Meet Emily Austin: The Sports Broadcaster, Political Commentator, Beauty Founder, And Pageant Judge Doing It All

There’s no clean label for Emily Austin, and she likes it that way. At only 24, she’s lived a life most of us can only dream of. She’s all brains and beauty; a TV host who can debate foreign policy one day and soft-launch a lip jelly the next. When she joined our call, she’d just come from speaking at the United Nations, laptop open in a beautiful high-rise somewhere, probably between flights. During our conversation, she reveals that she “doesn’t live with regret.” That much is obvious in how Emily lives: quick to act, sure of herself, never waiting for permission. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and life rewards her for it.

Her journey began 5 years ago. Emily dropped out of medical school mid-pandemic and started from scratch, building her media career from her apartment. She hasn't slowed down since. When she’s not reporting on sports, she’s talking skincare pH levels and bipartisan sanity. We miraculously caught up on one of Emily’s many busy days to talk about beauty, faith, a little politics, and the one “yes” that changed her life.

Watch the full interview below:

Nicole Dominique: You’ve been broadcasting, you attended the Emmys recently, judged Miss Universe, covered politics, and launched your own skincare brand. When people ask what you do, how do you even answer?

Emily Austin: I love that question. It really depends on who's asking, because if I don't really know the person, I'll say, "Well, what day of the week?” in a joking manner. On a serious note, the easiest way to describe what I do—and it doesn’t really fully let people know what I do—but "TV personality" has just been the broadest way to explain it.

But then people don't understand my entrepreneurship or the fact that I have a skincare company. They just generalize: “Okay, well, she's on television,” which usually further prompts a conversation of, “Well, what do you do on television?” And that's where I'm like, “Well, I talk a lot of sports and I talk a lot of politics. So, which one interests you?” And then that's where the conversation will go. It always starts with TV personality, entrepreneur, and the rest depends on how the conversation unfolds.

ND: When did you realize you wanted to be on camera and in journalism?

EA: I really think a lot of people are born into their personality. Myself being one of them. However, growing up in a highly motivated household, I always felt the pressure of being a lawyer or a doctor. In another lifetime, I definitely would have been a doctor. But I never shied away from the camera. I was an athlete my whole life, which I think helped build my confidence to be on camera. You win, you lose, you're in front of a crowd. That's just how the world works. Once I got to college and COVID hit while I was studying medicine, I had ample time on my hands to think, “Well, what do I want to do now?”

Do I want to be in med school till I'm 30 and then start interning and working my way up the ranks? Is this the path for me? And I came to the conclusion during COVID that it's not the right path for me, and I actually like digital media. Now, many people—not everyone—but many people either have a connection, an uncle, a dad, a mentor, someone in the space. I had nobody. And starting from scratch was really scary, especially after spending 20 years deciding that I would be a doctor, and now I want to enter an industry that I'm blind in. It worked out. I'm very happy I decided that, but it was very scary, and it was a very uncertain time for the entire world and for myself. I added the burden of rethinking my entire life choices during that, but I'm glad that I did because I’m happy.

ND: What are your tips on that? How do you decide, “I’m gonna be brave, I’m going to use my voice and share how I feel”?

EA: I'm still 24. I have a lot of life ahead of me. But one thing that really makes me feel proud of myself is that I really don't live with any regrets. If I've ever hurt someone's feelings, I apologize right away. If I've ever made a mistake, I own it publicly or privately. I'm not a person who wants to think, “I could have or I should have.” I know a lot of people try to adopt that mentality, but I live by that mentality. And when I decided to make the pivot, I was like, “I'm going to give this my all because if I fail, I'll know I tried my best.”

I went in so confidently because I decided on it. I said, "Dropping out of med school is going to be catastrophic if this does not work out for me. But now, this is all I've got." And with that mentality, I just put my full effort into it. And it's funny, a lot of people, especially recently, have tried to discredit the work that I've done. They're like, “She was thrown into the spotlight. Her parents are billionaires.” That would be nice. Whereas they don't see the hard work that I put into it. In the beginning, I blew up overnight, but you didn't see the years of work I was putting in before that. 

I'm going to give this my all because if I fail, I'll know I tried my best.

I'll share this story because I don't even know if he knows the impact it had on me, but it wasn't working out in the beginning, and I'm not such a patient person. But I decided maybe going back to med school would be a good path for me. I just wasn't really finding the help that I thought a lot of people would offer, especially experienced people in the industry—especially experienced women in the industry. I thought it would be more of a friendly space, but women actually tear each other down in this business. And it's sad, and I'll never do that because of how I was treated. But there was a restaurant grand opening in Houston, and Jim Gray was there. Jim Gray is a Hall of Fame broadcaster. And I remember telling the restaurant owner, "Hey, I'm just not feeling this anymore. Like, I know I've made some inroads, but I think it's time to just accept that I couldn't do it."

And he said, "Okay, I respect your decision and your maturity and being able to recognize that maybe it's not for you, but before you do that, just have a quick chat with this guy."

It was Jim Gray. So, I'm telling Jim how devastated I was that I put in all this effort and I'm not feeling like I've succeeded in it. And Jim literally was like, "If I can ever show you in my home, I have a drawer. In the drawer, it's a stack of letters this high, and it's all rejection letters. And then I have another pile, and it's acceptance letters—and it's one letter." And he said, "All those no’s didn't matter because the one yes mattered." And he just reignited that flame. I felt so dull and burnt out. I just thought, “You know what? He's right. I'm gonna keep going.” It just takes one yes. Then I got the yes, and it changed my whole life.

ND: Speaking of meeting Jim Gray and other individuals like him, you've also met President Trump. What are other pinch-me moments or other mentors you’ve come across in the space—or other people that you were just like, “Wow, this is surreal”?

EA: I think that was a pinch-me moment with President Trump. Love him or hate him, he's the president. I happen to love him, but nonetheless, I understand the honor of meeting your president. I love meeting foreign leaders as well. I think it's a huge privilege. But specifically, President Trump was someone that I just look up to. I admire him. I think he's so strong and fierce. Whether you politically align with him or not, you can't deny he's a force that cannot be stopped. Which, to me, makes a great president. There were a few times I publicly met him, but there were also private moments.

One of the first meetings was on his election night at Mar-a-Lago, in which I got a proper handshake, a proper introduction, a nice compliment, and that was all. After he had won the election, to thank me for my efforts—in his words—helping him win, they invited me and five other influencers to the White House. And he literally sat with us. He told me, "I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you. Here's a token of my appreciation." He gave me a Challenge coin and a pen that he uses to sign executive orders. He was like, "Oh, and you look like my daughter, Ivanka."

Emily shows me the lock screen on her phone, and it’s a lovely image of her and others at the White House with Donald Trump.

I came home and I told my mom and dad, I said, "Guys, like, does it get better from here? Will my life ever go up? Have I hit my plateau?” I never thought it could get better, but now I have my dream job in sports. I was covering the FIFA Club World Cup back in July, and I had applied for a short interview with the president, and my hopes weren't really high. I'm like, you know what? He wants to enjoy the game. They get back to me, and they're like, “You have an exclusive sitdown with the president.” And then I was like, guys, it just got better. I did it. I don't know how I did it, but I did it. And now I don't know if it will get better. We'll see. Maybe when I have kids one day, but right now that's like the pinnacle of both my sports career and my love for politics. I don't know if love is the right word—interest in politics.

ND: Okay, so you travel constantly for work. You’re busy. So please tell me something in your carry-on or your purse that you just have to take with you.

EA: I wouldn't say carry-on because I stopped doing that. I check everything. I hate it, by the way, and I have an Air Tag in my suitcase. Life hack.

I'm not just saying it because I own it, but my self-care is my skin care, which is why I became the owner of my skincare company. It's called People's Beauty. We're South Korean. We are effective. We're clean, we're affordable, and I personally find my consistency in doing my skin care. So whether I'm in New York or whether I'm in Saudi Arabia, I know at the end of the day, I get to come home and I get to clean my face and I get to wake up with that dewy glow from my serum. And I know it sounds silly, but really having that sense of consistency no matter where I am in the planet gives me a sense of relief in a way.

Emily shows me her latest creation, the People’s Beauty lip jelly, packaged in a Barbie-pink tube.

And then in my purse, I'm wearing it now. That's why it's in my hand. This is my lip jelly. They're coming out next month. It's in the shade, Barbie, and I have five others. Yeah, I'm a sports broadcaster, but I love skincare, I love makeup, and I love cosmetics. I love everything. I'm like a girly girl and a tomboy at the same time.

ND: So you said it’s Korean—what made you choose South Korea?

EA: First of all, South Korea is the skincare hub of the world. They're the most innovative. I won't spoil all of our secrets. We have a product coming out that's not on the market yet in the United States, but our research and development have found this in South Korea, and it's going to change the game of skincare. I'm excited. I'm the guinea pig, by the way. I experiment with my own products, which is great.

But here was the side of it I didn't even know initially, is that America—and I love America—but America has a very low bar for health, and that's something that many people are infuriated with. Specifically, when it comes to cosmetic regulations and what is or isn’t FDA-approved.

There are a lot of specific things I won't bore you with, but in short, the European Union has banned over 1,300 toxins, and with People's Beauty, we meet the standard of the European Union. So when I got the company, I very innocently asked, "Okay, but do we meet America's health standard?" And everyone started laughing at me. So, I came now with this whole new mission like “Make America Healthy Again.” Let's not exclude what we put on our skin because everyone's very self-conscious with what they eat these days. But who's to say it's different in your skin care? Your skin is ultimately absorbing the chemicals. So, People’s Beauty bans all of those toxins. We don't even have fragrances.

Trust me, I would love to put on a lip jelly that smells like cherries, but there are chemicals in that, and I'm trying to be as clean and healthy as possible. In South Korea, they've really mastered clean beauty. Knowing that the tariffs are killing me and it's very expensive to ship, and yes, the Houthis are seizing ships as we speak, but I won't compromise on the value of the product that my customers will get. So, it's worth every penny.

ND: On a more serious note, I loved your video on the recent violence in America—you urged all of us to take action: “The fight begins with us.” You also urged us to elect leaders. Why did you feel called to post that? And what do you hope our generation does with that message?

EA: I appreciate you mentioning earlier that I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that sense of urgency you saw in the message was because it was indeed urgent. I was sitting in my car, stuck in traffic, and I was like, “I literally can't even wait till I get home to record something.” Because, aside from the fact that I adored Charlie Kirk, it was just the fact that a man was murdered and people were praising that, and I don't care if you love him or hate him. I don't like Joe Biden. I'm not going to celebrate the fact that he has cancer. I'm a human. Before politics, I'm a person.

I think too many people get into the heat of it, and they're chronically online, and they don't understand how troubled you have to be to celebrate anybody dying—even people you strongly disagree with. That's something I remind myself of too: Be a person first. You're a person. With that video, I chose very keen, specific messaging. I redid that video five times. The first five takes, I said the word Democrat, and I'm like, “The Democrats, the Democrats, the Democrats.”

Then I thought to myself, well, who does this help if I post? I know everyone knows I'm a Republican. I'm not shy about it, but that doesn't mean all Democrats are necessarily wrong. It doesn't mean they're all bad. No one's “all anything.” That's extremism. And with this video, I really wanted to be a part of the solution, and not just fuel igniting that fire. Everything is on fire right now. And it's hard because I'm very strong about my opinions, but I also understand that the only way to move forward is with bipartisanship. We need to look for more common denominators and not set up more barriers. And that goes beyond politics. That goes for people labeling themselves. Stop labeling yourself. You don't need to label yourself. You need to blend. We need to mix. We need to respect one another. I don't care if you're gay. I don't care if you're black. I don't care if you're trans. Enough with the labels. Are you a good person? And it sounds almost so obvious, but not enough people live their lives that way.

Now, with the Charlie Kirk shooting, I'm still fuming. I'm boiling inside. I think about it, and I physically get hot. But yesterday I went to the Paley Center of Communication, and I was on a panel with three Democratic strategists, and we grabbed coffee. And we chatted and we laughed. We both love animal rights, and we were both laughing at how New York is doomed under Mamdani, and even a Democrat could understand that. And it taught me that, and that's what I hope to teach others. Not everything is so extreme. It's not so black or white.

We need to respect one another.

What I meant by elect your officials, there's a reason I took out the word Democrat. Being a Republican doesn't make you a good person, and being a Democrat doesn't make you a bad person. I have a Democratic congresswoman whom I did not vote for, but she won, and she's lovely and she's doing a phenomenal job.

I don't agree with Hillary Clinton's politics [but] she's not that bad, you know. And I think people need to look at the person they're voting for as a leader and less of a political person. If you like who you're voting for as a person, I don't care what party they're from. But not enough people recognize that, and that's what I'm trying to really shove down everyone's throat.

ND:  And with that said, I know the past couple of weeks have been ridiculous, and you’re still doing all this work while covering such heavy topics—do you have a daily habit or ritual that helps you stay grounded? Whether that’s prayer, journaling, anything.

EA: When I look good, I feel good. On days that I really don't want to work out, I'll force myself. And not because I'm the most ripped, fit person, but because I feel like I did something. I know I mentioned it earlier, but my skincare really makes me feel like I accomplished something because there's steps to the skincare. There's step one, step two, step three.

But sometimes even just following instructions makes you feel like you have accomplished something. It sounds silly, but my girlfriend went through a really, really bad breakup, and she called me crying. I gifted her skincare. I didn't know what to do. I was like, "Here, take skincare."And she called me six months later, she just started balling, and she's like, "When I was going through my breakup, I didn't go to work." She really took it hard; she said the only thing I accomplished throughout the day was her skincare routine. Doing that, she said, "Made me feel good about myself, and it made me feel beautiful." Knowing that I contributed to that, or even something like just having a routine, is so healthy. She really opened my eyes with that, and I've realized, ultimately, no matter how busy you are, you need to find something that protects your peace. I don't pray as much as I should, and that's the truth. I make it clear in public that my love for God is first and foremost.

Everything is thanks to Him, and I acknowledge that, but I don't think I express gratitude enough. And I think the more grateful you are the more you'll receive. But as a Jewish person, on holidays, I go to synagogue. I pray my heart out. We just celebrated New Year's. Next week is like our day of repentance, and I will fully observe that. Prayer is very powerful.

ND: Do you have anything else that you want to share with our audience? It can be anything—beauty, politics, any message you want to share right now.

EA: Okay, I'll give you a serious one, and I'll give you a fun one. If you're a girl or guy and you're watching this and you wear foundation, I obviously prefer you use my serum, but take any serum you have (if you're going for a glowy look, not a matte look). If you're going for that natural and glowing look, take a pump of foundation, add a drop of your serum, and use that as your primer instead of a makeup primer. You will literally illuminate, and you will get stopped on the street. Trust me with this one.

And my serious note is, whether you're reading this as a political person, as a beauty junkie, as a sports fan, one thing we need to do, and it's really our duty to do this as a good Samaritan... We need to look beyond the boundaries. We need to look beyond people's titles, look beyond all of these man-made restrictions and boundaries that we've created amongst ourselves, and look at how we are as human beings first and foremost.

And it sounds so cliche and broad. People are so quick to label, "Okay, you're a Jew. You're a person of color. You don't believe in this. You don't believe in that." But little do you know that if you engaged with that person for 10 minutes, you might even make a friend. You know, worst case scenario, you're just a good person, and you're not a judgmental one. And whatever you believe in, and it doesn't have to be my religion, but if you believe in a higher power, that's the core of every religion, it is coexistence, it's peace, it's forgiveness, it's understanding, it's mercy. A lot of people identify with religion. And if you don't, I hope you do one day. But we don't actually follow the core principles. One thing Judaism, Islam, Christianity have in common is charity, forgiveness, mercy, and kindness. Now, how many people could look at themselves and say, "Oh, I do all of that."

We need to look beyond people's titles, look beyond all of these man-made restrictions and boundaries that we've created amongst ourselves, and look at how we are as human beings first and foremost.

Nobody reading this could say that. So, if you just take it day by day and be very conscious of your actions. That's something I've promised myself to do lately. I've been very forgetful lately. And as I've said, you know, I'm forgetful. I'm not conscious enough of what I'm actually doing on a day-to-day, and that includes being a kind person. It's not easy, I'm not saying it's easy. The world is an ugly, evil, gross place—but if you just pay this much more attention to how you are, you can make the difference.

After nearly an hour of talking to Emily, what stands out most isn’t her résumé, but her focus. Driven, sharp, and self-aware, it's clear she’s only getting started. Follow along on her journey on Instagram and check out her skincare line, People’s Beauty.