How It All Began

Got my start in front of the camera, at age 12, when I co-anchored Bubble Gum Digest, a weekly children’s news program on WMAQ-TV, the Chicago NBC affiliate.  I won an Emmy Award for my work hosting the show, and dreamed of one day being as glamorous as Jane Pauley, whom I saw frequently in the hallways.  The show itself also won an Emmy for Best Children’s Program.  But the highlight of the entire award ceremony for me that year was being asked to dance by then CBS news anchor Bill Kurtis, whom I still enjoy watching and listening to on various crime shows and documentaries to this day.

Although my voice has changed slightly in pitch since that time, I think this episode pretty accurately depicts who I am…and who I’ve always been.