Recalculating reality
WCCO podcast co-host Sheletta Brundidge navigates her next step on a winding path.
By Jasmine Johnson | Bethel Clarion journalist
Sheletta Brundidge bypasses an outstretched hand and goes straight for the hug when greeting a stranger. Her goals are printed out and Scotch-taped around her house in Cottage Grove. Her iPhone hangs on a white lanyard as she listens to a motivational message by comedian Steve Harvey.
With four long-distance relocations of her home, three kids on the autism spectrum and two loves of listening and laughter, Brundidge has experienced so many seasons of rerouting that even Google Maps would be appalled.
Assignment desk manager, comedian, mother, podcaster. Houston, Lake Charles, Cincinnati, Minneapolis. Brundidge said there’s only one reason she’s made it from the hospital bed as an infant to the podcast studio today.
“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus and Jesus,” she said.
PERSISTENCE
Brundidge grew up and attended college in her hometown: Houston. Watching the news as a kid, she dreamed of becoming an evening news anchor like Linda Lorelle. When Lorelle spoke at the University of Houston, this confirmed her calling.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s who I want to be,’” Brundidge said. “‘That’s what I want to do.’”
A month before graduation, she scheduled a meeting with her college adviser to talk about what to do after receiving her diploma. He told her that a lot of people don’t make it in the journalism business. Even though she was getting the degree, she probably wouldn’t get the job.
“Are you for real?” Brundidge asked. “Why did I just go to school and get all these student loans if I’m going to come out and sell insurance? I mean, nothing against State Farm, but I don’t want to be selling Geico! I want to be on the radio, I want to be on TV, I want to be writing.”
“Sheletta operates without fear or limitation. I had an instant admiration for her.” — Sonia Brown, college friend
So instead of waiting to stumble upon the ideal position, she looked for jobs in small towns. She wanted to be close enough to visit her parents and four siblings, but far enough away that the whole city of Houston wouldn’t find out when she made mistakes.
“Sheletta operates without fear or limitation,” college friend Sonia Brown said. “I had an instant admiration for her.”
Brundidge started her first job hunting for story ideas and handpicking reporters in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She would assign the court story to the reporter with a law degree. The midday event coverage would go to the parent who had to pick up her kids from school at 3 p.m.
“Every time I see her, she has always played my work mom and put a smile on my face,” former coworker Justin Abshire said. “Sheletta has always been a person that has pushed me to work harder and do more for myself.”
For her first assignment, Brundidge asked her editor if she could produce a story about cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney for Black History Month in 2001. She didn’t realize that Whitney was white.
She stayed at the office past the end of her shift, answering calls related to her mistake until 1 a.m. She kept saying that she would relay the message to Brundidge, even though she was the one answering the phone.
“It wasn’t just about me getting a job and me getting promoted,” she said. “It was about me making a difference.”
UNEXPECTED DETOUR
When she and her boyfriend had been dating a while, he decided to take a job offer in Minnesota in 2004.
Recalculating more than 1,000 miles north, she followed suit and took a job working as the KSTP assignments editor in St. Paul.
“Nobody wanted to be the chick behind the scenes,” Brundidge said. “Because my background was on the assignment desk, I could always find a job.”
After working in that position for four years, her boss took notice of her work ethic and asked her to anchor a weekly community affairs magazine TV show.
“Faith is not fair,” Brundidge said. “Favor will skip you to the front of the line.”
After marrying and spending another two years in Minnesota, she and her husband rerouted nearly 700 miles southeast to Cincinnati in 2010 after he received a job offer. Brundidge was hired as a producer and assignment desk manager, but this season only lasted a year.
Her husband lost his position unexpectedly after working there for six months. The GPS said to turn left, but they turned right. Brundidge had to recalculate to get back on the right road. They were in the middle of paying for a two-year lease, raising an infant and preparing for a baby on the way.
“You’re not going to always get exactly what you want, but be willing to work for what you need.” — Sheletta Brundidge, broadcaster
This time, Brundidge landed back in Houston, where she always wanted, so close to her family that she could walk to her mom’s house. She and her husband had three kids in two years because they wanted to establish a long-term home. They were both working full time, so Brundidge’s mother watched the kids.
“I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got all the support,’” Brundidge said. “‘This is going to be great. I love it.’”
Another recalculation popped up in their path, but this one had nothing to do with moving to a different city.
“You’re not going to always get exactly what you want, but be willing to work for what you need,” she said.
CAN’T GO ON
Every day seemed like the first day of school for Brundidge’s youngest child Daniel as he cried and clung to her side.
He wouldn’t make eye contact and hadn’t spoken a word, but Brundidge’s mom said he would if they just gave him some time.
Brundidge took him to a pediatrician. No answers. He was placed on an appointment waiting list. Months later, he was transferred to a specialty clinic. This time, they left with a diagnosis: autism.
After additional testing, the next two children received the same results. Three of Brundidge’s four kids are on the autism spectrum.
She stopped eating, praying and attending church. Her weight dropped to 92 pounds. People would call her sir. She couldn’t shave under her arms because her razor was too big for her armpits.
“I’m expecting you, Lord, to take better care of me,” Brundidge prayed.
As she huddled under her kitchen table one day, she was struck with a realization.
You need to look at it as an honor that I chose you to be their mother, God whispered. Now get off the floor and take care of these babies.
Brundidge and her husband responded by looking throughout the nation for the best special education programs and services for autism.
Recalculating. Back to Minnesota.
“He’s going to take your foot and move it around to where it needs to be,” Brundidge said.
‘WE WANT THEM HEALED’
People told Brundidge that her kids would never move beyond their diagnosis, never look people in the eyes when addressed, never drive their own car or get married. She didn’t let those voices faze her. She prayed for complete healing for her children, not just help along the way.
Brundidge said taking on the assignment desk manager role in multiple news organizations prepared her to balance schedules for each of her four kids and a dozen therapists doing life in her household. Each child had 40 hours of weekly therapy with a different set of therapists for two years.
“I have a ministry that goes beyond the newsroom,” she said. “It was like Grand Central Station in my house, and I started seeing my kids grow.”
They tried all of the same methods with Daniel, but everything seemed to be a dead end. Everything except music.
On one rare day when the rest of the house was quiet, Daniel approached Brundidge in the kitchen and uttered his first words.
“Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road,” he mumbled.
Brundidge uploaded her nine-second “Old Town Road” miracle video to Twitter and it went viral.
“If Lil Nas X would’ve given up on his dream and his vision and his music, my son would not be blessed,” Brundidge said.
MOVING FORWARD
One October afternoon while folding laundry, she listened to producer and actor Tyler Perry as he asked famous people what their dreams were. Oprah Winfrey said, “I’m not dreaming, I’m living inside of God’s dream for me.”
2019 has been a year of breakthrough for Brundidge.
Daniel spoke for the first time at age 4. Two of her kids have moved out of the special education program and into the traditional classroom. She even filmed the pilot for an upcoming reality TV show about her family.
She keeps her visions in three key places of the house: kitchen, bathroom and closet.
Under “MY VISION,” she quotes a verse from the Book of Habakkuk, which says to write the visions clearly on tablets and be patient for God to work.
After hanging up the last gray, long-sleeve shirt, Brundidge kneeled down on a carpet square beneath a colorful line of dresses in her closet, bending forward to read her visions aloud. When Daniel yelled for her, he didn’t know she was following Winfrey’s advice, reminding herself to live inside God’s dream.
She accepted a part-time night shift job at WCCO, but she plans to do more than simply work there. Brundidge wants to transform the studio from the inside out.
She voices her opinions on race and autism awareness by writing columns for black newspapers across the country, such as the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, The Insider and The Sun.
“I am in awe of how she manages to do everything with children and work plus keeping up with the field,” said Beth Olson, one of Brundidge’s journalism professors from the University of Houston. “Watching her Twitter feed can be exhausting.”
Today, Brundidge is also an Emmy award-winning comedian and podcast co-host of Two Haute Mamas. She said she will only ever be finished recalculating when she learns to follow His instructions.
“I know that God has anointed me for so much more, but I’ve still gotta fold these clothes, I’ve still gotta change sheets, I’ve still gotta wash dishes,” Brundidge said. “If we can’t be happy where we are, He’s not going to elevate us to the next level.”
