Staff Interviews
Who TITLE Is
To get to know TITLE a little better and understand how it fits into a discourse community, I interviewed a handful of staff members. In the interviews, I asked them the basics like how they each got involved and how long they have been a part of the staff. I also challenged them to speak on the diversity and inclusion of TITLE and how that has affected them personally. Take a look at some of the highlights below!
Romond Duval
Social Media Director
Romond joined TITLE his freshman year after applying to join the writing and social media teams. He worked his way up and now is on exec staff as the Social Media Director.
"As a black creative, I don't just want to see more people who look like me pursuing their creative passions, but more of every identity-based community."
Taylor Teutsch
Staff Member
Writing Team
Taylor followed TITLE last year, but officially joined the writing team this fall after applying.
"TITLE truly encompasses individuality, each of us being whole-heartedly us, to showcase that in each and every way were involved with TITLE."
Abby Klenda
Staff Member
Styling & Layout Teams
Abby discovered TITLE this year through a friend in her fashion classes in DAAP. After applying she joined the styling and layout teams!
"I feel like TITLE does a great job including everyone. The environment is very inviting and welcoming."
Braden Devine
Editor-in-Chief
Braden got involved with TITLE his sophomore year at UC. This is his fourth year doing TITLE and now holds an exec position as Editor-in-Chief (aka co-running the whole organization).
"I'm proud to now say I feel our staff is more diverse than it has ever been and provides everyone involved with TITLE a space where they feel included and comfortable to learn, ask questions, and grow with each other."
1. Tell me a little bit about your overall experience with TITLE... has it been what you have expected? Different?
Romond: "TITLE was actually one of the reasons I came to UC. I knew I wanted to get involved in a creative publication during college, so I made sure the college I chose had one. I'd say the biggest surprise has been finding out what my niche is in this space. I never saw myself as the "social media dude", but I'm kinda vibing with it."
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​Taylor: "So far, we haven’t gotten too in deep with the semester. This coming week and beyond will be picking up a bit with each persons’ involvement and getting everything orchestrated for the upcoming mag! With that being said, it’s hard for me to give you a direct answer yet! I think it’s similar to what I pictured group work to be like and ways in which we all communicate with upcoming work collectively and individually."
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Abby: "It has been harder to stay connected with the teams and know what’s going on but overall it’s a super creative fun environment."
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Braden: "This is going to be a little bit of a loaded answer haha it’s both what I expected as well as nothing I could’ve ever imagined it to be. Here at the university, I’m actually studying Biomedical Engineering, so despite having some friends on Staff when I first joined, I was extremely intimidated by having very little creative experience and being on the complete opposite side of the spectrum when it came to my studies compared to the majority of the rest of Staff either studying journalism or a creative-focused major in DAAP. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how welcomed I felt in the organization and how quickly I became close with everyone else while we all grew in our abilities regardless of our backgrounds. So, being involved with TITLE was what I expected in the sense of it being a great space to grow my photography skills and even move into more of a formal role in fashion through styling positions in the group. It also was what I expected in the sense of being a project / outlet unlike anything I’d experienced before where the work we were doing was extremely unique and special. What I didn’t expect was how much I would fall in love with the organization and the people that really cared about TITLE, and thus how much I dove into it quickly after first joining. TITLE was on the verge of falling apart and no longer existing after our 4th Issue in the spring of 2019, and even more so with the pandemic. I knew that without TITLE, I felt a sense of emptiness in me creatively that I needed to fill, which brought about essentially completely reviving, rebuilding, and rebranding TITLE from the ground up with my best friend and partner in crime Meesh Strauss who also acts as our incredibly talented Creative Director. I certainly can’t say that when I first joined TITLE in the fall of 2018 that I would have expected to now be leading it or to have completely reshaped it under a new vision. However, I now feel a sense of great pride and hope that this organization that has taken me on such a rollercoaster through my college career will live on as a place where people can grow like I did, expect the unexpected, and find a community of like-minded individuals that allow them to be the best creatives they can be."
2. Can you speak to the diversity and inclusion of TITLE Mag?
Romond: "When I first started TITLE, there weren't a lot of people who look like me — especially on the executive staff. It was pretty much in spite of this thought that, this year as an executive staff member, I focused on recruiting more diverse talent. I wish I could find some statistic or some shit to show, but just know that we are increasingly diversifying our staff. As a black creative, I don't just want to see more people who look like me pursuing their creative passions, but more of every identity-based community."
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Taylor: "I’d say the diversity and inclusion TITLE evokes is astronomical. TITLE truly encompasses individuality, each of us being whole-heartedly us, to showcase that and let it shine through in each and every way we’re involved with TITLE. We welcome all races, sexual orientations, genders, LGBTQ, and beyond with inclusivity and warmth. TITLE feels like an extremely safe place in all regards <3."
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Abby: "I feel the staff does a great job including everyone, the environment is inviting and welcome. There are a wide range of people involved, they’ve spoke about being sensitive and informed when doing title content on something that could be offensive, etc. the features in title address many issues and challenges stereotypes which i think is really cool."
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Braden: "Diversity and inclusion has been an interesting journey for TITLE that has both its ugly and beautiful spots. One of the biggest embarrassments with TITLE’s history of diversity and inclusion came with promoting our 4th Issue and a campaign using words to describe TITLE and its Staff. One of these words was “Diverse” - however, a quick check of our Staff roster could show that we probably had less than 10 people of color on Staff. Our Staff was certainly diverse in the sense of fundamentally consisting of a majority female-identifying and/or queer individuals, but checking off a couple boxes on the diversity card does not make a diverse staff by any means. With our rebuilding of TITLE from Issue 005 onwards, we have placed utmost focus on not only “making” but actively working for the most diverse and inclusive organization we can. This meant making sure both our Staff and readers felt represented by the content we were producing, going out into the community to recruit talent from all walks of life, and constantly providing opportunities for ourselves and those we work with to learn from each other and understand how the things that make us diverse also make us so special. I’m proud to now say I feel our Staff is more diverse than its ever been and provides everyone involved with TITLE a space where they feel included and comfortable to learn, ask questions, and grow with each other. While we are still and always will be growing and learning more in the space of diversity and inclusion, I feel we are on a better trajectory than we have ever been before.
I have been fortunate enough throughout my tenure in TITLE to be directly located in the Cincinnati area, giving me the ease of connecting with most people on Staff directly and accessibly. However, despite all of the hardships of the pandemic, one of the best things it offered TITLE was the freedom of remote connection and virtual work to now allow TITLE to be a national organization with Staff members located all over the country (Cincinnati, NYC, Chicago, to name a few cities specifically). Our CD Meesh has actually not been in Cincinnati for about the past 2 years, and we’ve been able to successfully rebuild and run the organization with this distance involved. Part of rebuilding TITLE was allowing for these new remote systems to be in place and through taking advantage of these technologies that were brought into our everyday from the pandemic, TITLE is the strongest and most interconnected it’s ever been."
3. What's your favorite and least favorite part about being involved with TITLE?
Romond: "My favorite part about TITLE is being able to make dope shit with dope people. That's literally all I ever want to do. Least favorite thing would be that it's sometimes a lot for me to handle on top of class, work, and interning."
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Taylor: "My favorite part is the openness and room for experimentation and suggestion. The amount of collaboration or independent work is boundless :) No idea feels wrong or unjust. My least favorite part sometimes might be the size of the organization. We have over 120 people, so it can be overwhelming at times. I think thats a personal opinion though, because for me I work better in close-knit environments."
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Abby: "My favorite part is working with all the cool creative people, least favorite part is not meeting the people on my project in person."
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Braden: "My favorite part 100% has to be the people. I wholeheartedly love the work that I do within the organization and it’s incredibly fulfilling to see how amazing the work we produce is, but nothing compares to the relationships I’ve made in TITLE. Some of my best friends have come from this group and I’ve made connections that, despite this not being my most likely future professional industry, will still undoubtedly shape my future in incredibly unique ways that I wouldn’t have been able to get outside of TITLE. We also just have such a passionate and talented Staff, it’s incredibly motivating and inspiring to see everyone’s work and to grow in my own talents and skills alongside them.
My least favorite part is that I can’t devote 100% of my time to this organization hahaha because I could if I would. While we aren’t directly affiliated with the University of Cincinnati, a majority of our Staff members are students, including myself, which creates a burden of splitting up time between TITLE and my other responsibilities. Since we have such a high standard of work and talent within TITLE, it often takes up a ton of time (that I love with all my heart) that can be difficult to manage with other commitments."
Analysis of the diversity within TITLE...
When joining TITLE myself, one of the coolest components that stood out to me was the diversity within the community. TITLE incorporates diversity in all aspects: people from different backgrounds, different skill levels, different geographical locations, etc. One of the questions asked during the interviews conducted with Staff was about diversity and inclusion. All four of the individuals interviewed shared how they think TITLE works to include everyone from anywhere no matter their background. As Braden pointed out, TITLE has come a long way. He talked about the promoting of issue 004 and Staff including the descriptive word "diverse" but after quickly looking at the roster that didn't seem to be the case. I think it's important to note the realization and growth that took place here. Since then, TITLE has been aware and actively pursuing a more diverse Staff. Romond also touched on this in speaking to the fact that he has been recruiting more diverse talent as an exec Staff member this year. Diversity doesn't necessarily conform to just race, ethnicity, or gender, but rather to a variety of other elements. TITLE's diversity is seen through these components, yes, but also in geographical location, sexual orientation, and skill level.
Both of the projects I am currently a part of for issue 006 have people working from all over the country. The project lead for "Golden Years" (one project I am a part of) is based in NYC. Of course, we have several Staff members located in Cincy, but there are an overwhelming amount located elsewhere. This is especially interesting when considering the amount of communication that must be done when working with people all across the globe to produce something both physically and digitally. We are in constant communication within Slack, Zoom, and through social media. Without having these means of communication, Staff would not be able to collaborate efficiently.
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examples of TITLE's Instagram!
Additionally, in "Golden Years" we have created a team based in Cincy and one based in NYC as the creatives working on this project are split between these two locations. What this looks like is curating content in each respective area. We have sourced models and subjects in each location and discussed the various photoshoot concepts and everything that goes along with that, such as makeup and styling. When the time comes, we will have two separate shoots and then, from there, bring together our ideas virtually.
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Diversity within TITLE is something highly valued in the community. Even with hardships such as navigating and rebuilding during the Covid-19 pandemic, TITLE preserved and continued to adapt, diversifying as time passed. Something interesting to point out is how all Staff members interviewed said that TITLE is working to be inclusive and diverse in every way, which cannot be said about some other organizations. Yes, TITLE's main goal is making cool sh*t with other creatives, but as seen here there is a much bigger goal, in hopes to include anyone and everyone. Taylor sums it up pretty well,