Meet Alana Mercedes

We were lucky to catch up with Alana Mercedes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alana , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

A line that stands out to me to this day is a simple phrase I came across while reading “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin: live in wonder. I think at times we as people get so used to our every day lives- taking the same route to work, eating the same foods, watching the same shows- that we no longer recognize just how amazing it is to just be alive! There’s so much to explore, and although there may be nothing new under the sun, I for one have not experienced everything there is to experience. Walking with this mentality has taught me to be curious and interested in everything- whether I like a path or dislike it, think a painting is boring or enlightening, or find joy in trying different food combinations- living in wonder is about staying curious about life, which undeniably fuels my creativity.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

For as long as I can remember I’ve been passionate about the communications and entertainment space- from having a “radio show” with my little sister when we were kids, to working as an anchor on the morning announcements in high school- it has always been something I knew I wanted to pursue. I’ve been a radio personality for Hot 91.1fm in Virginia for the last two years, and one of the most exciting things about it is getting to use my voice to not only entertain and inform, but to genuinely lift people up with my words. It’s such a cool job because it gives me the opportunity to sit down and speak with music artists, actors, and the like that I grew up just watching on a screen. Being the official media correspondent for the Cousinz Festival was surreal, and showed me what repeatedly showing up can do for your career. Radio gives me a platform to explore the arena of creatives, like I have with my segment-turned-podcast Club Creative where I have conversations with creatives from all walks of life expressing themselves through multiple art forms. If this is just two years in, I’m so excited for what the next few years will look like!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Reflecting back on my experience so far, three important qualities to have is likability, adaptability, and curiosity. Now of course, these skills don’t mean much if you aren’t willing to show up and put in the work, but with them as a baseline, you can go so far! So the advice I’d give someone who wants to get. I’m this path is to start now: use your personality, get comfortable talking with people you don’t know, get curious about people’s backgrounds and different topics, and definitely get yourself comfortable with change!

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Always open to collaborate with other women in the field of media, as well as creatives as a whole! I’m always looking to feature new faces on Club Creative, explore different avenues of media/art, and just connect with like-minded people in this space. I like to consider myself an eternal student of life and people. I can be reached at my email: [email protected]. Good luck to those on their journeys, hope this could help!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photos by Chad Clark, Tony Tomasko, 4th Numeral, Cousinz Festival, Hot 91.1 FM

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