Get Social with Essence Carson

About 30 people were in a meeting room at Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix, after the Phoenix Mercury beat the LA Sparks, on June 23rd. The people in the room were a good mix. Everyone from longtime fans to families was in attendance to hear what Essence Carson had to say about social media. The mascot of the Mercury, Scorch, hopped around the room while we waited for Essence to arrive. Weezy, from the team’s hip hop squad, was the MC for the event and helped facilitate the questions from fans. 

As Essence walked in for the event, everyone noticed her style and swagger. During the Q & A portion, a fan asked what inspired her style. She said her mood and life really inspire what she wears. Today, she felt happy, so she put on some bright colors. When Essence tore her ACL, she wore black every day, and although people thought her black style was really cool, it was based on how she felt. Her mood is the ultimate decider of what she wears. 

Social media was the main focus of the event, and of how social media can be used as a tool. Essence currently has over 13,300 followers on Instagram and 9,864 followers on Twitter. “Social media is very important for somebody like me. Simply, because we have our platform with basketball, right? Social media lets you hear our story individually,” Essence stressed. She uses her social media to put out any message she wants to, or when she wants to show a little bit of insight into her life to her fans. 

Trolls were a big topic of discussion. The trolls don’t bother Essence personally, but she does get upset because she sees how the trolls harm children. She tries to keep her nieces away from social media as much as possible, for that very reason. Trolls do come onto Essence’s page, but she chooses to listen to her support system of friends and family, not the trolls of the internet. 

Inspiration on Instagram is Essence’s favorite thing to look at on all of the social media. Even when taking a hiatus from social media, she said she still gets on Instagram to look at the inspirational pages, including pages for relationships and spirituality to help grow herself. She did admit she does like to follow some meme pages for the shade and some good laughs as well. 

It was a surprise to many in the audience to learn that Essence works in the music industry, full-time while playing in the WNBA. She told the attendees that music was her first love, and she didn’t think pro ball was ever in her future until it actually happened. She kept up with basketball, not only for her love of the game, but basketball paid for her college and kept providing her great opportunities. 

She didn’t know she would ever play for the WNBA until she got drafted. She still does practice both things that she loves, music and basketball. Essence gave some great advice on doing more than one thing in your life. As it is the norm nowadays to do more than one thing, people were uncomfortable with the idea back in the day. Essence preached that as long as you are comfortable with it, don’t listen to what anyone else says. “Set your goals. Set them high. You can set as many as you want to. Life will work out,” Essence said.

This event allowed all of the attendees a more in-depth look into a vital part of the Phoenix Mercury team, Essence Carson. To see more of the person, behind the player, made me appreciate her hustle even more. Some great topics and advice were shared with fans of hers’. The fans loved getting to see a behind the scenes look into Essence’s life.