THE BLOG SPOT IS ON LOCK WITH JENNIFER BRIX
Interview by R. B. Jones – Photos by Christian Phillips

As the blogging boom continues, more and more people are going to fill the internet with topics about anything and everything known to mankind. It’s actually big business (well sort of) as several bloggers get picked up and sponsored due to the size of their fan base created. Companies are willing to dole out cash if you have eyeballs in exchange. Well, we’ve found a young lady out of Charlotte, North Caroline who’s looking to put her stamp on the entertainment blog universe. She’s a self-starter go-getter who’s laying the ground work for a business venture she started as a freshman in college. Her hard work is paying off because her name is starting to circulate in the entertainment industry due to her growing number of followers and interviews she’s secured. JenniferBrix.com is the name of her site and we wanted you to get to know her before she takes off and hits the stratosphere.

Welcome to Nine5Four Magazine Jennifer, how are you today? I’m well! Thank you. Excited to be featured in your publication!

And we are excited to have you as well. Tell me a little about your growing up in North Carolina? North Carolina is a great state in general. It’s a little country, a little city and a lot of suburbia with the latter being where I grew up!

Now I understand you started your blog JenniferBrix.com in 2009 as a freshman at The University of North Carolina @ Charlotte. What influenced you to do so? I’ve always been passionate about writing. I aspire to work in entertainment journalism one day and I am an avid reader of celebrity-focused magazines. So I wanted to create a niche and express myself creatively.

Tell us about your site and what it has to offer? My site is not only an entertainment news site. I also cover topics in fashion, music, current events and pop culture. I touch on topics that you may not see on other blogs catering to an audience that is predominately minority. What’s more, instead of merely posting content, I also share my perspective on the subject in a personal manner thus relating to my readers.

I know it is very important to you NOT to be viewed as just another “gossip site”. Can you give us specific differences between your site and the rest of the landscape? Foremost, I believe in quality over quantity. I think the prospect of greater revenue motivates too many bloggers to post content that is not worthwhile for their viewers. While making money doing something that you love is a great feeling, I feel as though posting recycled content from all over the web (from an objective standpoint) is an insult to my readers. I also believe in honest blogging, meaning that I don’t believe in posting stories that are unverified or merely rumors for the sake of blog hits. I aim to make JenniferBrix.com a trustworthy news source.

Very well stated. Why do you think so many people are interested in the lives of celebrities? Curiosity...Inspiration...Fascination! The list goes on. However, I personally enjoy living vicariously through the lives of some of my favorite media personalities. Never seems to be a dull moment.

Who are some of the entertainers/celebrities that you have had the pleasure of interviewing? Fantasia Barrino , Wiz Khalifa, B.O.B., Chrisette Michele , Miguel…

I’ve seen a couple of your interviews on YouTube. Who was your most interesting interview? Fantasia Barrino , for sure! I’ll never forget how kind she was. I was invited to her home for a charity event courtesy of my mentor. I was 19-years-old in the media room with the likes of FOX Charlotte News and Good Morning America. I remember her coming downstairs, saying hello to all of her guests and then, she made eye contact with me. She asked who I was and why I was there -- once I told her I was a blogger there for an interview, she held my hand and walked around with me until I got my feature. That was my very first experience with celebrity interviews and I’ll definitely never forget it.

That sounds like a memorable experience, very nice of her to do that for you. Who was your most interesting blog story written about? No one story in particular, too many to choose from! However, Big Ang (of VH1’s “Mob Wives”) seems to be a popular topic. She’s one of my favorite reality stars of the moment.

You’ve been featured on VH1.com, Vibe Vixen, Examiner.com and Black Sports Online and others to name a few. How are you adjusting to all of this new found exposure and how has it helped you? At the end of the day, I’m still a broke college student and intern attempting to brand myself and embark on my career. So I’m definitely grateful and overjoyed for any and all acknowledgment of my work, however, I remain humble because I have a long way to go!

I must say congratulations on your 2011 CBS Most Valuable Blogger Award nomination. That’s a big feather in your cap at such an early point in your career…right? Well, I discovered that I was selected to be in the same category with a few other Charlotte bloggers for the award, which was definitely exciting news. Needless to say, I was very happy to be considered alongside other awesome sites.

How is your internship with NBC Universal working out? Well, I’m working in television production with The Maury Show as well as the forthcoming Trisha Show, the latter debuting on NBC in the fall. It’s been a really wonderful experience thus far. I’ve been able to meet some really great people, learn the in’s and out’s of television firsthand and acquire experience in the entertainment industry. I’m loving it!

Sounds exciting! What are some of the other talents, passions or goals you possess? Talents? Aside from writing? Definitely have the gift of gab. Passions or goals? I’m very passionate about my career goals and I ultimately aspire to be a successful television journalist.

I know growing your brand is very important to you but what specific goals do you want to achieve with JenniferBrix.com in the not so distant future? My primary goal is to make JenniferBrix.com a brand that’s more visible offline. I also seek to generate more video content for brixTV, from exclusive celebrity features to personal vlogs.

You are definitely on the right track to achieve your goals and dreams. We wish you success in all that you do and I encourage everyone to log onto the site and find out more about this young ambitious woman now before she BLOWS UP! Any final words for the readers. Thank you so much for this opportunity! Follow me on Twitter for more updates @JenniferBrix.