February 4, 2021 • 37 mins
Soledad O'Brien, award-winning journalist, speaker, author, and philanthropist, chats with Sam & Amy about her career trajectory in journalism, what it was like to pursue a graduate degree at Harvard while pregnant, multitasking as a working mom, and how growing up as a person of color in a predominantly white town impacted her career as a reporter. In this episode, O'Brien shares candid criticisms of misinformation in media, hilarious and relatable stories about raising four children, and inspiration for anyone looking to level up in their job.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, I'm Sam Edis and I'm Amy Nelson. Welcome to
What's Her Story? With Sam and Amy. This is a
show about the world's most remarkable women their professional and
personal journeys. Together, we'll hear from Gold medalists, best selling authors,
and leaders of the world's most iconic brands. This episode
is sponsored by Project Entrepreneur, a program by UBS that
(00:24):
accelerates the growth of female founded companies by increasing their
investment readiness and connecting them to the resources and networks
they need to build and grow their businesses. Since it's
launched in Project Entrepreneur has supported more than eighteen hundred
female founders who've gone on to raise nearly fifty five
million dollars in funding. Sam, I can't wait to share
(00:45):
this conversation we had with sold At O'Brien. I've idolized
sold At truly since I was twenty one years old,
So no one probably has followed sold AD's career since
she was that young, but I have. And without further ado,
here is broadcast journalist Solidad O'Brien. Thanks so much for
joining us today, Solidade, it's my pleasure. Thank you for
(01:06):
having me. How did you get your first job? In journalism.
My first my very first job in journalism was working
for a show called Centro, which was like the Spanish
language show at w b Z TV. And I just
called up and asked them if they wanted an intern.
Uh And I think I literally just dialed and whoever
answered the phone, I said, I'm interested in being an intern.
(01:27):
And back then, obviously it was not super hard to
get internships, and they took me right away and I
started working in the TV station. But you were pre
mad at Harvard. You went from following your sister's footsteps,
being pre mad, doing all these internships in medicine, and
then suddenly realizing this is not for me. Yeah. We
were taking organic chemistry together over the summer. She was
(01:48):
a couple of years ahead of me and she's a
surgeon now and uh. And as we were taking this
class together and we're very different, my sister was like,
would sleep into the last second, then run for you know,
caring breakfast, would run for class, and I would be
like up early with organized pens and notebooks and sit
on the front. She's like, why do you why can't
(02:09):
you just you memorize all these things? You know you
should be able to deduce these formulas, like you should
understand the formulas. She also wanted to understand the workings
of the thing, where I was much more interested in
how do you make people feel better? And you know,
really a little bit more of the narrative. I think
I realized, like I really don't want to do this.
(02:29):
I think I wanted, I'm not particularly passionate about it,
And so I did and left school and I started
working over the summer um at Harvard. I was able
to um what do they call where you you helped
like proctor the summer school. So I was a proctor
for the summer school, which meant just living in the
building with summer school school and students. So that gave
me housing, and then I could work on my internship
(02:51):
at w BC, which was right across the Harvard playing fields.
And there was one woman who is very influential in
your career at that point. Gean, Yeah, Jean Blake, Yeah.
She was a reporter at w b Z. She was
a medical reporter, brilliant, hard working, and you know, most
importantly I think just very um. She was just very
(03:12):
stuck on accuracy and this idea of like you can
demand excellence and I was really lucky, I think, to
start off with someone who was not particularly laxadaisical about
nailing it. And it was a really good way I think,
to learn, because that really became my my college experience,
really learning in an apprenticeship kind of way how to
(03:34):
do it. And I think because she was just so
dedicated to accuracy and high quality. Just having someone who
was obsessed with like and she was super duper obsessed
with it, um, I think having that as a role
model was very helpful. I went from there to work
at NBC and I worked with her she was a
medical reporter, as her production assistant, and then I went
(03:54):
to NBC News too as an associate producer for Bob Bazelle,
who was a medical reporter. You made a big decision
to move from NBC to CNN. Yeah, and I remember,
you know, it was I had a lot of friends
at NBC and and I remember people I was surprised
how many people would say, you know, why would you
want to leave this platform? But to me, CNN was
like college. I mean going from doing three hours of
(04:16):
TV a week to doing um, you know, I think
we were doing four hours a day, five days twenty
hours a week. You know, it was amazing. I learned
so much it was exhausting, but it was really pretty amazing.
And when you were at CNN, you still hadn't finished college.
You just mentioned college, so I figured we would talk
(04:37):
about that now. So so you made a decision to
not graduate, which I think you know, to to stay
at w b Z because you felt like you had
such a huge career opportunity. That sounds so thoughtful, but
that's not how win at all. Like the way you
describe it sounds like a really well thoughtful, intelligent decision. Uh. No,
I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I
liked working in TV news, and then I was moving
(04:59):
ahead for well, what I didn't want to do was
to go finish college and not have a clue what
I wanted to do. So as soon as I hit
doing journalism, I realized like, oh, actually I'm interested in this,
and the way to keep going was to just keep working.
I figured at some point i'd be able to go
back to school, and that opportunity came up when I
started anchoring, uh the weekend Today's show, because I had
(05:22):
the bulk of the week free. The woman who was
my executive producer was a good friend, and so we
talked all the time, and I was very kind of
kept up to speed with the show while also finishing
my degree. Were you pregnant then I was, and it
was so I remember thinking I would give someone twenty
dollars to go lie in their bid ate red jelly
beans all the time. You know, you go through these
phases of life and now it's cozy shack rice pudding. No, no, no,
(05:44):
cozy shack rice pudding. And I mean I went to
Harvard also because you you said you were in his shouse.
I was in Stowton. But I can't imagine, like there
were no older students in the classic. It's not a
college that lends itself to that. There always are. They
kind of sit in the back. They don't really talk
to anybody because they're not living on can Did anyone
talk to you? You know? Sure they did? Um I had.
(06:05):
My friends were more of the professors and the tas. Actually,
I mean I was older than all my tas. And
I was busy. I literally was packing stuff in so
that I could get it all done. I had one
semester basically of work to get done. One thing that
you said, which is really strikes me, is that you
said I had an opportunity. I was hosting the weekend
Todays show, and I was pregnant, so I have these
three days a week free. I mean, most moms who
(06:25):
are pregnant are exhausted and they're trying to reduce the
outside work. And so you were suddenly not only traveling,
the finishing college degree and at a full time job
and we're pregnant. But but I think most moms also
know the minute that baby comes out, you baby in
versus baby out is a world of difference. I also,
(06:47):
it was my first child, so I didn't have any
idea how tired you would be. And I didn't know
how nauseous. I was, like literally walking down street, you
throw up and then you just keep going. You never
stopped working. Oh my god. I was so happy to
go back to work when I was pregnant, Oh my god,
Like it was amazing. I remember just thinking, like I
just want to be around grown ups who just tell
you what, like, what do you need, just just say it,
(07:08):
you know, versus a baby where you're like I don't
understand what do you want? So I I really enjoyed
what I liked working. I liked feeling like I'd accomplished
something I liked that was a measure for me of
kind of how I was doing that was important to me.
I think people who are able to stay home with
their kids, I think that's incredibly difficult, and I just
it was nothing I ever wanted to do. I like
(07:29):
being home for for phases when I would be down
from traveling for a month, or I was on bed
rest with the twins, and so there are parts of
things that I really did like in short chunks, but no,
I had never wanted to stay home. What is your
take on women and money and the relationship between women
and money. I think that I've seen a close and
a lot of ways that you have to be able
(07:52):
to handle and run your money, and it gives you
a lot of leverage. Sometimes people say to me, you
know you're able to say what you want to say
on Twitter, You're able to run this company and do this,
And then I'm like, yes, because I have the financial
wherewithal to do it. I do write, I just and
and some of that is from the past jobs. I
was a pretty good saver and I invest well. But
but you know, I think the only way to really
(08:13):
have true freedom is to make sure that you have
a handle on your money, and really your money, because
things can go crazy with your spouse. Things can go
downhill fast, something tragic can happen, so you really have
to have a handle on your money. I remember reading
an article, and I mean this was ages ago, that
(08:34):
you had an experience with a nanny where you found
out they were hitting your child. She was and it
was such a crazy story. So I was getting some
work done in my apartment. Oh and I had bodyguards
because I had a stalker. And um, so one of
the guys who was working, one of the workers in
the apartment told the guy who was my bodyguard, because
(08:55):
I think he didn't want to tell me himself, but
he told my bodyguard the babysitter hitting the baby. Um.
But yes, obviously we ended up wiring our entire house
with cameras because we you know, my best friend like
to say that we were accidentally going to make a
porno because we had so many cameras in our house.
I thought it was kind of funny. Didn't happen, but
(09:16):
I thought that was kind of funny. Um and uh,
and of course we um, we put an end to her.
We fired her pretty much on the spot. But the
interesting lesson from that which my older sister was so
lucky I have older sisters. You know. My older sister said,
you really have to give people permission to tell you,
because when I said to people, yeah, we had to
(09:37):
let the cell and so go, I remembered they said
to me, you know, I always thought she was so
rough with the baby. I always thought she was, you know.
And You're like, well, what the hell didn't you tell me?
And and my sister, who has seven kids, said to me,
you know, I know works full time, says to me, um,
you know, you really as you go into spaces and
(09:58):
this is really for little er kids right once to
get to a certain age and they can talk and
and you know, then it's less of a problem. But
he's like, you know, if you have to tell people,
I would, you know, please let me know if you
notice something. And uh, and it's really true. I have
From that point on, I was much better about telling
people like, hey, I'm trying out this new nanny and
let me know. And I've told moms you know, listen,
(10:19):
I think you're I think you're sitter is really rough
with your kid. And maybe you're totally fine with that,
but I personally wouldn't be. I'm just letting you know.
In your book, you share this story of one of
your sons who you found out was experiencing hearing loss.
What was that experience like for you? It was amazing.
It was such a great experience to know what his
(10:42):
diagnosis was the greatest thing ever, you know. And I
have to say my husband is such a great partner.
He's so helpful, and I think you go through these
things and you kind of see how the other person reacts,
and we're pretty good to get, like when one of
us is freaking out, the other one is not, which
has been a pretty good model. And he has a
very good sense of humor for stuff. And I just remember, um,
(11:03):
we had Jackson tested and then the doctor said, well,
I got some information. You need to come in. And
at the time, I was traveling a ton, I was like,
I can't you know, I can't come in and Brad
can't come in, and we can't come in together for
like three weeks. And I was just like, you just
tell me. And when they told me, you know, listen,
he's got severe hearing loss, and I was like, oh, well,
it explains a lot of these behavioral things that we
(11:23):
were seeing that we just couldn't understand. So for me,
it was just a huge sigh of relief to feel like, Okay,
now we're starting with something. Now, now we can actually
start fixing a problem because we kind of have our
hands around it. And and since that moment, we've been
so lucky. We have great experts around us, really really
good people to give us advice, great aids. Uh. The
(11:45):
only time I had a horrible experience was with the
Department of Education, which was a miserable well you have
to get all your services through them in New York.
That was miserable. Um, But for the most part, like
really really good professionals who were very helpful to try
to figure out how to make this kid have a
good experience in school and in life. And now for
a quick break, how do you go back and forth
(12:08):
between work and parenting. I don't think it's back and
but I think you're in the middle of it right.
You're literally on the phone negotiating while you're also like, oh,
we'll come back here. You can't read that, no, no,
you know the other day, I was doing a zoom
call and I put my screen, I turned my my
camera off, did my nose swab from my COVID test,
(12:29):
put the camera back. Only takes ten seconds, you know. So,
and I think a parenting like that, right, like, there's
no so now I'm going to be a parent. Okay,
Now I'm back at work. Once you're okay with chaos,
then I think it's okay because you as opposed to
believing that it's going to be this perfectly seamless, you know,
parallel lives and everybody's going to support. One key to
(12:50):
your success seems to be your marriage. It sounds like,
you know, you married someone who also has a very
high power career. How have you handled the division of
labor at home? You know, I think we've been pretty
good at just doing what we each are fine doing.
I mean, Brad likes to do the garbage, like he
really likes to go to the dump. It's so weird,
(13:12):
But you know, I think it's more like, really, I
there are things that I like to do, and I
think as I've gotten older, I've gotten better at being
okay with the things I don't want to do. I
don't like to cook the person who just walked in.
My daughter, Sophia is a phenomenal cook. We would not
have gotten through the pandemic without Sophia cooking. She's an
amazing cook, right, But I'm here to support that. I
will clean, i will organize, I'll do whatever you want,
(13:34):
but I don't like to cook um. And I think
you know Brad the same way. There's certain things he
doesn't like to do. And what we try to do
is figure out how to how to divide the labor
in a way that everybody's kind of happy. I'll tell
you a great story that was. That's very two good stories.
They are very typical of bread. One was when Sophia
was little, probably in pre case she was been in
the fours or something. She had a friend named Samantha,
(13:56):
and she would say, Samantha's mom cuts the crust, soffer
sam much. Samantha's mom does this, Samantha's moman does that,
Samantha's mom walks through school every single day. And I
said to Brad, like, Samantha's mom does this. Samantha's mom
and Saan Samonth by the way, is a lovely woman.
And Brad's like, yeah, we gotta get Samantha's mom a job.
We gotta end this, and I just remember feeling so
(14:19):
badly and he just made me laugh like it was
such a funny, obviously silly thing to say, and um,
it was very helpful, like in that moment, this idea
of you know, hey, Samantha's mom was like, we're not
Samantha's mom, and that's cool, right, And you know what,
it's so much better than if he had said, you're
a great mom, You're doing your best. Like it's so
much better out we handle that. I love that. The
(14:39):
other thing, he was at some kind of a dinner
and um, closing dinner and around the table all these
guys and one of the guys that the dinner was
maybe eighty years old, and I remember he said, um,
so Brad, lets you work right. It was like and
Brad jumps in and says, well, you know, she does
a morning show, so there's this whole afternoon of hours
(15:01):
that we're trying to find her something like at the
seven eleven or something she could do. It was just
like it. And he has this very good habit of
like undercutting something that I've come about to be very
offended and it just makes you crack up and you
realize it's stupid. And so that's happened a couple of times,
and I think it's really that like his attitude around,
like we're going to solve it, We're going to figure
it out. What was your parents relationship? Like, my parents
(15:25):
really really loved each other. They passed away within forty
days of each other, about a year and a half ago.
So sorry, they were ye, thank you, they were um.
You know, I think they both really loved each other.
And my mom used to say all the time, you know,
I love your father most of all, and then I
love the rest of you equally. That was very much
their structure, like we're a team and we make decisions
together and then you know, everything radiates out from that.
(15:46):
And that was helpful because it was in a family
where we didn't really have a lot of relatives. I
didn't have any cousins or aunts and uncles who lived
particularly close by. Um, And so, you know, I think
having a very tight unit, especially you know, we were
a diverse family in a community that was not diverse
at all, and so it was nice to have like
a very big, tight unit that was kind of impenetrable.
(16:09):
Your parents got married at a time when interracial marriages
were not allowed in Maryland, so they went to d C.
How did that impact your childhood? You know, I think
the great part of it was for most of my childhood,
I didn't have a clue I was so and then
I grew up in I was born in sixty six.
I kind of grew up through high school in the eighties.
(16:32):
I never really occurred to me it was, you know,
we were a family, didn't really be stuck out in
a lot of ways. My dad's white, my mom was black.
You know, you're mixed race kids. UM. So that was
unusual in my community, and even just being diverse at
all was unusual. Nine six percent white. UM. But I
think that what they were, I think that they did
(16:56):
a really good job of picking a place to live
where we would go to good school rules, and I
think we would have to figure out how to deal
with a lack of diversity. Some of my siblings and
I kind of think handled it kind of in different ways.
Some people were better at it, some people struggled. I
think a little bit more with it. I was younger,
and I think when you're younger, you know, I think
my brother and I kind of just floated floated along
(17:16):
on the reputations of our older siblings. Um. But you know,
I think for me, when you are an insider and
an outsider, there's a lot of value in that. And
I think it was helpful in my reporting too, to
understand a lot of different communities and be able to
navigate a bunch of different spaces. I mean, my mom
was Cuban, so we spent a lot of time in
(17:38):
New Jersey, in Union City, New Jersey, which is kind
of a little Cuban enclave there when my grandmother finally
came over from Cuba. And so I think I had
a lot of information about Cubans and Cuban Americans and
African Americans and people who were foreigners and people who
spoke two languages or three languages, and you know, and
(17:58):
and and I think it was helped full in my reporting.
I never thought it was a negative thing. I was
just going to ask in terms of reporting. So Jeff
Sucker arrives at CNN, and eventually you're kind of pushed out,
is that what happened? It was happened pretty fast. Um,
you know, I think he we had worked together at NBC,
(18:19):
and you know, he made it clear he didn't want
me to anchor. He didn't see that for me. They
asked me to stay on UM. But you know, I
really I think I've made some very good decisions in
my life, and and the ones that I pass on
to students often are around not working in places where
people don't see a future for you. You know, you
really need bosses who believe in you, and people who
(18:41):
believe in you in the minute you get a sense.
And then this happened to me well before CNN, when
I worked at Caro n t V and I had
bosses who I think didn't really see a vision for
me that I saw potentially for me. And I will say,
you know, I'm not a big Jeff Sucker fan. Obviously
I criticized them a lot in CNN. But what I
think he it really well was he was very clear.
(19:02):
Often what they do in these kinds of jobs. As
everybody tells you, oh my god, we'd love you, we
see a big future for you here. Six months later
you revisit it. You know, I'm really stuck. I feel
like you guys are giving me opportunities. What's going on? No, No,
my god, we love you, We definitely, you know, and
they string you along. Eighteen months later You're like, I
think nobody really wants me to, you know, and you
(19:24):
lose all this time. I will say, he was very straightforward,
this is what he sees. It did not match what
I saw, and so I left, And Um, I didn't
want to stay on in a capacity where I felt like,
if you don't see a future for me here in
a way that I do, like, why would you want
to stay and do that? So I ended up starting
my own company. It's been now like eight or eight
years approximately, and and I'm really glad I don't do
(19:47):
cable through with My husband likes to say, if you
worked at CNN, you would have to quit. Yes, I
think often there are things that I like, There's a
lot that's a bess and so I think it's I
don't really love that style of how they're covering the news,
and I think I would just be miserable and they
would be miserable with me if I had stayed. You
(20:09):
mentioned that you do criticize CNN now and you you
are outspoken on the internet on Twitter with your opinions,
and you said that you are in a position where
you have the freedom to speak without upsetting a boss
or corporation. Is there anyone who does intimidate you? Not really?
I mean I try to. I try to speak truthfully
about things I really just hate. You know. Um, I
(20:31):
think Megan McCain on The View is horrible, So that's
not probably like a truthfully based comment. I think she's
just But I don't mind the show overall. That's just
a fat I get to have an opinion. Um, So no,
I don't. I don't think it's that. I think I
try to want to do critiques around journalism. I try
to sort of talk about like this is where this
is a failing, this is where it's not good. I
remember when you called out Maggie Haberman on the fact
(20:54):
that she was saying, you know, he's he's kind of
skirting the truth, is opposed to just saying God, The
New York Times tried so hard. I don't know her personally,
so I have no idea like she had to write
that way. It took them at least three years to
be able to call a lie a lie, you know,
verifiably untrue. That's what they used to say. It's verifiably,
(21:14):
and you're like, well, that's a lie. Like that's a lie.
If your kid misses their curfew, you're not going to
say you know, And they say, no, I did come
in on time. That is verifiably and true. You're like,
don't lie to me, come on. And so it was
a way of hiding behind something. And I think I
had a real problem with elevating these press conferences around
(21:37):
COVID nineteen that were full of misinformation. What's the point.
The point of media is to elevate accurate, helpful information.
You're supposed to be educating your your viewers and your listeners.
Is social media today? This is it as news. I
mean I followed most news organizations that I follow, I
follow through their social media. So when the Washington Post
(21:57):
post something that I think is fascinating, that's probably where
I'm going to read it. I often, you know, very
rarely now do I have a hard copy of the
newspaper or a magazine. Sometimes I'll go out and get
it um but we get it delivered to but no
one's in the office anymore. So you know, I mostly
am following people online. So what is your company? So
(22:19):
we started my company as Solidette O'Brien Productions, which is
s OB, which was pretty funny. Um uh years ago
when I got married, Um, I wanted my mother in
law wanted to get me towels, and I said, great,
can I have s OB on my tows And she's
starting to forget it, No doubts. I thought that was
such a good idea. We basically do most of my work.
I mean I I anchor a show for her, so
(22:41):
we co produce it with hers. I work on this podcast,
and I jump in and do specials here and there.
But for the most part, what I really do is
I run a production company and we produce content. So
we're in the middle of producing a series for HBO
or doing something for Discovery. We're in the middle of
a six part series for b ET. We're about to
a project with OWN. I think I'm about to sign
(23:02):
that deal. So basically, we create content and then we
sell it and then we produce it. And now for
a quick break, tell us about black in America. What
I was at CNN. They asked me to do a
look at the fort anniversary of the assassination of Dr
King and so the question was in over six hours,
(23:25):
what happened in the Assassination and then Where are We Now,
which is a really interesting project and I love doing it,
but I loved I actually thought it was a great
way to dig into stories that we don't cover very much,
because I think talking about race in class is just hard.
It's hard to do well. What was great about that
was that there were real worries that if you covered
(23:47):
these topics and it's called Black in America, that you
make all your white audience members afraid or they would
just be bored and wouldn't want to watch it. And
what actually happened was we grew our black audience humongously,
and there came a point where I could not walk
through an airport without people saying, I am Black in America.
You should win me at you, and I was like,
oh my god, I'm on vacation alone. But also we
(24:08):
grew our white audience, um of course, because it's all
in good storytelling. That was probably the most important thing
for me out of Black in America was like, Wow,
there's an entire audience that is interested in high quality
stories that kind of explain history and and have people
in present day America and really explain these issues fast
forward to the six part series we're doing for BT
(24:29):
and for Viacom, so it probably will end up on
a lot of CBS stations. UM, which is a look
at structural racism over six one hour episodes. And I
actually think it's even better than Black in American Away,
partly because I've just gotten better at figuring out these
stories and how to tell them. But it's a really
I think it's a pretty good look at like how
(24:50):
we got where we are in America and how do
you then think about dismantling some of these systems. There
was a story you told about Jesse Jackson and at
one point he I think, put his hand in your
arm and said, you don't count as black. Well, I mean,
I think there is a discussion right about people who
(25:10):
are American descendants of slaves and people who are Caribbean
descendants of slaves. For me, I was always like, there's
black and brown people and they work together on things.
But I think that there's a number of people who
actually think and even as people talk about reparations, right like,
you know, who are those people who should be getting reparations.
I think there's a fair argument to me made that
(25:31):
it's the American descendants of slaves who should be getting
if I don't think will happen anytime soon, that would happen.
So I I sort of as I grew up, I
kind of got his point. No one wants to have
the back of their hand touched and who told you know?
But I very much I think he was wrong to
do it. But I I understood his point, which is,
(25:52):
you know, when some of these fights were not aligned,
I think that was wrong. I think he's mistaken about that.
I think that's not true. I think that you know,
I'm I'm an American, I'm my my roots are in
Cuba and Australia, and but but I'm a black American. Well.
One of the things that struck me about that story
is that it took you years to confront him, even
(26:12):
though you'd runt him, and all these social events kised
him of the cheek, and here you are on Twitter
every day confronting people. Yeah. Again, One of the nice
things about being fifty something years old, right, is that
I have found so much upside in being having a
career and work and running something and that's not really
(26:33):
dependent on other people liking me or not liking me.
You just have to deliver the work. We like to
end every interview with a lightning round, and then we
have our colleague Lue Burns will come in and ask
a question from a male perspective, which is very cool
for our story. Um, what are you reading right now?
I am reading um Cast for a second time. I
(26:58):
read it very quickly because I had to do an
interview with the author, and uh, it's amazing, but I
really wanted to go back and read it. If you
haven't had a chance, I highly recommend it. It was
actually pretty interest in. My husband is like my age
white dude, and he read Cast and he was like,
oh my god, this explains everything. I'm like, I've been
doing documentaries on this. Have you not been watching a documentary?
(27:20):
But it's it's it's brilliant, and it's it's just really
really great. So I hadn't recommended. What do you read
every morning? What are your go to? I really look
at Twitter and then I which really means I'm reading
the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the New York Times,
usually the cover of the New York Post, the cover
of the Daily News. I like The Atlantic a lot,
(27:42):
but often I'll save articles. There's such a long read
that often you have kind of save things and go
back to them. And then I just have people that
I like to follow and see what they're talking about
that in particular morning. Um Adam Serwer is one. I
think he's really brilliant. Um Michael Harriet is another, He's
really great. So there's just a bunch of people that
I followed to see what they're saying. Are there any
(28:03):
apps you use for productivity? No? Not, not much. Nothing
that like organizes me. I haven't really cracked that, not yet.
I have to use paper. I have to write longhand
and use paper and like having a list in front
of me every day. What's the last thing you felt
guilty about. The last thing I felt guilty about is
(28:23):
setting up the shot so that the front door would
be open, and that meant everybody has to really stay
outside so that I can do this podcast. Well, this
is a perfect time for Lou to join us, hi,
so that there must be a story where you had
to like overcome some challenge being a mixed race woman
in journalism. You know what would happen sometimes if people
(28:47):
would just be nasty. I think that was one thing, right,
You go to cover stories in New Orleans and people
call you the N word, Like how did you deal
with that? You just keep going. I mean right, I'm
just like what do you what are you supposed to do?
You got a job to do. And also like who
is this person? You just met them eight minutes ago?
Like literally, it doesn't really hurt. I don't think, you know,
(29:09):
it was a little bit difficult. I think being a
working mom, uh and the I think the ways in
which you're judged as a working mom. I mean I would.
So there was a guy I worked with I was asked,
I was kind of asked to not go to Thailand
to cover the Tsunamia. I just had my twin boys.
And they called it and they're like, oh my god,
you're a new mommy. I'm sure you don't want to go.
And I was like, I got four kids under four.
(29:31):
Put me on a plane and I get there and
this producer says to me, I know you're a new
star at CNN. I was relatively new, but if you
can't have this story, I'm gonna put you on a
plane home. I went for the twins. I was thirty
eight when I had my twins. I was thirty eight
years old, and I was like, put me on a plan,
Like what am I a twelve year old? It was crazy.
I was so upset. I did. I cried. And you know,
(29:52):
my husband, I'm really lucky. He gives great advice. And
he said, I think the only thing you could do
is to make it work. Do the do the work.
And I did and I we did a great job
and I got a lot of kudos and it helped
my career. You know. So it was very upsetting, but
I think the answer was very clear, right, like, you
can't call somebody, you can't, no one cares who. You
(30:14):
have to actually do the work and show people you
know that it doesn't matter. Years later, I said to
the guy, I don't know if you remember this conversation,
but this is what you said to me. And he
had no recollection of it. He was looking for a job.
What did what did he say to you? Even though
he had no recollection of it? Like? What was I was? So?
I was just so insecure at the time. Blah blah
bla bla bla Sam. Before I get to what I
(30:38):
really took away from what Soladad said, I have to
say that Solidad was the anchor of Sanan's American Morning
while I was in my twenties living in New York,
and she like really narrated the beginning of every day,
and so it was so cool to get to talk
to her, particularly about that period of her life, which
was such a different lens. I was a guest on
her show during that time during on American Morning, and
(31:00):
one of the things that you know, I've tried a
little bit not to act like a complete fangirl, but
when I was in college, I started following soula dad's
career because I had dreams of being a newscaster, and
she went on this very traditional path where you had
to go to a small market and make it and
then work your way up. Well, she really did, and
(31:20):
and you know, the lesson for me actually kind of
relates to that, because Soladad seems like the type of
person who just gets it done, and I think so
many of us have so many things we have to
get done that that attitude works. And when I think
about my own life in that way, it's like, Okay,
how can I use even if I don't have childcare
all day right now because of the pandemic and what's
(31:41):
going on, how can I use most effectively the few
hours that I do have. There's definitely that sort of
badass I'm going to get stuff done, and but there's
also this optimism that's threaded throughout her story. I mean,
even when she was talking about her son's challenges with
hearing loss, she kind framed it in a very positive way.
(32:02):
She reminds me so much of this tennis teammate I
had in college, Like they had the exact same energy,
you know, unstoppable. By the way. One thing I loved
hearing about was her marriage because I definitely found, like,
you know, she married someone who's her complete equal. They
went to college together. He has a huge career in
his own right in finance, but they're clearly have an
(32:25):
incredible relationship, and I do believe that it probably propelled
both of them in some way as to where they
are because they have this really strong marriage behind them.
It sounds like he has a great sense of humor
and that they have a pretty remarkable relationship. I loved
hearing about Samantha's mom. That was the funniest story I
know we can all relate. Melissa. Thanks so much for
(32:51):
joining us. What inspired you to open the Barkshop. Amy
and I are both dog owners, and we're both a
little bit obsessed. Yeah, thank you so much for howing
me today. So the bark Shop is a premier pet
care company and we specialize in grooming, although we also
offer dog walking and dog boarding. I was inspired by
reality hair show called Chicago Lisious. I never go with pets.
(33:14):
I didn't know anything about dogs, but I learned about
the pet care industry and decided to jump in within
ninety days. It's been a really tough year for small
business owners. What keeps you going through all of the
hard parts. The pet care industry is a one hundred
billion dollar industry. I grew up in the South Bronx,
which is the poorest congressional district in the nation. UM
(33:35):
And upon entering the pet care industry, I realized that
there was not a lot of people in leadership roles
and owner roles that look like me. So my mission
is definitely to attract more people of color to prepare
them to be owners within the pet care industry. UM
And I would say that's what definitely drives me. I
have a vision to educate more pet groomers. Do you
find that a lot of younger entrepreneurs are looking to
(33:59):
you for advice and guidance. Yeah, absolutely so. I actually
teach a lot of seminars and our industry expos um,
and I also have a lot of mentees that I
work with. We work with a lot of nonprofit organizations
as well to help at risk youth and young adults
prepare for entering the workplace and entering the pet rooming industry.
(34:20):
So I'm super excited to partner with organizations and continue
to get people interested in pack here. What role the
project entrepreneur play in your journey. I never knew anything
about raising capital investment, so they really got us up
to speed on terminology. I think the best thing as
a female founder is negotiating um and I'm happy to
(34:40):
say that we have just secured our first investor in
our seed round, so I'm super excited about that. What
is one tip you would give to the next female
founder who, like you and like me, started out never
having raised any money. I would definitely say, understand that
the relationship between you and an investor and all the
investors that you're going after, and be confident in what
(35:02):
you're also bringing to the table, because I think a
lot of times we think, oh, we need them, we
need these investors, but we're operating our businesses anyway. We're
gonna do it anyway, and they need us as much
as we need them. That's such excellent advice. I work
with a lot of small business owners and it's so
challenging right now, especially having like a storefront business like
(35:22):
you do. How are you staying aflow? What what tips
do you have for other entrepreneurs, and what are the
biggest challenges you've been having? So we've been staying afloat
the pet grooming pet care industry is continuing to grow.
Um it's a recession proof industry based on the history.
But I think I've been able to stay open because
(35:44):
I was willing to adapt and shift and pivot quickly.
We were able to launch our mobile grooming truck, which
helped us serve more communities and build more relationships and
expand our geographical footprint. I'm super excited about building community
with pet owners. So I would say to other entrepreneurs
out there, listening and be able to adapt and shift
quickly if they committed to your vision. Thanks for listening
(36:09):
to What's her story? With Sam and Amy, we would
so appreciate if you would leave a review wherever you
get your podcasts, and of course connect with us on
social media at What's Her Story podcast. What's Her Story
with Sam and Amy is powered by my company, The
Riveter at the Riveter dot c o in Sam's company,
park Place Payments at park place payments dot com. Thanks
(36:30):
to our producer Laurel Moglin, our podcast associate Emma Hard,
and our male perspective Lue Burns. You're a new dog owner, right,
I know. I have a puppy, me too. We have
a pandemic puppy. I call it two so cute. They're
so great. I'm so happy. I know, it's amazing. My
kids are correct in thinking I love this dog war
(36:51):
that I love. I don't. I'm always cold. I don't
like to go in the water unless it's like nine degrees.
And when our pool was done, if my dog want
to go, and so I took the dog into sixty
and my daughter was like, oh my god, Mom, you
never ever known the water
Hi, I'm Sam Edis and I'm Amy Nelson. Welcome to
What's Her Story? With Sam and Amy. This is a
show about the world's most remarkable women their professional and
personal journeys. Together, we'll hear from Gold medalists, best selling authors,
and leaders of the world's most iconic brands. This episode
is sponsored by Project Entrepreneur, a program by UBS that
(00:24):
accelerates the growth of female founded companies by increasing their
investment readiness and connecting them to the resources and networks
they need to build and grow their businesses. Since it's
launched in Project Entrepreneur has supported more than eighteen hundred
female founders who've gone on to raise nearly fifty five
million dollars in funding. Sam, I can't wait to share
(00:45):
this conversation we had with sold At O'Brien. I've idolized
sold At truly since I was twenty one years old,
So no one probably has followed sold AD's career since
she was that young, but I have. And without further ado,
here is broadcast journalist Solidad O'Brien. Thanks so much for
joining us today, Solidade, it's my pleasure. Thank you for
(01:06):
having me. How did you get your first job? In journalism.
My first my very first job in journalism was working
for a show called Centro, which was like the Spanish
language show at w b Z TV. And I just
called up and asked them if they wanted an intern.
Uh And I think I literally just dialed and whoever
answered the phone, I said, I'm interested in being an intern.
(01:27):
And back then, obviously it was not super hard to
get internships, and they took me right away and I
started working in the TV station. But you were pre
mad at Harvard. You went from following your sister's footsteps,
being pre mad, doing all these internships in medicine, and
then suddenly realizing this is not for me. Yeah. We
were taking organic chemistry together over the summer. She was
(01:48):
a couple of years ahead of me and she's a
surgeon now and uh. And as we were taking this
class together and we're very different, my sister was like,
would sleep into the last second, then run for you know,
caring breakfast, would run for class, and I would be
like up early with organized pens and notebooks and sit
on the front. She's like, why do you why can't
(02:09):
you just you memorize all these things? You know you
should be able to deduce these formulas, like you should
understand the formulas. She also wanted to understand the workings
of the thing, where I was much more interested in
how do you make people feel better? And you know,
really a little bit more of the narrative. I think
I realized, like I really don't want to do this.
(02:29):
I think I wanted, I'm not particularly passionate about it,
And so I did and left school and I started
working over the summer um at Harvard. I was able
to um what do they call where you you helped
like proctor the summer school. So I was a proctor
for the summer school, which meant just living in the
building with summer school school and students. So that gave
me housing, and then I could work on my internship
(02:51):
at w BC, which was right across the Harvard playing fields.
And there was one woman who is very influential in
your career at that point. Gean, Yeah, Jean Blake, Yeah.
She was a reporter at w b Z. She was
a medical reporter, brilliant, hard working, and you know, most
importantly I think just very um. She was just very
(03:12):
stuck on accuracy and this idea of like you can
demand excellence and I was really lucky, I think, to
start off with someone who was not particularly laxadaisical about
nailing it. And it was a really good way I think,
to learn, because that really became my my college experience,
really learning in an apprenticeship kind of way how to
(03:34):
do it. And I think because she was just so
dedicated to accuracy and high quality. Just having someone who
was obsessed with like and she was super duper obsessed
with it, um, I think having that as a role
model was very helpful. I went from there to work
at NBC and I worked with her she was a
medical reporter, as her production assistant, and then I went
(03:54):
to NBC News too as an associate producer for Bob Bazelle,
who was a medical reporter. You made a big decision
to move from NBC to CNN. Yeah, and I remember,
you know, it was I had a lot of friends
at NBC and and I remember people I was surprised
how many people would say, you know, why would you
want to leave this platform? But to me, CNN was
like college. I mean going from doing three hours of
(04:16):
TV a week to doing um, you know, I think
we were doing four hours a day, five days twenty
hours a week. You know, it was amazing. I learned
so much it was exhausting, but it was really pretty amazing.
And when you were at CNN, you still hadn't finished college.
You just mentioned college, so I figured we would talk
(04:37):
about that now. So so you made a decision to
not graduate, which I think you know, to to stay
at w b Z because you felt like you had
such a huge career opportunity. That sounds so thoughtful, but
that's not how win at all. Like the way you
describe it sounds like a really well thoughtful, intelligent decision. Uh. No,
I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I
liked working in TV news, and then I was moving
(04:59):
ahead for well, what I didn't want to do was
to go finish college and not have a clue what
I wanted to do. So as soon as I hit
doing journalism, I realized like, oh, actually I'm interested in this,
and the way to keep going was to just keep working.
I figured at some point i'd be able to go
back to school, and that opportunity came up when I
started anchoring, uh the weekend Today's show, because I had
(05:22):
the bulk of the week free. The woman who was
my executive producer was a good friend, and so we
talked all the time, and I was very kind of
kept up to speed with the show while also finishing
my degree. Were you pregnant then I was, and it
was so I remember thinking I would give someone twenty
dollars to go lie in their bid ate red jelly
beans all the time. You know, you go through these
phases of life and now it's cozy shack rice pudding. No, no, no,
(05:44):
cozy shack rice pudding. And I mean I went to
Harvard also because you you said you were in his shouse.
I was in Stowton. But I can't imagine, like there
were no older students in the classic. It's not a
college that lends itself to that. There always are. They
kind of sit in the back. They don't really talk
to anybody because they're not living on can Did anyone
talk to you? You know? Sure they did? Um I had.
(06:05):
My friends were more of the professors and the tas. Actually,
I mean I was older than all my tas. And
I was busy. I literally was packing stuff in so
that I could get it all done. I had one
semester basically of work to get done. One thing that
you said, which is really strikes me, is that you
said I had an opportunity. I was hosting the weekend
Todays show, and I was pregnant, so I have these
three days a week free. I mean, most moms who
(06:25):
are pregnant are exhausted and they're trying to reduce the
outside work. And so you were suddenly not only traveling,
the finishing college degree and at a full time job
and we're pregnant. But but I think most moms also
know the minute that baby comes out, you baby in
versus baby out is a world of difference. I also,
(06:47):
it was my first child, so I didn't have any
idea how tired you would be. And I didn't know
how nauseous. I was, like literally walking down street, you
throw up and then you just keep going. You never
stopped working. Oh my god. I was so happy to
go back to work when I was pregnant, Oh my god,
Like it was amazing. I remember just thinking, like I
just want to be around grown ups who just tell
you what, like, what do you need, just just say it,
(07:08):
you know, versus a baby where you're like I don't
understand what do you want? So I I really enjoyed
what I liked working. I liked feeling like I'd accomplished
something I liked that was a measure for me of
kind of how I was doing that was important to me.
I think people who are able to stay home with
their kids, I think that's incredibly difficult, and I just
it was nothing I ever wanted to do. I like
(07:29):
being home for for phases when I would be down
from traveling for a month, or I was on bed
rest with the twins, and so there are parts of
things that I really did like in short chunks, but no,
I had never wanted to stay home. What is your
take on women and money and the relationship between women
and money. I think that I've seen a close and
a lot of ways that you have to be able
(07:52):
to handle and run your money, and it gives you
a lot of leverage. Sometimes people say to me, you
know you're able to say what you want to say
on Twitter, You're able to run this company and do this,
And then I'm like, yes, because I have the financial
wherewithal to do it. I do write, I just and
and some of that is from the past jobs. I
was a pretty good saver and I invest well. But
but you know, I think the only way to really
(08:13):
have true freedom is to make sure that you have
a handle on your money, and really your money, because
things can go crazy with your spouse. Things can go
downhill fast, something tragic can happen, so you really have
to have a handle on your money. I remember reading
an article, and I mean this was ages ago, that
(08:34):
you had an experience with a nanny where you found
out they were hitting your child. She was and it
was such a crazy story. So I was getting some
work done in my apartment. Oh and I had bodyguards
because I had a stalker. And um, so one of
the guys who was working, one of the workers in
the apartment told the guy who was my bodyguard, because
(08:55):
I think he didn't want to tell me himself, but
he told my bodyguard the babysitter hitting the baby. Um.
But yes, obviously we ended up wiring our entire house
with cameras because we you know, my best friend like
to say that we were accidentally going to make a
porno because we had so many cameras in our house.
I thought it was kind of funny. Didn't happen, but
(09:16):
I thought that was kind of funny. Um and uh,
and of course we um, we put an end to her.
We fired her pretty much on the spot. But the
interesting lesson from that which my older sister was so
lucky I have older sisters. You know. My older sister said,
you really have to give people permission to tell you,
because when I said to people, yeah, we had to
(09:37):
let the cell and so go, I remembered they said
to me, you know, I always thought she was so
rough with the baby. I always thought she was, you know.
And You're like, well, what the hell didn't you tell me?
And and my sister, who has seven kids, said to me,
you know, I know works full time, says to me, um,
you know, you really as you go into spaces and
(09:58):
this is really for little er kids right once to
get to a certain age and they can talk and
and you know, then it's less of a problem. But
he's like, you know, if you have to tell people,
I would, you know, please let me know if you
notice something. And uh, and it's really true. I have
From that point on, I was much better about telling
people like, hey, I'm trying out this new nanny and
let me know. And I've told moms you know, listen,
(10:19):
I think you're I think you're sitter is really rough
with your kid. And maybe you're totally fine with that,
but I personally wouldn't be. I'm just letting you know.
In your book, you share this story of one of
your sons who you found out was experiencing hearing loss.
What was that experience like for you? It was amazing.
It was such a great experience to know what his
(10:42):
diagnosis was the greatest thing ever, you know. And I
have to say my husband is such a great partner.
He's so helpful, and I think you go through these
things and you kind of see how the other person reacts,
and we're pretty good to get, like when one of
us is freaking out, the other one is not, which
has been a pretty good model. And he has a
very good sense of humor for stuff. And I just remember, um,
(11:03):
we had Jackson tested and then the doctor said, well,
I got some information. You need to come in. And
at the time, I was traveling a ton, I was like,
I can't you know, I can't come in and Brad
can't come in, and we can't come in together for
like three weeks. And I was just like, you just
tell me. And when they told me, you know, listen,
he's got severe hearing loss, and I was like, oh, well,
it explains a lot of these behavioral things that we
(11:23):
were seeing that we just couldn't understand. So for me,
it was just a huge sigh of relief to feel like, Okay,
now we're starting with something. Now, now we can actually
start fixing a problem because we kind of have our
hands around it. And and since that moment, we've been
so lucky. We have great experts around us, really really
good people to give us advice, great aids. Uh. The
(11:45):
only time I had a horrible experience was with the
Department of Education, which was a miserable well you have
to get all your services through them in New York.
That was miserable. Um, But for the most part, like
really really good professionals who were very helpful to try
to figure out how to make this kid have a
good experience in school and in life. And now for
a quick break, how do you go back and forth
(12:08):
between work and parenting. I don't think it's back and
but I think you're in the middle of it right.
You're literally on the phone negotiating while you're also like, oh,
we'll come back here. You can't read that, no, no,
you know the other day, I was doing a zoom
call and I put my screen, I turned my my
camera off, did my nose swab from my COVID test,
(12:29):
put the camera back. Only takes ten seconds, you know. So,
and I think a parenting like that, right, like, there's
no so now I'm going to be a parent. Okay,
Now I'm back at work. Once you're okay with chaos,
then I think it's okay because you as opposed to
believing that it's going to be this perfectly seamless, you know,
parallel lives and everybody's going to support. One key to
(12:50):
your success seems to be your marriage. It sounds like,
you know, you married someone who also has a very
high power career. How have you handled the division of
labor at home? You know, I think we've been pretty
good at just doing what we each are fine doing.
I mean, Brad likes to do the garbage, like he
really likes to go to the dump. It's so weird,
(13:12):
But you know, I think it's more like, really, I
there are things that I like to do, and I
think as I've gotten older, I've gotten better at being
okay with the things I don't want to do. I
don't like to cook the person who just walked in.
My daughter, Sophia is a phenomenal cook. We would not
have gotten through the pandemic without Sophia cooking. She's an
amazing cook, right, But I'm here to support that. I
will clean, i will organize, I'll do whatever you want,
(13:34):
but I don't like to cook um. And I think
you know Brad the same way. There's certain things he
doesn't like to do. And what we try to do
is figure out how to how to divide the labor
in a way that everybody's kind of happy. I'll tell
you a great story that was. That's very two good stories.
They are very typical of bread. One was when Sophia
was little, probably in pre case she was been in
the fours or something. She had a friend named Samantha,
(13:56):
and she would say, Samantha's mom cuts the crust, soffer
sam much. Samantha's mom does this, Samantha's moman does that,
Samantha's mom walks through school every single day. And I
said to Brad, like, Samantha's mom does this. Samantha's mom
and Saan Samonth by the way, is a lovely woman.
And Brad's like, yeah, we gotta get Samantha's mom a job.
We gotta end this, and I just remember feeling so
(14:19):
badly and he just made me laugh like it was
such a funny, obviously silly thing to say, and um,
it was very helpful, like in that moment, this idea
of you know, hey, Samantha's mom was like, we're not
Samantha's mom, and that's cool, right, And you know what,
it's so much better than if he had said, you're
a great mom, You're doing your best. Like it's so
much better out we handle that. I love that. The
(14:39):
other thing, he was at some kind of a dinner
and um, closing dinner and around the table all these
guys and one of the guys that the dinner was
maybe eighty years old, and I remember he said, um,
so Brad, lets you work right. It was like and
Brad jumps in and says, well, you know, she does
a morning show, so there's this whole afternoon of hours
(15:01):
that we're trying to find her something like at the
seven eleven or something she could do. It was just
like it. And he has this very good habit of
like undercutting something that I've come about to be very
offended and it just makes you crack up and you
realize it's stupid. And so that's happened a couple of times,
and I think it's really that like his attitude around,
like we're going to solve it, We're going to figure
it out. What was your parents relationship? Like, my parents
(15:25):
really really loved each other. They passed away within forty
days of each other, about a year and a half ago.
So sorry, they were ye, thank you, they were um.
You know, I think they both really loved each other.
And my mom used to say all the time, you know,
I love your father most of all, and then I
love the rest of you equally. That was very much
their structure, like we're a team and we make decisions
together and then you know, everything radiates out from that.
(15:46):
And that was helpful because it was in a family
where we didn't really have a lot of relatives. I
didn't have any cousins or aunts and uncles who lived
particularly close by. Um, And so, you know, I think
having a very tight unit, especially you know, we were
a diverse family in a community that was not diverse
at all, and so it was nice to have like
a very big, tight unit that was kind of impenetrable.
(16:09):
Your parents got married at a time when interracial marriages
were not allowed in Maryland, so they went to d C.
How did that impact your childhood? You know, I think
the great part of it was for most of my childhood,
I didn't have a clue I was so and then
I grew up in I was born in sixty six.
I kind of grew up through high school in the eighties.
(16:32):
I never really occurred to me it was, you know,
we were a family, didn't really be stuck out in
a lot of ways. My dad's white, my mom was black.
You know, you're mixed race kids. UM. So that was
unusual in my community, and even just being diverse at
all was unusual. Nine six percent white. UM. But I
think that what they were, I think that they did
(16:56):
a really good job of picking a place to live
where we would go to good school rules, and I
think we would have to figure out how to deal
with a lack of diversity. Some of my siblings and
I kind of think handled it kind of in different ways.
Some people were better at it, some people struggled. I
think a little bit more with it. I was younger,
and I think when you're younger, you know, I think
my brother and I kind of just floated floated along
(17:16):
on the reputations of our older siblings. Um. But you know,
I think for me, when you are an insider and
an outsider, there's a lot of value in that. And
I think it was helpful in my reporting too, to
understand a lot of different communities and be able to
navigate a bunch of different spaces. I mean, my mom
was Cuban, so we spent a lot of time in
(17:38):
New Jersey, in Union City, New Jersey, which is kind
of a little Cuban enclave there when my grandmother finally
came over from Cuba. And so I think I had
a lot of information about Cubans and Cuban Americans and
African Americans and people who were foreigners and people who
spoke two languages or three languages, and you know, and
(17:58):
and and I think it was helped full in my reporting.
I never thought it was a negative thing. I was
just going to ask in terms of reporting. So Jeff
Sucker arrives at CNN, and eventually you're kind of pushed out,
is that what happened? It was happened pretty fast. Um,
you know, I think he we had worked together at NBC,
(18:19):
and you know, he made it clear he didn't want
me to anchor. He didn't see that for me. They
asked me to stay on UM. But you know, I
really I think I've made some very good decisions in
my life, and and the ones that I pass on
to students often are around not working in places where
people don't see a future for you. You know, you
really need bosses who believe in you, and people who
(18:41):
believe in you in the minute you get a sense.
And then this happened to me well before CNN, when
I worked at Caro n t V and I had
bosses who I think didn't really see a vision for
me that I saw potentially for me. And I will say,
you know, I'm not a big Jeff Sucker fan. Obviously
I criticized them a lot in CNN. But what I
think he it really well was he was very clear.
(19:02):
Often what they do in these kinds of jobs. As
everybody tells you, oh my god, we'd love you, we
see a big future for you here. Six months later
you revisit it. You know, I'm really stuck. I feel
like you guys are giving me opportunities. What's going on? No, No,
my god, we love you, We definitely, you know, and
they string you along. Eighteen months later You're like, I
think nobody really wants me to, you know, and you
(19:24):
lose all this time. I will say, he was very straightforward,
this is what he sees. It did not match what
I saw, and so I left, And Um, I didn't
want to stay on in a capacity where I felt like,
if you don't see a future for me here in
a way that I do, like, why would you want
to stay and do that? So I ended up starting
my own company. It's been now like eight or eight
years approximately, and and I'm really glad I don't do
(19:47):
cable through with My husband likes to say, if you
worked at CNN, you would have to quit. Yes, I
think often there are things that I like, There's a
lot that's a bess and so I think it's I
don't really love that style of how they're covering the news,
and I think I would just be miserable and they
would be miserable with me if I had stayed. You
(20:09):
mentioned that you do criticize CNN now and you you
are outspoken on the internet on Twitter with your opinions,
and you said that you are in a position where
you have the freedom to speak without upsetting a boss
or corporation. Is there anyone who does intimidate you? Not really?
I mean I try to. I try to speak truthfully
about things I really just hate. You know. Um, I
(20:31):
think Megan McCain on The View is horrible, So that's
not probably like a truthfully based comment. I think she's
just But I don't mind the show overall. That's just
a fat I get to have an opinion. Um, So no,
I don't. I don't think it's that. I think I
try to want to do critiques around journalism. I try
to sort of talk about like this is where this
is a failing, this is where it's not good. I
remember when you called out Maggie Haberman on the fact
(20:54):
that she was saying, you know, he's he's kind of
skirting the truth, is opposed to just saying God, The
New York Times tried so hard. I don't know her personally,
so I have no idea like she had to write
that way. It took them at least three years to
be able to call a lie a lie, you know,
verifiably untrue. That's what they used to say. It's verifiably,
(21:14):
and you're like, well, that's a lie. Like that's a lie.
If your kid misses their curfew, you're not going to
say you know, And they say, no, I did come
in on time. That is verifiably and true. You're like,
don't lie to me, come on. And so it was
a way of hiding behind something. And I think I
had a real problem with elevating these press conferences around
(21:37):
COVID nineteen that were full of misinformation. What's the point.
The point of media is to elevate accurate, helpful information.
You're supposed to be educating your your viewers and your listeners.
Is social media today? This is it as news. I
mean I followed most news organizations that I follow, I
follow through their social media. So when the Washington Post
(21:57):
post something that I think is fascinating, that's probably where
I'm going to read it. I often, you know, very
rarely now do I have a hard copy of the
newspaper or a magazine. Sometimes I'll go out and get
it um but we get it delivered to but no
one's in the office anymore. So you know, I mostly
am following people online. So what is your company? So
(22:19):
we started my company as Solidette O'Brien Productions, which is
s OB, which was pretty funny. Um uh years ago
when I got married, Um, I wanted my mother in
law wanted to get me towels, and I said, great,
can I have s OB on my tows And she's
starting to forget it, No doubts. I thought that was
such a good idea. We basically do most of my work.
I mean I I anchor a show for her, so
(22:41):
we co produce it with hers. I work on this podcast,
and I jump in and do specials here and there.
But for the most part, what I really do is
I run a production company and we produce content. So
we're in the middle of producing a series for HBO
or doing something for Discovery. We're in the middle of
a six part series for b ET. We're about to
a project with OWN. I think I'm about to sign
(23:02):
that deal. So basically, we create content and then we
sell it and then we produce it. And now for
a quick break, tell us about black in America. What
I was at CNN. They asked me to do a
look at the fort anniversary of the assassination of Dr
King and so the question was in over six hours,
(23:25):
what happened in the Assassination and then Where are We Now,
which is a really interesting project and I love doing it,
but I loved I actually thought it was a great
way to dig into stories that we don't cover very much,
because I think talking about race in class is just hard.
It's hard to do well. What was great about that
was that there were real worries that if you covered
(23:47):
these topics and it's called Black in America, that you
make all your white audience members afraid or they would
just be bored and wouldn't want to watch it. And
what actually happened was we grew our black audience humongously,
and there came a point where I could not walk
through an airport without people saying, I am Black in America.
You should win me at you, and I was like,
oh my god, I'm on vacation alone. But also we
(24:08):
grew our white audience, um of course, because it's all
in good storytelling. That was probably the most important thing
for me out of Black in America was like, Wow,
there's an entire audience that is interested in high quality
stories that kind of explain history and and have people
in present day America and really explain these issues fast
forward to the six part series we're doing for BT
(24:29):
and for Viacom, so it probably will end up on
a lot of CBS stations. UM, which is a look
at structural racism over six one hour episodes. And I
actually think it's even better than Black in American Away,
partly because I've just gotten better at figuring out these
stories and how to tell them. But it's a really
I think it's a pretty good look at like how
(24:50):
we got where we are in America and how do
you then think about dismantling some of these systems. There
was a story you told about Jesse Jackson and at
one point he I think, put his hand in your
arm and said, you don't count as black. Well, I mean,
I think there is a discussion right about people who
(25:10):
are American descendants of slaves and people who are Caribbean
descendants of slaves. For me, I was always like, there's
black and brown people and they work together on things.
But I think that there's a number of people who
actually think and even as people talk about reparations, right like,
you know, who are those people who should be getting reparations.
I think there's a fair argument to me made that
(25:31):
it's the American descendants of slaves who should be getting
if I don't think will happen anytime soon, that would happen.
So I I sort of as I grew up, I
kind of got his point. No one wants to have
the back of their hand touched and who told you know?
But I very much I think he was wrong to
do it. But I I understood his point, which is,
(25:52):
you know, when some of these fights were not aligned,
I think that was wrong. I think he's mistaken about that.
I think that's not true. I think that you know,
I'm I'm an American, I'm my my roots are in
Cuba and Australia, and but but I'm a black American. Well.
One of the things that struck me about that story
is that it took you years to confront him, even
(26:12):
though you'd runt him, and all these social events kised
him of the cheek, and here you are on Twitter
every day confronting people. Yeah. Again, One of the nice
things about being fifty something years old, right, is that
I have found so much upside in being having a
career and work and running something and that's not really
(26:33):
dependent on other people liking me or not liking me.
You just have to deliver the work. We like to
end every interview with a lightning round, and then we
have our colleague Lue Burns will come in and ask
a question from a male perspective, which is very cool
for our story. Um, what are you reading right now?
I am reading um Cast for a second time. I
(26:58):
read it very quickly because I had to do an
interview with the author, and uh, it's amazing, but I
really wanted to go back and read it. If you
haven't had a chance, I highly recommend it. It was
actually pretty interest in. My husband is like my age
white dude, and he read Cast and he was like,
oh my god, this explains everything. I'm like, I've been
doing documentaries on this. Have you not been watching a documentary?
(27:20):
But it's it's it's brilliant, and it's it's just really
really great. So I hadn't recommended. What do you read
every morning? What are your go to? I really look
at Twitter and then I which really means I'm reading
the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the New York Times,
usually the cover of the New York Post, the cover
of the Daily News. I like The Atlantic a lot,
(27:42):
but often I'll save articles. There's such a long read
that often you have kind of save things and go
back to them. And then I just have people that
I like to follow and see what they're talking about
that in particular morning. Um Adam Serwer is one. I
think he's really brilliant. Um Michael Harriet is another, He's
really great. So there's just a bunch of people that
I followed to see what they're saying. Are there any
(28:03):
apps you use for productivity? No? Not, not much. Nothing
that like organizes me. I haven't really cracked that, not yet.
I have to use paper. I have to write longhand
and use paper and like having a list in front
of me every day. What's the last thing you felt
guilty about. The last thing I felt guilty about is
(28:23):
setting up the shot so that the front door would
be open, and that meant everybody has to really stay
outside so that I can do this podcast. Well, this
is a perfect time for Lou to join us, hi,
so that there must be a story where you had
to like overcome some challenge being a mixed race woman
in journalism. You know what would happen sometimes if people
(28:47):
would just be nasty. I think that was one thing, right,
You go to cover stories in New Orleans and people
call you the N word, Like how did you deal
with that? You just keep going. I mean right, I'm
just like what do you what are you supposed to do?
You got a job to do. And also like who
is this person? You just met them eight minutes ago?
Like literally, it doesn't really hurt. I don't think, you know,
(29:09):
it was a little bit difficult. I think being a
working mom, uh and the I think the ways in
which you're judged as a working mom. I mean I would.
So there was a guy I worked with I was asked,
I was kind of asked to not go to Thailand
to cover the Tsunamia. I just had my twin boys.
And they called it and they're like, oh my god,
you're a new mommy. I'm sure you don't want to go.
And I was like, I got four kids under four.
(29:31):
Put me on a plane and I get there and
this producer says to me, I know you're a new
star at CNN. I was relatively new, but if you
can't have this story, I'm gonna put you on a
plane home. I went for the twins. I was thirty
eight when I had my twins. I was thirty eight
years old, and I was like, put me on a plan,
Like what am I a twelve year old? It was crazy.
I was so upset. I did. I cried. And you know,
(29:52):
my husband, I'm really lucky. He gives great advice. And
he said, I think the only thing you could do
is to make it work. Do the do the work.
And I did and I we did a great job
and I got a lot of kudos and it helped
my career. You know. So it was very upsetting, but
I think the answer was very clear, right, like, you
can't call somebody, you can't, no one cares who. You
(30:14):
have to actually do the work and show people you
know that it doesn't matter. Years later, I said to
the guy, I don't know if you remember this conversation,
but this is what you said to me. And he
had no recollection of it. He was looking for a job.
What did what did he say to you? Even though
he had no recollection of it? Like? What was I was? So?
I was just so insecure at the time. Blah blah
bla bla bla Sam. Before I get to what I
(30:38):
really took away from what Soladad said, I have to
say that Solidad was the anchor of Sanan's American Morning
while I was in my twenties living in New York,
and she like really narrated the beginning of every day,
and so it was so cool to get to talk
to her, particularly about that period of her life, which
was such a different lens. I was a guest on
her show during that time during on American Morning, and
(31:00):
one of the things that you know, I've tried a
little bit not to act like a complete fangirl, but
when I was in college, I started following soula dad's
career because I had dreams of being a newscaster, and
she went on this very traditional path where you had
to go to a small market and make it and
then work your way up. Well, she really did, and
(31:20):
and you know, the lesson for me actually kind of
relates to that, because Soladad seems like the type of
person who just gets it done, and I think so
many of us have so many things we have to
get done that that attitude works. And when I think
about my own life in that way, it's like, Okay,
how can I use even if I don't have childcare
all day right now because of the pandemic and what's
(31:41):
going on, how can I use most effectively the few
hours that I do have. There's definitely that sort of
badass I'm going to get stuff done, and but there's
also this optimism that's threaded throughout her story. I mean,
even when she was talking about her son's challenges with
hearing loss, she kind framed it in a very positive way.
(32:02):
She reminds me so much of this tennis teammate I
had in college, Like they had the exact same energy,
you know, unstoppable. By the way. One thing I loved
hearing about was her marriage because I definitely found, like,
you know, she married someone who's her complete equal. They
went to college together. He has a huge career in
his own right in finance, but they're clearly have an
(32:25):
incredible relationship, and I do believe that it probably propelled
both of them in some way as to where they
are because they have this really strong marriage behind them.
It sounds like he has a great sense of humor
and that they have a pretty remarkable relationship. I loved
hearing about Samantha's mom. That was the funniest story I
know we can all relate. Melissa. Thanks so much for
(32:51):
joining us. What inspired you to open the Barkshop. Amy
and I are both dog owners, and we're both a
little bit obsessed. Yeah, thank you so much for howing
me today. So the bark Shop is a premier pet
care company and we specialize in grooming, although we also
offer dog walking and dog boarding. I was inspired by
reality hair show called Chicago Lisious. I never go with pets.
(33:14):
I didn't know anything about dogs, but I learned about
the pet care industry and decided to jump in within
ninety days. It's been a really tough year for small
business owners. What keeps you going through all of the
hard parts. The pet care industry is a one hundred
billion dollar industry. I grew up in the South Bronx,
which is the poorest congressional district in the nation. UM
(33:35):
And upon entering the pet care industry, I realized that
there was not a lot of people in leadership roles
and owner roles that look like me. So my mission
is definitely to attract more people of color to prepare
them to be owners within the pet care industry. UM
And I would say that's what definitely drives me. I
have a vision to educate more pet groomers. Do you
find that a lot of younger entrepreneurs are looking to
(33:59):
you for advice and guidance. Yeah, absolutely so. I actually
teach a lot of seminars and our industry expos um,
and I also have a lot of mentees that I
work with. We work with a lot of nonprofit organizations
as well to help at risk youth and young adults
prepare for entering the workplace and entering the pet rooming industry.
(34:20):
So I'm super excited to partner with organizations and continue
to get people interested in pack here. What role the
project entrepreneur play in your journey. I never knew anything
about raising capital investment, so they really got us up
to speed on terminology. I think the best thing as
a female founder is negotiating um and I'm happy to
(34:40):
say that we have just secured our first investor in
our seed round, so I'm super excited about that. What
is one tip you would give to the next female
founder who, like you and like me, started out never
having raised any money. I would definitely say, understand that
the relationship between you and an investor and all the
investors that you're going after, and be confident in what
(35:02):
you're also bringing to the table, because I think a
lot of times we think, oh, we need them, we
need these investors, but we're operating our businesses anyway. We're
gonna do it anyway, and they need us as much
as we need them. That's such excellent advice. I work
with a lot of small business owners and it's so
challenging right now, especially having like a storefront business like
(35:22):
you do. How are you staying aflow? What what tips
do you have for other entrepreneurs, and what are the
biggest challenges you've been having? So we've been staying afloat
the pet grooming pet care industry is continuing to grow.
Um it's a recession proof industry based on the history.
But I think I've been able to stay open because
(35:44):
I was willing to adapt and shift and pivot quickly.
We were able to launch our mobile grooming truck, which
helped us serve more communities and build more relationships and
expand our geographical footprint. I'm super excited about building community
with pet owners. So I would say to other entrepreneurs
out there, listening and be able to adapt and shift
quickly if they committed to your vision. Thanks for listening
(36:09):
to What's her story? With Sam and Amy, we would
so appreciate if you would leave a review wherever you
get your podcasts, and of course connect with us on
social media at What's Her Story podcast. What's Her Story
with Sam and Amy is powered by my company, The
Riveter at the Riveter dot c o in Sam's company,
park Place Payments at park place payments dot com. Thanks
(36:30):
to our producer Laurel Moglin, our podcast associate Emma Hard,
and our male perspective Lue Burns. You're a new dog owner, right,
I know. I have a puppy, me too. We have
a pandemic puppy. I call it two so cute. They're
so great. I'm so happy. I know, it's amazing. My
kids are correct in thinking I love this dog war
(36:51):
that I love. I don't. I'm always cold. I don't
like to go in the water unless it's like nine degrees.
And when our pool was done, if my dog want
to go, and so I took the dog into sixty
and my daughter was like, oh my god, Mom, you
never ever known the water
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Amy Nelson
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