Maria, you’ve taught me to keep fighting no matter what life throws at me and have inspired me in my career and life. Here is my open letter to show my gratitude.
Dear Maria Menounos,
As a writer/production intern at AfterBuzz TV, it may seem obvious why I want to highlight our co-founder, but that’s not why I want to. As someone who has a passion for pop culture news and who aspires to become an entertainment correspondent one day, I have felt connected to your story for quite some time!
From attending Emerson College, producing In The Land Of Merry Misfits by 17, working as a reporter in your senior year, overcoming a tumor, and staying by your mom’s side through her own health journey, it’s clear that you have a passion for what you do and a heart for others!
As I’m growing, learning, and coming close to my college graduation day, I have a deeper appreciation for how often my mom exposed me to strong women in journalism when I was young and fascinated with “fun news” shows. She also always fed my creativity by letting me be a ballerina, act in plays, and attend musicals and theatre productions. If she never did that, I wouldn’t be able to easily list people who I’ve watched and looked up to, including you and many others!
As a kid who would watch ET, Access Hollywood, and reality shows with my mom, I would have never imagined that one day I would be interning for you and Mr. Keven! It was my sophomore year in college when I realized that I no longer wanted to cover hard news and that instead, my passion was in entertainment and pop culture news. I heard about AfterBuzz TV from a classmate and I thought “This would be a dream!” but I sat on the application for a month because I was so nervous!
When I got hired, I didn’t know what an amazing, supportive, kind, and uplifting company I was joining. I’ve gotten so much experience, and advice and I get to be behind the scenes learning from you and the amazing team. Seeing firsthand how passionate and hardworking you are has pushed me so much over these past 8 months that I’ve been an intern. Your team loves you, your guests love you and you’ve built a career based on positivity and kindness. You’ve shown through your years of experience that you can work hard and achieve your dreams while keeping positive relationships and helping others. I mean you started Better Together to help people by giving them a safe space and a circle to learn and become even better versions of themselves during these uncertain times!
Through your story, I’ve learned that wanting to put my family in a better place and wanting to be an inspiration is a valid and honest reasons to feel so passionately about what I do.
I’ve looked up to you longer than I realized and I can only hope that one day I can make you, Mr. Keven, and the entire AfterBuzz TV family that I’ve come to know and love proud!
Sincerely,
Stephanie Joseph
