stigma of being a self-published author isn’t the same as it used to be, you might still find people turning their noses up at you or not taking you as seriously for being self-published; especially when it comes to getting media attention.
Being a wife, mom, entrepreneur, writer—where do you find the balance?
I don’t! I’m especially struggling with that now that I have a newborn that requires round-the-clock care. Before the baby I thought working from home would still be a breeze. That was really naive thinking. Now that I know better I know I can’t balance everything equally, but I can schedule my time more efficiently. Some things will get more attention than others (like, scaling back on work hours but not skimping on family time), and when I’m lucky enough to have grandma or close friends and relatives come help then I will take advantage.
We at The Virgo Girl Blog believe there is no bigger support system (especially for women) than your online community. How do you empower women online, and how do you empower women to reach out and support others?
I try to empower women online by the types of stories I write (a lot of body positivity stuff, or focusing on positive artists, etc.) and by connecting on social media. I’m pretty open with people, so whenever women (or anyone, really) reach out with questions or are just trying to be friendly I always make sure I give them a relevant response.
What’s next for Starr?
Motherhood and to become the next Shonda Rhimes (chuckles)
Will you be watching Starz’s Power tonight? Are you Team Ghost or Tommy?
Absolutely and I am #TeamTasha {chuckles}
the VIRGO GIRL FIVE THINGS to Ask:
What would you tell your 21-year-old self?
Prepare for the mental ride.
I start my day with . . .
Writing positive in a journal.
If you could invite any woman to dinner, who would it be?
Danai Gurira
Best advice you have received?
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Life motto you live by?
Don’t take things personal.
