Victoria Sanusi, 27, was a working freelance journalist and social media specialist when her friend (and now co-host) Jas sent her a voice note about Nicki Minaj.
“I told her ‘this is a long voice note, maybe you should do a podcast,’” Sanusi remembers. She meant the idea as a joke at the time, but two months later, “we thought, actually, let’s do that.”
So in October of 2018, they started Black Gals Livin’, a weekly podcast that explores mental health, pop culture, and, as they put it on Twitter, “random shenanigans.”
Victoria and Jas host the show, which has a laid-back, chat-with-friends vibe. They discuss everything from working in male-dominated environments, body image issues and the latest film or music release. By sharing her own struggles with depression, Victoria encourages other women to let go of stigma and seek help as well.
“We didn’t have any goals to be honest when we started,” she says. “We hoped for at least 50 listens, but we now get thousands weekly, which is mind-blowing.”
The podcast quickly surpassed a million listens, was featured on Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, won podcast of the year at the Brown Sugar Awards, and was named one of Elle magazine’s best podcasts of 2020. She is also one of Tory Burch’s Empowered Women this year. The donation she receives as a nominee will be going to the Black LGBTQIA+ fund.
One of the biggest successes of the podcast has been to destigmatize mental health because of how frankly and honestly the hosts discuss their own experiences.
“We get messages so often about how the podcast has helped women seek therapy [or] take their mental health seriously,” Sanusi says. “It’s truly moving because all that Jas and I are doing is sharing our experiences and difficulties.”
“I think perhaps for our listeners, hearing someone who looks like them experiencing low moods, depression, and anxiety makes them feel less alone.”
“I wish more people knew that they could seek therapy and no one has to know about it,” she says. “A lot of people don’t want to seek help because of how they’ll be perceived, but honestly, no one needs to know.”
“Your mental health journey can just be you and you.”
