Okay, I know it’s kinda corny, but I am THAT person who’s doing the job they wrote about on their college application essays.
I thought that journalism would be more forgiving to my feet than pushing my years of dance forward into a ballet career. Turns out, I still have to be on my toes all the time and since I always seem to be chewing up a pair of pumps on a rocky hillside – that more forgiving part …only partially true.
My job’s taken me to the debris field of the space shuttle Columbia, to the devastated streets of NOLA’s 9th ward after Katrina and to the Great Wall of China to file a blog post. It’s also taken me into the sparsest living room for the honor of someone sharing their family’s story with me.
After working in Minnesota, West Virginia and Arkansas, I’m delighted to be back in my home state.
I’m known around the newsroom for…
Soooooooooo in every newsroom I’ve ever worked in I’ve been known for…let’s call it an ‘interesting’ desk top style. The minute I end up throwing something away, I need it. That means I hang onto some things other folks don’t understand. It also means I usually have ‘it,’ if you need to borrow it.
What keeps me going
Prayer, flip-flops for when my regular shoes ‘expire’ for the day, Life-Saver sour gummies for breaking news and thank you Starbucks for tapping my suggestion box idea and putting one on every corner.
I give back to my community by
I believe there’s a fine line between the people who appear to have it all together and a lot of those who may be on a street corner with a sign. The ‘all together’ folks had someone to go to with the right resources, someone who could help them when they needed it. I love helping with homeless and food pantry operations because it can be the ‘nick of time’ solution that redirects someone’s life.
Why FOX40?
FOX40 let be bring my passion to my home state.
My greatest TV moment
Winning an Emmy, Murrows and several other awards have been thrilling, but there’s another moment that stands out. After building a reputation for trusted education reporting in Arkansas, a teacher came to me to reveal what they considered to be dangerous conditions inside a high school. My series of ‘Insider’ reports led to removal of a principal and changes in district-wide policy that improved learning and safety conditions for kids.
TV moment I’d like to forget
Getting roughed up by a crowd during a 10 o’clock live shot in the middle of the fairway at the Arkansas State Fair…girl started freak dancing ON me while I was talking to the anchors in studio. All that pulled out my IFB (so no studio communication), tangled the microphone cables, etc . All that played out to the soundtrack of a surly crowd hooting and hollering around the live truck and live shot. The remedy? A co-worker was at the station late that night with her brand-new baby. You can’t hold a baby and be THAT mad…so…that saved me.
If I had free time, I would…
If I had more free time my Dad and I would travel to every set of Olympic Games. So far, we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy five Olympiads together. Rio…here we come!
