Editor's Letter: The Making of Intersect

When people ask me what made me launch Intersect Magazine, I always have one simple answer: I'm a storyteller. Ever since I was a little girl, I've admired telling stories. My mom frequently reminds me that as a child, I hosted my own talk show where I was the host and the guest, switching back and forth enthusiastically, and effortlessly coming up with new topics to discuss and stories to tell. That same little girl who thought she was Wendy Williams in her living room grew up to be the intellectual high school student who received easy A's in liberal arts courses and fought to get C's in STEM classes. It didn't take me long to notice that I could write my ass off and one of the best things I could have done for myself was lean into that talent.

So how did Intersect come about, you ask? On one early summer afternoon in Chicago, I was backstage at Lyrical Lemonade's 2019 Summer Smash music festival. A friend of my father had passes that allowed for my brother and I to access the exclusive Media and Artist sections. Being the observant girl I am, I was looking around and watching what happened behind the scenes. It didn't take long for me to notice the journalists who were interviewing artists like Ski Mask the Slump God, Trippie Redd, and Yung Bans, and I thought to myself "I could do that." The journalists looked like they were having fun – not just working. I couldn't believe being a music-lover who happened to be great at writing was a career path. That was the realization that changed my life.

As soon as I got home after the festival, I went on Wix.com and built a blog. Anyone who knows me knows I'm one of the most impulsive people ever. When I want to start something, I jump right into it without fear or hesitance. The blog I created was called No Cap Magazine, and the idea was to create a hip-hop publication that solely reviewed hip-hop albums, singles, and live performances. The first article I ever published was in fact a review of the 2019 Summer Smash music festival. I thought I snapped on it and when I published it, I got a high I had never felt before. That high was what I now know is the thrill of thought leadership. I was in awe of the fact that at sixteen years old I could review a music festival and because of SEO, thousands of people would read my writing to decide on if it was worth attending it in future years. I was also in awe of the fact that I was a high schooler who was in the studio with well-known rappers, and coordinating the publication of their stories with their managers and publicists. Nobody around me was doing it like me.

No Cap Magazine existed for about six months before I decided the name was too niche for what I wanted to create. Instead of just covering hip-hop, I wanted to build a digital publication that would become the hot spot or intersection point for all things music – no matter the genre. I sat at my kitchen island on my Macbook pro during my senior year of high school when I should have been doing my homework, and I came up with the name Intersect. The impulse struck again and within thirty minutes I owned the domain intersectmagazine.com, synced it to my site, and changed our SEO tagline to "Where All Things Music Intersect." Running a music publication as a high school student led me to being accepted to The Recording Academy's GRAMMY Camp for the next-generation of music professionals, getting a full ride to attend Loyola Marymount University, and snagging a job at both Sony Music and 10k Projects before I even stepped on campus as a first-year college student. It changed my trajectory rapidly because instead of waiting until I was old enough to get a seat at the table, I had created not only my own table, but my own restaurant.

Many don't know about Intersect being a thriving music publication for a couple of years before I decided to turn it into an arts, culture, and lifestyle publication for the next generation — but it's one of my favorite things about it. Intersect was built on passion and a true love for arts and culture. It has had slow and steady growth, which most people try to skip over these days, and most of all, it grew with me and continues to grow with me. As a self-taught journalist and media founder, I wouldn't have it any other way. As I blossom and grow, so does the publication, and that's exactly how Intersect became all about Gen Z.

While I was in college, I was the queen of internships. I spent every single semester interning somewhere impressive in either marketing or partnerships roles. After Sony Music and 10k Projects, I worked for companies like Dolby Laboratories, Beats by Dre, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Chanel. I noticed one trend that kept happening at each place: I was always the youngest in the room, but executives were calling on me to tell them what was cool in culture. As companies started targeting the next generation, the best way for them to learn how to do so was to get our opinions. In late 2021, it finally hit me: Intersect should be the voice of Gen Z culture. I wanted to turn the publication into the premier place to learn about what the next generation thought was cool and relevant. Over the past couple of years, I broke into each industry, one by one, without previous connections until I was invited to fashion week shows, beauty launch parties, hosted stays at luxury hotels, and more. It's safe to say that Intersect has been built brick by brick.

While I have been the guiding light behind Intersect, the publication wouldn't be the same without the intelligent Gen Zers who have contributed their cultural expertise over the past few years – especially the ones who have written internet-breaking op-eds for the Society & Culture section. There is nobody who could create a youth culture publication like the actual youth. Amplifying the voices of amazing college students who have the most valuable ideas but no platform to publish them has been the highlight of running Intersect, especially during a time where everyone is claiming to be for Gen Z but very few things are also by Gen Z.

All in all, building Intersect for the past six years has been a labor of love. From the moments when I paid contributors with the money I earned from my $15-an-hour internships to attending major festivals like Coachella and Rolling Loud with media passes, it has been a journey. The best part? This is just the beginning.