How to become a pioneer of your own career

They say never meet your heroes, but this time, dear readers, the meeting was as wonderful as the woman herself.

Daughter Lulu and I’ve returned to Ireland last week after our month-long visit with friends and family in our birth home in the United States.?I’ve written you postcard columns with lessons shaded by the colours and tones of the assortment of people for whom I’ve had the pleasure saying hello as well as the sorrow of saying goodbye.

I’ve saved one of the brightest US postcards for today. This is the story of my surprise visit with Janie Hodge.

If the name isn’t familiar to you, it’s because you are not a kid who grew up in Indiana.?For Hoosier children of the 60s, 70s or 80s, school days were made better when Janie visited us through her locally produced television programme, “The Janie Show.”??(Over the thirty years, it apparently went through a string of different names, but that’s how I’ll always remember it.)

Every Girl Scout, Boy Scout or Campfire Girl dreamed their troop would be chosen to join Janie so you could watch cartoons and meet her and her puppet cast including Gilroy the Gopher, Silly Snake and Treble Clef in the studio. ?If, like me, you never got that chance, you were content to join her from the hulky box of a TV set on your living room floor.

I didn’t know it then but looking back upon my career as a CNN anchor, I now realise that Janie was my first female TV presenter role model. She was a beautiful woman with vibrant red hair. But more than her physical presence, her kindness, warmth and genuine care for the children is what made her so appealing.

Imagine the jolt to my memory then, as I overheard my mother on the phone during my recent stateside visit.?A life master and devotee of the card game bridge, Mom was setting up a game with a partner.

“Yes, Janie, all right, Janie, that’s great, Janie.”

“Who was that?” I asked.

“Oh, she’s an amazing bridge player, much more accomplished than I am. I love playing with her. She also used to host that Indianapolis kids’ TV show,” my mom answered casually.

“WHAT?!” That’s Janie?! The Janie?!” I yelled. “Get her back on the phone!” You’d think it was Michelle Obama for all my excitement, but that’s the level of positive impact this person had on me.

When Mom called her again, I was thrilled to hear age had not changed her voice. I recognised it immediately.?She graciously invited me to her home to be interviewed. With Mom and Lulu in tow, I made the pilgrimage.

Janie met us at her front door.?She uses a walker a bit now, and her hair, no longer auburn, is a soft silver. But, to me, she was as beautiful as ever.?We settled into her living room with its immaculate, white carpeting and walls with eye-catching artwork. Her housekeeper had set the coffee table with chocolate chip cookies and lemonade.

I was eager to learn from this woman who was a pioneer in American children’s television.?I’m now eager to share with you some of her story and a few take-away lessons any of us can apply.

1.)???Seize every opportunity

A graduate from Indiana University’s School of Music, Janie became a teacher.?Her leap into the relatively new medium of television might never have occurred without a chance meeting at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Janie made the journey there with a friend to attend Barry Goldwater’s speech when he withdrew his nomination and threw support to Richard Nixon.?Among the various people she met during this historic event, she recalled a conversation with a news director who invited her to send a resume.

Janie didn’t have one at the time, but when she returned home, she crafted a document and mailed it. She remembered the man calling her to tell her it was the worst resume he’d ever seen. “I’d written it in red ink.” But it was enough to catch his attention and Janie eventually got the job.

I’m not advising you to start hand-writing red CVs, but I am encouraging you to follow-up on what may seem at the time the smallest conversation or opportunity. You never know.

2.) Take pride in being “Always On”

?“If I wore curlers in my hair to the grocery store, I knew someone would recognise me from TV, so I never did. I stepped into my role,” Janie said.?This is invaluable advice for any of us, television presenter or not. Your professional and personal brand is quite simply a result of the choices you make about your appearance, your behaviour and your communications.

3.)???Prepare, prepare, prepare

Long before online learning was commonplace, Janie worked for a Ford Foundation education project that used television to teach students. “We taught every course, at every level,” she said. She learned how to engage students on-camera with techniques that apply to virtual meetings today.

“Have someone help you with the tech. Be prepared what to do when something breaks. Look into the camera and talk to your people like real people. Think about saying, ‘I’m so glad you came today, and wasn’t it fun?’”

Yes, it was, Janie. It was fun. Then and now. ?

Write to Gina in care of [email protected]

With corporate clients in five continents, Gina London is a premier communications strategy, structure and delivery expert. She is also a media analyst, author, speaker and former CNN anchor. @TheGinaLondon

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