How Zuri Hall's #AlphaBabe movement is changing the lives of women everywhere

There's no doubt that women in the workplace face an uphill battle while attempting to climb the corporate ladder. They make up just 4 percent of the CEO roles in Fortune 500 companies which can be a real barrier to break for many hoping to spearhead their own companies. And while some businesses like SpaceX and Google have been taking proactive steps like eliminating the gender gap internally, there is still a long way to go.

Zuri Hall, the Emmy-Award winning correspondent, knows that the only way women can succeed is by working together. That's why she started the #AlphaBabe movement, to help de-stigmatize the idea of "Alpha" women and promote female leaders who are confident in their own skin. Her blog and YouTube channels are dedicated to all facets of female empowerment and include tips and tricks to succeed in your career, how to dress and feel beautiful at work, and more. Since its inception, the #AlphaBabe movement has quickly picked up a social following. But Hall has even bigger and better plans in store.

We recently sat down with Zuri Hall to talk about her social media endeavors, her biggest female role model, and what major plan she has for #AlphaBabe.

YouShouldKnow is a feature that showcases up-and-coming social stars. To see more of past interviews, including more Zuri Hall exclusives, click here!

How did you come up with your #AlphaBabe movement?
So the #AlphaBabe movement is a a social media movement that I made to celebrate and empower young women who are career minded. So for me it's about caring about beauty and style, but also caring about your career and the future. AlphaBabes are not women who have to chose one or the other. You can want to look good and also care about the world and have substance and style. It's really taking back the word Alpha, which for a long time that had a negative connotation. The misconception is that if you're an Alpha female you are too strong or overbearing. But that mindset is just so wrong because Alpha means leader. So AlphaBabes embrace that meaning. They are girls who are not afraid to be a leader in the workforce or a classroom, but also be a babe, like to be cute, pretty and stylish and celebrate in the idea that those two things can co-exist. And it also gives young women the tools to find that balance that you mentioned earlier. So finding the balance in beauty, style, career and wellness which starts from the insight and goes out.

#AlphaBabe is a lot about women helping other women. Who is your biggest female role model?
It's not a cool, glamorous answer, but my mother is someone I look to. She was so strong, emotionally strong -- she's very patient and so I grew up seeing what she sacrificed and how much she gave up for me and my brothers. I just want to be able to return the favor. So that's what kept me pushing hard in my career. As far as outside female figures, I always joke that it's so cliched to say Oprah at this point, but duh, Oprah. Especially being a young black girl, to be a black woman on television with her show where she was in control and calling the shots, for her to be a mogul and for me to grow up watching that as a woman of color was such a push. It told me that it was possible and I always thought if "Oprah could do it so could I."

How have you seen social media change your career?
A friend of mine tells me you're never as good as they say you are and you're never as bad as you think you are, so basically don't believe the hype and don't believe the haters. So I don't let that sway me. YouTube has been really great for me because I've been able to hone my voice. When I first logged on and I started doing it, I was like "I'm just going to sit here in this empty room with a camera, this is weird." So I was awkward and I didn't know what to say.

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But then I really started to hit my groove and when I read the feedback it was overwhelmingly positive which is a great confidence booster. But every now and again I'll get a critique that's really constructive and I love that! I really encourage my subscribers to let me know how they feel. I take it all with a grain of salt but because of it, I've been able to tweak and tone my on-air delivery in certain ways. That's all directly because of the feedback that I've received from YouTube. And being able to be myself on YouTube has really allowed me to feel confident on set. So when I'm hosting or on a carpet, I don't feel like I have to put on my host hat. I can still be Zuri Hall and be true to my personality.

You're doing a lot of different projects at the moment -- where do you see your career in 5 years?
I love what I'm doing at E! News so I would love to continue to grow with the network. It is amazing to be a part of every single one of those shows and I would love to be able to do that and be able to cover A-list events like the Grammys and Oscars. I'd like to also see my AlphaBabe movement grow. Right now it's just on social where I personally write insight from my career on my blog. I want to take it from that to actually empower women by having networking events, having meet ups in different cities and where people are speaking on panels that will really equip women to run their lives in the way they want to. I just want to see a lot of women intellectually empowered.

YouShouldKnow is a feature that showcases up-and-coming social stars. To see more of past interviews, including more Zuri Hall exclusives, click here!

By BANU IBRAHIM

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