Relationship enthusiast, dating expert and the girlfriend that every friend circle needs, Charli Penn is a nationally recognized digital journalist who writes in the name and praise of love. With 12+ years of experience reporting on relationships, dating, weddings and marriage, she is presently the Sr. Lifestyle & Relationships Editor for Essence Magazine’s award-winning digital platform Essence.com.  

I first became familiar with Charli Penn’s work, when I read her February 2014 Essence.com article on Reclaiming Valentine’s Day After An Incredible Loss, that spoke to the power of love and how it can help heal grief and fill the void left after an unimaginable loss. This particular piece of hers resonated with me because she was able to find the courage of transparency within herself to connect to the reader on a deeper level.

In addition to being proud of her successful career in digital journalism, Penn also values her 15 year (married for 7) relationship with her husband, Gibran. Writing about her own marriage lessons for fun on her blog, Man, Wife, Dog actually brought her to Essence. The seasoned millennial journalist, editor and relationship coach has devoted her career to empower women to cultivate and cherish healthy and happy relationships. When Penn isn’t interviewing celebrity couples, married couples and newly engaged couples on their secrets to success in love and marriage, she’s working on the “Yes, Girl!” podcast, which highlights celebs and influencers.

 I recently had the opportunity to speak with Penn on being a digital-first journalist, her career journey and predictions on where journalism is headed.

Dominique Fluker: From Glamour to Rolling Stone to The Knot, share your journey on how you landed at Essence Magazine?

Charli Penn: I fell in love with feature writing in college, but writing has always been in my blood. My mother was an English professor and published author and she made sure that my childhood was filled with writing and storytelling. While working for the student paper at Spelman College, I fell in love with journalism and feature writing. I grew up reading stacks of teen and women’s magazines – they always spoke to me. During my undergraduate years, I spent summers in New York City interning at Glamour and Rolling Stone magazines. Just three days after graduation I began a full-time internship at Entertainment Weekly, then landed my first full-time job three months later at Alloy.com, which was the number one site for teen girls at the time. Although I’d always worked for print publications, when I landed at Alloy.com, I immediately fell in love with digital journalism. I loved the instant gratification of being able to write timely stories and see them shared with the masses instantly. I was hooked. I left that job to move to California to attend UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, where I spent two years getting my master’s degree. I studied long-form feature writing, but because it was a multi-media program, I was able to explore deeper levels of digital journalism and learn video, radio and photo skills.

I wanted to be a triple threat in the industry and the program gave me the chance to learn every aspect of the digital journalism business. After UC Berkeley, I got a job working as the Online Managing Editor for TheKnot.com, the number one digital wedding planning site. It was there that I began writing in the name of love. During my time there, I got engaged and I launched a marriage advice blog called Man, Wife and Dog – the idea for the blog was about sharing advice from a marriage in progress. Even though the blog was a hobby, I took the work I shared there just as seriously as I did my writing for any professional publication. When I heard about the opening for a Relationships Editor at Essence.com, it just felt right. When I interviewed at ESSENCE, the hiring manager was just as impressed with my blog pieces as they were my published works. I landed my dream job, and it was as if every career step I’d taken before that was leading it up to that moment. I truly believed it was the job I was made to do, especially to be able to tell the love stories and offer relationship advice to Black women like me. It was like, somebody pinch me, this can’t be life!

Fluker: When did you discover that you had a penchant for writing about love and relationships and how did that revelation guide your career?

Penn: The minute I began writing real wedding stories and features at The Knot, I knew I’d found my journalistic happy place. I’ve always been passionate about love and healthy relationships, so getting to write about them for a living felt like an instant dream. When they open the pages of magazines or log on to their favorite websites, women are seeking guidance in all areas of their lives – health, career, family, and of course, love too. I’m happy that my work can be both aspirational and of service to women. Healthy relationships are a key part of the lives we live daily. I love amplifying the beauty of love – in all of its forms.

Fluker: Take us through a “normal” day as Senior Digital Editor, Relationship + Lifestyle for Essence. What does your workday look like?

Penn: I wake up early and head right to the Internet – that’s where all of the content creating gems are. What are women discussing? What stories are going viral? What’s on their minds? What are our favorite celebrity couples up to? There are new answers to these questions every morning, and finding them is how I create daily content for Essence.com. I work with my digital team to create a daily content plan. On any given day, I assign/edit content that comes in for the love and lifestyle channels, field new pitches, conduct interviews on camera, for the podcast, and for online features. I also attend events to ensure that I’m always up on the latest news/trends/advice to share with our readers. While there are some things that are always the same, what I love most about my job is that every day is a little different than the one before it. Every love story has a surprise and a twist, and so do my days spent writing about the beauty of Black love at Essence.

Fluker: What inspired you to start the “Yes, Girl!” podcast? In your opinion, how is Essence Magazine continuing to be trailblazers for African-American media and culture?

Penn: At Essence, where Black women come first, we like to meet our reader where she is. She’s not just reading the magazine or looking online – she’s listening to podcasts too. So, my co-hosts, Yolanda Sangweni and Cori Murray, and I created Yes, Girl to allow a new space to offer Black women inspiration and empowerment – for the culture. Wherever our reader wants to be, as her sister and friend, ESSENCE will continue to blaze trails to be right there next to her.

Fluker: How has the rise of social media impacted digital journalism? How are you using social media to promote your work and has it made a difference?

Penn: Social media has become a place where stories break. Celebrities and users create news and trends in the space. It feeds my work in many ways and also helps to amplify digital pieces that really resonate with people. The instant gratification for your work can be amazing and help to remind you why you do what you do.

Fluker: What do you value most about Essence Magazine and how it is progressing as a company?

Penn: I value the fact that I work for a publication that, no matter what, is unapologetically committed to telling Black women’s stories in a fierce and genuine way. Essence is a happy place of trust for Black women across all generations and the brand just keeps growing and expanding its reach to more audiences (think Snapchat). That’s a beautiful thing.

Fluker: Talk about your favorite relationship and love story as that you covered, as the “Relationship Guru” at Essence.

Penn: I could never pick a favorite – every love story is beautiful in its own way, and important. I can say this: While it’s amazing to be able to sit down with celebrity couples and get insight into what makes their marriages work, the work that’s most rewarding to me is sharing the everyday love stories that make our hearts smile – a couple’s triumphs over adversities, a single woman who’d almost given up on love finding her prince charming after 40, a couple reconnecting after decades apart. Those are the stories that stick with me.

Fluker: You’ve been named the “Idea Queen” by your colleague Cori Murray, how do you keep your content fresh and engaging?

Penn: Aww! Yeah, I’ve heard that nickname a time or two around the office. I truly believe that in order to create amazing content, you have to consume A LOT of it. I read magazines, websites, social feeds, and watch television a lot more than I’m proud of, but honestly, it’s what makes me good at my job. I have to keep my finger on the pulse.

Fluker: As a Millennial yourself, share the greatest career takeaway or piece of advice for fellow millennials interested in digital journalism?

First of all, thank you for acknowledging that I too am a millennial. I think so often people throw that term around and assume they’re just talking about people in their late 20s. Ha! If you want to become a digital journalist, you have to live and thrive in a digital world. Connect with other movers and shakers and newsmakers in the digital space – see how they’re telling stories and getting their voices out. Think about what type of content keeps your short-attention span online and on social and what about it made it resonate with you. You can’t just throw words at people online and expect that to be strong digital content. Blogging is a great way to share your thoughts digitally, but if you’re going to be a journalist too, you must also remember to do your research, be a good reporter and to tell an unbiased and factual story – even if you’re inserting your voice in there too.