Kerrivah “Kerri” Heard, a sophomore communications major with a concentration in journalism, defines herself as an innovative person. She says that when pursuing a career in communications, no matter if its in journalism, public relations, or the corporate world, innovation comes in handy.
“The world of communications adores a person who’s constantly brainstorming,” Kerri said. That’s why she launched her own YouTube web series mid-summer. On the Couch with Kerri was her brother Kevin’s idea. He told her she should have her own talk show. At first, the idea seemed ridiculous to Kerri, but after listening to what her brother had to say, she realized it just made sense to be the host on the show that they were creating. Her YouTube web series has taught her how to be confident in front of the camera, given her experience interviewing people, and enhanced her social media presence. A strong presence on social media is one of the most important things a good journalist must have.
After deciding that she would go for it, Kerri had to think of the right name for such an innovative show. She goes by the name Kerri since people often mispronounce her first name, Kerrivah (Kee-ah-vah). She and her brother realized that they would probably record the show on the couch, hence to On the Couch with Kerri.
She decided to record the show during the summer so that it wouldn’t interfere with her schoolwork. The first episode aired on July 29th, and the last one aired on September 6th.
On the Couch with Kerri is “a platform for the young and creative” people of Philadelphia, she said. Kerri grew up in the Philadelphia area, so it was easy to find the right people to interview for her summer show. Everyone who was involved with this channel is within Kerri’s circle, which made the production easier. However, people that she didn’t know also contacted her. Kerri, being a go-getter, didn’t have a problem talking to new people. Expanding her network also allowed her to have the broad talent she was looking for on her show. “OTCWK covers art holistically, from cosmetology to culinary,” she said, “It has an objective of providing more role models for the inner city youth.”
Kerri said that the hardest part of the show was figuring out the lineup. There are tons of talented people in Philadelphia, and she had to turn some of them down because this season of OTCWK was only seven weeks long with one episode airing per week. The people that made the cut have really busy schedules, and working around that was also a challenge. Thankfully, Kerri had a really good crew that helped her throughout the filming and production aspect of the show.
Kerri said that she had a lot of fun learning more about her guests. She knew very little about most of her guests prior to the show, but after filming each episode, Kerri always felt that she was talking to close friends who she had known for years.
Kerri will be interning at Comcast this fall for her co-op, where she will be reviewing and editing drafts, assisting in the creation and editing for audio and video content, and more.
Other than maintaining a high GPA, covering the Pope’s visit, and hosting her own talk show, Kerri also enjoys being the self-proclaimed “selfie queen.” She loves being photographed and taking pictures especially to post on social media. When she is not posting flawless selfies, she is browsing the web to keep herself updated on topics as diverse as cars, fashion, real estate, and current events.
After graduation, Kerri hope to become a news anchor for a major television network. Since she is minoring in marketing and she will gain corporate experience at Comcast, the corporate side of communications is her plan b.
Although On the Couch with Kerri was a summer web series, all episodes are still on her brother’s YouTube channel. You can check out what the hype is all about here! When Kerri’s not on the couch, she is definitely out chasing her dreams. You go girl!