Ronny Maye: Freelance Writer for Reader's Digest, The Points Guy, Insider, Fodor's and more

In today’s episode, Ronny shares with Angela how she came to focus on mental health, plus-size travel, solo female travel, and Black American culture in her writing.  

 Follow Ronny’s life and work here: https://thelifeofronny.com/ 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/thelifeofronny/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelifeofronny?lang=en 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thelifeofronny  

Mental Health and Hygiene: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mental-health-and-hygiene-victories-tiktok-134050775.html 

17 Mental Health Resources to Support BIPOC:  https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/mental-health-resources-bipoc-tips-resources-181429800.html 

Discussing Mental Health articles: https://thelifeofronny.com/freelance-2/ 

Black Lives Matter: https://www.thedoe.com/narratives/black-lives-matter-protests 

Amtrak: https://www.insider.com/why-train-travel-better-for-plus-size-people-than-flying 

New Orleans: https://www.neworleans.com/ 

Colombia: https://colombia.travel/en 

Fat Girl Traveling: https://fatgirlstraveling.com/ 

Thank you for listening!  Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the Media in Minutes podcast here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-in-minutes/id1555710662 

Transcript

Angela Tuell: 0:05

Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those reports on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world. From our studio here at Communications Redefined, this is Media in Minutes. Today we are talking with North Carolina native Ronny Maye. Ronny is a mental health advocate, travel writer and lifestyle content creator with by lines in publications such as Yahoo, Canada, Reader's Digest, The Points Guy, Insider, Verywell and many more. She started sharing her travels to create a space for those who are apprehensive to do so as solo travelers, female travelers, plus sized travelers and/or black travelers intersecting all of these margins. Ronny's travel content focuses on magnifying black voices, in addition to accessibility, inclusion, and travel tips and hacks. Hi, Ronny, thanks for joining us today.

Ronny Maye: 1:07

Hi, thank you for having me. Glad to be here.

Angela Tuell: 1:10

Yes, I'm excited to talk with you. I'd love to start by learning a little more about your career path and how you've gotten to where you are today.

Ronny Maye: 1:18

So this was not what I planned for myself growing up, right.

Angela Tuell: 1:22

Okay.

Ronny Maye: 1:23

My whole life's plan throughout up until like college was to be a pediatrician.

Angela Tuell: 1:28

Okay.

Ronny Maye: 1:30

So completely different trajectory here.

Angela Tuell: 1:33

Right, right.

Ronny Maye: 1:34

But writing was always something that I had a passion for kind of like a hobby, you know, everybody journaled, everybody wrote poetry and little things like that. So it's just kind of like a side hobby. As I got older, I got more into travel with my friends and things like that. And it just eventually made sense to merge the two. Prior to though, when I did start writing professionally, it was entertainment journalism, for a urban entertainment magazine. And then I did like a plus size, fashion and things like that. So travel was just, a whole little loopy loop. And so eventually, it merged. And it just kind of progressed from there. And I've been doing it for a couple of years now. And I love it.

Angela Tuell: 2:26

That's fantastic. So you're mostly working in travel right now. Is that, has that really become your

Ronny Maye: 2:31

It has because I'm usually always on the go anyway. favorite? And so just being able to create content and write about those experiences, it is just taking a road of its own. Yeah, in become my focus. Yeah.

Angela Tuell: 2:50

That's great. And you also mentioned in your bio, that you are a mental health advocate. I'd love to hear more about that.

Ronny Maye: 2:57

Yeah. So before travel took a road of its own, my niche in writing was mental health, primarily breaking the stigma and sharing resources for black people and people of color. And women of color. Those are some of the communities of people who don't always get access that they need when it comes to mental health.

Angela Tuell: 3:21

Right.

Ronny Maye: 3:22

And I still do write about those things, and share resources and links like that, on social, and it just really I reached out to a provider in the area I was

Angela Tuell: 3:29

Really? derived from like my own experience of when I first sought professional help. And I was like traumatized in that experience. living in at the time, so in Pensacola. And their immediate response was, oh, well, you have to be, for lack of a better phrase committed for the weekend. So we could do an evaluation and watch you there, you can't leave, you can't have access to your phone. And I was like, I'm sorry. Maybe they got the lines crossed over. I was just calling to ask about coping mechanisms for like stress and anxiety and things like that. And the receptionist was like this was our standard procedure. What?!

Ronny Maye: 4:20

And when you come to us for assistance, this is what they have to do. You do like a 24 to 48 hour evaluation, where you are basically in this institution and it's what really got me was I had access to resources and things like that. So it's like if this is what it's like, for me, as a person who's done what knows how to navigate this system, what is it like for people who have no idea, who are reaching out for the first time, who feels like this may be standard because this is what the person on the other end of the phone is telling you. They're a professional facility you know, and so I wrote a wrote about for Indigo Blue Magazine, I wrote about that experience, and then went on to just write about how your mental health can manifest in everyday activities. So sometimes like your hygiene goes lacking your ability to interact with other people starts to decline and you know, all those different things and just really put, put it to the forefront so people can know that, as cliche as it sounds, it's okay to not be okay. And it's okay to ask for help. So for any magazines, a couple of blog sites, Yahoo, Canada, I've written, and others I've written about mental health and the different ways that manifest, resources for marginalized communities and things like that.

Angela Tuell: 5:47

That's great. We will definitely link to those in the show notes. So everyone listening can can take advantage of those resources for sure.

Ronny Maye: 5:55

Yeah - That's nice, cool.

Angela Tuell: 5:57

And as a travel writer, and lifestyle content trader, how do you find your story ideas?

Ronny Maye: 6:03

I like things that commit to me personally. So there's always that personal touch, right? So when I'm going somewhere, I am a usually a solo traveler, but I'm also a plus size traveler, I am a woman, and I'm a black traveler. And those are four categories of travelers that sometimes face discrimination, that sometimes I'll always have access and inclusion in different places. So those are the lenses that I view anything from first. Is it safe for me and other people like me in any of those categories to travel to that area, or to do that activity? Things like that. But then also just wanting to know the history and culture of a place. I think that's important to share with people looking for very unique things that people may not have thought to do in an area before. So the inspiration really just comes from, more or less the place I'm visiting. Like, there's always something to be inspired by wherever you're going.

Angela Tuell: 7:10

Yes. What have been some of your most memorable stories?

Ronny Maye: 7:16

Ooh. Um -

Angela Tuell: 7:17

This is a hard one, right?

Ronny Maye: 7:19

Yeah. Not related to travel, ironically, as the onset of the George Floyd protest, writing about that has been some of my most memorable pieces.

Angela Tuell: 7:35

Did you go there?

Ronny Maye: 7:37

I did not. But we participated in things locally, here in North Carolina. And we we've always done stuff like that. So that wasn't any kind of new activity for us. And by us, I mean, like myself and my family and close friends. Travel related, I would say, writing about Amtrak experience experiences have been really, really fun.

Angela Tuell: 8:05

Really? Okay.

Ronny Maye: 8:07

Very out of the box. Very unusual. I know, probably people will say something, some exotic thing or something like that. But in my writing, I also like to share things that you know, is relatable and something that is possible for any kind of traveler, you know, I really focus or try to focus on making things budget friendly and affordable. So people can understand that you can pretty much travel on any kind of budget. And so I have taken bus rides, I've done the Amtrak. I'm not - as much as I am a flight girl I will, I will do...[inaudible] the most sometimes, too.

Angela Tuell: 8:53

I have to admit, I did see your story. Your posts are about luxury bus travel. And I have never really put those two words together. In a sentence.

Ronny Maye: 9:02

Nor have I and when they advertised it like such I was like, "No, this gotta be a lie. I have to see what this is about." And it is a long way from what a Greyhound ride would be. Very, very interesting. But those are the kind of stories that are the conversation starters, that's bringing things to people's awareness that they might not have been aware of. And, again, just letting people know that you can you can travel on almost any budget, you know, so just showing them the different ways they could do that.

Angela Tuell: 9:40

Yes. Any stories you've wanted to write and haven't gotten to or haven't gotten to yet?

Ronny Maye: 9:45

Yeah, there are a lot. So like most kids, when there's something history related, you don't really have an interest in it. Or you learn it because you need to learn it for or a test or something like that. Right?

Angela Tuell: 10:02

Right.

Ronny Maye: 10:03

And so with black history and culture, and the American school, public school system, we really only got the stories in the gloss over versions, right? We never got into the nitty gritty in my mom, and, you know, it taught me and all those things. But as a kid, I was like, Oh, my God, I'm so tired of hearing about this. This is insane. Like, what?

Angela Tuell: 10:29

Yeah.

Ronny Maye: 10:31

But as I've gotten older, I've just realized, we, as black Americans, and black people, are so much more than the trauma stories that are typically put out there when it comes to sharing about our history and our culture. So I have been incorporating some components of black history and culture into all of my trips. And every time I'm somewhere, I'm just like, oh, man, I need to I need to send my editor a note. This is an amazing story. And just learning about those leaders outside of the prominent ones we hear about a lot. So you know, usually when you think about it, especially during like February, they talk about Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Park, Thurgood Marshal, but we have in every city, county, state, those same type of people. You know, you have people who were on the forefront locally. And so going places and learning about those people, learning about the restaurants that were the epicenters to, where they were able to meet to strategize and organize protests, learning about just the triumph, you know, and the victories that were shared, all throughout history. I love learning about all of that. And as I learn more, I'm like, I want to write this as a story. Someone else needs to know this, there's so many stories still to be written, still to be told. And I'm excited to be a vessel to share it.

Angela Tuell: 12:11

Yeah, that's what I love about your stories, too. I feel like I really do learn something from each one that I've read. Which is great. You know, there's so many writers, so many stories out there. So that doesn't always happen. So you do you definitely do a fabulous job.

Ronny Maye: 12:27

I appreciate that. Thank you.

Angela Tuell: 12:28

Yes. And talking a little bit more about travel, what are some of your favorite destinations, which I know is a hard one as well?

Ronny Maye: 12:35

If there as a beach I'm there, that's gonna always be my favorite. Somewhere I can watch a really good sunrise and sunset.

Angela Tuell: 12:43

I agree.

Ronny Maye: 12:46

Now this, this location may surprise you, because it does not fit the bill for what I just said. But domestically, my favorite destination is actually New Orleans. It is such an amazing place so vibrant, so rich in history and culture and a great foodie destination, the people are always so welcoming and friendly. And I've actually been in New Orleans more times than I can count. And every time feels like the first time because it's always something new to engage in and something new to do. So domestically, that would be my favorite location. Abroad, I would have to say, I went to Colombia last year for the first time. And I think that trumps all the other places I've been. The same feeling I just described for New Orleans, I kind of felt that in Colombia. Very vibrant, very welcoming, very diverse. And it just felt like being around people I've known like my entire life. And that's an amazing feeling to have when you're traveling somewhere.

Angela Tuell: 13:53

Yes. Oh, that's great. Did you write an article about it?

Ronny Maye: 13:57

I have one forthcoming.

Angela Tuell: 13:59

Okay. Okay, good.

Ronny Maye: 14:01

There was just so many different stories I wanted to tell about my experience visiting Columbia. So I just wanted to take my time and not rush and get it with the right publication, actually currently editing it. So in the next coming weeks,

Angela Tuell: 14:18

When is it - in the next couple of weeks? Okay, great. What outlet is it for?

Ronny Maye: 14:22

So it's actually for a blog site that I'm a contributor for for plus size travelers, called Fat Girl Traveling, and I love Annette so much. I can just go to her with an idea. And she's just like, I like that. So yeah. But within the travel community that she has, so many people are plus size travelers. I mean, obviously given the the name of this site, but they look for places that feel welcoming, they look for places where they have inclusion and accessibility and things like that. And so I just felt like that wasn't really Good place to put the first story about Colombia with that site.

Angela Tuell: 15:06

We'll definitely be watching for it for sure. Do you have any upcoming exciting travel planned?

Ronny Maye: 15:10

Yeah, I'm about to leave on a little mini World Tour.

Angela Tuell: 15:14

Oh really. That's very cool.

Ronny Maye: 15:16

So I just came back from Finland and that was amazing.

Angela Tuell: 15:21

Oh wow.

Ronny Maye: 15:22

Finland is the sixth year in a row, I believe considered the happiest country in the world. So it was really cool seeing what that was all about. Love that. So I did like Seattle. And then I did a cross country train trip. And then I came home for like, less than 24 hours. And then I went to Finland for a week. So I'm home resting, and my upcoming travels, is taking me to New Orleans. Ironically, right, Jacksonville, Florida. I leave there I go to Memphis, I'm home for like, a day and a half. But I'm gonna stay at like my family's house. And then I go to St. Lucia and back to Florida. So a little bit of all over the place, and I am super excited about all of them.

Angela Tuell: 16:14

Oh, that's wonderful. And speaking of of, you're talking about travel a little bit, what are some of your best travel tips? What are your go tos?

Ronny Maye: 16:23

Book direct as often as possible. I know it is so very, so very tempting when you're like browsing a site and you see that pop up for like the 999, flight, hotel rental car all activities special. Please don't book that it's very tempting, but booking direct will always be the best option, especially moving into peak travel time. If there's any kind of issue or delay, the airline or whoever can't help you, you will have to refer to that third party site. And that's not what you want when you're sitting there trying to do a flight rebooking at the airport like it's yeah, it can be very messy. So booked direct as often as possible. And spring for the insurance, it may seem like that little extra 40 or 50 bucks can't help you. But it is worth it. Always get the insurance.

Angela Tuell: 17:26

Good tips. How can PR professionals best help you do your job? And do you have any pet peeves?

Ronny Maye: 17:33

One of the best things working with PR professionals and freelance writers is understanding that we have no control over storylines. So I guess this will tie into the pet peeve. You have some professionals who would reach out to you and invite you to a place and they want immediate confirm coverage. And we can't there's just so many things wrong are not professional about requesting immediate coverage. And especially with if you're working with freelancers, like every publication has a different set of rules for freelancers. So you'll have some publications that are 100% okay with freelancers taken press trips, you have some who are not, you have some who are okay, but it comes with certain, you know, rules and one of those rules is we can't guarantee coverage. And a lot of times we aren't able to even pitch the ideas until after the trips happen. So that makes it kind of difficult to work with some PR professionals because they are immediately -and I get it on their end, they have a client who wants results and wants to know how the results will be achieved and all of those. But working with freelancers versus working with like staff writers, the process is a little different based on each publication, or outlet. And I will have to say that's my biggest pet peeve. Another one though I would have to throw in there. And it comes from a Twitter thread, of course, everything comes from Twitter, right? Was a group of journalists talking about how PR people sometimes over invite and so no matter how fast you respond, is sometimes they'll get back to you and be like, Oh, it's full. So that's -

Angela Tuell: 19:26

After they invite you? Ohhh.

Ronny Maye: 19:28

Yeah, so it's like if you have five spots why are you inviting too many people? Reading through the thread, um, I can see how that will be somewhat of a nuisance because if you are responding immediately, sometimes they don't give you you know, it doesn't really give you a chance to respond because you can be working or traveling or sleeping or just occupied elsewhere when they send that invite, and if you you know, get back to them in a couple of hours or a day or so and they're like, oh, it's already full. That can be a little disheartening. So -

Angela Tuell: 19:58

Yeah, and I'm sure you want to do your research too? You know, look into the place it a little bit about it before you say yes.

Ronny Maye: 20:06

You know, ask some questions, make sure they're legit, you know? Because people come out of the woodwork sometimes with invites, and you're like, Is this really a real person like I need to verify these guys on Google. So if you do all of that your due diligence and find out, they're legit the offering, you know, the offer is legit, and then you respond, and they're like, oh, we have no space for you, that can be a little a little tough. I'll have to throw that in as a pet peeve as well.

Angela Tuell: 20:39

Yeah. And, you know, we've seen a lot of that, I think I think, as you have mentioned, you know, we've also seen more and more freelancers. So I think it's just the world's changed that way. You know, you're right. A lot of times we have clients pushing, saying, we're going to spend, you know,$10,000 on this journalist or whatever to bring them and have the trip or, or less if it's domestic, but and we want to make sure we can show some kind of ROI on that.

Ronny Maye: 21:06

So I've had a place. And they were very specific in the storyline that they wanted, and was one of the publications I write for they wanted it in. And I was like, yeah, no, can't do that. The storyline was like, why they are the best resort in this particular location. But when I'm looking at, you know, my communities that I intersect with, right, yeah, I would not feel safe or comfortable recommending this to a solo traveler. Because I'm looking at like your crime reports in the area. I'm looking at your lobby and so now, I can't recommend this to anyone who may have any kind of disability because your lobby is just full of steps. There's no ramps, things like that, there's no way for them to get into the pool, or the entrance versus where the rooms are is a very long walk. So someone with no where for them to sit if they get tired or winded on their walk, because, you know, things like that. I was just so many things. And I was just looking through and I was like, I can't say you're the best, you know.

Angela Tuell: 22:24

Right, right, you could talk about your experience.

Ronny Maye: 22:27

Right. I wouldn't be the best person or I'm looking at the amenities you offer. Lots of water sports, but all of them had like a 225 pound weight capacity. So now, I can't really share that with a plus size community that I'm a part of, because it'll be extremely limited for a lot of them. In my particular communities, I wouldn't be the best person to come due this story, because I'll be leaving out my core audience and that does not sit well with me. So I couldn't do it. And so it's very uncomfortable to have to have those conversations with professionals. But someone has to do it, I guess.

Angela Tuell: 23:08

Yes. I love that you're like that and not and really take those audiences into consideration. And don't just say, let me do this trip, because it seems fabulous.

Ronny Maye: 23:17

No, no, no. I'd like to just recommend and write about things that resonate with me things that I like, things that - or even if I don't necessarily like it, it could be based on one bias that I have, you know, but it's still good for masses, so I don't mind sharing. But when it's exclusionary in so many categories, it will be something I will have to pass up on.

Angela Tuell: 23:42

Yeah, that makes complete sense. So before we go, I'd also love to know how you spend you know, aside from writing, traveling, how you spend any free time you might have.

Ronny Maye: 23:53

Oh my goodness, I have the world's best nieces and nephews and my little besties you can more than likely catch me with them. I don't know if you how long you've been following me on social but we all track each other and primarily because I leave a lot. And so the second I get anywhere remotely close to home, it's always like Welcome Home text messages from them. Or I'll be sitting here and suddenly because they often get in my house they have a fingerprint to get in. So I'll be sitting here and suddenly like the door opens and it's like Hey, champ, we're here. You know we'rehanging out, coming over and so spending time with them is one of the things I absolutely love the most. And what girl doesn't love Target runs? So that's where you can find me. The aisles of Target or with my little besties.

Angela Tuell: 24:54

I feel you. How many nieces nephews do you have?

Ronny Maye: 24:58

Six and two God children.

Angela Tuell: 25:00

Oh, wow. So you're like, you're like the favorite Aunt. You're like....

Ronny Maye: 25:06

I don't want to show favoritism here but I'm starting to believe I might be.

Angela Tuell: 25:10

It sounds like it. I love it so so how can listeners connect with you online? You mentioned social you know what's the best way

Ronny Maye: 25:18

I am always on Insta and I try to be more active on Tik Tok. Those are my my sites, but it's @ the life of Ronny and Ronny is spelled R O N N Y. So those would be the best ways to keep up with my travels. And whenever an article goes live, I usually link it on Insta as well. So those are the best ways.

Angela Tuell: 25:41

Wonderful. We'll link to all of those in our show notes too.

Ronny Maye: 25:44

Perfect.

Angela Tuell: 25:45

Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

Ronny Maye: 25:47

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Angela Tuell: 25:51

That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to our show. We'd love to hear what you think. You can find more at CommunicationsRedefined.com/podcast. I'm your host, Angela Tuell. Talk to you next time.