Trailblazer Alexis Wiley continues to make her mark in Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Alexis Wiley has made a career out of being a voice for the voiceless. Whether it's been here at FOX 2 or working alongside Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

While she balances motherhood with running her own company she's taken on a new challenge with the NFL Draft Committee.  Wiley continues to make a positive impact for Detroit.

FOX 2: "The NFL Draft is in 100 days. What did it mean to be on that stage and welcome the international media to Detroit?"

"For me, it was a really important moment where I thought back — I was here when Detroit was going into bankruptcy," said Alexis Wiley. "The Detroit I saw was a city that was strong, resilient, and wonderful people and families that reminded me of my own family."

Before she was a part of Detroit’s NFL Draft committee, before she ran her own company, and before she was Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's chief of staff, many of you welcomed Alexis Wiley into your homes as a member of the FOX 2 family.

In 2010, Wiley moved to Detroit to continue her career as a broadcast journalist. Then, four years later, she got a phone call that changed her life.

"It was at a time when I loved FOX 2. I loved my newsroom. I loved my job, it was awesome. It was exactly where I wanted to be," she said. "I get a call and it’s Mayor Duggan.

"I felt like if I had an opportunity to do something really good, where I can actually be a part of the solution in the city, then I should take it.

"It was really great working with Mayor Duggan and seeing how he would make decisions around things. The fact that he would always bring things back to how does this impactpeople."

Now, she is helping people in a different capacity. Wiley is the founder and CEO of her own public relations company — Moment Strategies, which is in Detroit.

Her team’s portfolio includes government agencies, political offices, and local businesses.

Wiley has been a trailblazer at a time when a US Senate committee report says Black women have started 42 percent of all newly-created women-owned businesses.

But her life made one more important pivot, when she became a mother three years ago.

"I really love my family - my husband and my daughter," she said. "I feel like I’ve done a lot of cool things, but the best is being her mom."

FOX 2: "For future generations of Black women, what advice would you give about making these life decisions, but also having the faith to know that you'll find a landing spot?"

"I think faith is absolutely critical," she said. "I think faith is what has guided a lot of the decisions that I’ve made. but I also think preparation. In any situation you put me in: I knew that there might be somebody who might walk in who has a deeper resume, or they may have something that I may not have," she said. "But the one thing I always had, was that no one would outwork me."