Vanessa:

I guess I was an odd child because I have loved news since I was in middle school.  I watched the local news.  I looked forward to reading the local newspaper every day.   I would wait at the door, looking out for the person delivering the newspaper (Those were the days before the internet, so I waited for the hard copy of the paper 😁).  I pretty much made up my mind in high school that I wanted to major in journalism when I went to college.  So I studied at The University of Alabama in the Communications Department and majored in Broadcast Journalism.  While in college, I did an internship at a country music station and also worked part-time (we didn’t get paid!) at the campus television station. 

Vanessa:

I was in college in the 80s, so growing up there weren’t many women in television news who looked like me.  So I admired in particular the African American female journalists on the local stations in Columbus, GA and Montgomery, AL. My first job in television was at a small tv station in Jackson, TN.  We had a small on air staff, but that meant we had a chance to do a lot and learn from our mistakes.  From there, I worked at stations in Macon, GA; Chattanooga, Nashville and finally here in Orlando.

Some of the biggest obstacles were being in a highly competitive field and early on, working at small stations where there may have been only a couple of Black women on air, so to get hired, you had to wait for them to leave.  Back in the day, there was this sense of…”we already have a Black female reporter”

Ryce:

How did that make you feel and how did you push through despite the disappointment?

Vanessa:

I’ve always been one of those knock down the walls/challenges kind of people.  So even when it was frustrating, I was determined to keep going.

Action

Vanessa:

I finally realized that sometimes what looks like an obstacle is often an opportunity.  In television journalism, especially when you’re getting started, you often have to apply to dozens of stations before one finally says yes.  It was even tougher 25-30 years ago because many cities/markets only had 3 networks affiliates:  ABC, CBS AND NBC. So I learned that any station that said no was simply setting me up for the station that eventually said yes.

Vanessa:

It helped me to have tough skin and not take rejection personally.  Failure is not final and neither are setbacks.

Vanessa:

You have to be fully committed.  News never stops, so there are very few 9-5 schedules in this business.  It often requires working weekends, holidays and missing out when family and friends are gathered to celebrate.  You have to be persistent and not give up when the first 10 stations say no.  Number 11 might be the one and it might be a better situation than what you thought would be in the first 10.  You also need to be tough.  You can’t be afraid to ask people tough questions, but you also need to have empathy for people you’re reporting on, who might be going through the most difficult moment of their lives.

 

Vanessa:

I have no idea. LOL.  Seriously I don’t.  I’m at a point in my career where I am open to whatever God has for me.  He has THE future plan, but so far, has shared very little of it with me.  LOL again.  But whatever it is, I know He has prepared me and it’s going to be great.

Vanessa:

I want people to live their lives fearlessly, to not be afraid to take chances.  One of my favorite expressions is:  Run Toward The Roar.  And that means, when you see what looks like a challenge or an obstacle, be like a lion and run toward it.

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Please visit: www.VanessaEchols.com to read more about Vanessa’s journey and to keep up with her latest accomplishments.