Welcome to Knight Talks, the University of Florida of Journalism and Communications produced by students for student I am Maria Fernandez and I'm a s studying telecom and sociology.

Our guest today is Julie Donalds anchor with NBC Sports, including for NBC Olympic Broadc And now she's a senior vice president of media and content with the Washington Commanders.

Welcome, Julie.

Thank you.

Glad to be here.

How do you feel like experiences that you had on campus at the time contributed to your career today The biggest thing I would say ab my time at college, because a lo is you really just kind of need some hands on experience, which the university offers you, even you know, things along these lin because that's what's going to really matter when you go out trying to get that first job.

But I'd say probably like, you know, my time here is it just kind of teaches you how to go about your day, how to be an adult, how to be a professional, how to make sure you're on time, how to, you know, hold your own self accountable f And I think that was one of the and biggest lessons.

My time at UF was a lot of fun a and it's great that they give yo the opportunities to actually li what your dreams are, which sets that foundation for what ultimat So you definitely think that your time here prepared you Oh, 100%.

Oh, yeah.

And it still resonates to this d the relationships that you build that's one of the biggest things And any time you'll see your fellow Gator around as well they're always willing to kind o look out for you and see in any that they can kind of assist you So it sets the foundation for th skills of what you're going to be able to use when you do start going, looking that job and starting your caree And those always just stick with You were Miss Florida U.S. in 2000, and then you competed for Miss U.S. in 2001.

Did those experiences overlap wi what eventually is your career i journalism and on camera?

Well, I competed in Miss University of here and was like first runner u What it does is it teaches you how to present It teaches you how to work a roo and network and make connections And that really kind of helped p when it did come to me trying to something from the people that I that were from all over the coun and in different areas.

I could then reach out and say, do you remember me from my time at Miss USA?

I'm looking for a job.

And if anything I'll say would take the phone ca But it really kind of taught you a little bit about how to be on and you know, how that camera's going to like, interact with you and what you're trying to say.

So I wouldn't say it necessarily did anything with my sports jour career, but they are lessons tha I definitely learned and use to I know that also, in 2003, you hosted the Miami Heat TV.

How did you get your foot in the for that opportunity?

Out of college, I went straight down to Miami because that's where I had conne from my competing in Miss Florid I was able to get an internship after having graduated.

But it was somebody who helped put on the Miss Florida USA page They said, you can come on in and you can learn.

So I was interning at the local station down there in the entertainment department, and through that I would go out a lot of them, like some of the you'd have to do down in Miami, might be a little bit late in th at midnight or so when they're c or going to a premiere or whatev And I was willing to stand out t while the reporter, I do not min and respect this, they're at hom And I'm like, Sure, I'll go out and do do the interv So I kind of learned a little bi on experience with that and how to write a package, whic at the time might take me 5, 6 h And I'd ask them, like, how long did it take you?

And they're like, Oh, it takes us like 30 minutes.

So it's like, Oh my goodness, I got a lot of catching up to do But it was great because the pac I would actually write, I would see go on air in Miami, which is not necessarily a small So it was really kind of this fo of live experience, but I wasn't getting paid for it So since I wasn't getting paid f I had to find other ways to supp what I needed for my rent and for my cell phone.

And I just did odds and ends job anything that I could to get into the business.

I was producing for the Discovery Health Channel I would be hosting programs that would air on health program I got this job through a modelin which I hated, but one day of work paid my bill this Mega Suki Sports wrap.

And it was with the local sports guys down there.

Joe Rose and Kimbo Camper, which were doing sports anchors down at the local statio And it was the intros and outros and it paid me 50 bucks.

And the next I go, You need to give me a rais So they gave me 100 and then I s I want to do more and do segment So they allowed me to go out and produce segments where I'd learn how to play thir with Mike Lowell or learn how to be the enforcer on the ho You know, these stories all over from Kitesurfing to, you know, p Frisbee golf, whatever story I could come up w they allowed me to go out and ex and it became a job that paid me I think, like $40,000 a year, which out of college was more th to pay for my bills.

Through that, I also then got an for the Miami Heat job, and at the time I honestly didn't even really wa I was up for another job at the CBS station to be a repor But the woman that did get that had six months of live experienc that I did not have.

So she got the job.

I got the Miami Heat job and ended up being one of the mo rewarding jobs I've ever had.

I think it's just a lesson sometimes something you may not because you had different aspira if you go in with the right atti can be incredibly rewarding and help you advance even further than maybe somethin I came across so many amazing people in that j I was there for two and a half s got an agent, and through really it propelled me to New York City So yeah, I skipped a few markets along th and it was all from a job that I didn't necessarily initia Could you tell me what are some of the best storie that you've gotten to cover in your career, like your favorite answers, your favorite experiences?

When I joined the Miami Heat, they then went in, drafted Dwyan then they got Shaquille O'Neal, and I left before LeBron returned in the power one But I still was close enough to to be all of connection there.

So I'm in New York City and I'm covering the Knicks.

We're at Madison Square Garden, and then Miami Heat come into to Because of my connection with th I get an interview with Shaq.

Now, mind you, I'm at a I'm at a start up network, Sportsnet New They hadn't even launched yet.

So I did this interview and it w in the bowels of Madison Square It's kind of dark and Shaquille doing is pregame warm up kind of I don't know that this is what h all the time by any means, but he's on this kind of like this jolly rig thing.

I don't know what the proper terminology is, but it would put a whole bunch of st and you could move everything around the arena.

And he's doing sit ups on it and I'm doing the interview with he's doing sit ups on this rig t it was typical Shaq for you, but it also goes to show that through networking and through the relationships that I had built, I was able to have that access that no other reporter was able You know, I should go back and try and find where that was, because that was that one kind of stands out.

But it's in those moments of som that's unexpected.

I'm thinking, I'm just going to do an interview wi and this is what it became.

So you have to kind of adjust and be able to have fun with it and move on the fly with whatever that opportunity i And that's where, to me, some of the greatest moments of kind of come out.

This kind of stands out to me as I often use.

It was 2008, so the Celtics were on their way to winning the cham Now, I was in their locker room when they won the championship.

It was great.

Kevin Garnett is grabbing my microphon you know, champagne is flying ev It's another amazing moment in m But leading towards that, I was I was the reporter, so I was the third from, you know, the nu and two on the NBC station there Anchor would be anchoring.

The number two would go out to do the big story, and then I'd take whatever was l So they go to the Celtics and I had a little bit of attitu because I got sent to the Patrio Not much was going on in the NFL at that point.

So I go out and with a little bit of an atti that I should be on the Celtics You know, I've been there daily and they come and take the big d And the way it kind of went at the time is the cameras would do the interviews and the beat reporter writers would go after for the interview and Tom Brady's talking.

And I'm the only camera there because everybody's at the Celti So I basically get a one on one with Tom Brady.

And I'm thinking, you little bra right?

Here you are, you know, and wherever that went but it just kind of was a lesson, again, of, you know, you go into any story and you want to maximize it.

I didn't know I was going to get Tom Brady tha and I probably would have prepar totally different had I thought Maybe I might have been nervous because I was still young in my but that's what makes this business, I thin entertaining and engaging and just rewarding at the end of the day.

When you went to work for a Sportsnews in New York and then at the network's incept as a reporter there, what types of stories and produc were you involved in?

In New York City?

Yeah.

You do everything.

New York City has the Yankees, the Mets, the Jets, the Giants, the Rangers, the Islanders, the just for the professional teams.

And then you have all the colleg in on top of that and all the special events that will happen.

So you're constantly on the go and your assignment shifts constantly and you can think you going out to cover a Giants prac And then news might change and break with the Knicks and you have to shift your day.

So I think as a reporter when you're always on the road, you know, it's how can you prepa yourself for whatever that day c And in New York City, it's always going to be something dif So you kind of have to be able to be well-versed in everything that's going on in the city.

You find your ways to kind of wo your positioning to assert yourself into it and to make sure that, you know, you do the job that you were sen And then later in 2008, you become a sports reporter for WHDH-TV, NBC-affiliation in What was the thing that you enjo and maybe things you didn't enjoy about the position?

And then I'm assuming that cover the Red Sox was a huge perk of that position in Boston.

Yeah, when I went to Boston, eve like, if I'm covering a Red Sox could you believe the media atte here?

I'm like, I just came from Like there's a team called the Yankees up there.

You know, they've got A-Rod, Derek Jeter, they were legit.

But, you know, you go the Red So you got Big Papi.

And so it equally was an amazing to cover.

Spring training, every year I went and I went for New York a The Mets and the Yankees down to spring training.

But Boston is a sports town.

You know, in New York City, there's always something else go And while they love their teams, there's always another distracti In Boston, sports will lead the almost any given night because just they love their tea And there is definitely great opportunities for me to take ano because I always wanted the anch And while reporting in New York first time for me, I was not going to get the ancho in New York City.

So in Boston, at least I had the opportunity by being a numbe on weekends.

And if somebody was out, I could fill in on the anchor de and get those experiences ands those reps as well.

And then after your job in New Y in 2010, you began working for NBC Sports, which is a big position, I assum Well, what I did with NBC Sports it was in Washington, D.C., but it was the anchor desk.

So I was anchoring the six, ten So you got your break?

You finally got the job you always wanted.

Yeah, I did.

And I love the anchor desk.

I loved everything about the stu about the lives, about going liv I just it's something that I really, really enjoyed.

It was a place where I just got to build a good life, you know, I really enjoyed those that I worked with as well.

And through that I got to do Oly I would go up and I did the anchor desk for Ol So it's a little bit of a cop ou I wasn't like in Rio or in Pyeon or in Sochi or in London, but I was able to do all the upd for all of the the events that w The challenge with that is, for one thing, you're working 21 straight days, 12 hour shifts if not longer, and you're going in for a lot of I would go in at midnight to be able to get my hits going up and running at because there's different time c But I had to do the results of every single event, which has a lot of different nam you have to say.

And within a five minute hit, I might say like 20 different na of those from the Netherlands, f just all over and having to enunciate them properly was always a big challe Award winning productions, and t been a part of that was really c So it's just it was also great it got me back to New York City once in a while doing the updates for NBC Sports.

But it yeah, it did it it got me the anchor desk, which I enjoyed Has it been hard in the sports w that has predominantly been male dominated for so long?

Do you ever feel like with your with your pageant background that you were hired for looks be talent or that you were overseen Well, that's where you work hard and you prove them wrong.

And then if you do mess up or you don't know something, you learn it and you work hard to figure it o Like I was telling you, hockey was not my thing necessar I'm live on air and I've got thi ten hockey highlight and I get l 20 seconds in which makes for a uncomfortable finish to the high that I didn't know where to pick I didn't know the players.

The names are crazy.

I didn't understand it.

And it was mortifying.

And my boss was like, come in, we need to stay after and we're going to go over hocke highlights.

So you know how to p And you have to study it.

And if there's something that yo know, don't be afraid to go to w And there's plenty of times I'll even still to this day go to my analysts and be like, o why was that not a call?

Like, educate me because I couldn't se and even watching it back, I'm not understanding.

And more than likely they'll help you in all respects But certainly I think a mistake and maybe not as bad so much now but a mistake by a woman compared to a man, if it's the same mistake, it's going to resonate differently for a female in this business.

But I think we're seeing a lot m expected in these roles.

So I think there's a little bit more grace.

But most certainly like, you know, it is a visual world, but people also want to be able to hear what you have to say.

So it has to be backed up 100% has to be backed up.

You mentioned now that you're wo with the Washington Commanders, how did you come to work with th team?

Like, it's such a big position.

Did you come in with the positio that you currently have or did you work your way up?

Oh, So I spent quite a few years when I went to DC in the anchor and throughout that I challenged and I asked my bosses to give me that I hadn't necessarily had experience on so I could grow and learn and wo with analysts where it's not scr it's on the prompter.

You just have to know what you're talking about and where you want to take them and what you're trying to get wi in, you know, a live television So I challenged myself to get th I got the Training Camp Daily Sh Then I would pick up the, it was at that time, you know, like the Redskins Daily Show, the weekly show.

So when it came an opportunity f to say we need somebody to step into a position to take over of what, you know, another gentleman had held for over 20 years, because there's only 32 of these jobs in the NFL.

They're typically well, I was the first and still the on to have a full time position in the radio booth.

They don't come open very often.

So when the opportunity came and said, well, who knows t better than anybody in this mark and that we trust and we respect and we know would be a good pers to fit in to this organization t a culture change, that needs good leadership.

And my reputation from that, they said, let's call Julie.

But they knew that they needed s that could not just lead within the department but within the franchise as a wh So they gave me the opportunity and be a senior vice president and to have a say not within the department, but within the franchise on what and where we can go and kind of steward them into a better place where employees felt supported and respected, male and female alike, because it was a franchise that through a lot of turmoil and tra And they needed to definitely make some changes.

And I was the first representation of that So I'd always paid attention to throughout my stops in Miami, New York City and Bost to what made a good boss.

What did I like from them?

How did they get the best out of How did they interact with, you know, my fellow coworkers as well, and lead a room and really get a great product o So I think throughout that, I kind of developed a lot of lea skills that I get to apply now a as I grow that aspect of my care What are the specifics of your j as vice president of media and c So I kind of oversee all of our broadcasts, so be tha What we do and we stream digitally on our social media pl the radio broadcast which we also stream as well.

And we're looking to kind of bre those into two separate entities as kind of we're trying to figur now how we make that happen.

I brought in I hired all of the that I work with and work with m the team that works with me I hired my staff.

You know, and I also kind of lik our team president and some of the other peers that at the senior level leadership on, you know, decisions that imp the direction we're going as a f how things are going to land in the marketplace, anticipate needs and anticipate of where we can improve.

So it's kind of an all encompass but it's it's incredibly rewarding as well.

Sounds like a lot.

I'm really glad youre not a one How much studying did you have to do coming into this on the teams history?

Was it something that you had to like r or was it something that by being in the j like the job that you've got the knowledge?

Yeah, I still, you know, at times can definitel you know, there's always more to I'll just say that there was always more to learn.

And I think the biggest thing to you know, I'm not going to be an but I know how to get that out o I know what experts I can go to to learn more.

But I've been around the team en to know our legends, to learn ou to be around the players, which kind of resonates.

And, you know, I have institutional knowledge that a lot of others come in may if they're coming from out of to because I have been in the marke for a while to understand kind of what resonates with the why the team is so special.

And as we were celebrating our 90th season, like we brought one of the main reasons we have three Super Bowls which were the Hogs, which is the offensive line, you and I got to get to talk to all our legends.

And there are certain things that I may know about them, but then I also have a great pro that can feed me things if I'm live on air, which you of and you may not necessarily know And I like to try and make as be I can my questions, be as specif as I can at times, because then you get a better answer if you'r you know, whomever you're talking to you s What do you remember most about that Super Bowl?

Ok, you're going to get a fine a But if you can say what was it that allowed you to score the mo ever in a Super Bowl history in two quarters when you were.

you know, something that gets a little bit And you have to rely on others f That's why we have researchers and why you have great producers And, you know, sometimes they'll give it to me at times they will give it to me text messages.

Your live on air, and especially when I'm doing the interviews, you don't necessarily always know who's coming up next So I may have an idea of who's c up, a list of questions, the stats of what stood out for Memorable moments throughout the But then that may totally shift.

And so that's the joys of life.

You're shifting and adjusting on But a lot of it comes to what yo you're studying, your prep work.

And then others, you know, suppo You don't do this alone.

You became the first full time o female member of an NFL broadcas What does that mean to you?

It means it is now an option for women to have that they didn't think they had befor I mean, I wasn't even at the tim going to take the job.

I'm like, I can't do that.

Like nobody's d You're asking me something that's absolutely insane.

It's crazy.

You're desperate.

I'm not doing this.

And they said, No, you can do it Let's form it into what works fo Let's put it into what plays to your strengths and what you e And then you hire the team that's around you and when I kin step back in that aspect and sai do I know the team?

Yes.

Do I know the game?

Yes.

Can I tell stories?

100%?

Well, that's all it is within th It's just at a bigger, higher profile role for one team per se When I get messages from countle being like, Oh my gosh, I was always listening to the ra It's always men.

I'm like, Wait, that's a female throughout the whole game, not j in a sideline position for 30 se coming in and out of break or during a timeout.

My voice is one of the dominant throughout the entire broadcast from beginning to end.

And they're like, That's pretty because they love the game.

They're like, This is just anoth that's open that I didn't think was before.

You have to have, first off, bel in your capabilities and what yo at, and you have to hold true to and constantly working to get be But there's going to be times where you may doubt yourself or like you're not going to be good or you're not qualified enough.

And that's when you need to have people say You can do this and here's how you're going to d You can excel at this and we're going to help you.

We're going to, you know, make sure you have the right res make sure you get the right trai But don't let an opportunity that you didn't think you could or you weren't expecting hold yo from a position where there's on one of 32, there's only going to other of you doing this job.

And even then for me, nobody else doing the job that I I'm holding a one job position only that exists and I certainly hope that that c you know, going forward.

But again, these positions, people take them, they hold for You know, we were talking about how like you can have like maybe like an end goal but the path is like, unprecedented.

We even see it with streaming services versus traditional cable in the As someone who's been in the ind for so long and in the sports wo how do you see sports broadcasti evolving in the future?

I mean, streaming is huge and we're trying to figure it ou because I worked at a regional s network for a while and it just So now I'm trying to figure out my position where does my programing now liv Because it used to live on this platform.

The New platform, it's adjusting shifting and changing and it won't be monetized the sa So because folks are not necessa having a cable box and even if they do, they might the bundle that has the network.

So regional sports networks, a lot of them are just losing mo so they're trying to get out of the business.

But that's where a lot of your s programing may live.

Even on linear, a lot of them have a hard time, being able to get the correct sp for it to make it profitable.

So it's where is that?

And that's because people aren't consuming necessarily linear.

It's where is the next generatio going to get their news, their information, and how are they consuming it?

Are they watching a whole half h Probably not.

They might go in and watch maybe you know.

A clip.

Yeah, a clip, get the hi and they're getting out.

They don't necessarily watch all the analysis around it or maybe they do and they're wat You know, we can watch the metri will tell you in the streaming, a 20 minute show, they may bale you know, 6 minutes, maybe after And that's actually a high numbe If they stay for like 6 minutes a lot.

That means you had some pretty compelling content in those 6 mi So I think we're trying to figur how is the next generation, your generation, consuming media and information and shows and pr What platform is that on?

And a lot of it is, you know, folks want it for Well, that's not sustainable.

You know, I can't support a depa if I'm not being able to get the right sponsorship wit So we're finding ways to integra get the right support from it.

Be it if it's on TikTok or Insta or Twitter or a streaming servic Any different outlet.

We're still just kind of trying back and wait and see where that Or maybe it's an outlet that, you know, or a means that we don't even really know kind of exists yet.

So I think we're still trying to figure that out.

In the process, it's a matter of okay, where are those numbers co from now and how can we create c specifically for that one platfo Because every platform is, you k it comes across different.

You know, people like to sit the originally, like, let's take one and put it on across all the pla Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

They just don't resonate the sam You're not going to get the same engage So we have to take the content, slice it up, dice it up, reshape it, remold, edit, whatever way w to try and maximize it.

Yeah, short form is definitely taking Lastly, what advice would you sh with women and everyone who's aspiring to be in the spor media industry?

A lot of it is resiliency.

You're not going to get, you kno you apply for.

It's not always going to be a ye Every time you go to get an inte it's not going to be a yes.

I have had more no's than ever y I've had more, you know, plenty of failures and I'm constantly learning and grow even at this level.

And I pray that that never chang And it shouldn't, if you want to stay in this busi But I think you have to have a certain amount of resiliency because it's not necessarily even at times who's the most tal but it's like who can stay with And if that's your passion and it's your what you believe is kind of like your calling and and your life, like you have to take control and ownership of So if somebody else is telling, you know, like, okay, let's go to the next until we do get that yes.

And we get the yes, maybe it's not necessarily in th or the city or the job or the role that you necessarily Maybe you don't get to start out as a but you're logging tape or you're running camera or you're doing the cables or yo doing lighting, but you're in th And once you're in the room and once you're through the door you can turn that into anything You have the opportunity to meet whomever it is that has the job that you want and ask questions.

So you're constantly saying, Hey you know, how can I get better?

How can I get to this position?

And you never know when that opportunity may come.

You never know what that can lea But I think the right attitude goes a long way.

And when you do get knocked down when you do get a no saying, all let's just, you know, on to the somewhere, there's going to be a And all I need is one yes to be able to get going.

And that one yes will just kind of keep leadi to what ultimately, hopefully, is an incredibly rewarding caree and into a job where you're doin what you love on a daily basis.

Part of it, too, is you have to comfortable being uncomfortable.

You have to step outside what you know, to learn somethin to grow, to get to that next ste Yeah.

Well, thank you so much, Julie, your insight, your knowledge, yo We appreciate it a lot.

And thank you so much, the viewers, for joining us.

Until next time, goodnight.