From Competition To Collaboration

Judy Maggio

Judy Maggio

Leslie Rhode

Leslie Rhode

For about half of my television news career Judy Maggio was my competition.  We sat on anchor desks in Austin, Texas during the same time slots in the evening on two sides of town.  We would see each other out when covering stories or speaking at events, say polite hellos and promise to “do lunch sometime.”  Then we would go back to our newsrooms and hope to beat each other again that night at 5 pm, 6 pm and 10 pm.  That lunch never happened… until we left those anchor desks.

Judy and I ran into each other at a networking event and once again talked about that lunch, but this time we put it on our calendars.  Long story short – we had a two hour lunch followed by another two hour lunch followed by coffee and more coffee and phone calls galore.  We both have our hands in several projects, but our new found friendship has led us to discover how much more fun collaboration is than competition.  We now use a team approach in media training and are excited to share some of our experience and ideas at the Texas Conference for Women in Austin on October 15.  Our session is designed for entrepreneurs, big business or non-profit leaders — anyone trying to get the media’s attention in a world in which journalists are often overworked and overwhelmed.    

TX conf women logoI still am a freelance journalist (because of my love for storytelling), but I also love teaching others how to tell their stories and get people to listen. Judy and I hope you will consider joining our session at the Texas Conference for Women  from 3 pm to 4 pm and also hear stories of inspiration from keynote speakers like Patricia Arquette and Robin Roberts. You may even run into women to collaborate with, and who knows where it could lead you.

Leave a Reply