Meet Emile Ennis Jr. of Emile’s Snack Shop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emile Ennis Jr..

Hi Emile, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
What’s up y’all? You’re a snack and I’m Emile.

I was born in the late 1900s in Atlanta, Georgia, and performing was always in my DNA. My dad used to film my own talk and variety shows on our home video camera when I was six or seven years old. I watched one of those cassettes recently and let’s just say the vision was always there, even if the production value wasn’t.

Growing up, I had big dreams. But I also knew I was gay. As the son of a pastor with a Jamaican mother, that terrified me. I genuinely didn’t know if I would ever be able to live authentically, and that fear quietly shaped a lot of my early years. In 2010, I did an internship in Los Angeles and something clicked. I moved here in 2011 with a degree in editing in hand and somehow ended up in front of a camera instead of behind one. I started hosting for a small online network for free. For years. No paycheck, but so many hours of live experience and a devoted audience that genuinely found me. At the same time, I was producing and starring in my own web series documenting the whole journey, posting videos almost every day to less than 100 views. But I used that channel to get onto my first red carpets. I made a professional email, got a mic flag with my logo on it, and showed up like I belonged because I did.

In 2016, I joined Clevver News and that was really where my professional career began. I grew there, the audience grew, and it felt like everything was building toward something. Then in 2018, the company shut down immediately. I found out through Variety. It was a gut punch. But in 2019, Hearst Magazines purchased Clevver and brought me back as Lead Host and Executive Producer. From there, I became a regular on FOX’s The Real, hosted consistently on Amazon Live, and made appearances on the Wendy Williams Show and the Nick Cannon Show. It was a full season of momentum.I left Clevver during the pandemic and by 2023, the industry had shifted in ways that were hard to ignore. So I pivoted. I got my personal training license and in 2024 became an instructor at Barry’s. Still performing, still leading, just in a different room.

Then June 1, 2025 happened. I posted a video for the first day of Pride Month, a “gay agenda meeting,” and something about it just landed. People wanted more. So I showed up every single day from June through December with a new meeting. Every. Single. Day. And from day one, I was clacking my fans on camera. People started asking where they could get their own. So I got to work, designed my own line, and in August 2025, Emile’s Snack Shop was born.It has been a winding road. But every single detour taught me something. And honestly, I think I needed all of it to become who I am right now.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not. And Los Angeles will humble you in ways you never see coming.

Self-doubt has a funny way of creeping in out here. You can be doing everything right and still feel like you’re not moving fast enough, not booking enough, not being seen enough. That voice is relentless if you let it be. I’ve had to learn to notice it without letting it drive.

One of the biggest lessons I learned came from getting laid off. At the time I was still working as a server in West Hollywood alongside my hosting career, because that was the reality of building something in this industry. The goal was always to be on camera doing what I love, but the bills don’t wait for the dream. When that door closed, I made myself a promise: I would never let one opportunity, one company, or one platform have that much power over my path again. That decision changed how I move.

I also do a lot of gut checks with myself. Honest ones. I really want what I’m doing to feel like it’s in alignment with my purpose and my end goal. And when it doesn’t, I pay attention to that. Seasons change, and I’ve learned to change with them instead of fighting it.

But here’s the thing about every rejection, failure, obstacle, and pivot I’ve experienced: it has continued to get better. Every single time. So at this point, I’m genuinely grateful for all of it. Not in a performative way, but in a “I can actually see how this was supposed to happen” kind of way. The hard parts weren’t detours. They were the road.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My brand lives in two places that have grown completely inseparable: me on camera and Emile’s Snack Shop. I have been a television host and digital creator for over 15 years, and the same guy who was posting videos in 2012 to less than 100 views has now amassed millions of views collectively and over 750,000 followers across platforms. I am so deeply grateful for every single person who has been a part of this journey. And the best part? We are just getting started.

It started with my daily “gay agenda meeting” videos, which I launched on June 1, 2025 as a Pride Month experiment. When I post my meetings, I show up for my community, who I lovingly call my Snacks, and we create a space that is joyful, safe, and real, intentionally designed as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. From day one I was clacking fans on camera and people started asking where they could get their own. That question led to Emile’s Snack Shop, which launched in August 2025 and lives at EmilesSnackShop.com.

The shop’s main focus is clack fans, with some stickers and apparel as well, but the fans are the heart of everything. What makes them different is the genuine love and intention behind each design. When I create a fan, I am thinking about how it will make the person holding it feel, but also how it will make someone else feel when they see it in the crowd at Pride or a festival or a club or even a classroom. I want every fan to spark something.

And I mean classroom literally. I recently received an email from a Snack named Dawn in New Jersey that made me cry. She said “I just wanted to share with you the picture of the fan I purchased from you that I hung in my classroom. I strive to make my room a safe haven for all with love and acceptance. Thank you for providing that for so many out there. You are truly special.” I get messages like that regularly and every single one of them reassures me that I am walking in my purpose. Knowing that my designs resonate, and in some cases are even saving lives, brings me more joy than I can put into words.

Something else I carry with me in this work is my grandmother. She passed away in 2001 while she was in the middle of teaching me how to crochet. I never got to finish learning. More than two decades later, I started teaching myself again through YouTube tutorials, and I am currently working on a blanket in my meetings with my Snacks watching me figure it out stitch by stitch. It is one of the most vulnerable and meaningful things I have ever done on camera. Grief does not have an expiration date, and this is my way of keeping her with me. Every fan I design, every meeting I show up for, every Snack I reach…I like to think she sees it all.

That is what all of this is really about. The meetings, the fans, the crochet, the community. It is all connected. When you clack one of my fans, you are not just holding a product. You are part of a community of Snacks who choose joy and hope even when the world makes that feel difficult. You are part of something that was built with love, shaped by loss, and designed to make people feel seen. And right now, that feels more important than ever.

New Pride Month designs are dropping soon. Come find your fan at EmilesSnackShop.com.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
When it comes to hosting, my mentor was Maureen Browne. She used to run hosting classes and I genuinely credit her with helping me find my confidence on camera. She believed in my gift before I fully believed in it myself and that kind of support at the right moment in your career changes everything.

For business, I will be honest: I am still learning and I am actively looking for a mentor in that space. But in the meantime I have an unexpected one. Beyoncé. She said “I’m one of one, I’m number one, I’m the only one. Don’t even waste your time trying to compete with me. No one else in this world can think like me.” And I say that to myself every single day. When you truly internalize that you are singular, competition stops being something you worry about and building becomes all you focus on.

And she actually helped start my business without knowing it. When my husband and I got married in 2022, we walked into our reception clacking fans because I have been obsessed with clack fans for well over a decade. That same night, Beyoncé released ‘Break My Soul’. So there I was, dancing at my own wedding reception to ‘Break My Soul’ with a clack fan in view, and a few months later she put me in the video with a clip of me and that fan. Fast forward to 2025 and I now have my own clack fan business with my own original designs. It feels like the most beautiful full circle moment I could have asked for.

I also want to talk about the importance of the people around you because I genuinely believe your network shapes your journey in ways you cannot always see in the moment. Back in 2018, I had the privilege of sitting down with Issa Rae for an interview in front of a live audience…the dream, and something she said has never left me. She talked about the value of connecting with the people around you and also how one of her favorite expressions, even though people may hate it, is “everything happens for a reason.” She talked about the different moments that led her to where she was, and I carry that with me deeply. Because if some of the things I wanted to work out had actually worked out, I never would have ended up here. And seeing how all the dots are connecting has been pretty incredible to witness.

As far as networking goes, my honest advice is to show up as yourself and make it easy for people to understand who you are and what you do. Early in my career I created my own opportunities when nobody was inviting me anywhere. And now, my greatest network is honestly my community. The Snacks show up for me every single day and that kind of genuine connection opens doors that cold emails never could.

Pricing:

• 1 Fan for $29.99
• 2 Fans for $55
• 3 Fans for $75
• Free Domestic Shipping for Orders over $100

Contact Info:

• Website: https://emilessnackshop.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/emileennisjr
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/emileennisjr
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emileennisjr/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/emileennisjr
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@emileennisjr31

Image Credits
For the 4 Professional Photos of me, D. Vision Photography. Everything else is fine