Dana Blair: TV Correspondent, Producer & Entrepreneur

Dana Blair has a passion for life, and isn’t afraid to follow her dreams. The Louisiana native, who now lives in Los Angeles, is a TV Correspondent, producer, entrepreneur and all around media maverick. The 36-year-old loves coffee, and is learning how to live this thing called life by learning from others and her own mistakes.

There aren’t a lot of people who can say they’ve interviewed top celebrities like Dana has; and she does it as cool as a cucumber too. Her energy and passion for life is evident within the first 5 minutes of talking to her. Dana already has plans to take 2019 by storm including being consistently back on air, producing more content and working on stories she’s passionate about; and possibly running another marathon. Dana has that kind of spirit where when you’re around her life just feels better and makes more sense.

Read more about Dana Blair in Episode 15 of People You Should Know.

1. You have interviewed a lot of celebrities in the entertainment industry including Common, Venus Williams, Erykah Badu, Mahershala Ali, Chaka Khan, Angela Bassett and more. How did you first get into being a TV correspondent?

The very, very, very first time a microphone was put in my hand, I was in marketing at Essence. I was a full time marketing person; I was the senior integrated marketing manager and I was handling all the fashion and beauty, luxury goods, and liquor accounts. There was an event at the Apollo. This may have been 2009, somewhere in there; late 2009, 2010. Anyway, the correspondent didn’t show up and they needed someone to go to this carpet and they were like Dana you have a really great personality. I was like alright, but I don’t do this. I don’t know what you want me to do. What am I supposed to be asking these people? A red carpet can be treacherous, unless you’re one of the big outlets that have a huge platform. The red carpet – you’re bumping people, people are bumping you, your camera man can’t get a shot, you’re trying to stick your microphone in people’s faces, you’re yelling at the PR person “bring so and so over”, and all that stuff. That was the first time I ever did it.

2. Before you became a TV correspondent, you had a successful career in the marketing field and launched your own commerce business. How and why did you decide to transition to the entertainment industry?

A friend of mine who’s an avid traveler, she came up with this concept to import designers from Brazil that are strictly designers that aren’t globally distributed. She came up with that idea back in 2011. She was going back and forth to Brazil, she subsequently moved to Brazil for a second time during the business. I hated corporate America and I was just like I can’t do this, this is not for me. So November 2012, I quit my job and I began freelancing because I needed the flexibility to work on the business. The business folded like a year and a half to two years later. It was beyond difficult to get things in and out of the country, but it was an amazing learning experience. Definitely something I would do again. That’s why I started freelancing and it was really scary because when you’re working for yourself if you don’t kill it you don’t eat it. So it was very, very different, and how do you explain to you’re parents that you’re leaving your six figure job to go into this nebulous place. I come from old school southern parents. They were like, “wait, wait you’re gonna do what now?” Even to this day if you ask my dad what does Dana do for a living he’ll tell you I have no idea.

3. How do you prepare for an interview? Especially when you’re nervous?

I over prepare, especially when it’s live or with someone I don’t have a rapport with. Like some people I’ve interviewed multiple times now, but you have to be over prepared. I think a lot of people forget that people are people. Sure they have millions of followers, or sure they may have just gotten a check for $20 million dollars for a movie, but people are people.

I read all the gossip blogs, so I also know what may or may not be going on in their life. So I have to take into consideration what you might be thinking instead of that is you just filed for divorce, or your third lovechild just came out. These other things are going on so I don’t let that screw with me mentally. I also, as often as possible, will go into the green room before the show so that the first time I’m meeting them is not being ushered in for the segment; when I could. Sometimes people are running late and the show has started, sometimes specials at the top of the show end up being moved to the last segment because traffic or whatever. As many times as I could go before and say hi and introduce myself, that also would help me too. I think just being overly prepared and being able to take the conversation different places and seeing what they talk about.

4. In addition to working in front of the camera, you also have experience working behind the scenes as a producer. What are some of the projects you’ve done for different brands?

A lot of the stuff you see on my site (www.justdanablair.com), with the exception of The Grim Sleeper piece, were produced from when I was a marketing person. We used to do production meetings for the show and things like that whenever I was at Complex, Essence, or Vogue; you know you work with different advertisers. So I’ve worked on some projects, mostly fashion stuff. I did one for Revlon and June Ambrose, L’Oreal – which I was super nervous about because that was a big project during the September issue of Vogue. There was a big layout in the middle of the magazine and it was a QR code to get access to all the videos behind the scene. It was really hands-on and interactive.

5. You recently started doing projects that allow you to investigate issues afflicting African-American women including “I Survived: The Grim Sleeper” on BET; which now has over 215,000 views on YouTube. Do you plan to produce more projects like that?

I would love to produce others along those lines in terms of more social justice and more special interest pieces and not just celebrities and red carpets. I mean of course there’s nothing wrong with celebrities and red carpets, but there are more layers to me and there are things that I find interesting and I would love to do more of that.

6. Ballet and theater was your first passion in life at a young age. You went to a performing arts school eventually performed off Broadway. Do you ever miss it?

I think when I walked away, I was ready; I also had an injury. When I started to walk in the studio and was like I no longer want to do this 10 hours a day, I was like you can’t do that because you loved it too much. It’s like when you’re in love with someone and it starts to go bad you don’t want to break that person or have them break you. So you’re like we’ve got to walk away.

I dance constantly in my apartment. When I’m depressed, when I don’t feel well, when I have anxiety, I’ll literally blast music and just dance. I mean dancing like full 30 minutes breaking a sweat, gotta take a shower dance. So it’s in my spirit, and it’s who I am.

7. Do you have a mentor? If so, who and how did they come to be your mentor?

My first mentor is Ms. Sharon Wong. She’s the Co-chair of the Jazz at Alvin Ailey (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater). I met her when I studied at the Alvin Ailey summer intensive (program). We had the same birthday and I was scared to death of her. I tried to hide in her class in the back and she’d always be like “little girl get up here”. I’ve known her now for 15 years and I love her deeply. She is still my life mentor.

8. Tell me about your podcast “The Cost with Dana Blair” and who your favorite interview has been thus far.

I have two favorites, but I enjoy everyone’s story. The last one was Alexander-John, who’s a dope, dope sneaker designer who’s worked with Jeff Staples, Nike and all the big brands. Alexander and I were in the same elementary school at the same time. He’s a couple of years older than me, but we were there at the same time.

I love Sanya Richards-Ross because Sanya is amazing and brilliant, but also her transparency because you never know what’s going on with someone. I remember watching her at the Olympics, and I remember people smack talking and saying how disappointed they were that she got a bronze. She reveals in her book, and she also talked about it on my podcast, that she just had an abortion 2 weeks prior and how difficult that was for her and what she was going through mentally, physically, and emotionally; but you can’t let anybody know. It was a decision that she and her husband made together and how she trained so hard for these Olympics and all these things.

I just appreciate those levels of honesty and transparency. A lot of times, especially in this age of social media, people think everything is biscuits and gravy and they don’t realize there’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into chasing your dreams; or to live a life that’s non-traditional.

9. You travel all over the world for your job, but anyone who knows you – or follows you on social media – knows your love for your hometown Louisiana runs deep. How do stay connected to your roots?

Whenever I’m sad sometimes, I’ll just put on some zydeco music. I talk to my family a lot. I try to go home a few times. It’s who I am. I may not live there every day, but Louisiana is me. It’s who I am. I’m a country girl that likes to wear high heels everywhere, but let me get on some grass and I’m barefoot. I want a Welch’s grape soda or a cold beer.

10. You use the hashtag #longhairdontcare a lot on your social media pages, but rock a short cut (which I love by the way). What’s the meaning behind the hashtag?

That’s me! I feel like my bangs are on fleek. I think it’s ironic also. I don’t know how to explain it, it just feels good in my spirit. Everybody laughs cause I always toss my hair. I toss my hair very naturally. I don’t know why, it just makes me feel good. I’ll tuck it behind my ear. If I’m about to read somebody, I’ll gather a ponytail real quick.