Renee Foster, President & CEO of Renegade Public Relations

It's 27 minutes past the hour and some where in the world there are a few people willing to pay the price for success.

Through my business partner, Phyllis Shelton, I met an energetic and ambitious young lady named Renee Foster . She's taken time out of her busy schedule to join us in the radio station this afternoon.

What is the name of your company and what products or services does it provide?
Renee: The name of my firm is Renegade Public Relations (Tel:718-441-8946). It is a media consultancy firm. We provide media planning, speech writing and artist development services.

What role do you play in your organization?
Renee: I'm the President & CEO of my firm.

As a successful business person, how did you get started?
Renee: I was blessed with great mentors who were visionary as entrepreneurs. They encouraged my abilities and sharpened my skills by demanding excellence from me at all times. Initially I was trained in a newsroom as a desk assistant by seasoned journalists. I worked the graveyard shift in a male dominated environment that imbued me with focus and a "can do" attitude. I was everywhere they needed me to be and I worked on everything they asked me to do.

How did you learn what it takes to succeed?
Renee: Sometimes its a simple as showing up. I once had an internship at a local radio station here in NYC and my hours were from 5:30am -10am. These are traditional morning drive time hours. The program director realized that I was never late, never missed a day and had a great attitude for someone who wasn't being paid. He in turn increased my responsibilities and gave me more opportunities to learn which resulted in my getting the desk assistant's position in that newsroom.

What personal/family activities do you enjoy?
Renee: My family loves to cook for one another. We're also avid music lovers, and a favorite song can get everybody dancing together in the living room! My greatest personal pleasure though is reading. I write so much that, this is my way of re-fueling my writer's energy. Currently in Dorchester Media's Right On Magazine's Back To School special issue you'll find an extensive book list of recommended reading by your truly.

What experiences in your life have helped you expand who you are as a person?
Renee: I was an emancipated minor at the age of 16. Somehow by the sheer force of my determination, I escaped teen aged pregnancy, domestic violence, drugs and every other temptation the mean streets offer up to young persons of color. My fear of a lifetime of poverty, made me make choices where I had to sacrifice the freedom of my teen years to support and educate myself.

What are your concerns about the world today?
Renee: One of the areas of interest I focus on in my practice is social advocacy for communities of color. There is far too much illiteracy, chronic diseases and violence that destroy our culture and quality of life. Forces that drive events such as war imperil us all. And too few of us can do more than just survive to address these concerns.

If you had all the time and all the money you needed, what types of things would you do? Consider money as no object.
Renee: I'd become the philanthropist I've always fantasized about being. I'd close the "digital divide" for as many people of color as possible by funding libraries and other facilities that teach and promote technology for the at risk and under-served. I'd create educational institutions that unmask the history of the contributions of people of color prior to colonization. In short, I'd use my clout and influence to nudge academia into writing accurate textbooks that reflect the true history of indigenous peoples world wide and the people of the diaspora.

Are there any tips or advice you would like to offer people?
Renee: Everyone you encounter has some valuable lesson for you. Never discount anyone's ability to make a contribution or enlighten you in someway. There's always a kernel of truth in the ravings of a mad person if you listen carefully enough.

Are people more interesting than product stories?
Renee: People are always more fascinating. And as you know "truth is always stranger than fiction".

What are your goals and aspirations for the future?
Renee: To educate myself further. Expanding my knowledge base makes me even more formidable in the "information age". My next career goal is to become a voice-over artist to support myself while I write for film & TV.

What obstacles do you have to overcome to achieve your goals?
Renee: Managing my time better and sacrificing some of the entertaining diversions I always have at my disposal.

Which people have been role models to you?
Renee: At the top of that list is my amazing Mom. I can positively wax poetic extolling her virtues, but let's just say I'm proud to be turning into her. I've also had the pleasure of knowing one of the best practitioners in my field ,Ms. Terrie Williams for quite some time, who I also greatly admire.

What are your favorite books, computer programs, or forms of entertainment?
Renee: My all time favorite book is called "Divine Days" by Leon Forrest. It is a big Black, sprawling epic not unlike the Iliad or Odyssey by Homer except it is set in a fictional 'hood like "Homewood" that John Edgar Wideman writes about. As far as entertainment goes, make mine live, please! Plays, live bands or even dance performances, I simply love the performing arts.

What time of the day are you at your best?
Renee: My power hour is actually at around 6am. I have a certain clarity of mind around dawn, I feel that I can run the world. But usually I just get up and go to the gym.