00:00Hi everyone, hi, my name is Ehiz, I'm from London and I've just moved to the States, but
00:04I've actually heard of Essence a few years ago from the film Girls Trip, because Essence is not
00:10big in the UK at all, and me and my older sister, we're, you know, big fans of Essence because it's
00:16quite a small niche, you don't really hear anything about Essence in the UK, and just seeing like the
00:20first snippet is quite, you know, liberating, knowing that I'm a black man myself, and you know,
00:24I'm respectful of women, and I have a lot of sisters who are women as well, sisters who are
00:28women, women who are cisgendered women, yikes, yeah, and yeah, you know, even me like being a male,
00:34like I sometimes feel a bit envious sometimes, just knowing how like, you know, there's so much
00:38talent that, you know, women have, and you know, it's not really showcased that much, and you know,
00:43seeing a documentary like this is quite liberating, and it makes me proud, being a black person,
00:48seeing how women have really like pushed and like strived so many years to like get to where they
00:52are right now, and I just wanted to know, like, do you guys ever see yourself going international,
00:57and like, you know, branching out to like other areas other than just the US, despite the fact
01:01that, you know, the population in the US is massive, like, do you guys, you know, see yourself
01:05going out to the masses, and you know, reaching out to other audiences who are black in globally?
01:10So I'm going to direct that question to Goddess Rivera, will you stay in Goddess, somebody get her a
01:14mic, so Goddess Rivera, Goddess Rivera is the current chief content officer, which is now the type of
01:22title that an editor-in-chief would have, so if you're wondering who our current editor-in-chief is,
01:25it's this woman, Goddess Rivera, and I'm going to let her answer that question.
01:31You know, I have been very fortunate to work across the entire world, across the diaspora,
01:39and I think about the connectivity of blackness, and so when I think about the sky being the limit,
01:48it was really hard for me not to get emotional.
01:49Then get emotional.
01:50Then get emotional.
01:51Watching this.
01:52You know, my family is from Macon, Georgia, in Clinton, South Carolina, a place, two places
02:01where people are often very counted out, and I've really seen in my work throughout my career
02:07that I've been blessed to do, is that there's so many similarities to so many other black experiences
02:14around the world, so when I think about the amazing opportunity that I have to step into
02:19this role, and my heart is beating so fast being in the room with Mickey Taylor, with these
02:24amazing legends, Audrey, I mean, I'm so excited to be in this role.
02:29I think about how we can now, through connectivity, through technology, through what we have that
02:36we didn't have in 1970, be able to expand this beautiful brand, this beautiful legacy of
02:44blackness around the entire world, and so I am very honored, and I will absolutely make
02:50that our mission, and I love what we have through Essence Ventures, which is essence and
02:57amazing brands that we can make sure that we touch folks around the world, so I am very excited
03:03to say that I accept your challenge, and I have thought of it, and I would love to continue to see
03:09this brand and be the steward that helps us be that bridge internationally, so I will take you up
03:15on that.
03:16So I'm going to ask Mickey Taylor to respond to this question as well, if you'll give her
03:19the mic, here's why.
03:21You didn't see it in this episode, I've watched every episode five times, I have it memorized,
03:25I could play parts if we had needed to understudy, but I want Mickey Taylor to speak on this because
03:32while God is what you said is accurate and your question is right, you'll see in one of
03:36the episodes, Mickey talk about how the brand has been global, so Mickey, will you just talk
03:41about, in the time that you were there and what you know, what was the global presence of
03:45this magazine, because it ain't new.
03:46It ain't new.
03:47No, no, not at all.
03:49And stand so they can see your gorgeous self, I know they looked at you the whole time, but
03:52Mickey Taylor, ladies and gentlemen.
03:57So, no, so Essence has been global for quite some time, because there's been a hunger across
04:03the world, Essence held up the mirror on black women, on black women, Essence was the magazine
04:09that taught black women not to ask for permission because she had authority.
04:14And so, women understood that in the U.S., and women hungered for it in the U.K., in France,
04:20in Africa, in Brazil, you could go across the world.
04:23So, when we started traveling, certainly myself and Essence's fashion director who is present
04:28tonight, Pamela Macklin, we would visit stores, we would see Essence in airports throughout the
04:36world, W.H. Booksmith, on the Rivoli in Paris, and in London, and what have you.
04:43So, there was a demand for it.
04:44There was a hunger for it.
04:46And because Essence had the role of affirming, inspiring, and just empowering black women.
04:54And there was no woman of African descent that didn't need that.
04:57This was a place where you beheld yourself.
04:59So, we had been global, despite all odds against us, to hold our truths back.
05:06So, yeah, you don't have to search bar.
05:08We're there.
05:09We're everywhere you are.
05:12The incomparable Mickey Taylor, ladies and gentlemen.
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