Elise Michaux
Posted by da Front Porch on Thursday, February 4, 2016 Under: Services
1. What is your name and where are you from? Elise Michaux. I'm from Connellsville, PA (Small town an hour south of Pittsburgh)
2. How has coming from a small town helped you with your creativity?
Coming from a small, majority white town, I'd say that me being different from most has helped
me to be creative. I've known since I was little that anything I said or did carried a lot of weight
compared to my white peers. I couldn't be average, I had to be above average. We are held to a
different standard and that is something that I accept, and try to rise above each and every
single day.
3. What makes you a hustler? Hustlers do things with excellence. Hustlers are concerned with making themselves and those
around them better. Hustlers find ways to serve others and are selfless in nature. These are
just a few of the attributes that I believe make me a hustler. As an educator, I serve as a role
model to the students with whom I work and I want to be setting a positive example. If I work
hard, they will work hard; if I hold them accountable, they'll hold me accountable; and those are
values that they possess, they can do anything they set out to be or do.
4. What is it like living where you are from?
To be a young, black, and educated female living in Southwestern, Pennsylvania it hurts my
soul some days. There are not a lot of faces that look like mine where I work, shop, or where I
even get my hair done. It is the norm for me now, but I have never stopped noticing it. I think
that why it is so hard for white folks to see where we are coming from because they rarely, if
ever, have to be faced with their race. When that is almost a daily occurrence for me.
5. Tell us about your accomplishments in life?
My senior year of high school was when I really began to notice that I had leadership abilities. I
was class president, student council president, president of the girls athletic club–you name it, I
was president of it. My peers saw me as a leader before I even noticed it about myself.
Then, I realized I had to attend a college where being a leader was also celebrated. Throughout
my six years at Slippery Rock University, I honed those natural leadership skills and was able to
attain my Bachelors degree in English Literature and Masters of Arts in Student Affairs in Higher
Education along the way. My education has afforded me so many great opportunities! It may be
expensive, but an education is invaluable.
6. How do you feel about Stacy Dash's comments?Stacey Dash's comments really, really disturbed me. You wonder if she is just doing it for the
press, her comments were so off color (no pun intended). BET awards and Image awards were
birthed out of the fact that black folks were not being recognized by the mainstream. So, per
usual, we came up with our own thing. Then to say there should not be a black history month? I
mean, my goodness gracious. It just does not make any sense to me.
7. Where would your dream summer vacation be at?
Dream summer vacation? Oh man. Umm, it would have to be somewhere warm and sunny. It's
cliché to say Hawaii, but I think that would be my first stop.
8. How can people find you online?I love Twitter and Instagram, so following me at @epiphane32 is where you'll see my personal
truths and opinions, football, basketball and music commentary. My LinkedIn and Facebook is
Elise Michaux. My tumblr is estalkinlisten.tumblr.com.
9. Any shoutouts or last words?
Thank you for the opportunity to share a little about me in this space. I hope that you learned a
little about me and what I try to live out each day. Thank you to my parents, brother and sister
who never stop loving, believing and supporting me. To my gram and pap, I miss and love you.
And to my friends who have kept me grounded in the good times and bad.
10. What's your definition of success?Success is what one strives to achieve by doing great things that benefits not only him or herself
but those around him/her. Like LeBron James says, "Strive for greatness."
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