What an inspiration it was to interview KIRO 7 TV anchor Jenni Hogan for The Bellevue Scene last month. The topic of the article was “how to fashionably sport a baby bump,” and Jenni, being both a “traffoxy reporter” (as the social media queen is known in her Twitter kingdom) and a rock star mom (she’s done several fundraisers for needy families and babies through Northwest Harvest) was a perfect match for my story.
I may be a print girl and Jenni a broadcaster, but as we were sitting in that Starbucks, I couldn’t help but smile knowing that I, the 23-year-old recent journalism school graduate was in the presence of a seasoned news veteran, one who 70,000 viewers watch each weekday morning. In addition to asking questions for my article, I was soaking in her success story, hearing what it’s like in the KIRO 7 studios and getting words of wisdom from the creator of GoGirl Academy, Jenni’s career acceleration program for women.
What hit me then was the importance of role models.
Every girl, whether she wants to be a journalist, a professional athlete or a full-time world traveler should have a woman role model they can emulate, see a bit of themselves in, and be inspired by.
All girls should get an experience like I did at least once in their lives, to be able to sit down at a table with their own version of Jenni Hogan.
It’s not always easy to find a role model, as our society’s way of choosing which women to pay attention to is often skewed. As Faizon Love put it, why is it that Kim Kardashian makes the news, while masses of women who are actually doing newsworthy things, female doctors, researchers, teachers, activists, scholars, business owners and mothers, go unnoticed?
Even Jenni I’m sure sometimes gets more attention for being the bombshell Aussie on T.V., instead of for being the former UW rowing jock who could kick your butt and the shrewd businesswoman who embraced the changing times with social media and pays it forward with members of her community.
The truth is, you don’t become that successful simply by looking pretty.
On the Eastside there’s no shortage of savvy, intelligent, hard-working women. I’m lucky to work with some of them including Heija Nunn, an Oprah blogger and Medina resident with one of the wickedest senses of humor I’ve ever met, and of course, our publisher, Janet Taylor, a.k.a. the boss lady in charge, not to mention the countless inspiring women I’ve interviewed such as Alex Love, a promising boxer who left her Bellevue gym to follow her Olympic dreams.
Whether she goes to work five days a week or tackles the immense challenge of raising a family, one thing you can do to help female role models become recognizable is to let them know that they’re recognized (and that includes you, Mom).
So many of the women in our lives should be looked up to and admired. In honoring them, we too, become role models.
Gabrielle Nomura be reached at 425-453-4602.
