S1 E.13 Danielle Robay: Women in Journalism
In this EpisodeOn this episode, we welcome Danielle Robay for one of the most honest and raw episodes we’ve ever had. Danielle is truly a force to be reckoned with, and has shattered the glass ceiling time and time again in the news industry. There’s no way to describe how we feel about her other than to say that we just love her, and she’s something special.
Danielle was born and raised in Chicago, and is now an entertainment reporter, television presenter, and political journalist. She’s been a host on ET, has a loyal social media following, and is the youngest female morning TV host in Chicago’s history. She’s interviewed everyone from Tom Hanks, to Michael B Jordan, to Taylor Swift, yet she remains one of the most down-to-earth people we’ve met to date.
We started out by trying to settle the great debate - is Chicago a part of the East Coast or is it considered Midwest? According to Mariah, anywhere that has really cold weather for most of the year could probably be considered akin to the East Coast. Danielle tended to agree, and talked about how being raised in the cold can literally shape your personality, and that might be why she gets along so well with Adriana and Mariah - just a couple of girls raised in the harsh weather conditions of the East Coast. But, nobody likes the cold, really, and that’s why Danielle ended up moving to Los Angeles right out of college.
After graduating in 2013, Danielle found herself without connections, friends, or family in the LA area, and she ended up living in a garage (talk about harsh conditions!). She called news outlets and reporters constantly, with no luck, until one guy answered the phone on a Tuesday night at 7pm, yelling at her for calling him past working hours! He told her she was annoying, but decided to give her a chance at a red carpet event for a new NBC show that was coming out. She got to the event, where the guy (whose company was called The Red Carpet Report), realized that maybe she wasn’t as annoying as she had first seemed. He kept giving her opportunities (and she was working these all for free, might we add), for about 8 months, until she had finally gained enough footage to use for her reel, and to continue pushing forward in her field.
From the red carpets, Danielle moved to ClevverTV, and later got a job offer working a morning show in Chicago. Unfortunately for Danielle, she had just started to get comfortable in LA when the Chicago offer came in – with a boyfriend and all. She noted that she’s always had the outlook of choosing life over career most of the time, and she almost didn’t take the job offer in Chicago. But, a mentor of hers told her that if a relationship is meant to be, it will happen and it will work itself out no matter what. But, if she didn’t take the job, she would regret it for the rest of her life. And it’s a good thing she listened to her mentor’s advice. The relationship ended up not working out, but the co-host position in Chicago catapulted Danielle’s career forward in huge ways.
We also delved a little bit into modern feminism, and what that term means to Danielle as a female reporter in today’s news landscape. To her, it means choice. Feminism, right now, is about the choice to do what we as women want to do, which is something that couldn’t necessarily be said for women even like our mothers. They often had very limited choices in what careers they were able to pursue, or if they were able to pursue one at all. And today, although we’re lucky with what we are able to choose to do, there is still work to be done.
And what would a podcast episode with an interviewer be without asking her best and worst stories from her own interviews?! Danielle spilled the beans on her worst interview ever - the guy slapped the microphone out of her hand, and told her that her job didn’t require any brain cells! Did he know who he was talking to?! But on a brighter note, her favorite person she ever interviewed was Simon Cowell. She said that because he’s portrayed as so mean on television, it was such a shock to her when he turned out to be one of the nicest people she’s ever met. She said that whoever he encountered, he was nice to them, and that’s what made him her favorite interview subject.
We’re so glad that we were able to have Danielle on this episode. She told us that her goal as an interviewer is just to make people feel like they have a safe space to come to. As it turns out, that’s just how Danielle makes people feel - even outside of her career as an interviewer. We’re so happy that we were able to talk with Danielle, and we hope that you felt as happy listening to her as we did speaking to her.
Important Times0:48 - Welcome back!
1:30 - A little background on Danielle Robay
3:25 - Welcome Danielle!
8:34 - Who is Danielle?
15:30 - What happened to the boyfriend?!
20:58 - A day in the life of a journalist
23:18 - Modern feminism in the current industry
28:56 - Favorite person she’s ever interviewed (and the worst…)
32:55 - Any experiences along the lines of the Me Too movement?
37:16 - What does Mariah think her purpose is?
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Welcome bestie.
We’re so glad you’re here.
We’re Adriana and Mariah. Co-hosts, entrepreneurs, BFFs, and girls just like you trying to figure it out as we go.
