Disrupting Journalism: Aundrea Cline-Thomas on Authentic Storytelling

TRANSCRIPT

Kelly Meerbott  

Hey y’all, it’s Kelly Meerbott, host of Hidden human. Today we are talking to my good friend, journalist and founder of Mountain Court Media, Aundrea Cline-Thomas. She’s going to talk to us about her 2022 inflection point in her career, the trends that she’s seeing in leadership and the importance of storytelling to leaders across the board. 

So let’s begin our conversation, and I have to say, hi friend! Aundrea Cline-Thomas is in the house. Oh my God, so journalist, which is how I met you. Well, you’re the founder of Mountain Court Media. So first of all, I’m curious where that name came from.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Okay, well, I’m just so happy to be here to see you. We met during a really tough time for me, and so this feels like this is very much of an evolution for me, so I’m just happy to be here. Mountain court is a street that my mother grew up on in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and on that street, my great grandfather built a home. 

He was like a trader, so he would go up to the provinces, make money and bring it back down to Freetown, which is the capital city. Saved his money, he built a house, and generations of my family have lived in that house. 

And the part of journalism that really kind of was frustrating for me is that I didn’t feel like it honored the complexity and depth of communities of color. And so when I created my business, and I was thinking about like, what’s the framework that I want to stand for? 

I really wanted to stand for a place where you didn’t have to meet the status quo, that it was a disruptive space where we honor our history and celebrate our roots and celebrate our differences. And so that’s why I named it Mountain Court Media.

Kelly Meerbott  

I’m trying to hold it together, because it’s such a moving story, and it’s so you. That’s the essence of who you are, you honor life and how it manifests, thank you for sharing that. So you’re absolutely right, and I think that we lose the origin stories. 

And I told you, before we got out of here, that Mr. Rogers used to carry a quote in his wallet that said, “There isn’t anybody we couldn’t learn to love once we’ve heard their story.” And I think there are so many commonalities through our differences. What are you working on that is honoring the mission vision values that you created. 

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Let me tell you the beauty of it, right? It’s that I created a mission before I knew how it would manifest. But when you say something out loud, and when you’re intentional about it, you attract the things that you want to do. 

So what does it mean? Let’s start there. It’s a strategic storytelling agency. I describe it this way, I help my clients tell better stories about themselves, their work in each other through creative projects to corporate media training. So what does that mean? 

Right now, in this moment, I’m working on a YouTube series with former White House staffers and their political strategists and my really dear friend, who’s a comedian, talking about the intersection of black women, politics and culture. 

I am working with a journalism organization on their live events team and curating discussions that are intersectional. And so I get to say who gets on a panel, and I get to really think deeply about who we haven’t heard from so we can move stories forward. 

I also work with a global tech company in their media training, so I really get to help corporate executives across the world literally figure out what their narrative is and land it with impact, without them trying to be anything other than themselves. 

And then the other thing that I’m doing right now is helping journalists transition into new areas and helping them understand that they have agency, helping them understand that the world is a lot bigger, because there’s a lot of volatility in the marketplace right now. There’s a lot of layoffs, there’s a lot of buyouts, and there’s just like the media is just at an inflection point. So I’m helping people kind of navigate their journey. 

Kelly Meerbott  

I might have to have you tell my story, because I’ve always wanted somebody of your caliber, and I was in talks with Ernest Owens, who’s a good friend of mine, not that I don’t love him, and he’s not excellent at what he does, but I feel like I need a woman to kind of interview me. To pull it out, because I’m not good at talking about myself. 

I mean, I can tell stories all day long. But I recently had somebody say to me, do you know that you answer a question and then tell me something else. So I’m like, Yeah, because I’m a coach and my company is called YOU: Loud and Clear for a reason. It’s not about me. 

But I love that, and it’s interesting when I’m coaching executives. The first part of the process when you work with me is to hear your story from birth until now. And one I’m listening for their storytelling ability, because you and I both know these executives talk about influence and executive presence all the time, but they don’t utilize their story. 

And I think what you’re doing is so important, not only for the skill set of the people that you’re working with, but for capturing it, for historical value, for humanity. 

First before I go on to when we met, and how that kind of shaped your life, are there specific action steps that before somebody comes to you that they can take to kind of start thinking about their story?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

You know what? I think that when people are thinking about telling their story. They think outside of themselves first. This is how I need to look, this is how I need to sound, this is how I want to feel. I will not feel nervous. And they assign characteristics, like feelings to it, good, bad, very binary feelings to it, right? 

And that’s a block that creates a block, and so you don’t have to do anything before coming to me, because I want you in your most authentic form. We work together, and it’s something that I had to learn on my journey. 

When I was in Philly, I took acting classes to help my on air performance. I took them to become somebody else, because that’s what I thought I needed to succeed. But what it taught me was just to be an elevated version of myself. But to do that, you have to understand what your baseline is. 

Where are you starting? So you know where to go from there. And so that’s kind of what I’m mimicking, and when I’m working with clients, is saying, All right, what’s your desired impact? What is a message that you want to land? And then let’s work backwards. Who are you speaking to? The differentiation doesn’t come in the message. The differentiation comes in curating that message for your specific audience. 

Kelly Meerbott  

Yeah that’s great. Now, what about like, if you were to talk to, let’s say, high school, into college, like you’re going into college, what would you tell them to communicate going into that interview, that college interview, what are things you should think about? 

Okay, we talked about the baseline, where you’re coming from, your unique magic, your loving essence, that we need to bring it onto the world. But are there tactical things that they can remember to make more of an impact through telling their internal story?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

You want to tell your ‘Why’. That’s what resonates so many people are saying this is what I do, to check the box right here are the box checker things. Be impressed with my box checking. 

People don’t remember that. What people remember is the heart to heart connection. So tell them your ‘Why’, because chances are that there’s part of your story that will resonate with them and their experiences that they’ve had in their lives, right? And that’s what makes you memorable.

Kelly Meerbott  

And I love that, like you’re literally describing my coaching process, right? Storytelling. And then we go into two sessions of core purpose, or your why, what’s your why? You and I both know, because we’ve been in corporate. 

I worked for Clear Channel, you worked for, you know, we’ll leave that if you need to know, Google her. I don’t need to give that company any extra flowers. But it’s like, people will go, “Oh yeah I’ve done that before.” Have you done it for yourself? 

Because typically, we’ve done it for the organizations that we work for, their mission, vision, values. But what’s yours? Like you told me what your ‘Why” is, and mine is a focus on creating belonging. 

And what I mean by that is you. You belong to yourself first, however you manifest right and love on that and from that place of wholeness and healing within yourself, create belonging wherever you go. 

So when I have days where I’m like, I don’t want to do this, I’m like, come on. You gotta model that. So talk to me about a pivotal moment in your career that significantly shaped your leadership style.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Wow. I mean, I have so many but in framing it with your leadership style, I would say it’s when in 2022 I left news. I left my job in news. It’s the only job I’ve ever known, it’s the only career I’ve ever known, right?

But I decided to be a journalist when I was 17 years old, and I did everything that I did subsequent to that decision that I made in June of whatever year that was 2019 I think and everything that I did subsequent to that was to help me get to that point. 

And so when I got to the point in June of 2022, when I was walking into my boss’s office to tell her that I was not going to continue with this company, and I had not told very many people about my decision to just blow it all up, I couldn’t believe that. 

I had to speak to my 17 year old self about like, Are you letting her down? You tried really hard. This is not the outcome you wanted. You have to save yourself. I knew it was right, right? You know, academically, but it still was a very hard thing to do. 

So in terms of, it’s shaping my leadership. It defined that I am, in fact, a leader. I’ve known that since I was a child, but I never had the title. People knew I was a leader, like I would speak and people would listen. 

And in terms of coworkers and management they could see that I have a lot of currency in my newsrooms and stuff like that, but I don’t think I fully embraced what that meant. And so I didn’t decide to go into another corporate job, because I just didn’t see anything that I liked. 

So I created my own, and so really my leadership style was based on how I wasn’t afforded opportunities to lead, and how other people could not see how I could add value. I was trying to be put in those [leadership] positions, but they wanted me to be in a box over here. 

And I’m like, No, I have a lot of agency, like, I’m really good at this other thing. And so I felt misaligned, although I was trying to communicate where I could add the most value. So I have an innate skill of seeing where people thrive and putting them in positions to do that, as opposed to trying to make them be or do something that they’re not. And that stemmed from knowing how that felt for me.

Kelly Meerbott  

So take me back to that moment. Okay, so you’re about to walk into your boss’s office, right? What were the emotions and physical sensations that came up? I’m going to divert for one second, when I met you, I could feel you. I could feel your energy. You didn’t have to tell me you’re a leader. 

I was like, Who is this?So I’m so glad you honored that part of you and shifted that move. But go back to that moment in time. So when I got fired, because I got fired, I can remember it right. And I remember the pit in my stomach and then the anger, because I knew it was completely wrong. 

And there were other things in the background that I won’t get into. But literally, it was “She’s a loud mouth broad get her the fuck out of here.” But what that did was launch me into what I was supposed to do. 

And I don’t know if you had this in your job, but I had one good boss, not a boss, a leader in 11 years. So the way I learned to coach was, I’ll do the opposite of that. But what were you feeling, and what was your body telling you at that moment? 

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

There was a lot of lead up work. I was in therapy very consistently leading up to it. I was just doing a lot of work, and it just became the only option. I was trying to do everything, but that, but that just became the only option. 

And when I walked in, because they had no idea it was going to happen, I kind of blindsided them. So the context is they wanted me to have a bigger position, a more visible position, and I declined it, because what was presented I would have to disrespect myself to take that offer.

And so I said no, and they were just kind of like, like, what? Who does this? Be grateful, be grateful, right? And so then it was in an ambiguous state, like, so we have to so the backs really quickly. 

So there was a huge management change, like a whole management upheaval, and so that these were the new managers that were in, it was at the time when they had kind of settled into the roles, and they were kind of looking at the landscape and trying to move things around and trying to get things on the right track. 

And so everybody was having conversations with them about contracts, because we didn’t really have ones before, blah blah. So then it was just kind of like, okay, like we need her under a more stringent contract, like a traditional contract, and what is that going to look like. 

So the meeting was to talk about my future with a company and what I really wanted that to look like. And so what it ended up becoming was me saying that I don’t want to have a future in the company. And so that’s not at all the premise of how this meeting was going to go. 

So walking in, I was just thinking about, how am I going to say this? Because I hadn’t landed on a script in my head. And I fumbled and bubbled and fumbled and bubbled. And then she said, Are you saying that you’re leaving? And I said, Yes. And then I started to cry. So it wasn’t like I had my cape on, had my theme music turned up, I started to cry, because I could not believe that I was saying these words out of my mouth in a meeting that really, really mattered.

Kelly Meerbott  

Were you in your body at that time? 

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I was. Because really the whole point of it was showing up for myself, and so it wasn’t something that I wanted to flee. It was something that I wanted to remember, and it was something that I fully wanted to experience, because it was me standing up for myself and me choosing myself.

And I hadn’t necessarily done that in my career. I had kind of taken what I was given and accepted it, but in the work that I had been doing for years leading up to that moment, that was my line in the sand, and I really wanted to be fully present for that. 

And so she was shocked. I was like, oh, boy, you said that out loud. Oh, okay, girl, you’re gonna have to deal with the consequences. Now, okay, like, it’s a real thing. Now It doesn’t just exist in your head anymore. It’s a real thing now. 

So yeah I left. But I just was like, I can’t believe it. And then I called friends, and I’m in New York. I tried to walk out the building as fast as possible. I walked up the street, called for [my friends] like “911 I need to talk to you right now.” And we got on FaceTime and I sat on someone’s stoop, like a block away and cried on their stoop. 

But I was like, I did it. They’re like, what do you mean? And I go, “I just quit my job.” And so the day I quit wasn’t the day I left, because I couldn’t leave for another month. 

But by that night, I came home, and I just looked at myself in the mirror and said, You did it. And I was like, Well, God, I don’t have anything lined up. You’re just gonna have to figure it out from here. And I slept really, really well that night.

Kelly Meerbott  

I love you. You are so brave. And I love that you brought God in, because for me I don’t care who you vote for, pray to, or sleep with. As long as you’re a good person, you’re not doing harm to yourself and others. 

Go, go with God, my friend. But I think in this country we conflate faith with religion. But for me I lean into having more faith than fear. I think back on my own life. And I think about how many times God, the universe, whatever it is, stepped in and guided me, it’s always landed in a better way, you know? 

I’m really playing with this idea, and I’d love to hear what you think about it, of surrender, right? And I used to think surrender was like, Okay, I’m giving up. Well, surrender for me now, in the context I’m talking about is really about where I want to go. God, I’m surrendering the ‘How’ to you.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas  

And I think it’s a co creation, right? And so I recognize that I use brute force in my career. I did all the things I pushed that boulder up the mountain. I pushed it, and I said, “Okay, this is where it got me.” And there was a lot of grace in there too, a whole lot. 

But where I need to go is going to take a different version of me, and so I can’t use those same tools in the same way to go to where I need to go. I did what I needed to do in that season because that’s what I needed to do. But in this new season, I just don’t want to have a parallel track. 

I want it to be fundamentally different. And so surrender has to be a really big part of it, understanding that it’s uncomfortable, but the comfort in choosing that way was because I knew I had done the work, I knew I had been good to people. I knew that my intentions were good, and I said, although I don’t know how it counts. I know it counts for something.

Kelly Meerbott  

I don’t know if you believe in karma, I do. I was thinking about this morning, when I was at the gym getting ready to go into class, I was like “Karma is awesome, and she really has an amazing sense of humor.”

Like, some of the things I’ve been seeing in our world today, I’m like, “That’s really funny.” Like, apparently a billboard went up outside of Mar-a-Lago. A friend of mine sent it to me last night. 

Fact check this, because I’m not sure if it’s true, but apparently, the billboard says, “Welcome to Mar-a-Lago, home of the convicted felon” and a picture of him. And I’m like, Oh, my God, that’s really, that’s really funny, like, really funny. What I’m rolling around in my head is, who are the leaders that have inspired you the most, and what lessons did you learn from them? 

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

My parents first and foremost. So I said they were from West Africa, and so they’re just their story of immigrating to the country and creating a life from scratch is a pretty amazing feat, and I have a brother and a sister, and we’re all doing well for ourselves but we are rooted in the culture. 

So growing up, I would go back to Sierra Leone every other year because I had a ton of family there, and a lot of them have since come to the States, but I still have a good number of family still in Sierra Leone or in the UK, and just being raised with a sense of culture. 

So the biggest part of the culture is community, and so you don’t do anything alone. At the house, there’s always everybody there, there’s not a singular, nuclear family. And even in the DC area, my parents had cultivated a community. 

So I had all these people around me. I grew up with a lot of people around me. I didn’t know who were blood relatives and who weren’t. Everybody was auntie and cousin and this and that, and that’s how I was raised. 

And so that’s how I live my life. I don’t do anything by myself. I do everything in community. Those were probably the biggest influences on me in terms of, like, pop culture, Oprah, of course. 

In terms of pop culture, like Oprah, for sure. What I couldn’t articulate as a child is that it wasn’t like “So I want to have my own talk show.” It was, wow, this is a black woman who does not look like what culture says she needs to look like. 

She is not going with the status quo in terms of like the topics she did at first, and then she completely changed. And the masses are following her. They say Americans don’t read. She started a book club. 

It was like, massive, don’t do this. She did this. And so she always was responsible with her social currency, and she showed up in ways that were counterculture, and it worked. And that she was true to herself and let people in on her journey, and I’m obsessed with her, and so that’s why Oprah is it for me.

Kelly Meerbott  

Have you met her?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I have not.

Kelly Meerbott  

Okay, Oprah, yo. Oprah, if you’re listening.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I drew about that day talking about staying in your body. Just through journalism, I’ve met celebrities, political figures, stuff like that. And people are people, right? So I’m not like, “Oh my God,” but Oprah will make me forget my name. I feel like I would like, take off. I would just completely be out of my body and take off. 

So I would say those were probably the two biggest ones. And then lastly, when I met you, I was doing a lot of work. What is this feeling like? What am I supposed to be doing? And then I was looking to, who do I admire and why? 

And they were all women who had their own businesses. All of them had their own business, so they’re on television, and they still had their own business, and they use their personality to put good in the world. 

And so as I was deconstructing, why do I gravitate towards this person and this person and this person, that was like their common thread and common three themes. I was still not putting the two and two together, that’s something that I would do, but you know, you have to follow the patterns right in your life.

Kelly Meerbott  

Oh, yeah, yeah. And that’s part of the reason why I have my clients tell stories, because if I start seeing behavioral patterns that are blocking them from being the best version of themselves, I’ll be able to call that out. 

I was shouting out for Oprah, for you. Again, I don’t fully know what this means, but it’s 8/8, the Lion’s Portal, which is like the most powerful day for manifesting. So I am going to call out like she’s listening to this podcast. But Oprah, if you’re listening, please reach out to my friend Aundrea, please. She’s amazing. 

So okay, let’s, let’s talk about this diversity, equity and inclusion. When I look at my friend and colleague group, it is very intentionally diverse, equitable, inclusive, right? But do I sit there and go, I don’t have enough non binary friends? No, it doesn’t happen that way. 

It’s just I want to benefit and learn from other people who don’t look like me, because I feel like I would be robbing myself of the richness of life if I didn’t have that, right? But let’s talk corporate. Why is it important to have diverse voices from underrepresented communities and to amplify their stories and amplify them in leadership positions?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I mean, you’re just going to have a different outcome. Everything is better when more people can come to the table and there’s plenty of data to back it up, so it’s not a warm and fuzzy thing. And just in terms of storytelling, is because the world is a multicultural world, your customer base is multicultural, and they have to see themselves reflected and it is nuanced, right? 

And so everybody has blind spots. You do and it’s not enough to have people in positions. They need to be empowered, to not just show up and to have their face on the website. Their experiences need to be welcomed as well. And I think that’s kind of what’s missing, because that’s not quantitative, right? 

And so it’s hard to measure if somebody feels comfortable bringing their experiences forward, but it’s fostering a culture where leadership can be quiet and can listen and then can take the feedback and have that feedback loop. 

They can take the feedback, implement feedback, and the other way around, right? But it’s a cultural shift. It’s not just having certain people in places because, just because you have people of intersectional identities in positions of power, doesn’t mean that they are empowered. Those are two very different things.

Kelly Meerbott  

Yeah, I have our coach in our cohort. It’s a network of almost 60 coaches worldwide that manifest in different ways, right from indigenous cultures to a transgender former executive of PNC Bank who’s actually running for office. And yeah, she’s awesome. Her name is Ashley Brendard. She’s great. 

But I remember talking to Kapiolani Laronal, who is one of our indigenous coaches. And she was saying that prior to becoming a coach herself she worked for Yale’s Native American Studies Center, and she said “Well, it didn’t work out. I don’t know if you’ve heard this story that Mama Yale has a big purse, but it’s always closed.”

And I said, “No, let me guess what happened.” She goes, Sure. I said, “They made you all these pretty promises, you take the job, and none of it is true.” And she goes, yep, yep. And it’s heartbreaking, because she is one of those people, you would love her I should probably connect you to, who is all about bringing everybody to the table and claiming the land, and really honoring who you are in this space. 

So I just absolutely love diverse stories. I just do, I think it’s important. You know, our culture, there’s a reason why it’s called a melting pot, because it’s so rich. But going back to Sierra Leone, because I was thinking about this, and I’ve been talking to a lot of people who are from different countries in Africa, and this can be a very controversial topic. So are you ready Tell me about your Jollof.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

So we never enter the race, because it’s actually the best. We don’t need to frolic in that way. So, yeah it’s all very different, because there’s some that are very tomatoey based. And ours is not like the Gambians have, they call it Benachin is their Jollof rice, and their rice kernels are really little. 

It’s good, but ours is just better. Ours is better. I do want to say, though, kind of going back to what you were saying before, I want to say the power of journalism, like what I love the most. So I started my career in Macon, Georgia. I’m from the DC area, so I got a job for $18,000 a year in Macon Georgia, and I had never spent any significant time in the south. 

And so I had my biases about the South and southern people, and so I would have to go and sit with people in their homes to interview them about different stories. That’s why I loved journalism. I’m sitting with people who think certain things about me. 

I’m like, going into these main streets, which I never knew that there were still main streets, and I was like, Oh, my God, this is out of my social studies book from the sixth grade. Like it feels like nothing has changed. It’s very small towns, and I had my bias, right? 

But I go and I speak to the people, and now that they don’t have bias either, now that they have the right language sometimes as well. But we all want the same thing, right? And so I had to check my own bias. I had to see people with an open heart. 

They had to see me with an open heart. And we don’t have to agree on everything, but there are common things where I could sit with them in their home, and they will offer me a sweet tea and we can have a conversation. And I think that’s like the most beautiful thing that my job thrust me into those positions, and most people don’t live their lives in that way. 

So I just think it’s about the curiosity to say, “Okay, what are my biases here?” And not make the other person challenge them, but just being open to saying, “That’s my stuff,” and not having to project that on other people, and also seeing where sometimes we focus on the differences.

Instead say, where do we agree? Because there’s some place where we agree. They say a clock is right twice a day. Like there’s some places, and maybe starting from there, as opposed to just where the friction is. 

Kelly Meerbott  

You’re so right, because I sit there and I watch these disagreements from each side, and I’m like, you both want the same thing. You both want the ability to live in peace. You both want the ability to live that way. 

You want to live without somebody telling you how to do that, right? It’s like we’re so focused on the binary, right? “You’re wrong and I’m right.” And it’s like that doesn’t leave any room for possibility or curiosity. 

It’s really an ego thing that keeps you identified in right and wrong. And you and I both know it’s never that black and white ever. I had a similar situation where, when I met my husband, he was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, and I grew up in South Florida, about an hour north of Miami, which is like the sixth borough, right? 

So I go, and I have my own biases, and I remember the first weekend I was there, I took a run in the neighborhood, and that counted eight Confederate flags. I called my mom crying. I was like, I don’t know what I was thinking and where I moved, but this is not it, right?

And while that was part of my journey, and I will honor and respect it, it just was not where I fit, and it felt like I was chipping off really valuable parts of myself to kind of fit into this society that just wasn’t in alignment with who I am. 

And then I went to Philly, and I was like, Oh, here’s home. Yeah, okay, a lot better. It feels a lot better. But the future of leadership, let’s talk about that, and then we’ll go into some rapid fire questions, if that’s okay. All right, so what changes or trends do you foresee in leadership in the coming years?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I think the trends that are here is that leadership has to be far more authentic. It has to be far more open to saying, “I don’t know the answer to this.” And I think that there also needs to be a greater emphasis on a feedback loop. So we’re not just serving our customers, but we’re also internally serving our employees, because employee wellness has to take center stage. 

We are reframing our relationship with work, and I do believe that there is a balance of where productivity can still be maintained, but people still have a life, because it is very expensive to go try to keep finding new people. So I think the thing that I wish more leaders understood is that you can set the bar really high. You have to treat people good, and they will go to the ends of the earth for you.

Kelly Meerbott  

And probably blow past the bar.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

It starts with hiring. Hiring people, not just for their skills. Because I think that’s another thing that’s going to change, is this idea that just because you went to this school, that means that you are this level of competent, like the idea that people need to come from this pedigree and this background to do this type of job.

I think we need to open the door more to understand in the hiring process, people’s collective story, because somebody, because not everybody, was given the same opportunity. But that doesn’t mean they can’t do the job. That doesn’t mean that they can’t rise to the occasion. 

So I think you’ll see that trend. And also, college is so incredibly expensive that it’s pricing everybody out. But that doesn’t mean that competence, you know, can’t follow. So I think that you’ll see the change in leadership, of being more authentic, hopefully more transparent, but also in the hiring process of opening up the doors to people who are considered non-traditional and giving them a shot at these opportunities. 

And, you know, it’s, it’s interesting. We’re having this conversation at this time, shortly after Vice President Harris picked Tim Walz because he is an untraditional politician, where he didn’t go to Stanford, he didn’t go to Princeton. 

You know what I mean, these are the same type of schools. He was a teacher. He’s a very everyday man. He was in the National Guard, like his resume, but also how he rose in leadership. 

I’m just hoping that we see more of that, where you see people who are able to have different lives, right? Different Seasons, different lives, and that they don’t have a cap on how far they can go. But it takes leaders to say, “Hey, let’s open up the doors a lot more.” 

Kelly Meerbott  

I think authenticity has to be rooted in alignment, meaning your externally facing face needs to be the same outside versus inside, you know what I mean? You talked about serving employees, and I want corporate to make the shift that your employees are your customers as well. 

And I love that, and like to understand that education doesn’t have to come in a classroom. I think back to my grandmother, my great grandmother. My grandmother didn’t go to high school, did peace work during World War Two, they saved the foil and all of that, but she was one of the smartest people I knew. So all right, are you ready for your four rapid fire questions?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I’m ready. 

Kelly Meerbott  

What’s your favorite comfort food?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Favorite comfort food? Okay, so this is actually a Sierra Leone dish, and it’s called Okra Soup, and it’s almost like gumbo. But I love okra, and so my mom, every time I go home, she makes it. And so that’s my comfort food.

Kelly Meerbott  

Can you describe it a little bit? 

Aundrea Cline-Thomas 

I don’t even know what’s in it. I’m like, awful, because I cannot cook African food, because my mom does it so well. But it’s just over rice. It’s not so soupy, but it’s almost like a gumbo over rice, and she puts shrimp in it. 

And so you could put meat or whatever, I’m a pescetarian now so she puts shrimp, and it’s just so good, and I love it. My family, they love different things. I’m the only one who has that as my favorite. But that is my comfort food. 

Kelly Meerbott  

I love that. I love that, tell Mom I’m on my way.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I know, I know she cooks for everybody. By the way, she cooks for everybody. So just say the word and she’ll make you some.

Kelly Meerbott  

Don’t tempt me. Seriously, I am there. Okay, what books are on your nightstand?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

So I’ve got, let me look. I’ve got Sheila Johnson’s book, and that’s her memoir. I have The Setback Cycle, which is my friend Amy Shoenthal’s book. I have the Bible on my nightstand. There’s a book called What Do You Need by Lauren Wesley Wilson, and she’s the founder of Women of Color in Communications, and I just went to their conference. So that’s on my nightstand as well.

Kelly Meerbott  

I love that. Okay, what songs are on your playlist? 

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Beyonce. There’s so much Beyonce. There’s literally so much Beyonce. I have a little bit of Go-go music, which is from DC just to remind me of home. And like Wale, who’s also from grew up not far from where I grew up. 90s. I just love the 90s. 

Kelly Meerbott  

The class I took this morning was with my favorite instructor, and it was 2000s R&B and hip hop. I was like, Oh yeah, man. Totally jam out, you know.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Good times, yeah. So I don’t have a whole lot of new stuff, except for Beyonce. But like, outside of her, I don’t have a whole lot of new stuff,

Kelly Meerbott  

I loved her introducing the Team USA, I thought YA YA was like I wouldn’t have thought of that, but when they did it, genius. That’s genius. Okay, what are you most grateful for at this moment right now?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

I’m grateful that I’m trying. I’m just trying. I’m just out here trying to make it happen. And last night, I had a cohort of journalists that’s going through a month-long intensive process. This is our first cohort to help them transition their careers. 

And we had our first webinar yesterday. And so I’m so pumped and jazzed. It was about mental health and people. It just resonated with people. And I was just like, oh my god, I built this thing from the ground to be a respite for people like, oh my god, I’m building what I needed. 

And just because I didn’t have it doesn’t mean I can’t offer it up to other people. And so I’m just really proud of myself and grateful for that.

Kelly Meerbott  

You should be. And that really resonates with me on a deep level, because that’s why I built that cohort, you know? And it was funny because my business partner, Jackie Linton. She was like, Kelly, we need more men. I was like, No, we don’t. 

She goes, if you’re really going to build a diverse cohort, come on. And I look at them and I’m like, this is what I wanted. I wanted that community. I wanted people to see my magic, not because I checked off these boxes, right, but so I totally get that. Okay, people want to hire you to tell their stories. How do they get in touch with you?

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

So you can, at AundreaCT.com You can send me a message through my website. I’m on LinkedIn, aundrea@mountaincourtmedia.com court like the basketball court, and you can just send me an email. And then we can go ahead and get to work. I would love to work with people and help them tell their stories.

Kelly Meerbott  

I love that. And thank you so much for spending your precious time currency with us. I appreciate you so much, and I could sit here and talk for hours with you. You know that? I think we’ve done that before. Thank you to our audience for listening. It’s our intention on Hidden Human to inspire you to go out and have authentic conversations, to deepen the relationships in your life. Thank you so much, and make it a great day. Bye.