Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alison Bender. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Alison , thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I always say learning your craft is the most important thing you can do. the 10 thousand hours to become expert is no myth. When I was in my 20s I started totting up my hours, and sure enough, when I hit 10k hours, I did feel like I finally knew my trade. I always say your journey and learning your craft helps you develop your unique selling point (USP), but you must enjoy this journey or else there is just no point, because this job is hard, with long hours, a lot of waiting, and doesn’t pay much until you really reach the top.
Alison , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a football (soccer ) TV presenter and reporter and have been working in the industry for over 20 years. I set up Real Madrid TV in Spain and then moved to England to work for my own team channel, Chelsea TV. Over the years I’ve worked in all the major sports networks, ESPN in the USA, ITV and the BBC in London as well as Sky Sports. I read the news and appear on panel debate shows, but I am also a pitchside reporter, interviewing players and managers at Premier League matches. I travel to World Cups and major football tournaments. More recently I have become a trainer and mentor, and help students learn all the tricks of the trade to help them decide if this is the industry for them. I have my own academy, the Alison Bender Football Academy.
Since having children and growing older I am trying to stay relevant in an ever changing digital world, so I have become a content creator, working with brands on TikTok where I have over 300k followers. I make regular viral content, and now teach people how to use and monetise TikTok. My inspiration has always been to stay in this industry I love so much and share my passion and enthusiasm for it.
I pride myself on telling the truth about what this industry is really about and who would be suited to it.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
TV has changed so much while I’ve been in it, so I have had to unlearn so many lessons. When I first learned journalism, it was all about setting the scene, and speaking and behaving in a certain fashion. Now TV presenting is all about authenticity. The things I do in front of the camera now would have sent my 20 year old self into meltdown! Presenting while putting on makeup; editing clips without any breath so that one soundbite runs into the other; and speaking at 100 miles an hour are examples. We live in an ever changin digital world and so we need to adapt to our surroundings.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
The one thing I wish I had known is that no one is going to take a chance on you, you need to show companies why they want YOU! I wish I had the resources that are available to people starting out now, like TikTok, youTube and LinkedIn and so I encourage people to use them wisely. Create a professional digital footprint. In my day you had to create a showreel on VHS tape and deliver it to a company boss and hope they would watch it!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alisonbender.com
- Instagram: @alibendertv
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-bender-0b560ab9/
- Twitter: @alibendertv