Karen Civil, the cultural artige’, digital renaissance woman and builder of great things (including this website) sat down with Essence for a Q&A venturing into her journey and career highlights up to this point.

“I always knew I wanted to do something in entertainment,” said Civil. “Since I could not sing, had no rhythm and did not want to be a baby mama, I thought I would explore the Video DJ route. While working for Diplomat Records, I helped several artists with their online branding and social media. Once I left the label, I worked directly with artists and noticed many artists were overlooked and underrated if they weren’t in XXL or The Source. In 2008, I startedKarenCivil.com interviewing artists like Nicki Minaj and Drake before they were huge.”

“When I was in eighth grade, I created a Backstreet Boys fan site. I came in third place in a fan site contest and got to meet them. In high school, I created a fan group for J.D. Williams who played Bodie on The Wire.  I had the chance to meet him and he took me to have lunch at iHop.  At that point in my life I noticed this Internet thing was giving me the chance to check-off goals off of my bucket list. Once I started working for DipSet, I realized you could monetize off of this platform if you understand how to engage your audience.”

Check out the full interview here.