SU grad shares her experience with reality TV, life afterwards

They say, behind every good man there is a good woman.
For former Public Enemy hype man Flavor Flav, the women behind his success lies with the countless number of female contestants vying for his love on VH-1’s “Flavor of Love.”
During the show’s second season on-air, viewers were introduced to a new batch of female contestants, one of which was Southern University alum, Iraq war veteran and Hurricane Katrina survivor Ronnise Clark.
“I was in the process of graduating and I was looking for a job in my field,” Clark said.
The 24-year-old native of New Orleans, and graduate of SU’s Department of Mass Communication, said she saw a casting call advertisement for the show during a job search which led her to Flav.
“I e-mailed the contact person, not thinking they were actually going to call me back,” she said. “Then, I received the call to schedule an interview in Atlanta.”
Clark said after the interview, she was phoned again by show executives and was relayed the news she had been cast for “Flavor of Love 2.”
“Being a contestant on ‘Flavor of Love 2’ was great, and then again it was not so great,” Clark said.
Part of her great experience on the show was the opportunity to be selected and meeting the other women living in the mansion the show was filmed in, she said.
In terms of the show’s disadvantages, Clark said, “If you watch any of the segments of ‘Flavor of Love 2,’ I always had a water bottle in my hand and the reason for that is because they were not feeding us (girls) on the show.”
Clark said the production company wanted them to drink alcohol so their actions would be more uninhibited giving viewers their “so-called entertainment.”
“Everything (you) see on television is not real,” Clark said. “The production company edited things to make the production company ‘look-good’ instead of showing those girls’ actual personalities.
“If you did not drink or did not do anything they ask you to do prior to the show airing, then you were kicked-off,” she said.
After being eliminated from the show, Clark decided to start her own business.
“My main focus in life is to become my own boss and become very successful,” she said.
According to a press release, Clark has combined her discipline, integrity and time-management skills to launch her company, R! Personal Innovations. The company targets and caters to celebrities, CEOs, full-time moms and anyone in between who may be lacking in time management.
“Starting your business is like your baby,” Clark said. “You have to watch it grow and that’s exactly what I’m doing with my business.”
According to the release, the company is a one-woman show, on call 24 hours a day. Some of the services she provides to her clients include grocery and personal shopping, and even pet care and party planning.
“I love helping people in need,” Clark said in the release. “It brings me joy when a client can spend more time with their family. That’s why I do what I do.”
Clark said the image her company has is not about corporate America, but about enjoying life and showing your personality in your work.
“This is what makes business and consumers have a developing relationship which makes the business a success,” she said.