People often ask me...“Did you always know you wanted to be in TV news?” The answer to that question is “no.” In fact, I wanted to be an architect. That was until I saw the Smoke Signals. That was the name of my high school newspaper in Houma, Louisiana. I joined the newspaper staff as an elective my junior year and fell in love with journalism. I started reading our local newspapers and watching more TV news with my parents. Pretty soon that became my goal. I wanted them to one day watch me, their own daughter, on TV.
I landed my first reporter job at WCBI-TV in Columbus, Mississippi. I had no idea where Columbus was, but I was going. It was that or I was on my way to St. Louis to become a flight attendant for TWA. I worked in Columbus reporting, producing and anchoring for about a year. I went back to New Orleans and worked as a reporter part-time at WDSU. I covered Mardi Gras, murders, fires, politics, floods, hurricanes and more. I even covered the aftermath of a hurricane in another country. I reported live from Honduras in 1998 on the devastation of Hurricane Mitch.
In between it all, I married a Tulane Medical School student who was also in the Army. In three years, we were off to San Antonio, Texas for his first assignment. I started reporting again at KABB the Fox affiliate in town. I covered countless rodeos and Fiestas, the escape of the Texas Seven from the Connally Unit in Kennedy and the Spurs NBA Championship, but nothing could compare to the birth of my first daughter Nina who was born on Lackland Air Force Base.
While my husband was deployed to Iraq, I started my first anchor job at News 9 San Antonio. That led to the my current position at WTVD in Durham, North Carolina anchoring the 5:00, 6:00, 10:00 and 11:00 news. When I’m not on the desk, I’m out in the community or working on special reports. Over the past 13 years, I’ve traveled back home to New Orleans to cover Hurricane Katrina, the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia and the Carolina Panther in Super Bowl 50.
I love what I do. Nothing compares to the unpredictability and excitement of TV news. I’ve tried to leave the business twice and was drawn right back in. The one thing I’m more passionate about is my family. I now have two daughters and my husband is a pediatrician who continues to serve our country. Service is important to us. Give back any way you can. I work with organizations such as the Girl Scouts, The USO of North Carolina, American Heart Association, The Fill Your Bucket List Foundation and Book Harvest.
I’m also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Triangle Park Chapter of the Links, Inc. I live by the words...”Believe in yourself. Inspire others to dream.” In our world of strife and scandal, I choose to lead by example and be the role model I want my daughters and other girls to emulate. Back on bayou, I was a young dark skinned girl who believed anything was possible. I saw the life I wanted for myself on TV, and I want young girls watching me to say to themselves...”I can do anything too.”