This month’s spotlight is Miela Fetaw. Miela is an Emmy nominated freelance investigative reporter. Read more to learn about Miela and the inspiration behind her unconventional career success.

Could you briefly explain some of your responsibilities in your current career?     

I’m currently a freelance investigative reporter. Freelance meaning that I haven’t found a role that fits my current needs and interests so I’m on an on-call basis. As an investigative reporter, I deeply investigate topics of interest. My work has ranged from covering serious and local crimes, sexual assault and harassment in education, immigration and race.

What is a project you are currently working on that you are excited about?

Earlier this year I spent a few months in Southern Italy researching the migration patterns and cultural landscapes of Eritrean refugees. I interviewed refugees, journalists, community advocates, non-profit professionals, professors and legal observers, among many others. I’m excited to wrap up this project and share it with the world, but more importantly with Eritreans.

Favorite Storyteller and why?

My favorite storytellers are my parents. It isn’t necessarily how they narrate a tale, but their lives are my favorite stories. They have experienced road blocks I could never overcome, but they remained focused God-fearing people. Everything I do, anything I accomplish, is nothing in comparison to the honor of being their child. I thank God and Eritrea everyday for blessing me with the kindest, most aggressive and hardworking people in my world.

What inspired you to start writing?

Making friends as an immigrant child is difficult and lonely, at least my experience was. Two days after my family and I moved to the States, I enrolled in school. I had no concept of American culture or the English language. Everything happened so fast. And kids were cruel. I use to watch a lot of soap operas and game reality shows to learn English. This new language gave me the basis to explore new worlds. So I learned how to tell stories and write songs and create places where lonely wasn’t a feeling and I had control.

Overtime that hobby turned into my profession. Now I tell stories and create safe spaces for a living.

How did you come to decide that this was the right career path for you?

My parents are both in healthcare. But in their past lives, my mother was a news reporter in Addis Ababa and studied literature in college. My father studied theology and psychology in Italy. I’ve never asked them if healthcare is what they wanted to do or what they needed to do, but regardless they’re doing it well.

Writing has always felt like something I needed to do. I’m still not sure if journalism is the capacity I do that in, but I know storytelling is where my heart lies. I inherited a desire to caretake and heal, the way my parents both do. I show up and care for people in my career by ensuring that underrepresented and vulnerable communities are seen and heard.

Who are your favorite authors? Who inspires you?  

Favorite authors, hmmm…. Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Jamaica Kincaid, Audre Lorde, Chimamanda Adichie, Lucille Clifton, Zora Neale Hurston, Ida B. Wells and every other Black woman that had to create a voice and a platform for herself because they weren’t given one.

Black women and immigrants inspire me. You give us a seed and we will create a harvest.

What does literary success look like to you?

Success, in itself, is so unorthodox. But perhaps literary success is finding a community of individuals that believe in and support your work. Having dreams is one thing, but pursuing a dream (as an Eritrean, as a woman, as a Black person) is revolutionary. Success is knowing that you are allowed to feel safe and free in yourself and in your body of work.

What tips would you offer anyone looking to take a similar career path?  

To the Eritrean child (or adult) brave enough to take a path that is unconventional, I salute you. It is not easy. Your parents will constantly question your judgment and career choices because they love you and are rightfully concerned. But you are not walking this path alone. There are women and men before you who look like you, share your name and cultural heritage that have paved a way and are successfully shattering and overcoming every barrier. Look at Lilly Workneh, Master Tesfatsion, Hannah Gebresilassie, Aron Yohannes, Hannah Giorgis, and many others. Remember these names. They have successfully found a medium they excel in and they are changing the game for Eritrean (and Ethiopian) people alike. Because of them, you can. And you want it, you will. So stay hungry. Block out the naysayers that want to diminish your light and hinder your drive and stay hungry. You are worthy and you are enough.

Currently, what is your greatest professional accomplishment?   

I don’t know if it’s necessarily an accomplishment, but I was recently nominated for a regional Emmy. I’m nominated as a producer for my work on an investigative piece on the culture of stollies (“stolen vehicles”) in Milwaukee.

Tiffany Haddish was the first Eritrean (I think) to win an Emmy for her work, so maybe I could be the second. I won’t know if I’ve won until mid-November, but it’s an exciting accomplishment at 23. I won a collegiate Emmy a few years ago, but I don’t count it haha. This is the real deal.

What’s one piece of advice you would give someone looking to transition into your line of work?  

This work is not easy. On average it does not pay well. But if you have a passion for telling stories and representing people, then you will be paid in full and abundantly.

Outside of all of your hard work and efforts toward building your brand, what do you do for fun? Hobbies? 

I love to dance, travel solo, learn languages and spend time with family and friends. I joke that I’m a stay-at-home comedienne because my jokes shouldn’t leave the house. In my spare time, I’m challenging myself to write and speak more Tigrinya. Oddly enough, speaking Spanish, Italian or Arabic is easier for me, but Tigrinya scares me. I’m currently developing a for-fun series on my family; recording conversations with my grandmother and other prominent people in my family. I want to capture my family’s legacy so it isn’t forgotten, lost or mishandled.