Why did you first want to start Your Favourite Auntie?

Your Favorite Auntie is an idea that I have been knocking around in my head for years: I knew I wanted to start a podcast, but I always thought it would be too hard and honestly didn’t know where to start. So I kept putting it off. But in the summer of 2020, when so many of us were sequestered in our homes and spinning out from yet another racial reckoning and the COVID pandemic, I kept getting messages from folks asking me how to handle this moment. An article I wrote for The Wing’s No Man’s Land magazine around the historical violence of YT women calling the police on Black folks just living their lives began to recirculate and went viral. So I decided to address the times and people’s questions and I went Live one day on Instagram to answer them all at once.

I had no idea what I was doing. My lighting was all wrong and I didn’t know how it all worked, but the reception was immediate and it made me feel like I was really connecting with folks, and just sharing the wealth.

Like any good auntie, I’ve lived, I’ve seen some things and I want to help those around me, especially the younger kids coming up in the game. Self-help is demonstrably an older and YTer industry than we would care to admit, so I hope Your Favorite Auntie can be a real disruptor in the space.

What were the first main steps you went through in the process of setting it up?

When I first started out, I wanted to make sure Your Favorite Auntie had a visual language and was its own little world. I started working with a graphic designer to create a logo, branding, and promo videos to get folks amped about the show. Inspired by Arthur Jafa, we began developing these amazing video collages to promote the episodes. Then I randomly got a call from one of my former Vogue colleagues, Bardia Zeinali. He’s a big time video director now and has that eye, and was telling me, “Marj, you gotta’ create a set in your house!” So I began researching images of 80’s living rooms–like you’re stepping into your favorite auntie’s literal home–and I then blew that image up on a huge silkscreen. And my set was born. All of this is apart of the DNA of the show to this day and if we ever get a HBO show or something, I would want a set rendered just like it!

Each episode is a beautiful balance of well thought out social commentary and the amazing advice you would absolutely want from your favourite auntie. Who do you turn to for advice and what guidance have you received about going for what you want in life and creating your own opportunities?

I’m blessed to have a wonderful boyfriend and a group of friends that act as a sounding board when I’m working through problems. But I also try to remember that there are a million answers to a problem, there are a million idioms to apply to a situation, so it’s really about what you think at the end of the day. I try to make sure I have confidence in my decisions and faith that I’m making the right choice. And as for creating opportunities, my new motto is do the thing that scares you.

When you're starting out on something new do you think it's good to know where you want to go or is it better to be more fluid and open?

We can always try to plan, but then God laughs. I’m a Virgo moon, so I am quite anal about all the small details and try to strive for perfection, but that’s honestly exhausting and can take you out of the moment, keeping you from really enjoying what you’re doing. Creativity comes in the accidents, when we’re not thinking; letting things flow. I would say, to create a framework and a strategy to keep your anxieties low, but allow room for life to happen.

You've cultivated a really inspiring career as a writer, how did you get started?

Thank you so much for saying that–I’m super flattered, but the truth is I have no real “formal training” as a writer. I didn’t go to journalism school or anything like that. I actually come from academia and so I really had this enormous propensity to look at culture and critique it. My graduate school thesis advisor picked up on this and he was so supportive: “You need to become a cultural critic. Keep going.” That urge and encouragement guided me from papers and theses to journalism. And while I was super intimidated by not having that proper J-school training, I came up during the Wild Wild West of online writing. I would literally just submit an article to Huffington Post or write a thinkpiece for $75–I was young and hungry and just wanted an opportunity to learn and get a byline. So I hustled, learned on-the-job, said yes to every assignemnt, and read, read, read to get better.

What are some of biggest learnings you've come to as you've gone on in the publishing and fashion industry?

Really that the editor/writer relationship is pretty sacred, so make sure you’re working with someone who is encouraging and committed. I’ve come out on the other end of that dynamic both better and bruised, so I’m really sensitive about who is taking care of my work.

How do you stay motivated when your energy is low?

I absolutely love to watch documentaries about really creative women and learn how they got their start. I watched two on Nora Ephron and Amy Tan recently, and it was like to taking a warm bath: their stories calmed my nerves and made me realize that it’s all a journey, you can pop off at any age.

If you were starting out now would you do anything differently?

Nah, but I probably would have raised my rate.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE STORIES IN THE START SERIES