Carvd N Stone, a Milwaukee-based outlet that reports positive news, is collaborating with the multinational tech company, Amazon, for a story-telling series.
Over the next few months, the series will profile Amazon employees.
This idea was the brainchild of Nyesha Stone, the founder of Carvd N Stone.
The 2024 convention of the National Association of Black Journalists proved to be the perfect stage for Stone to pitch her news outlet, Carvd N Stone, for a partnership with Amazon.
Carvd N Stone is a news company and marketing agency, that only reports on positive news and positive branding, particularly in Black and brown communities.
Stone says she had attended the NABJ convention in previous years, but 2024 was different.
"When I first went, I was tryna get a job. I was running Carvd N Stone at the time, printing out resumes, like doing whatever I can, but neither of the times did I get a job. So, I was more focused on trying to elevate in my career and I really never knew, I never took the full capacity of what all of he convention offers," Stone says.
At the annual convention, Black journalists across the media industry gather for events that promote fellowship. There also are panel discussions on a variety of topics, and a career fair.
It’s done in an effort to create channels of support for Black people in media.
"So, this time around I was going in there with a new mindset because I proved to myself, 'Hey your company is successful just go and enjoy yourself. You know, you can go network. You know, just open up yourself. You don’t have necessarily a goal,' she says. "You’re just going to really just be around other Black journalists honestly."
Stone wasn’t necessarily looking for a job, but she went to the career fair hoping to get companies to notice Carvd N Stone. Whether it be through placing ads with the company or offering them public relations help.
She says a few companies wrote her off, but she wasn’t discouraged.
She approached a woman at the Amazon table with an opportunity to work together. The woman told Stone to go to a couple of Amazon’s panels, talk with the panelists and take it from there.
After a few conversations, and a few pitch revisions, a partnership in the form of a story series was born.
The series will consist of articles highlighting people who work for Amazon and really humanizing them. That's been the basis of the work Carvd N Stone does. The stories will be published on the company's website.
"’I've always said, 'A human being first. A journalist second,”' Stone says. "And so, this is just another extension of that."
"And so, what we’ll be doing is interviewing different people from Amazon and doing articles on them focusing on who they are as a person. OK you’re running this $100 million dollar initiative, but how they heck did you even get here? Where did you start at? Who are you as a person? What do you do for fun? And just really showing that you can still be a normal person and work for a company like Amazon or build your own things," she added.
Stone says Amazon selects people who might make good interview subjects, but ultimately, she has the final say. And she’s doing all the work on her own.
The opportunity is open to people of all backgrounds, but the main demographic is Black and brown folks.
Stone says she will likely produce these articles biweekly. And the partnership is expected to last at least through early 2026.
"I think it’s a win-win for both of us, just really showing that like how companies can support a company like mine. And then also just really showing that we do have value here. Our positive news does matter," Stone says.
As for what this opportunity means to her, Stone says she deserves it. She spoke about the efforts people don't see.
"There’s a lot of background work. No one knows about a lot of broken nights, a lot of crying nights, a lot of stressful nights. A lot of not getting paid for the things that I do. But I keep doing em because I know why I’m doing em. And so, a opportunity like this it’s like I deserve it, I created it and I just hope that more people see the value in the work that I do so we can continue to more of our positive news."
Stone says she believes Amazon was drawn to her company because they saw her work ethic, and the quality of Carvd N Stone’s work.
She adds that that as a Milwaukee-based company, she hopes this moment leads to more Wisconsin-based companies seeing the value in Carvd N Stone and that they’re more willing to partner just as Amazon did.
