Something different is coming across our computer screens on Feb. 2, 2016, a reality show, “My Life Offline,” starring successful, respectable and educated Black women. There will be no hair pulling, bottle throwing or cussing. Well, maybe just a little bit of cussing. Spearheading this new positive direction for Black women in the reality TV genre is Maureen Aladin, founder of Twelve18 Media, a production company dedicated to creating empowering content.
While hosting a successful podcast in New York with some of the most influential natural-hair bloggers on YouTube, Aladin had the idea that it would be great to transform the podcast into a reality series.
“My focus is always to create content that resonates with me,” said Aladin. “As I became familiar with the various YouTubers, simply said, I saw me.”
Deciding on which of the multitudes of women on YouTube would resonate best with audiences inside and outside of the natural-hair community was a long process. As an innovator, Aladin had to get it right.
The choices would prove to be a no-brainer. Cameras followed three of the most popular and authentic YouTube personalities: Vaughn Monroe (MsVaughnTV), Chime Edwards (HairCrush) and Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey (BeautifulBrwnBabyDol). In a world where “reality” TV often feels scripted, this show would be a nice departure. These women have already built up a following and a certain level of credibility.
“I was very excited about it when the opportunity presented itself to me, and I remember initially just wanting to learn more as quickly as possible, because no one else was doing anything like this,” said Monroe.
For the first time, they would be giving up control over the content that would be shown to an audience and rely on the judgement of someone else to portray them in a positive way, while remaining candid.
“It was not as tough as I thought it would be,” said Monroe. “Once real life starts, it just goes. You’re not thinking really hard about what you’re going to say, you’re not thinking really hard about how you’re going to interact with certain people and you forget that the camera is even there.”
Although these three women share several areas of their personal lives on different social media platforms, it can be one dimensional and real life is very far from that.
“I feel that I am real on my channel,” said Ellis-Hervey. “However, it’s such an abbreviated version of who I am. There’s so many facets of life that I have, and it’s really hard to capture all that on YouTube. People are going to be like, ‘she’s kind of raw.’”
When Monroe and Ellis-Hervey were first approached, they were very receptive to the concept, but Edwards had a few reservations about giving up control over her image, especially in an age when an unflattering portrayal of Black women is what sells.
“[My] first thought was that they wanted cattiness, fighting, drama, and that was definitely something that I wouldn’t be a part of,” said Edwards. “Everyone has drama in their life, but the kind of drama on TV is extreme.”
After talking to Aladin, she was able to see the creator’s vision and understand that this show would be something different, positive and uplifting. It would highlight how these women became entrepreneurs and are growing their brands.
Originally, Aladin and Sharra Dade, who is in charge of publicity and marketing, had their sights set on bringing their finished project to television screens. When they visited networks to pitch it, executives liked the concept but were not sure if a redefined image of Black women in reality television would be marketable. They also weren’t sure if digital personalities could make a successful transition into a larger broadcast platform.
“They are already used to a certain type of formula, and taking risks in Hollywood isn’t normally something that they do on an everyday basis,” said Aladin.
Aladin, who is originally from New York but now lives in Hollywood, said that Hollywood is a little slow in catching up with the idea that the followers of web-produced content are a viable market.
“They weren’t sure that the [natural] hair community is large enough or if women could relate to these types of women,” said Dade. “We were kind of baffled by that comment because number one, they are all educated, they are all beautiful, they’re brilliant and they created their own success. TV is used to showing a certain type of women of color, and these women don’t fit that protocol and that’s okay.”
Tens of millions of people of color follow YouTubers for hair, beauty and life inspiration. The show would bring in a guaranteed audience to any network.
“I figured it would be a hard sell, but I didn’t think it would be quite this tough,” said Edwards. “Maybe we can help change that. That’s why I’m really passionate about this project. Hopefully we can open up some eyes and show a different aspect to reality television.”
After months of “no,” Aladin and Dade changed gears and decided to launch the series on the very platform that gave Monroe, Edwards and Ellis-Hervey their starts. On Dec. 1, Twelve18 Media released a teaser online and the response of anticipation and excitement from subscribers was exactly what all the women involved knew it would be.
“Being in this business, you have to have a strong backbone.” said Aladin. “Getting a ‘no’ doesn’t mean no. It just means a new direction.”
As the date of the premiere moves closer, those who have followed these ladies from the beginning are excited, but so are some of the naysayers. Being a public figure comes with its share of criticism, and these ladies are no stranger to it. Luckily, after years of sharing themselves online, they have all grown thicker skin.
“My everyday life kind of prepared me for that,” said Ellis-Hervey. “There are people every day who don’t like me. It took me a long time period in life to finally get used to that,”
Monroe credited her dad for reminding her that as a public figure, you don’t get to dictate how an audience will respond to what you make public. She said that when you have an audience, you have to give them just as much freedom to dislike something as you do for them to like something.
Judging by the clip that was released, we are all going to like “My Life Offline,” and what it means for women of color everywhere. For more information on the series, please visit Twelve18 Media on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.