At the age of 33, Emmy-award-winning TV host Zuri Hall has already had a successful career. Since breaking into the entertainment industry, she’s worked for major media companies like Fuse, MTV, E-News, Access Hollywood, America Ninja Warrior, and more.
While it may appear that she’s an overnight success, it took years of intentionality and hard work to reach her goals. In an exclusive interview with Her Source, Zuri shares her journey and details on her latest venture Hot Happy Mess.
After graduating from Ohio State University, in 2010, Hall started her career in Indianapolis as the face of My-INDY-TV, where she explored the city of Indianapolis.
“That was my introduction into the life of a TV host. It was baptism by fire. I learned to shoot, edit, produce, pitch ideas; and it was just a slow burn from there.” said Hall.
The entertainment reporter worked in local news for nearly three years, before fulfilling her goal of making it to a national television station by the age of 25. She worked in Indiana, Ohio, and Dallas in her early career, before making it to Fuse, a small cable network in New York City.
“I started working and just started slowly but surely climbed the ladder from there,” said Hall.
Throughout her career, Zuri Hall has had the opportunity to cover iconic award shows like the Grammys and the American Music Awards to the Golden Globes and the Oscars. As well as interview Hollywood’s biggest celebrities like Gabrielle Union, Lupita Nyong’o, Billy Porter, Oprah Winfrey, and more!
Although she’s had an amazing career, and happy moments, she still had times where she experienced burn-out or self-doubt. According to Hall, the key to finding peace of mind and her purpose was a combination of therapy and meditation.
“I realized my life was passing me by, and that the only moment I was ever promised was the one that I was in. And I spent a lot of moments beating myself up about what I hadn’t accomplished yet, or not savoring what I had accomplished for long enough, or before moving on to the next goal,” said Hall.
In prioritizing her mental health, Hall was inspired to create a space to help people find their magic, in the middle of life’s messes.
“Once I stumbled into that joy and peace, which I highlight on the first episode of Hot Happy Mess, something lit up and the peace that I felt even when the storms were wild and crazy, it was so indescribable that and it was so priceless and it was so important I realized, and it wasn’t something that I wanted to keep to myself.”
Cultivating conversations to empower women isn’t a new venture for Hall. She’s always been passionate about using her life lessons to help the next. Throughout her journey, she’s created platforms like Hey Zuri Hall and Alpha Babe to encourage women that they can indeed have it all.
Now, she’s reaching even more people through her podcast Hot Happy Mess. Created in partnership with iHeartRadio’s Black Effect Podcast Network, the show is for mindfully ambitious Millennial women; committed to sharing diverse stories, and points of view. Since launching in November 2020, Zuri has produced 26 episodes covering everything from self-Care, relationships, mental wellness, and more. Listeners can look forward to hearing informative straight talk from experts, and listener call-ins for advice straight from Zuri. To tune into the conversation, join Hot Happy Mess for new episodes every Monday.
