“secrets out. still freaking out. Angel Reese, you ready?!” captioned Angel Reese’s co-host, Maya Reese, after the WNBA rookie announced her upcoming podcast, Unapologetically Angel. Looking at their last names, you must be wondering if they are related, but no, they aren’t. Rather, Maya Reese is one of the gradually growing names, with an Emmy and several other awards under her belt for content creation.

Building her career with big networks like NBC Sports, Overtime, and Playmaker, Maya Reese has been carving her path to becoming one of the most influential and talented journalists. So, let’s take a closer look at her life in glimpses as she gears up to make another meaningful impact alongside the league’s rebounding leader.

Meet Maya Micole Reese

Maya Reese, a native of Chicago, grew up admiring television superstars such as Oprah Winfrey, Robin Roberts, and Doris Burke. This birthed a dream in Reese’s eyes. Reese attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and attained a 4.3 GPA when she graduated.

She then set a short-term goal of working as a multimedia reporter after graduation, where she could meet new people and tell their experiences. In the hope of fulfilling that vision of becoming an on-air radio and TV personality, she moved to D.C. and enrolled herself at Howard University.

There she pursued Media, Journalism, and Film Communication with Broadcast Journalism as her major. During that time, Reese participated in several programs and organizations to develop her skills related to communication, articulation, and research.

Reese was passionate about many parts of journalism and covered on a wide range of issues, including politics, entertainment, sports, and investigative reporting. Her dedication transformed her into a one-man show. She researched issues, developed concepts, did some script writing, scheduled interviews, shot footage, produced films, and marketed her work on social media.

Hence, she had become well-equipped with diverse knowledge in research, community outreach, journalism, and connecting with people while she paved her way into the field of broadcast journalism. In her free time, she hosted a radio show called A Not So Different World on WHBC 96.3 HD3, which kept her motivated.

The show would touch upon topics mostly dealt with day-to-day affairs but with a twist as they were narrated from the perspective of a senior in college who hadn’t set foot into the real world. Talking about giving back to the community, people like Maya Reese never fail to make their contribution count as she has been doing her part for over a decade.

“Since 2012, I have donated clothes, toys, and cleaning supplies to a few of the shelter locations. I have helped clean the kitchen, bathrooms, and offices. When I have excess free time, I tutor the children in subjects such as English and Spanish. I try to serve as a mentor for the underprivileged, yet extremely bright children,” reads Reese’s LinkedIn profile info regarding volunteer work.

Moving forward in a similar vein, Reese would publish videos of her interviews with emerging influencers who revealed personal experiences.

Her accomplishments in the field

As mentioned above, Maya Reese always had her heart set on broadcast journalism, however, it didn’t stop her from pursuing her talents in different aspects of the field. As a result, her career path features diversity. She produced video packages, wrote articles, interviewed several artists, hosted a radio show, made graphics, and published a book. Simply put, she has done everything under the sun when it comes to making an impact through journalism in a short period.

Her previous works include Spotlight News Network, PJ’s Shy-Town (a children’s book that was published by Reese), GlassHouse Radio, The Hilltop Newspaper, WSRB 106.3FM Radio, Burrell Communications, WVON 1690AM Radio, FOX Chicago Channel 32, and The Chicago Tribune.

Finally, her hard work started paying off 5 years ago when she received one of the major accomplishments of her life, i.e. being named a Forbes Under 30 Scholar. She attended the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston, MA, together with over 9000 other business leaders and entrepreneurs.

In the same week, Reese got the opportunity to work the red carpet for the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards in Miami, Florida. In addition to being an NBC Universal Fellow and a past member of the Howard University School of Communication’s Cathy Hughes Annenberg Honors Program, Maya Reese’s drive to establish a name for herself drove her to become a dedicated and ambitious scholar who pursued her aspirations.

Finally, her aim to be the one to give voice to the people who are usually overlooked and bring a positive change in society day by day has been phenomenal. As she put it, “I hope to expand my range within media as a whole. I already have a lot of experience writing articles, profiles, listicles, etc. but I would now like to be able to adventure into fields that I am not comfortable with.”

Now, looking up to a new adventure with one of WNBA’s generational talents in the league, Maya Reese is on Cloud 9 with the sunrise of her podcast era for which she has been working for quite a while. So, stay tuned for her new beginnings coming along.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger