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From Broadcasting to Boardroom

That title isn’t completely accurate since I’m technically still in the broadcasting industry, but it kind of describes the shift I’ve felt over the past year. I was reading about how women typically don’t make as much as men (no shocker there, really), and the author was contending sometimes women don’t put up a fight for that extra three or five grand because they think - that much money isn’t that big a deal, it’s not worth the hassle.  But in ten years, that can be the difference between an extra few years of work (I’m not being totally accurate, but that was the basic point).  I am TOTALLY guilty of thinking that way - so this article got me thinking about how I ended up there - it has a lot to do with the mentality that was cultivated through some of my past jobs.

I started out in small market news.  I was making less than 20 grand. I went to work for a station I’d interned at throughout college, and I figured (this is how they get ya!), some money was better than an unpaid internship, even if my hourly pay worked out to about minimum wage.  Plus I was doing what I loved, which made it a lot easier to swallow.  Then I accepted a similar job at a similar station, making a little more, and I was thrilled.  Again, I didn’t negotiate a salary, since I was happy to get over that 20-grand hump.  Of course, after working 12 hour days and overnights, doing two - sometimes three - people’s work, all for little or no reward, I began to think asking for more wasn’t such a bad idea.

At this point also, you have to understand, the money in TV is shit.  Unless you’re at a network level as an anchor, you’re scraping by.  On the lower levels, it really doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or girl, on-air or behind the scenes, 19 grand is 19 grand is 19 grand.  I felt gypped but hey, we ALL felt gypped. Plus, we were “doing what we loved,” so we all took it. If we didn’t, there were 20 thousand recent college grads that would. That’s the mentality I had.

It was also the same mentality that led me to believe (and rightfully so) that I could do the best at the job I was in, but that was pretty much it.  In that type of TV news, moving up in markets is pretty much all you have, unless you want to make the jump to news director - but I never did.  I had almost NO business mind-set (except for the little tidbits Ryan tried to teach me).  Sure, news is a business. DEFINITELY.  But all the business-type stuff takes place in corporate offices at the companies that own the affiliates, or at the network itself, if you’re owned by them.  At the very least, it goes on the in the sales offices of the affiliates - where the news people never venture.  I thought I’d produce news forever - hopefully in a bigger market, maybe at a talk show, maybe as an executive producer.  I ADORED my career, but for what I wanted to do, there really wasn’t a corporate ladder to climb.

Then I moved to the big city. After freelancing at the big networks, proving to myself that I could hack it, making more than twice what my pay had been before, then realizing I didn’t want to go into work at midnight or 3 am for the rest of my life, I ditched network news for a hip, green, cable company start up.

There are things I miss about network news, but I’ve never looked back. I’m still in the TV biz, and working at a relatively new start-up (albeit, with an already-huge staff, and amazing funding and sales) is at once exhausting and rewarding, frustrating and perfect.  I’ve been here for almost 8 months, and that initial new-job “glow” has worn off a little, but never been completely tarnished.

Anyway, working at an actual “business” - with presidents, SVPs, directors and coordinators - that’s still trying to find its feet, presents amazing opportunities.  I’m not pegged in to one job, and it took me a while to realize that.  As our company grows, I can assume more responsibility.  I can pitch creative ideas that actually get accepted and encouraged.  I can dream as big as I want to, and as long as I back it up with a proposal, someone will at least give the pitch more than just a cursory glance.  I have bosses I love (shocking!), who I strive to learn from and emulate (even more shocking!).  I’ve started looking at this as more than just a job, and realize the opportunity I have to move up and on to things I didn’t even know I could or wanted to be.

So, to bring this back to getting paid … when I got this job, I did just accept what was offered me, while also telling my boss what I’d like to be making in the near future - which was a big step for me.  I guess, even though I’ve always been a career girl, now I’m taking more initiative with that career.  I’m becoming more of a business girl.  I meet with my boss to discuss my ideas and goals.  I write proposals (a year ago, I didn’t even know what a proposal was…).  I’m increasing my value, so when the time comes that I ask for more money (something I still hate to do); I’ll actually get it.