Tasha Mackk is a name that should never be forgotten after reading this article. In her young adult life, Mackk has done more for black women in the work world than most recruiting officers cared to achieve in their whole careers.
An HBCU alum, and a Harvard Business School graduate, Mackk is a PR consultant and the creator of Black Girls in Media, a networking organization for black women.
With over 30,000 members and counting, Mackk is only getting started and has no plans on slowing down.
In the spirit of increasing the visibility and agency of Black women, I sat down with Mackk to talk about all things BGIM and how it's taking the world by storm.
Mackk gave more insight on how she was inspired to create BGIM. "I would see women that hold high positions and look up to them. I really admired women in the industry who created their own path. Everyone has a story and you can learn so much from it", said Mackk.
Mackk started the business unintentionally, with three things: faith, friends, and social media.
"I thought, wait, what if there was a group chat for women who looked like me, doing what I wanted to do? I added women that I worked with or met before during my career and we started chatting. Before I knew it it was growing!"
Struggling to secure opportunities for herself, Mackk remained humble and selfless while she helped other Black women connect with each other to help them succeed in the media industry.
@tashjmackk
"There's was times when I wasn't finding opportunities, but then I would have members come to me and say they got opportunities from BGIM. I created something that helps others", said Mackk.
The close-knit group chat quickly expanded to become a huge sisterhood, filled with Black women who not only wanted to succeed, but knew that it's inherent that they support other black women to help them get there.
Since then, Black Girls in Media has become a powerhouse one-stop-shop for Black women looking to advance their career in media, with a podcast (hosted by BGIM members), a YouTube channel, and the semiannual digital conference. Now, Black Girls in Media members gain access to employers, connect with creatives, and are given resources to build their personal brand.
I had the privilege of attending the Black Girls in Media Digital Conference 2.0 last month, and it was so worth it.
The conference included melanated women well versed in the media field like Black Girl Pod's Sapphira Em, Dani Kwateng with Teen Vogue, E!, and founder of Her Agenda Rhonesha Byang.
It was more of an immersion than a conference, with live chat rooms, a resume workshop, a Dj dance break, and a video networking session.
As Black women, most places that would give us tools to succeed in the media industry are barred off from us, due to racism and sexism. Once Black women secure a job in the media field, navigating those spaces to glide up the career ladder is another struggle.
With BGIM, Mackk ignores the seat at the table and makes a whole new one, where Black women are prioritized given tools to excel in their preferred media career.
@tashjmackk
On Instagram, Black Girls in Media does even more for their 50,000+ followers, doing virtual happy hours (cause we all could use a drink these days), tips on how to network and kill an interview, and IG lives with some of the brightest Black women in media like Krystal Franklin, the Senior Producer of Digital for the Real.
With all of these amazing things, Black Girls in Media has brought to Black women professionals, it begs the question to ask Mack what motivates her.
Mack said it all comes from being devoted and unplugging to connect to a higher power.
"I think really unplugging because sometimes if I am moving too fast, I can get burnt out and I won't have motivation or creativity. Within that silence that alone opens my eyes to different opportunities. Opportunities motivate me", Mackk said.
Mackk is a superwoman, to say the least, and Black Girls in Media is off to a great start, with only bigger and better things ahead in the future.
"I leave room for gods work and gods doing", Mackk said. "All in all the goal and the purpose stays the same, just what I'm doing now but on a larger scale".
