A vibrant, spicy firecracker, Queen Envy has a lot to say. She balances her overflowing plate very well. Best Internet Radio Station winner at the Philly Hip Hop Awards Show in 2012, the refined young woman was recognized for the countless talents she possesses. Get to know more about Miss Envy McKee in this interview. A regular segment on Good Morning Philadelphia doesn't reveal this much about her. The Pennsylvania native has the capacity to change the world with her innovative skill. Behind The Façade goes in deep to discover some quite interesting facts. Read here!
How does a typical work week go for you?
Busy!!! The Envy McKee Show airs Monday through Friday High Noon till 4,
so most every one of my week days revolves around research and show prep.
I’m the show producer and the lead cast member of the show too, so it’s up
to me to stay current in world events and lifestyle themes so I
persistently have something fresh and relevant to talk about. I’m also on
Good Day Philly on most Tuesdays and that involves more research for
pitching interesting topics and of course defining my point of view that
will fit into a 3-5 minute segment. I try to have a fresh blog post up on envymckee.com at some point during the week also, which is a process all
by itself. Because my brand has been developed as “reality
show-esque”—which essentially means I let my authentic life experiences
and perspective guide my work in radio, TV, print and the web (in a
positive way)—I’m always busy finding creative ways to uplevel not only my
own bullshit, but also to help my friends and fans uplevel their bullshit
as well. Some weeks I have scheduled appearances in upwards of 5 (charity,
speaking, event hosting, etc.) which adds a level of hectic-ness to my
life with all that can be involved (fittings, hair, make-up, blah, and
blah). Luckily planning months ( January, February and some of March) are
far less hectic for me (on purpose) because I use these months to build my
plan for the rest of the year. I still have the main stuff that I do, I’m
conscious not to add much extra for sanity reasons. Meanwhile, I’m the
mom of an awesome 7 year old. So I’ve got my stuff and Aubrei’s stuff
going on every day. I have great help, but trust, busy is actually the
understatement of the century.
What led you into the Radio business? Who inspired it all?
I did a little radio in college at Hampton University when I was there.
But honestly, I had zero idea or interest in doing “real” radio at the
time. I also wasn’t much good at it either. Seriously. GAWD awful. “Real”
radio happened for my by accident. At the time my claim to fame was being
an XFL Cheerleader for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and I had a
successful “Celebrity” Event Team called Eye Candy Brand and we did
parties in AC and Philly. So one day, my brother coerced me into going to
one of Colby Colb’s (from The Beat) Single in the City parties. I remember
not really wanting to go, but getting dolled up and going anyway. When I
met Colb, I told him I was looking for a boyfriend and that he should
have me on his show. He asked me what I wanted in a boyfriend and I’m sure
I told him some bullshit I believed at the time. Maybe a week later he
called me in to do the show and it turned out to be one of his most
successful segments. Before I left that day, he asked me to read a
commercial because he liked my voice. A few weeks after that he asked me
to sit in with DC Todd on this slow jams show called Love Land. A few
months later a few firings happened at the station. It was DC Todd who
inspired me to call Colb and tell him I was interested in doing Middays.
Colb asked me instead to do Afternoons while he took Mornings. The rest,
as they say is history. That one party, led to that one segment that led
to 8 + years of an award winning media career. It really is amazing how it
all played out. There’s way more to this story of course, but it’ll take
a week to tell it and you’d probably like reading it my memoirs better
anyway.
Being in radio for 8 years and counting, what do you hope it'll grow into?
I have this really grand master plan. My goal, my dream, my purpose is to
live my message through radio, TV, print and the web. My focus is on
authentic, fabu-conscious living, health, well-being, and wealth. My goal
is to help people not only rule themselves, but to also reframe the
conversations they have with themselves. I’m totally saying ffff uuuu to
the whole idea of motivational speaking and positive thinking. My purpose
in this thing is to show people through my own life journey that the best
life they can possibly live is the life they choose and hand craft
themselves. I do this through the amazing people I bring in my realm, the
real talk conversations we have on my show and my blog, and the shows I
have in play on both TV and the web. I’m like the young, hip and fly
Martha Stewart. Plus, I’m colored. Aphroditian actually. I want people,
particularly women and men of color to break out of the common stereotypes
and get back into the business of revolutionizing the way people do
things. WE are trailblazers (wo)man! Meanwhile, there really isn’t anyone
of color of the young and fresh variety who is talking to people of color
about what is possible if they change not only the way they view
themselves (in a really small, narrow box of the bullshit) but also the
way they interact with the world around them. There are loads of
non-colored folk having these conversations with non-colored folk, btw.
So, what this radio thing is growing into is a “Fabu-conscious” lifestyle
brand that makes it sexy to make healthy, spiritually sound and
environmentally sustainable life choices. WE do this via radio, TV, print
and the web. AND do it the way Hip Hop does it. Cleopatra Ninja style!
What are the downsides or challenges to your profession?
Downsides? None. Challenges? I don’t really see them. I always see
opportunity. I don’t see walls or barriers. If there happens to be a
closed door (by way of the status quo), I only see how strong my legs need
to be to kick that sucka down if I can’t go around it. It’s always a good
look to kick a door down so the folk coming up after don’t need to bother
with it later. What I can say is once you reach a certain level of
self-belief and self-assurance, you will find it harder to find people who
believe in themselves in the same way. A lot of people walk their lives
doubting their abilities and having zero idea what they came to this
planet to do. This is challenging in a way because it takes a village to
build a dream into its fullest potential. No one does anything worthwhile
completely by themselves. You may craft the blueprint. You may build the
foundation. But eventually it takes a team of skilled artisans to help
erect that awesome building you have in mind. The really awesome thing
I’ve discovered though is when you learn how to chill and not try to
manipulate the world to do your bidding, amazing people come to your
assistance and help your process along whether you ever meet them or not.
So I’d say the biggest challenge any of us face is recognizing what
challenges actually are—designed to make us doper. If we choose to look at
them that way. It’s always about perspective.
How different is radio now versus when you first began?
When I first started radio, I didn’t really know anything about it, so I
had the opportunity to be creative and explore what I wanted my voice to
be about. I figured since I had this awesome platform, I wanted to be
saying something. As I was on for a few years, that creativity wasn’t
considered a priority anymore and I found that a lot of jocks kind of fell
into the whole “I’m just here to collect a check” vibe. Believe me, I’m
guilty as charged. A lot of radio today is like that. The stations are
really there to collect checks from advertisers, so they could give a hot
holy shhhht about their listeners, to keep it 1,000. They don’t really
care about content. They could care less about creativity or “theatre of
the mind”. They just care about those 12 minutes of commercials that play
every hour and jocks really are there as paid commercial introducers. Plus
the music sucks so very dastardly on just about every station, quite
frankly. I’m lucky in that internet radio is like a boutique marketing
firm. We don’t have the same constraints terrestrial radio has. We can be
as creative as we are. We can have talk shows that feature awesome music
from all genre on one show. We build audiences based on the stuff we’re
into, not advertiser demands. So we can hand pick advertisers that fit
what we’re into. Plus, provide more of a service to our listeners and
advertisers that “regular radio” can. Radio is most different now that we
can use technology to body blow the status quo and be the change we want
to see happen with conversation and music selection. It’s even more dope
because the people who listen to our shows are there on purpose, not
because they’re held captive in their car on their way to work.
You pride yourself on being very self-loving, how do you plan on instilling those values into your growing young daughter? Do you believe she'll follow in your footsteps?
Hon-tee. I started this journey I’m on because of my daughter. Remember,
when I started in radio I was pretty fresh out of the XFL and had this
very provocative event team and in the clubs all the time working. I was
alllll about the party/socialite life at that time. To be honest, I wasn’t
all that self-loving at the time either. I was very much in superficial
hot girl mode. I was in a screwy relationship (and not in the good way,
mind you). When I got pregnant and found out I was having a daughter, a
lot of my self-concept began to change. I didn’t want to be one of those
parents that tried to preach to my daughter about self-love, meanwhile
keeping myself in situations that didn’t show exactly that. I am, for all
intents and purposes a lead by example person. I will not ask anyone to do
anything I’m not willing to do and/or have done to bring about desired
results. So my life is my testimony of what’s possible—as all of our lives
are designed to be. The greatest thing I can teach Aubrei, more than
showing her by example, is to trust her own power. To trust that there is
nothing outside of her that is safer than she is. To rule herself. To
believe in her instincts. To be authentic and to lead in love. I empower
her every day to make her own choices and I never trample on her person.
She is her own person and ultimately, her choices are her own. My job is
to help her build her foundation, but it’s her job to build her life. I do
think she’ll follow my footsteps by way of blazing her own trail. She’s
already an individual. She’s already brilliant and awesome and gorgeous.
She’s already a life explorer. I think she’ll be great at whatever she
decides and is designed to do with her purpose.
What makes this industry so motivating to you?
The thing I’ve always loved about entertainment is that there is so much
room to create, grow and blossom. There is so much room to be yourself and
flourish there. For every un-original copycat out there, there's always
that person who shines with authenticity, originality and sheer love for
their craft. You can literally do and be anything you want and there’s an
audience for it. I love how technology has made it ever easier for
entrepreneurs in this thing to blaze their own trails and carve out their
own markets around the world. Plus, it’s so much easier to maneuver in
spaces that the status quo wouldn’t even bother to fit in. There is a
media revolution underway presently. There are voices being acknowledged
now that never had a shot at the mainstream “machine” before. It’s so
motivating to see that honestly, the only limits that exist are the ones
we place on ourselves.
Outside of being in radio, media hosting and blogging what are your most
joyous hobbies?
I like to make stuff. I’m such a fan of making my own holistic products, I
have this dream that I’ll have a whole line of them someday in the very
near future. I make my own deodorant, FYI-- and it works better than
anything you’ll ever try from the drugstore. My skin seems to hate
anything that is made with chemicals and artificial ingredients aka the
yuckies-- so my current side-passion has been tinkering with making my
own. (Side bar: I’ve had acne scars for yeeeears that I used to hide with
piles of make up. Meanwhile, this marigold/olive oil infusion I’m using is
making them disappear to the tune of mere weeks.) I like DIY projects of
any sort. I rehab furniture. Yes. This means I’ll drive by and see a
piece that someone threw away and if it resonates with me, I’ll fix it up
and make it awesome—chairs, benches, dressers, tables, whatever. I’ll even
go so far as to create my own fabrics to reupholster them with. I really
dig interior design, personal style in general and entertaining . One of
my side-dreams is to own a horse farm, so I totally look forward to having
plenty of stuff to re-hab and fabu-conscious-ivize (plus remove all traces
of hokey country living) to create the ideal place to throw THEE dopest
parties. I plan to learn crochet--there's a cloche hat and a poncho I want
to make. I like to experiment with healthy, non-boring cooking. I bake. I
come from a long line of amazing bakers. My challenge is finding a way to
make my most decadent goodies healthy too. Womp. I like to do anything
that’s active: surfing, swimming, horse riding, paint ball, laser tag,
bowling, arcade basketball, dancing--yeeees salsa. I DO plan to be on
Dancing with the Stars, FYI. I finished my first Tough Mudder (by myself)
last year. We’re putting together an Envy’s Star Army Tough Mudder Team
for June. This is my signature event. I plan to be 90 finishing Tough
Mudders, if they still exist. For the most part, I live to be creative,
active and inventive, so any way that plays out, I’m always down.
What makes you and your station so unique versus another?
I can’t really speak for other internet radio stations because I’ve only
been to one other in NY. But I can say that what makes The FN Radio
(which stands for The Future of Network Radio) so awesome is not only the
utter gorgeousness of the station itself and the unique set up; it’s also
the freedom that lives there. It’s about the freedom to speak our truth,
whatever that truth may be. It’s also a true learning environment. We’re
all on this planet to learn and grow and become the best we can be. The
environment at The FN Radio is all love and it’s designed for a grand
purpose—Media Revolution. There is no competition in that. It’s all
creation. Plus, it’s owned by a woman. Pow!
How much has SmarTeez grown? Why was this movement important to you?
I started SmarTeez in 2007 as a statement about what was happening at the
time. Mike Vick was living his version of hell with the pet lobby. In
Philly, there was a big push by legislators to get comprehensive gun
control laws on the books—which was being thwarted by gun lobbyists. So
there I was watching these dynamics happening and thinking: Well hell,
pets have a lobby. Guns have a lobby. Where the ffff is the lobby for
people?! Why in the holy hot mess aren't there any people lobbies or dope
school lobbies or smart people lobbies?! So I created “The Human Lobby”
as a way to fund organizations that already exist and are doing important
things that impact the quality of people’s lives every single day. School
Supply Initiatives. After school programs. Beautifying projects. Art,
Science and Music programs, Tutor Initiatives, etc. My idea was to create
some smart ass shirts like “I Read” and “My Brain Can Kick Your Brain’s
Ass” (there ended up being like 10 shirts) in an effort to not only make
it sexy to billboard smartness rather than ignorance; but also raise money
for those organizations that need funding. The SmarTeez movement is vital
now more than ever because all the things I saw happening around me in
2007 that caused me to start the brand-- are escalating. People are seeing
their quality of lives crumbling around them and the programs that are
designed to lend support, are losing funding for all sorts of reasons.
Understand, the threads that bind my brand together are about self-rule,
self-love, awakened consciousness and reframing the conversations we have
with OURSELVES. I’ve always known a t-shirt isn’t going to change the
world on its own-- or people’s minds for that matter. But a t-shirt can be
a deeper conversation starter if done effectively. I don’t really care how
people come to this conversation, I only care that they do. There is a
grand re-launch of The Human Lobby and SmarTeez in the works that includes
new shirt designs and some really dope artist collabs. We don’t have any
solid dates mapped out yet, but I can tell you a major photo shoot is
being planned for late Spring.
Twitter @QueenEnvy
Instagram @EnvyousLife
www.ENVYMCKEE.com
--Free<3
@InkStains_
