#BehindtheSelfie with... Rhodé Marshall
1. Where do you live, work and play?
Everything that matters to me professionally and socially is in Johannesburg. This city and I have an intense love/hate relationship – we have since 2010 when I moved here from Cape Town. But I can’t imagine living elsewhere in this country.
2. What’s your claim to fame?
To some, I’m a great radio producer and to others, a great lifestyle editor. Depends on who you’re asking. But if I had to answer, I’d say it’s my opinionated big-mouth that challenges the patriarchy. Or at least, I hope that’s what I’d be known for!
3. Describe your career so far.
An insane ball of confusion that has always led me to the right people. I have treated every move as an opportunity to learn something new and gain new skills, so today I have a vast amount of experience in radio, digital and print.
I was the project manager to the M&G’s former editor-in-chief Chris Roper and also worked closely with the then-CTO of the M&G Alistair Fairweather – both allowed me to do more than I had the experience to handle.
But that sparked an interest in UX design, which led to me doing a course with UCT last year. It’s something I’d love to explore further.
4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.
I love Fenty X Puma everything – I just can’t help myself. I own way too many Mac lipsticks and I also have an obsession with metallic boots. I hope they stay in fashion forever, otherwise, I’ve got a problem.
One of my other favourite things is being alone and doing absolutely nothing. It’s my favourite treat.
5. What do you love about your industry?
I love how unpredictable it is. Ever-changing. I love that I get to write about the things I like and meet incredible people, some of them are incredibly complicated, though.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
It’s never really the same but my day starts with news updates, then responding to emails, the occasional meeting, editing and writing.
7. What are the tools of your trade?
The internet. But mostly, social media these days. I’ve discovered the most incredibly talented artists on social media platforms.
8. Who is getting it right in your industry?
Between 10 and 5 has made some amazing changes to their content since the appointment of Stefanie Jason as editor-in-chief.
She’s one of the smartest and most dynamic women in the industry. I love what she’s doing with the platform!
9. List a few pain points the industry can improve on.
Most newsrooms are still run by men. The industry can also be very ageist when it comes to the top positions.
10. What are you working on right now?
Besides City Press, I’ve started researching an idea for a novel. My mom loved Danielle Steel books and would send me to the local library to drop off her stash. Because I was too young for the content of those books, I’d take the slowest stroll in the world to be able to read some of the books. I don’t think that I’d write anything like that but I want to excite readers as much as Steel did my mom and aunts. I think that was probably the first career I thought of pursuing.
11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.
Oh, you can’t ask me about those things because I absolutely hate industry catchphrases. A lot of times, great stories and ideas get lost in the cloud of cool and fitting in.
The one I utter most is the good old word ‘deadline’.
12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
In the early hours of the morning when I have my usual 3am and 4am random wakeup.
13. What’s your secret talent/party trick?
I can actually hold a note, but you’ll only hear me sing randomly – never on demand.
14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?
Definitely, a technophile, although sometimes technology can be intrusive. Maybe I should blame the users and not technology…
15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?
An amazing little black book! My friends call me the Yellow Pages.
16. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?
Don’t limit yourself. Do way too much but also make sure that people don’t take advantage of you. And speak up! You’re allowed to.
Simple as that. City Press is one of Ads24's Sunday titles, so click through to their press office for more, email Marshall on az.oc.sserpytic@llahsram.edohr and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
