Mimi Brown's Journey in Media and Entertainment: From Alaska to Hollywood and Beyond

Mimi Brown Interview

Dreena Whitfield: [: 00:00:00

Mimi Brown: Thank you, Drina. I'm so happy to be here.

Thank you for having me. Of course. Of course.

Dreena Whitfield: Mimi and I met a few years ago when I was pitching a client to be on Good Day la. Mm-hmm. And our relationship has since Blossoms since then. Mm-hmm. We bond over our boys just. Stuff in the industry, how Hollywood is so Hollywood and just everything work related and just building a brand.

culture conversations and to [: 00:01:00

Mimi Brown: Yeah. No, Gina, you have, you've been there for a while now. Thinking back to it, it has been quite the journey when I think about it and, and, and all the ups and downs, but it's, you know, it's been amazing journey. You and I, we've definitely bonded over some of. Our pitches and our industry functions, and I'm so happy that our relationship has turned into what it has today.

Oh, me

Dreena Whitfield: too. So I wanna take it all the way back. I asked everyone this question on the podcast and it's like, when you were in high school, what did you write in your high school yearbook when it said, Mimi Brown will be X, Y, Z in 10 years? What did you write?

Mimi Brown: Oh my goodness. That's a great question. What did I write?

wrote? I'll see y'all on TV [: 00:02:00

Cause I was gonna ask

Dreena Whitfield: about that, like what is the black population look like? You're the only black person I know that I've met that has grown up in Anchorage, Alaska, and so I'm just really interested to hear about what growing up black

Mimi Brown: in Alaska was like. You know, growing up black in Alaska was I, for me, I feel like it was everywhere else.

k girl in my classes all the [: 00:03:00

Maybe there was one or two others, but I don't think I really. Made. I don't think it was that big of a deal to me because I didn't notice it. I started noticing it when, if I'm being honest, when I got to high school and I started developing differently than some of the other girls in the.

I wasn't able to wear certain things that, you know, other people were wearing. And I was like, well, what's the difference? And I think that's when I started realizing there's, there's, I'm, you know, I'm different, but there are black people in Alaska because of military bases. You know, there's an Air Force, there's an army base there.

So you do get a lot of people like, that's how we got there. My dad was in the army. You retired there. And so we just grew up there. I have two little sisters. But there's a nice little, you know, population of black people in Alaska. You'll see it at church. You won't see it if you're just like out at the supermarket.

u go. We've got all the same [: 00:04:00

Dreena Whitfield: So I read where I read where you said you never knew jobs like this existed cause of your upbringing or cause of where you lived, essentially.

Mm-hmm. So what led to you

Mimi Brown: discovering the industry? That is a very, very interesting story. So for me, I, so after I left Alaska, I knew that I did not wanna go back. I literally left the day after I graduated high school and I had an internship on Capitol Hill in Washington, dc Um, I had already been accepted to Howard, so I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna go an intern for my senator from Alaska.

t like, I just can't, I knew [: 00:05:00

And I had a professor at Howard who happened to. Now be a household name Omarosa. But before she was just a grad student who happened to be my professor and cause she was a grad student, she wasn't that much older than me. And so we became friends. I think I was like a sophomore in college. She was getting her graduate degree and we would hang out.

She was married at the time and I remember she lived in Northern Virginia and I'd go over there all the time. So we became friends. So fast forward, she got her degree, she left Howard. And I remember I graduated from Howard, it was like two or three days after, and she called me and she said, what are you doing?

nna be like, but I think I'm [: 00:06:00

And I was like, sure. Because at that time I just knew I had a government job. I was so unhappy. This is not what I wanted to do. And so I picked up, I left, shipped my car, and I moved to LA and I became a Omars assistant. And that is how I got my industry introduction.

Let's

Dreena Whitfield: talk about your first time you set your feet.

Down on the campus of Howard. Ok. Was that like a major culture shock to you?

Mimi Brown: You know, yes. Let me say, I remember when I got there. Okay. So you have to understand, I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, literally no black people anywhere. I mean, I'm not, not anywhere, but just not a lot of black people A lot. Yeah.

cross the street. There were [: 00:07:00

Just keep walking. You look just like them. They don't know you're not from here. Mm-hmm. And at the time it just clicked and made so much sense. And so every time I thought of something I was like, they don't know. I'm not from here. And I just used that to integrate myself into everyday life of living in Washington dc.

But yeah, I was, it was the biggest culture shock for me. I don't think that I. Had ever been around or been in a situation where I was around, but that's why I chose Howard. Cause I was like, oh, I wanna go where my people are. I don't wanna live here anymore. But I don't think I was ready. I said that, but I don't think I was ready.

I feel like

p in Westfield, which in New [: 00:08:00

I'm not a hundred percent sure, but like there was like, we have a little black neighborhood, so there's like one or two black kids in each class and so you do realize you're different growing up. But we also had, we, where we are located is also in close proximity to like towns that are majority like African American.

But when I was graduating high school, I made a point to apply to specifically HB C schools cause I wanted to be around. Know

Mimi Brown: people city. Exactly, but then build this

Dreena Whitfield: relationship with Omarosa. In the world is like painted as a, a villain on tv, painted as a villain. So how did you like build that relationship?

ike that's a whole different [: 00:09:00

Mimi Brown: I'm assuming.

No, not a clue. So what was that like for you when you moved to la And also is she like, is the personality

Dreena Whitfield: the same in real life as it is on tv? People wanna know,

Mimi Brown: they're gonna wanna know, you know what, so the, okay, so to answer your first question, when I stepped down in LA I realize, oh. I've arrived, this is where I should have been the whole time.

Right? Like I realize the, the tv, all of that. Like, oh, okay, this is my calling. This is where I should have been. You know? And I believe everything happens in divine order. So, you know, I don't think it was by mistake that that phone call ended up happening and I ended up being here. Right? Like I know that God has ordered my steps and it just so happened to come through that route through a friend.

question about Omarosa, you [: 00:10:00

You know, gimme some pointers or whatever it may be. She's always shown up for me. And so for me, you know, that's the, that's the person that I know for that, you know, I will always ride for her. So, love that. Yeah. So how did you

Dreena Whitfield: jump from being her assistant to then being like media, like transitioning into the media

Mimi Brown: industry?

And I saw her in the gifting [: 00:11:00

Right? Like, who is this lady coming in, getting all these gifts and trying out all these products? I mean, they were giving away good stuff. Like two first class jet blue flights, you know, name, name brand shoes and clothes and, and bags and you know, and I'm like, who is this collecting? All of these things, right?

And so, I went up to her and I asked her, you know, her name and what she did, and she told me that she was a journalist and she worked for US Weekly. And I said, well, how can I do what you do? And she gave me her card and I called her the next day and she had me come to the office and literally by the end of the week I was a red carpet reporter for US Weekly.

And that is literally how it [: 00:12:00

It's a lot of work. But I saw that side of it and I was wondering like how that works. And so I literally just asked and she told me that. And because I went to school for business, I was a business major at Howard. I did not go to school for journalism. I ended up being a red carpet reporter. And I think, you know, networking is so important because once you're on the carpet, you're sitting next to all these people and you just start talking to them.

him an email and he wrote me [: 00:13:00

And I said, okay, that's fine. And I sent him all my information and I sent a picture. And then he asked me to come in for an interview, even though he said that they weren't hiring. And three months later I got a job at Fox la. Nice. That's

Dreena Whitfield: crazy. Well, you were attracted to the free swag. That's what you wanted initially.

Mimi Brown: What? That's, that's literally it. I was wondering who this lady was that was coming in here, getting this free swag and, and what that was about. And I just literally went up to her. And ask questions. Let's, real quick. Looking back, that was a journalist in me asking questions. What are you trying to spin it?

Look at you. So I wanted to actually like go a little bit deeper on that

Dreena Whitfield: point because like a lot of folks will get into these type of industry jobs, whether it be journalists, whether it be a

Mimi Brown: publicist. Thinking about or only seeing

Dreena Whitfield: the [: 00:14:00

When you got that first, what was your first gig Under US? Weekly. How did you prepare for that? Because you didn't know what you were doing. Right. When did you realize like, oh shit, this actually requires me to do something?

Mimi Brown: Some work here. Yeah. You know, so the glitz and glamor initially attracted me, but it is a lot of work.

And when I say a lot of work, it's a lot, a lot of work. Even working for some, someone like us weekly, because what happens is you, you're out there, you're on that red carpet, and you are expected to get answers. You know? So I think I, I went to a premier. I can't remember what Premiere was, but I know it was like Jennifer Aniston.

ime, it might have been like [: 00:15:00

And so what I realized is you have to know. The actresses, the actors that are coming down. And so you've gotta do your research, you gotta know what the movie's about. You gotta know a little bit about their life so that you can ask the questions. Like there's a lot of research, a lot of knowing who's who that goes into all of these things because you are expected to know.

And what I didn't realize either is that, so being in LA, a lot of the stuff that we had to do, we had to turn in, we had to turn it in that night cuz it was on East Coast time. So I would be up. Typing like six pages of question and answers and getting it back to the magazine, you know, and that was every night.

AM [: 00:16:00

So it is definitely a lot of work, but I think being there. It prepared me for what I, um, walked into at Fox LA because at Fox LA and this all ties together for me. So, so when I got to Fox LA it was one of those things where, again, you realize that you're a minority in this field, right? And so when I got to Fox la I started out so crazy when I say this out loud, I started out as a production assistant, right?

I just wanted to get in. So I got in and I was a production assistant. I. Probably two weeks later, someone either quit their job or got fired and then I got a promotion to be a field producer cuz they just needed someone to fill that did, you know, was doing,

Dreena Whitfield: did you even know what I was doing?

Mimi Brown: No, I did not.

idea what I was doing. None [: 00:17:00

So there was, uh, two or three other black people there. That wanna see me win? You know, one was an anchor, one was another older lady who's a producer who has become a mentor to me and was another, a writer who's moved on since then. But I said that I could do it and they made sure I knew what I was doing.

But while I got that promotion, what it allowed me to do, what I didn't realize, and so I, I, I got to be the producer of this segment called Lisa's la and around what, what it did was it allowed me to go around la. Highlight the latest in fitness, fashion, new stores, you know, all of these things. But because I'm a black woman, I got to see it from a black lens.

So I got to put [: 00:18:00

Cause we don't really have a voice inside these buildings, you know? And so I began to go out of my way to make sure that I was highlighting some of the other stories that you wouldn't normally see. I love that, especially on a show like that. Mm-hmm. Especially on the show. How did you start culture conversations there then?

Yeah. So, okay. So I was, uh, I, I, so after I was a production assistant for like two weeks, I went, so I started, I was a, you know, did Lisa, I was a film producer for a good. Five years. It was, it was a really long run. That was really an amazing job. I got to just, you know, go around LA and, and meet a lot of people.

But then I started doing [: 00:19:00

And then fast forward, maybe like, so this is, I'm not gonna say how old I was. I am, but this is, this was, you know, circa right before the last recession. And so they laid everyone off. They laid everyone off right in the height of like me building this roster of all the amazing things in LA Segment producing.

graduate degree in it and I [: 00:20:00

Mm-hmm. And then a friend of mine at Fox said, you know what? You should come back. They're hiring again. And so I ended up coming back and I did some more segment producing and, um, George Floyd happened. And when George Floyd happened, I think like every other business, they were looking around like, you know, how do we center black voices, right?

How do we show that we care about what's going on in in this community? And we were having a meeting one day and I said something, I don't even remember what I said, but the news director was listening. And so she called me after and she said, Mimi, what you said was so profound, and I just don't think we've been listening.

y, I think what allows me to [: 00:21:00

Mm-hmm. Every single job. I can do it from shooting, do it, come on, do it from spring to whatever. I can do every single job. And so that makes me, you know, a commodity. Cuz even with Fox Soul, like kind of run it by myself, you know, in the sense of like, I can do every single thing. It was a great learning experience to be able to finally take all the things that I did and put it into, you know, this, this great show where, um, I get to interview.

Leaders and change makers doing things in the community. And then Fox 11 airing it and it living on Fox la it's still on Fox LA website. A lot of our sister stations picked it up in Atlanta and New Orleans and DC everywhere. And so it was a really great experience to be able to, to be the voice and the face of telling those stories.

So you've

ena Whitfield: been in front [: 00:22:00

Mimi Brown: career? That's a great question. What's interesting about that is I would say being a producer allows you to curate the content. You are essentially the boss, right?

You, you get to say, uh, what we're talking about, what questions we're asking, who we're talking to you. You get to basically kind of tell the talent what we're going to do. So in my producer roles, this is why for me, moving into the talent space, which is. A no-brainer because I started realizing, like when I was doing all the producing, I'm coming up with the questions.

kay, so I, you know, I don't [: 00:23:00

But there's someone behind the scenes that is putting it together. Yeah. Together, right? So if you like something, if you like someone, if there's a story that you see or something, there's, there's a producer who quietly put that whole thing together that you never even know about, you know? And so there's so much power in having that position.

So I don't think people, I don't think people really understand. Yeah, the producer is the one who moves the needle. And so, In my current role as the executive producer of Fox Soul's Black Report, I get to not only pick all the stories, but I get to report them and still curate that content. And um, so if you see something you like, not only did I pick it and write it, I'm delivering it.

You know what I mean? So it [: 00:24:00

recommend.

Dreena Whitfield: Folks who are looking to start an industry to kinda learn at like the different facets of a production room or like even just like a full production, like learn, like who's writing, how to write copy, learn how to like go scout or source locations. Like do you think that's essential to someone that's looking to get into the broadcast industry, to just kinda learn every, learn every

Mimi Brown: role?

all the jobs in the newsroom.[: 00:25:00

You are more likely to keep your job because I've seen. Even when I did go back to Fox, a lot of people didn't get hired. I mean, we were working with the skeleton crew. It's still a skeleton crew. You know, the only people who are still there are people who can do multiple jobs. If you say, you know, I am a news writer and that's all I'm gonna do, don't ask me to do anything else, you're more than likely not to get hired or not to find a job.

You've at this, this same age. You know, gone are the days where there's copy editors or there's a writer, or there's a, a desk assistant. You know? Um, you've gotta be able to do all of those things in order now to just. Keep your job. That's literally the way that it's going. I mean, there's so many places that are folding.

here. You will do yourself a [: 00:26:00

They're learning how to create. Own content anyway. So if they come in house, they've already, they already know how to do some of these things cause they've already created their own space and so they're, they're giving themselves a leg up by doing that. I was gonna ask if someone was like, starting from scratch, what should they do to become a producer?

To enter

Dreena Whitfield: the industry or to just enter the industry? But you just touched on it like how this next generation is like, They know how to create some content and have it like wrapped up in a bow and in a package. But for

Mimi Brown: folks who are kind of like

Dreena Whitfield: not in that age bracket, maybe a little bit older and like wanna do a career shift and it's like, Hey, how can I get

Mimi Brown: in the industry?

news anchor once told me, if [: 00:27:00

From blogging is different from writing AP style for, you know, like the New York Times, like news writing is its own thing. It's hard to teach cuz I've, I'm trying sometimes with my staff, you know, but if you, if you can do that, I think that can get you in the door because people are always, writers are few, far and in between, hard to find.

at's just. And if you can do [: 00:28:00

Most news organizations, they will give you a writing test before they will even interview you because they're not gonna waste their time. Yeah. If you can't news write. So that's definitely a skill, uh, that's definitely something that I think you should learn if you wanna step foot inside of a new room.

Dreena Whitfield: Agree. I think just writing is like an important skill mm-hmm. To have across the board. Specifically in like the broadcast in, in the communications industry, period. Mm-hmm. You talked a little bit about how the media landscape is changing specifically, like with like publications and outlets laying off, like full staffs.

Would you say social media news outlets and blogs have changed or impacted the media landscape

and everyone's a journalist [: 00:29:00

They're having a problem keeping up because they're social media sites, they're, they're Instagram, they're not as fast as, you know, some of these other sites where you're gonna get that news immediately. You know, they're having to figure out how to restructure themselves so they can compete. It's very different, and I, that's in my opinion, why some of the jobs are just going away, because if I can log on my phone really quickly and see the latest news, why am I, why am I gonna wait for the 6:00 PM Doesn't make any sense.

Don't you feel like they're still

Dreena Whitfield: necessary though? At the end of the day, I still love picking up a print publication

Mimi Brown: and maybe it's just cuz like we grew up with

aper. Even though I do still [: 00:30:00

Mimi Brown: of things.

Don't you think it's still necessary? I think it's a generational thing. I, I think that depending on what generation you are, it's a necessary thing. I mean, I, I think a lot of Gen Zers don't feel that way. I feel like they will let. You know, whatever. I just click, you know, see what I wanna see and put it down.

Mm-hmm. You know, and studies have shown that they're not really watching the news like that, you know, they are just consuming what they need and they're putting it down. I mean, we live in the age of TikTok. Like my son gets all his news from TikTok. He will have, he will argue me down about a subject because he is watched it on TikTok.

phone, but I need a planner.[: 00:31:00

Yes, exactly. But I, I just, I also think it's a generational thing, so, so where

Dreena Whitfield: do you foresee, as someone who's in the industry right, and is seeing like the impact of like, the shift

Mimi Brown: in the way

Dreena Whitfield: folks consume media?

Mimi Brown: Well, how do you see the landscape changing even further? Oh, I think that will news always be here.

Absolutely. I don't think it's going away, but I do think you'll start to see more. Online news platforms and programs, more apps that are catering to like a news station, making their own online platform. I know like you have, like you know, your ET online or your cheddar news because people want to be able to click for something online.

start moving more digitally. [: 00:32:00

So I think we'll start to see more of that everywhere. And that's not a bad thing, that's more opportunity for everyone, right? Because um, when I started in this industry, you know, you had to look a certain way. You had to have your hair a certain way. You had to dress a certain way, and I don't, I break the mold.

I have long hair. I have a nose ring. You know what I mean? Like I have all these things that would not be acceptable had the tides could not continue to change. So I'm happy about that. Talk to me a little bit about

Dreena Whitfield: just as someone is in this space. So you went from red carpet correspondent to producer to like talent in front of the camera.

rested in how y'all change y [: 00:33:00

Mimi Brown: like,

Dreena Whitfield: I that like, just explain that to me, like, how does

Mimi Brown: this happen? That is so funny. You know what? It's cause you do it too. Do I do it? I dunno if I, if I notice it. I mean, I, I, okay. So when I'm sitting here, it, it's funny. So they'll be counting us down 3, 2, 1, and I'll be like, Laughing, he hee haha.

But when that camera comes on, it's almost instinctively do it. You know? Where do it? You just, okay. I can't believe you gonna do it. Do it. I'm gonna try. Lemme see. Okay, so on the spot. So today we are here and we're sitting down and we're trying to find out what happened to little Megan. Megan disappeared around five o'clock and her parents say they have not seen her.

what I. Are you taught that? [: 00:34:00

Dreena Whitfield: it's, it's,

Mimi Brown: it's just something that you, yeah, it's part of the industry. I don't, you know, I've, until you've asked me this question, Drina, I don't even, I don't, I don't know where. I just, it's just something that you do something

Dreena Whitfield: I'm always interested in.

When folks change their voice, like on camera, it just blows my mind. So I'm like, are they taught that like in their like assignment meetings? Like, or production meetings? Like what

Mimi Brown: happens? No, but you also want to project, you wanna make sure that folks can understand you. You want to speak clearly slowly.

So there's a lot of things. How did you learn this if you had

Dreena Whitfield: no experience in

st like when you, it was me, [: 00:35:00

Again, I, once I had all the experience in the world, I left and I went and I got a graduate degree in it. That's right. And so, yeah. So then, then I came back and I started doing it some more. It just became, I. You know, it's now like second nature. But yeah, I think, cuz I'm thinking in school, do they tell us to talk like this?

They never ever, they never ever tell you to talk. You just wanna, you know, you just, you just, you just, you're told to project Uhhuh and make sure that you are, you know, people can understand you. But other than that, mm-hmm. No. When you

Dreena Whitfield: look back over your career, cuz you've been in the mi in the game for a minute now, are there any interviews or projects that you, you know, still pinch yourself in disbelief about that you were

Mimi Brown: part of?

s, okay, so one was culture, [: 00:36:00

They were like, okay. You know, whatever. So we had our meetings and I'll have to give it to them. After a lot of like questions and answers. They trusted me to lead the coverage. We were like the only station in LA that stayed on to like from the beginning to the end, which was like 3:00 PM and we covered the whole thing.

And for me, [: 00:37:00

Telling them why this was so important has always been like a highlight for me because just to see. You know, my friends knew a lot, but this is again, about being a producer. Like, uh, my friends knew it was me, but a lot of people, you know, who were watching it at home and there was this big thing about how a lot of stations didn't cover it, and you know, how we did cover it, but that's why those voices and, um, being in those spaces are so important.

So that's, that's one thing that sticks out to me. Do you have a moment where you can look back and be like,

have like a big mistake that [: 00:38:00

Like I have one like that always sticks out to me. What's one for you?

Mimi Brown: I mean, I think in this business every day you're always learning. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, but I tell you what you can't do. You have so many days to play Oscar footage, and if you play Oscar footage anytime after a certain period of time, You can and will be fined.

And I had to learn that the hard way. What do you mean? Do you mean? So you have a certain amount of time that you can play, like, I forgot who won. It was early on in my career I put something on tv, some Oscar footage that could not run, that should not have ran because. I, I forget the, the window. I don't, I don't even do it anymore.

se, you have to put Courtesy [: 00:39:00

So I learned the hard. How much did you find? You? No idea. I didn't have to pay it, but it was not, you said I have to pay it. Oh. But, but those are the things that you, you know, you, you have, those are the, you know, trial and errors. Of course. That was a very expensive mistake and by then I had already, you know, shown improved, but people get fired over stuff like that.

And so those are, Are things that you just, you know, I don't know how you would know that unless someone told you. Right. But those are just, you know, that was my moment where I really was like, oh, I'm done. I'm just outta here. Because depending on how long you play it, how much footage you use, that fine can go up, up, up, and up.

he media landscape changing. [: 00:40:00

Dreena Whitfield: how do you stay current and continue to learn every day to remain relevant in this like, trendy

Mimi Brown: area? Mm-hmm. Thank goodness that I am still wanting to create, because I wanna create, I am very involved in creating content.

Mm-hmm. So that helps me, um, stay. In the know, it helps me stay relevant. It helps me know the changing ties, how people are thinking. Um, I think it's very important to either have someone who's in the mix. I, I have the most wonderful intern and her name is jj. And JJ will keep me abreast of all the things that I don't know.

from the people that I work [: 00:41:00

And so that's been for me, how I've been able to stay current because it has changed. A lot, a lot, a lot. I always do this like section

Dreena Whitfield: where we do quick fire questions, so I wanna do a few quick fire fires with you. So just say the first thing that pops in your mind. What's the last thing you watched

Mimi Brown: on TV or streamed?

The Megan and Harry series.

Love, love, love, love. We'll talk about this later, but I'm obsessed with them. Yes, so am I. If you could have dinner with any person, who would it be? Um, Michelle Obama. Radio

Dreena Whitfield: or podcast? Video.

Mimi Brown: Radio or [: 00:42:00

Dreena Whitfield: surprised? You know, all the

Mimi Brown: lyrics to.

Dreena Whitfield: And if you could have one superpower,

Mimi Brown: what would it be? To read minds. Ok. Okay. Yeah. So

Dreena Whitfield: I'm, you and I talked offline a little bit about like some of your plans and goals for the next iteration of your career, but

Mimi Brown: can you share a little bit about what's next for me? Yeah, so I'm a news junkie, so I will always.

At heart deliver the news in some capacity, so you know, you will always catch me on a network. In the voice, as you put it, drina delivering the news somewhere. There are some really big things that I'm working on. So, um, hopefully that will come to pass. And I'm also working on my, my podcast, my show that I am.

nting to get off the ground, [: 00:43:00

So I'm, I'm, you know, I've got a lot of things in the works that I'm, that I'm working on for. I can't wait to see and hear more and share

Dreena Whitfield: more. Yes. Mimi Brown, thank you so much for joining me and sharing a little bit about your journey. Where can folks find, follow and see all the things associated with you and your brand and the work

Mimi Brown: you're doing?

I am at Mimi Brown tv. That's M I M i, brown TV on all platforms.

Dreena Whitfield: All right. Well, thank you so much, Mimi. I appreciate you. Thank you.