Audio has always been part of my story: I grew up in a radio station, literally. My mom worked at a group of local radio stations in our small South Carolina town, so I spent many days after school and in the summer running through the halls popping in and out of the studios (when the “on air” signs were not illuminated). They even put me on air a few times to talk about our local school sports games — I will spare you the recordings.

While I grew up immersed in media, I always said I would never follow in my mother’s footsteps. Not because her job wasn’t worthy, I just wanted to make my own path. A path that took me on adventures all over the world… before surprisingly (or, perhaps, inevitably) landing me back in journalism.

The summer before college I saved and raised enough money to volunteer with a North Carolina based NGO in Malawi, Africa. I was barely an adult, and I was teaching young kids about HIV/AIDS prevention, nutrition, gender equality, and environmental awareness. It was both unsettling and enlightening. While there I learned I had a lot of questions about the world, questions others couldn’t seem to answer. Like, why do certain governments and systems benefit some more than others?

It was a question that ultimately led to my focus of study at College of Charleston: Political Science and African Studies. I immersed myself in classes about world politics, the global economy, and the history of colonialism. I grew a deeper understanding of global divisions and the role the United States plays on the world stage. College was also where a professor encouraged me to dip my toe into journalism (possibly because I asked too many questions in her class!).

In my junior year, a career test told me I should be a park ranger or a journalist. Spending my time in the wilderness sounded more exciting at the time, but with that professor’s suggestion echoing in my brain, I applied for an internship at the Charleston City Paper. The stakes were low for me – I wasn’t convinced this was the career I wanted to pursue – but, still, I walked in on day one and knew I had to set myself apart from the other interns who were all absolutely sure they wanted to be journalists. I looked around the small office; I could pull up a chair next to the other interns or I could clean off the empty desk closer to the Editor’s office. The desk was piled high with old papers and office supplies but, thanks to my mom, I had a knack for cleaning and organizing – and for taking initiative.

When the Editor walked in that day and asked who cleaned the desk, I admitted it was me. She gave me that desk and for the rest of the internship I got some of the best assignments: I covered concerts, reviewed restaurants, and got to represent the paper at Charleston Beer Week, where, luckily, I got to partake in the samplings.

At the end of the semester, the Editor asked if I wanted to keep writing for the paper, this time for pay. It was hard to tell her no. I explained I wasn’t ready to commit to journalism. I was young and still needed to figure myself out. She said the Charleston City Paper would be there if I changed my mind.

So, I declined what could have been the start of an amazing career in print journalism to head back to Malawi, where I initially started asking questions about the world and myself. This time I was a paid volunteer coordinator supporting others who ventured to Malawi to expand their views and learn more about what laid beyond their hometowns.

After the summer in Malawi, I spent the next couple of years trying my hands at different jobs. I went back to South Carolina to be a veterinary technician, spent a season taking photographs for a white-water rafting company, and attempted to learn French as an au pair for a family in France.

At each turn I still felt a pull towards journalism. I decided what was lacking at the City Paper wasn’t the work, it was the focus and scale. I needed to blend my experiences abroad with my journalism. So, I enrolled in a Masters of International Journalism at City University in London, and just like that I was off on my next adventure.  

City University has one of the best journalism courses in the world. All the lecturers are former executives, producers, and editors at BBC, Sky News, and beyond. My year there was spent not in classrooms (although some of that was required), but instead out on the streets of London learning how to gather stories for print, tv, and radio. I built upon what I had learned at the City Paper and fell in love with making radio and television.

Through my course at City, I was offered a two-week unpaid work experience by the BBC World Service radio for their Africa-focused show. It was an overnight shift from 9pm to 9am, it was exhilarating and exhausting. I was working just like the other producers, pitching stories, recording interviews, prepping the hosts. Thankfully, at the end of the two weeks the editor for the show insisted I start getting paid for my work. It was a wild time to be a producer for BBC, or really for any news outlet, Brexit had just happened and then Donald Trump announced his candidacy for U.S. president.

While the BBC newsroom in London rolled their eyes at the New York businessman, turned reality tv star, now running for president, my Southern roots knew it was a mistake to rule him out. As one of a few Americans working at BBC News, I quickly became a known quantity in the newsroom and used it to my advantage, producing for four different radio shows that were all covering the US election and wanted an American’s perspective.

After a few years in London, I became restless. I missed my family. I was tired of working from a desk. I admired the producers and reporters in the field, and I knew it was the job I wanted next. As soon as a North America-based field producer role came up, I jumped at the chance and moved to Washington, DC for the gig.

As a field producer, I got to travel across the Americas producing audio, tv, and digital segments on major breaking news stories and in-depth longform features. I spent weeks traveling with migrants through Central America, Mexico and across the border into the U.S. For months, I investigated police reform in the U.S. and helped uncover an alarming trend: a large proportion of the hundreds killed by police in the U.S. each year have a disability. I put my hostile environment training to use covering international aid being held at the Venezuela-Colombia border. And I helped launch the podcast Americast, one of the BBC’s biggest news franchises to date. My final role at BBC was focused on producing digital reporters to make sure their stories were being told for all platforms; if it was going to be written it also had to be radio, and digital video. I felt a shift happening in media and I had to be part of it.

Then came 2020. As the world shut down so did my ability to get into the field. I felt it was time for a change and a friend mentioned CNN was starting an audio team focused on podcasting. I was excited at the opportunity to get in on the ground level of something new where innovation was happening.

Building something from scratch, inside a massive organization, has been a challenge but also a huge reward. As a Senior Producer, I’ve led the development and production for a range of award-winning podcasts; some, like Tug of War, where I get to give context to crises around the world, and others like, All There Is… with Anderson Cooper, which have taught me new things about myself and how we are never alone in our grief. (There was also that time Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mini donkey kicked me for attempting to record it as natural sound for a podcast with Dana Bash. The lesson? Don’t get too close to a mini donkey.)

I am constantly pushing the bounds of what makes “audio gold” for tv, video, and social media. I am also consistently thinking about how audio fits into the ever-evolving media landscape. I am currently focused on growing CNN’s audio department. I’m helping integrate our slate of podcasts into other parts of the organization, from digital and television to marketing and PR. I’m building long-term strategies and more efficient workflows. And I’m mentoring our producers on how to tell compelling audio-first stories that will drive new audiences to our shows. If you want to learn more, reach out to me here.