allyPresident & CEO Ally Marie Leak rocks, and I will tell you why. She is young, very young, and she has an amazing blog, her own professional webpage, and jewelry business, which she is the president of.  She even worked on the MTV show Run’s House. Should I continue? She let me interview her, and I was impressed. I think you will too.

I think you’re blog is amazing. Did you set it up yourself, or did you get someone else to do it? How involved are you in the technological aspects of your website?

Thanks! I designed my site and my web designer set it up. I am involved with everything. I am the creative director, writer, and do all the tech stuff.

Did you feel discouraged or excited with the evolution of print journalism to online new media? How did you approach this change?

 I am very excited about how far online media has come. I cannot lie though, I do get sad every time I hear another one of my favorite glossy magazines folded 😦 But I think that now that a lot of journalism is online it is better because it can be more up to date information and it is faster.

And because we live in a very fast world it is so important that everyone who has a business or is building their career have an online presence in some capacity. I approached this change by making sure that my site was perfect before I launched it and I also made sure I was on all of the main social media outlets to keep up with what is going on.

     
What advice would you give to any young journalist like yourself, who would love to make a name for herself online?

The first thing is to practice writing and get feedback from mentors, experts, and other people you trust. You want to make sure that you own your writing style before you put it out there to the world. That means not only perfecting the grammar but also figuring out what makes your style unique and running with that.

     
I am obsessed with the fact that you were featured on MTV’s Run’s House as a fashion writer. What was your experience like, and what was the first thing you thought when you heard you were going to be part of the show?

I had a great time filming! I was working at Hype Hair magazine at the time and the editor-in-chief called me in her office and gave me the news.  I was super excited! MTV ended up taping us having a meeting with Angela about her magazine. 
     
On your website you have: “Positivity + Women + Unity = Success.” I love that you are all about positivity and unity, because I am as well. What are your goals for encouraging positivity among women?

My goal is to try my hardest to continue to encourage people though the articles on my blog. I have also been pondering being a life coach so that I can give people one on one advice and healing.

Photo from Ally Leak