Stichiz is the on-air radio host known as “The Mid Day Bae” and official female voice of Miami’s Urban radio station-WMIB’s 103.5 The Beat FM and the voice of SportsNet in Canada, broadcasting about the NHL. Previously she could be heard on the longest running contemporary hit music station across the U.S., WHYI Y100 – Miami.  Stichiz is also a leader in the community, as she’s the former President of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP Youth and College Division and a current Youth Board Member for the Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Committee where she re-established the ‘MLK Teen Summit’, and created the annual “Change Yourself Before You Change Me” Youth Trailblazers Award, which recognizes young students who might have a had a rough start but have still managed to change their lives and or the lives of others. Stichiz also serves as one of the Board Directors for Girls Make Beats, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering young Girls by expanding the female presence of DJ’s, Music Producers and Audio Engineers. Stichiz is also an ambassador for Literacy Connect INC. and Jewels4MyLocs, and the founder of Project T.E.A.C.H.

Stichiz sat down with SocialMiami editor Brett Graff over a Grey Goose cocktail to discuss finding your power and using it to achieve big things.

You have a highly coveted job in a highly competitive industry. How did you get to where you are today?
I have to give God the glory because he’s the one who made it happen. I did my part and then I left it to him. I knew in college I wanted to be in radio. My sophomore year, I went to my department chair Ms. Alvarez – a short lady with silver hair – and told her about an internship at Clear Channel, even though the positions were for seniors. I told her, “I need my foot in door and I need this internship.” She wrote me a letter to submit in with my application and got an interview at The Beat 103.5. There, the on-air personality explained that when the red light goes on we’re on air. Then he turned on the light, I reacted, and then my internship involved me reporting on entertainment using different voices. (Stichiz proceeds to speak perfectly in six dialects including Jamaican and Californian.) Soon, I was “Peaches” and I was doing the entertainment news.

This is how God works and why mindset is important. At that job, the promotions person was Henry, and from him I learned guerilla marketing. Later, after college, I got a call from WiOD, which is news radio and they said, “There’s a position open, it’s not what you wanted but try it out and work your way up.” The job involved operating the board and I thought, “Well, I’m going to have my own show one day so let me learn now how to operate the board.” I kept that in mind with everything I had to opportunity to do.

On day, walking down the hall, I saw someone I hadn’t seen before, I had an inkling – God said “go say hi” so I did.  He was senior vice president for urban radio at IHeart, and I had my air check – it’s like a radio demo – ready at all times. I got a mid-day spot on the air. That’s a huge spot for someone coming from promotions. The lesson? When something is for you, it’s for you.

Where do you get your power?
Through prayer. The affirmations I repeat are scriptures based on God’s promises. For example, there’s Jeremiah 29:11 that states: For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope in the future. For me, that’s a promise from the lord, I can’t receive anything that’s opposite. Also, the people I have around me, they speak life to me, they pray for me, and they seem to randomly call or text when I’m going through something. I don’t think that’s by chance.

How do you connect with listeners?
I’m always aware that I’m speaking to a person, not a microphone. And I say things on air that I’d say if I were to meet you in person.  I just picture it; I’m picturing you driving, I’m picturing you cooking and if I have tickets to give away, I’m imagining you asking me, “Hey Stichiz, what tickets you got?” I’m a visual person. I’ve always been a kid with a vivid imagination.

And your charity work?
Girls Make Beats is a non-profit started by a friend Tiffany Miranda, engineer musician classically trained artist and an all-around boss. It empowers girls by expanding the female presence of music producers, DJs and audio engineers – the goal is to expand the presence of girls in the music spaces. Did you know only 2.6 percent of music producers are female? That’s not good. We had Drakes Producer, his name is “40” do workshop with the girls.

The non profit I have personally founded in college is Project Teach, teaching educating all children for hope. I loved seeing kids learn and have fun while they’re learning. Promoting literacy is a big part of our mission, so for example, at Ronald McDonald House in Miami, we built out book nook, put in shelves, made a space to read. We award scholarships, last time we gave $1200 each to two to help pay for college books.

Then our teen open mic is a platform we created because growing up I was performing in clubs and looking back I had no business being there. I wanted a space where our kids can perform their God given gifts without worrying about anything else. We were holding it at Bass Park in Lauderhill — they would set up a stage and decorate with lights — and we were blessed with opportunities. In March 2020 we kicked it off online, switched gears, and did it on Instagram live, which opened it up to kids in places such as the UK, Africa and North Carolina.