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MalaniKai
Gracie Award-Winning Media Personality, Motivational Speaker & Boy's Prep Basketball Coach
MalaniKai
Gracie Award-Winning Media Personality, Motivational Speaker & Boy's Prep Basketball Coach
Biography
For nearly two decades, Gracie Award-Winning media personality and basketball coach, MalaniKai has dedicated her life to training and mentoring youth and daring to speak her mind on radio and television.
She made history as the first female to become a full-time talk show host on the 100-year-old legendary, #1 news/talk radio station in America 95.5 WSB in Atlanta. She became the first person from WSB radio to receive a prestigious Gracie Award.
Even off the air, MalaniKai is no stranger to making history. She has the distinction of being the first female elite men's prep basketball head coach and is well-respected among her male colleagues in the basketball world.
The Troy, NY native has served in numerous staff positions at AM and FM radio stations from New York to Atlanta. MalaniKai also spent 13 years at Turner Broadcasting. She's known for her unique approach to interviewing newsmakers, celebrities, politicians, athletes, CEOs, artist and more.
MalaniKai still holds her high school's all-time scoring record in basketball and secured a full athletic scholarship to Syracuse University. The broadcasting major eventually transferred to Saint Peter's University in New Jersey. She also holds a degree from Liberty University.
Formerly homeless before her rise in talk radio, she’s an advocate for the unsheltered community. In 2019 she started a weekly bus program to pick up unsheltered people for free sit-down dinners that also include free clothing, counseling, entertainment and more. In her upcoming memoir, MalaniKai shares how she refused to become a victim of the sexual abuse she experienced as a child. She believes that negative aspects of your past can only define you if you allow it to. MalaniKai leans heavy on the “Power of Transformational Thinking.”
Over the years she has remained grounded in faith and stays motivated by a work ethic instilled by her parents, who founded one of a few remaining international African-American owned boarding/prep schools in America, Redemption Christian Academy. MalaniKai is currently head coach of RCA's national, elite men's prep team. Throughout the years she's helped train and mentor numerous professional and college athletes.
She sits on the Board of Directors for RCA and Goodway Bakery. She has been recognized by The Alliance for Women in Media and Black Women in Radio for her outstanding work in broadcasting. MalaniKai recently received the "Woman of Impact" Media Maestro Award from the Rotary Clubs United. In addition to her appearances on local and national television, MalaniKai has appeared in movies and scripted television shows.
MalaniKai uses her unique life stories to stimulate multi-cultural audiences with her witty, thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous opinions on social issues, sports, politics, family, faith, and current events. Her message of determination, self-reliance, and personal responsibility resonates whether she’s training and coaching young people or engaging with her radio or in-person audiences. She currently divides her time between New York and Atlanta.
Speech Topics
An Enemy Called Average
It was the public humiliation of a street basketball game at the age of 13 that propelled MalaniKai to become one of the best high school basketball players in upstate New York. She saw being "average" as an enemy of success. And what she lacked in athletic prowess, she made up for with an extraordinary work ethic and unshakeable determination.
She averaged a staggering 48 points per game in her freshman season and positioned herself to receive a full athletic scholarship to any NCAA Division I university in America she desired to attend.
MalaniKai used that same mindset to climb the media ranks and win a prestigious Gracie Award after being told the color of her skin and gender would prevent her from becoming a talk show host on the #1 News/Talk radio station in America.
MalaniKai takes the audience on a spectacular journey of triumphs and defeats on her quest to bypass average. Her message of defying the odds, overcoming obstacles, and hard work resonates from corporate and academic settings to non-profit and sports audiences. Average is an enemy of success. "You were born an original. Don't die a copy!"
MalaniKai: How I Went from Living in a Car to an Award-Winning Media Personality in a Top 10 Market
What she thought would be a few days or maybe a week or two turned into 18 months of hiding a dark secret from her family and loved ones. Reality indicated MalaniKai was at rock bottom, but her faith painted a much brighter picture every night she slept in her car. When she moved to Atlanta in 2001, MalaniKai had one goal: become the first African-American female talk show host on the #1 news/talk radio station in America.
Even after being told by some industry experts, it couldn't be accomplished because she didn't look or sound like the station’s flagship host Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other white, male talk show host, MalaniKai never lost sight of the vision. In her upcoming memoir, MalaniKai shares her personal story of unwavering faith, hard work and a relentless pursuit of making her dream a reality. She explores the "Power of Manifestation" and the reality of what needs to happen to think something into existence. Her motivating message of taking ownership of your future resonates with people of all ages, races, and occupations.
Slaying Giants
MalaniKai uses the Biblical story of a teenage shepherd boy slaying a 9-foot giant to inspire and motivate her audience to not fear what we see with our natural eyes. Metaphorically she believes "giants" come in many forms to intimidate and discourage us from walking in our destiny.
She weaves throughout the story of "David vs. Goliath" and the giants of her past. One of those giants was a knee injury that prevented her from finishing training camp during the inaugural season of the WNBA.
Another giant MalaniKai had to face was the death of her sister at the age of 54. Growing up as a preacher's kid, faith and prayer were always the ingredients for miracles. What happened this time? How do we handle life when our prayers seemingly fall on death ears?
Bouncing back from tragedy and understanding God's sovereignty is a key theme in this faith-based message designed to uplift and inspire.
No Excuses
By the first time MalaniKai was handed the reins as head coach of an elite prep boys’ basketball team, she was already a believer in the ideology that "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." At the first practice she knew she wasn't working with a lot of talent, but she wasn't discouraged. She was up for the challenge.
MalaniKai didn't discover basketball until she was 13. She was way behind and not very athletic. Within 4 years she transformed herself into being so exceptional, she paved the way for not only herself, but also her sister to attend the college of her choice on full athletic scholarships. What she lacked in talent, MalaniKai made up for it with a remarkable work ethic that allowed her to dominate more athletic and talented players. She finished her high school basketball career winning 103 games and losing only 4.
Her message is simple. You don't have to be the most talented to succeed whether it's in sports, business, academia or anything. In this motivational presentation, MalaniKai shares pertinent keys to her success on and off the basketball court. She challenges every demographic to not make excuses and take ownership of their future.
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