ASK AN EXPERT: Nikki Fowler Chats With Wendy Williams
Media personality and bestselling author Wendy Williams, aka “Queen of All Media,” hosts The Wendy Williams Show. With more than two decades of experience under her stylish belt, the talented Ms. Williams talked with Glitter Magazine about self-confidence, the entertainment industry, and success. Read this exclusive interview to get this amazing expert’s take on life in the media.
GLITTER: Your talk show has a very real and down-to-earth charm. When did you know you had the gift of gab?
WENDY: Forever, there are certain things I personally believe that you are either born with it or you’re not. One of those things is gift for gab. My mom and dad have been on the talk show a lot, and anyone who has ever seen them sees exactly where I get it from. My sister is a lawyer, and my younger brother is a schoolteacher. We all have that gift for gab. I grew up at a time when TVs were not everywhere and in every room of the house. I grew up in the 70s and 80s when there was such a thing as dinner at 5 o’clock. Come with your conversation, and there’s no TV.
GLITTER: You are “the friend in everyone’s head” right now. Did you have the same effect on people as a teen?
WENDY: No, as a teen, I had never been to a prom. I wasn’t an ugly girl, but I was definitely awkward. I was 5 foot 11, physically awkward, and emotionally not ready to speak my mind. Because when you are a teenager, your entire existence depends on being popular and/or getting great grades. My grades weren’t great. I was a solid C student. Every once in a while, I would get below that, and very rarely, I would go above that. I was just really unsure of academia, but I knew once I graduated from college, which my parents always instilled in us that I owe them that 4 years, that my life was free to live on my own. I would speak about all the things that I kind of had been holding in socially. I would never hold back at home or in front of my parents’ friends, but certainly, I didn’t have all the boyfriends, and I wasn’t the head cheerleader and all of that. So, no, I was not always so outspoken. But in my mind, I always knew I would be. All I knew was that I wanted to get out of school where I knew the playing field was even! No more grades.
GLITTER: What was it like for you growing up as a teen in NJ? Was it a typical childhood? Did you always have stars in your eyes?
WENDY: Yes! You understand what it’s like. Just being tall alone is extremely awkward for girls. I spent a lot of time leaning on one hip and, wearing flats, and curling my toes up. I was awkward. Our son Kevin is 11 years old. One piece of advice that I can give a parent of a tween is to listen to them closely when they say what they want to be when they grow up. Because I would say, about 10% of tweens actually stay on that path to try and make that dream come true. When I was a tween, being socially awkward in Ocean Township, NJ, growing up at the Jersey Shore, you know, that’s part of the New York metropolitan area. I was watching the news and listening to the radio, and I knew I wanted to be a newscaster or a radio personality. And I told my parents that all along, I used to close the door and fantasize and practice in the mirror and listen to the radio and watch the news and some of my favorite news heroes (TP Williams and Rick Miles and Chuck Scarborough, he was on at that time and Sue Simmons, I grew up on these people). I have a lot of respect for teens and tweens in terms of when they say that they want to be something. Not all of them are going to be that. But there is a certain cluster that you should listen to closely and help their dreams.
GLITTER: What has motivated you through the years and kept your career going?
WENDY: I don’t have a trust fund! (laughing) My parents were public school teachers, and my father, for some time, was a college professor. They were educators, and as we all know, educators are underpaid and overworked. They put every dime and every bit into educating my big sister, me, and little brother. They bought us the best clothes; they gave us all the tools that we needed, whether it was shuttling us back and forth to Girls Scouts, swim team, and summer camp, or even things they couldn’t afford, like sending me to Europe (you know when the French class went), just all kinds of wonderful things. And I instinctively knew their four years of college money was their last stuff. They didn’t have one last dime for me to screw up and do five years instead of 4. I also knew that if I was going to do anything after graduation that it wouldn’t be something that I was going to be able to ask them for. And they never said this to me because I still to this day believe that they would have cut off nine fingers and nine toes for either my sister or brother. I always felt bad for them because I always questioned if I would take it to the wall for my own child or if I would push them out there to work at 16. I wasn’t working at 16, 17 or 18. I was being spoiled by parents who couldn’t even afford to spoil me. I didn’t realize that until I was an adult. So my motivation is that I don’t have a trust fund. I don’t have rich in-laws, and I didn’t marry rich.
GLITTER: You were inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame 2009—one of only a handful of women with that honor; how did that change your life?
WENDY: Well, career-wise, it didn’t change it at all. Radio is one of the many professions that does not change your salary when you get the highest honor. It’s just a badge of honor. The ceremony when I was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame was in November. I left radio in August to focus on TV. So, it hasn’t changed my life outwardly at all, but inwardly, I beam with pride. I have the award prominently displayed here in our house. It was a big deal for my parents, siblings, husband, and son to be able to attend the Chicago ceremony. It’s an even bigger deal that I know when I pass on that there is one place that my son can go and see that his mom has made her mark,
GLITTER: Outside of your Radio Hall of Fame honor, what has been one of your favorite moments in your career?
WENDY: Yeah, when I was on bed rest, pregnant with little Kev [her son]. And I lived with my husband in South Jersey, and he was working with me at that particular time for that 4 years out of my radio career (you know, my radio career spans over 20 years), and they had the equipment installed. I would sit on my booty in the morning, and I would ease down the steps at 5:30, and I would hit the switch. I would be watching TV on mute and talking to my radio listeners. There were so many memorable times, but that was a big one because when Kevin was born, he was literally used to hearing my voice every single morning. I would talk in the microphone, and he would just be growing, and then finally, at eight months, I would feel him kicking. I took my time off to deliver him, but then I would switch that microphone on, and he would be lying there in the bassinet, or I would be resting. That was a transition from living as a career girl to as a working woman.
GLITTER: Who was your most anticipated celebrity interview, and why?
WENDY: I don’t have one of those. My radio career seemed like it flashed by so fast. I am still so excited to be on television and grateful that I could interview the lawnman and the roofer. When I first started the show, I kind of had a little wish list that lasted for all of 5 minutes before I realized that I needed to start wishing for another season on TV because the guests were not going to make the show pop. It all comes down to me and the staff that makes me hot, and you know, in the show, everybody from my set designers to my secretary, producers, you know, every last person in the Wendy building helps to make me look good. Most of all I counsel myself and after that whether I interview Michelle Obama or Lady Gaga it all comes down to me, and me and the staff can produce, so I don’t have a favorite.
GLITTER: You’ve done Radio, TV, Magazines, Film, & Books, and now you have branched out to an accessory line for QVC. How does it feel to move in this direction with your brand? Will you be designing apparel as well?
WENDY: It feels wonderful. I mean, my accessory line is called Adorn because, being a woman whose size has fluctuated, I find that clothes fail you all the time: your waist is too big; it’s too small; you generationally outgrow things. But your accessories never fail you; they always fit, and they always look great. The line is called Adorn, and that’s where I wanted to start out. Branding myself, I have handbags, readers, sunglasses, this fabulous little case that holds readers and glasses both in one, scarves, necklaces, belts, bracelets, earrings, and shoes, which are separate from QVC and, yes, my line does go up to a 12! I include everything from work-appropriate shoes to 5-inch heels with crystals or a pair of sensible flats. I will be back on the Q in May in time for Mother’s Day. I love my Adorn line and have a great design team. I am very hands-on with what I want my girls to have. I would never want to do anything where I just threw my name on something and collected a buck. You know, many celebrities do things like that, but for me, I think one of the reasons my career has been so long and so enduring is because somewhere in all of the madness, people seem to sense my authenticity. (laughing)
GLITTER: With your show being renewed through 2014, what else can we expect from you in the next few years?
WENDY: Well, I would love to continue my accessory line. My husband and I started a production company, and we would like to do movies. I would love to produce a Lifetime or Oxygen movie. My character is a New York City girl on top of her game in radio, she goes through her ups and downs, not a nice woman but really fun to write about. (laughing) And my autobiography, I would like to produce [it] into a movie. I would like to get into the production game.
GLITTER: You have paved a long path in the entertainment industry with 23 years in Radio and now a syndicated show airing in 52 countries. What advice can you give to our young readers about going for what you want in life?
WENDY: Well, I don’t believe it’s true that you can be anything you want to be if you are not willing to put in the work. A lot of people believe you can be anything you want to be. No, you can’t, not if you don’t put in the work. You have to put in your homework; you have to put in your research. It’s more than just believing in yourself. I know that young people rely so much on their social circles and validation and things like that. But, one of the best things that could have happened to me is being a bit of a social outcast; it left me time to sit by myself in my room and research. Back in the day, there was no computer, but we did have encyclopedias, books, and more books, and I used to learn and plot my future. It sounds so stupid and cliché, but sticks and stones break bones, but don’t let the names hurt you. Bullying is a terrible thing. I was bullied in my own way because I was a standout black, standout tall, standout overweight, but those things have made me the woman I am today, and I have let go of the anger. And those stories I pass on to my son. Without being who I was then, I could never be who I am now; I am over it and grateful.
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