I get asked this question a lot too. The last time I was really asked it was my former co-worker at NAVTEQ in Mpls...this past May.
As I was answering it, I felt good about what I was accomplishing but realized that my life looked the same old living in Minnesota. I remember leaving work tried yet in a daze. Oddly enough, that was the same day I called my mother 6 hours later crying and telling her I was going to move to Los Angeles. I remember feeling confident about my decision.
I love to work. Work is my long term relationship. It is the only part of my life where I feel accomplished and happy, even if it drains me out on some days. When I accomplish something at the end of the day that makes me feel so alive and amazing.
I knew exactly what I wanted be growing up. I wanted to be a writer. I majored in Mass Communications and the journey that was ahead. I got involved with the school newspaper and radio station and a local radio station. I got an amazing experience and made amazing friends who I still keep in touch with. It was always nice to go into "work" and see the same people that had the same passion as you. You take in those moments and then later think, Gosh! Where are we all gonna end up?
I remember a couple of my class lectures. One class discussed the fact that if you were going to be a journalist, starting a family of your own would be hard in the sense that it takes a lot of hard work to get to the top. Looking back on that lecture, I believe getting to the top is different for every person. For me, it's Sony Music...or Paramount Pictures...or CBS. For another it may be a small non-profit. It all depends on happiness and what you are willing to sacrifice. I want the best of the best and that's why I moved to Los Angeles, or "Market #2" as the media calls it. "Market #1" is New York City. Skyscrapers make me feel claustrophobic and bug me.
The other class discussed how journalists don't eat properly. I have been there one too many times. Not eating unhealthy but hardly eating at all on some days, but not to the point where I was starving myself and throwing up. I have always maintained the weight I'm suppose to be at. There are some days where I don't make enough time to eat and I should. Then there are days where I eat like a cow! Sometimes I am running around too much (especially when I worked back home) place to place work work work you don't have TIME to think and eat! I have to go to NAVTEQ then get over to liquor storage, then I have a quick nap because I worked at 5am, but then I have to get up and finish writing my freelance story and then take a shower and get dolled up to go to an account and da da da da da...see how there's no time? I try not to look at it as an excuse but just the way it is.
In between my days that ARE crazy and I might have had just a small healthy snack or very light meal. Then when I get home I see two doors in my mind. One is labeled "sleep" and the other is labeled "eat." I always, always choose sleep. I SHOULD make it a priority, but I don't. My co-workers at work say to me if I am working a morning shift, "Kateri, you are tired this morning because you didn't eat breakfast." It's 6am in the morning! To me, that's too early to be eating! 10:30am is a good time for breakfast!
I have to sacrifice a lot to do what I want to do, especially when it comes to love. It has been hard-- and I speak this for some people that work in the same field as me-- hard to meet someone with my crazy hours and what I do. I have been on dates in the past where men gave up with me because of my job and future dreams. But then I look at other people in my field and wonder how they landed such a great and understanding person. My greatest fear in life is someone not accepting me or the way my life is. And I've learned that if I don't meet that great someone, that is fine, I still am good enough for myself.
Same with friends. Just today actually I had to cancel some plans with my friend in LA because my boss wanted me to come into work. I haven't had normal hours in the past 8 years. My roommate will say to me sometimes, "WHAT?! You're working an overnight shift?!" or "You'll never find your future husband with all those crazy hours you work!" I know he is joking but that's the reality of my life. I just have to keep going.
I am very picky about what company to work for and how it will help me in the long run. I turned down many, many jobs until I got to KSTP-TV. That was the golden ticket at the time. It's still the most talked about thing with potential employers that I have on my resume because I knew (and know) at some point in my life it will help me to the next greatest thing. Success and happiness as I said before is defined by the person.
I think I get the work ethic from my father. My father, Paul, was a chiropractor and had his own business. He knew business and what it took to keep it successful. My dad always pushed me to be bigger and better and I think subconsciously I was doing it to myself the older I got.
I've been in this business around age 11 or 12 when I started at the local community station. I want to stress that I don't do it for the glam or attention but because it's fun and I love it, even if it gets frustrating sometimes. It's a business and it takes a lot of good, hard-working, dedicated people to run it.
It's all I know.
