Meet Krystal Franklin, the journalist from Fort Worth, Texas who has been successfully transitioning from radio to TV in under five years.
Instagram: @krysfranklintv
#Cosigned by: @ericcabranch
Krystal knew she wanted to be a journalist from an early age and her career goals were set. She dreamed of owning her own magazine like Khadijah James from Living Single. She grew up in Fort Worth, Texas reading, writing and reporting news to her favorite audience- her mirror, but her fascination with journalism grew in high school. As the editor of her school’s yearbook, she was able to dabble in a lot of writing where she could add as much drama as she wanted to, just like in the chapter books she read. To continue pursuing her interest in journalism, she began to study “The Greats”, watched loads of footage of Shaun Robinson on Access Hollywood and Tankia Ray on Extra.
Inspiration from Shaun Robinson further secured her love for journalism with“ her incredible interviewing skills and her longevity in front of the camera”. In addition to Shaun, there’s Tanika Ray, her professional twin Terrence J and Cari Champion (who follows her on IG and of course they’re best friends in her head). As a lover of femininity, these women taught Krystal what it means to be a successful African American woman in the industry who can carry oneself in a professional, sexy and respected manner.
Krystal began branding herself through internships and gigs; She took on an internship in Chicago in 2010 where she was paid $1500 AFTER the gig ended. She also worked in NYC in 2011 but was fired only a month later, then went to LA to work the BET Awards and almost lost her full time job because of the amount of time she had to take off. For a while, Krystal accepted pennies for longer than she should have and overlooked her professional network but after grasping her worth and how valuable she is to an organization, she was able to take on more challenges. Now, Krystal is in the DMV with a full time job that offered a $20k increase. There’s only more to come!
Though Krystal isn’t curing cancer, her work is personable and shows her personality through a unique twist- which is why her network has evolved so much from working with a nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner to an even bigger platform at TV One. Living for a living is Krystal’s definition of success and she plans to be working in television but transitioning from producer to an on-camera host in the next five years.
We #COSIGN Krystal because of her determination and drive to show women in the industry that they too can be successful.
Who does Krystal #Cosign?
Jeff @JeffJSays
Marcus Gilmore @marcusdgilmore
Gia Peppers @giapeppers
Erica Campbell @imericacampbell
Kim Ford @iamkford
Blake Von D @blakevond
Keisha Nicole @keishanicole
Symone Sanders @symonedsanders
Luke Lawal @luke.lawal
PJ Morton @pjmorton
