Meet Vicky Collins

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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vicky Collins . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Vicky , appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I grew up in Hawaii. In paradise. The biggest risk I took was leaving my family and friends behind and moving to the mainland which opened the door to so many things. I remember when I was growing up in Honolulu I met people who had never left the island. That was not for me. When I was about 16 I got restless and bored and could not wait to broaden my horizons. Although I had an idyllic childhood, surrounded by beautiful seas and green mountains, I longed for more and as soon as I could I headed to college in Colorado and never looked back. I have now been in all 50 states and on six continents. I have had experiences I never dreamed of as a child in Hawaii. I have worked in network news and have been an entrepreneur running my own business. I have met people from all over the world and have instilled the love of travel in my children. Although Hawaii still calls me (there’s no place like Hawaii) I knew I had to get off the island and explore the world. The move made me fearless and now when I mentor I tell young journalists they need to be bold too.

Vicky, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a television producer and journalist. I am also an entrepreneur. My background is in news and program production and and long form storytelling. Over the lasts few years I have been involved in community journalism and mentorship too. As soon as I graduated from college, I left Colorado and moved to San Francisco where I began my own journey in television. I knocked on doors until they opened. If I failed I kept trying. When I first moved to San Francisco I didn’t know anyone. I made a point of meeting everyone I could and pretty soon they were all rallying for me so when an opportunity opened, I was top of mind. I beat out 250 others for a production assistant job at KRON TV. Many had Masters Degrees from the University of California at Berkeley but I worked the room better than anyone else. What sets me apart is that I never give up. I have seen so many people who are more talented than I am just quit when the going gets rough. To this day I tell young people to be relentless. If you want something bad enough you can get it. You just need to make sure you don’t quit.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I wish I had the confidence earlier in my career that I have now. As a young producer I was so worried what other people thought about me. It caused me tremendous anxiety. Television is a very competitive field but it doesn’t have to be. If we were all more collaborative and supportive of one another it would go so much further towards raising all boats. Now when I mentor young journalists I ask what they want to do. I support them so they can succeed rather than fitting a round peg into a square hole. I don’t minimize someone because they have challenges. I try to adapt so I can help them grow. When I started part of my written job description was making coffee for the team. I was kept in my lane. That’s nonsense. Everyone should be able to achieve what they want and be encouraged in their pursuit.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When Covid happened everyone needed to be more flexible. My network news work came to a halt for a time so I put more energy into my entrepreneurial venture. Since 2019 I have published an online community journalism site called Bucket List Community Cafe. It’s hyperlocal to Denver. I had spent so much time in national news that I never gave a hoot about what was going on in my community. Then I realized that everything happening on my street was also happening in the nation and the world. Today we are growing. We have 15 young multimedia journalists from two universities who work with us and we are looking to partner and scale to bring Bucket List Community Cafe to other cities that would benefit from positive, solution oriented journalism. We build community by sharing our stories. I am firing on all cylinders now as the publisher and I am not held back by anyone who lacks vision. All the things I’ve learned through the years are being put to use. I make sure not to hold my team back by the kind of thinking that kept me in my place. I strongly urge those who are unhappy or unfulfilled in their work to look for something better. Life is too short to let others not recognize your value.

Contact Info:

Website: https://teletrends.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicky_collins_ewalt/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickycollins1
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickycollins/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vickycollins
Youtube: https://vimeo.com/vickycollins
Other: https://bucketlistcommunitycafe.com https://www.facebook.com/bucketlistcommunitycafe https://www.instagram.com/bucketlistcommunitycafe/?hl=en

Image Credits
I have rights to all the photos

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Meet Vicky Collins

Meet Vicky Collins

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Vicky , appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Vicky, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

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