Believe in Your Dream and Make it Happen!

“Don’t back down.” That’s what I told myself for years. “You will be a television journalist in the Twin Cities. You were meant to do this.” I’ve always believed that was true. From the time I was a child watching Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw anchoring the evening news, I was an instant news junkie always wanting to know the latest happenings in the world.

As a kid, I relied on Paul Magers and Diana Piece at KARE-TV to tell me what’s going on in the Twin Cities. As I got older, I came to understand that they were more than just people sitting in chairs reading off a screen. They were journalists. They were working for their community. I wanted to be that person learning from and communicating with my community. Early on, I knew that I wanted to be a television reporter and that drive only grew from there

In high school and college, I’d sit in class daydreaming, thinking about the day I’d become a real-life reporter. All I could think about was how much I wanted to be done with school and do my career. I wanted to work in the Twin Cities before age 30. And I did it because I believed in my dream and I made it happen.

Through all of those years leading up to my job in Minneapolis, I had to be brave because the ride to your dream job may come with bumps. Some people told me I wasn’t good enough or that it would take me much longer to work in such a big television market as if I had so much to overcome. I moved to cities I have never been to, places I knew nothing about and knew no one. There were many lonely days. Those days where I’d sit in my apartment asking myself too many questions. Will I ever get to the Twin Cities? Will I ever become that great journalist I aspire to be? Am I in the right career? Should I just quit?

Those days would come after I’d make mistakes at work or if people doubted my work. But I had to be brave through those difficult days. I had to push through those negative thoughts and believe in myself and my abilities. I could’ve quit. No one was forcing me to live far away from family and friends. No one was forcing me to be a journalist. But every day that I was lonely or questioning my skills, I’d rise up and say “I didn’t work this hard to quit now.” That attitude shift takes bravery. It is so easy to get bogged down in the negative. It can be toxic. But think back to when you realized your dream and the passion you built for it. That’s a pretty incredible moment, right? You found a passion that you can carry with you for the rest of your life. Don’t let that feeling escape you.

Realize your dream. Embrace your potential. Go all in and don’t look back. Fear crept into me at times. But I didn’t let it win.