Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
The Building Business podcast provides compelling stories of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce's journey, its steadfast commitment to the local community, and its forward-thinking approach to addressing the needs of businesses in an ever-changing landscape. It stands as an invitation to listeners to become part of a movement that values growth, connection, and the collective progress of the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina community.
Be prepared to be inspired, informed, and motivated, as we provide a rich tapestry of stories that celebrate the dynamic interplay of business and personal growth right here, in our own backyard.
Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Carolyn Murray: A Life in Broadcasting, Charleston’s Heartbeat, and Inspiring Community Connections
Ever wondered how a brave move can catapult you into a lifelong dream career? Carolyn Murray from WCBD TV 2 in Charleston shares her inspiring journey from a snowy birth in New York to becoming a celebrated news anchor in Charleston. Carolyn recounts her bold approach to WPAL radio’s general manager, landing her first broadcasting job before even graduating from the University of South Carolina. With deep ties to Charleston and a passionate commitment to journalism, Carolyn's story is a testament to determination and community connection.
Join us as we explore Carolyn's serendipitous transition from radio to television, starting her TV career in 1989. Hear about her experiences working in various markets and the heartfelt bonds she formed with her colleagues. Carolyn's reflections on her return to Charleston and an unforgettable surprise party thrown for her 20th anniversary emphasize the importance of a supportive team culture. Engaging stories about unexpected celebrity encounters and community involvement highlight the charm and significance of local engagement, particularly in areas without major professional sports.
This episode also delves into the personal joys and challenges of balancing professional responsibilities with personal well-being. We touch on topics close to the heart, such as animal rescues and the evolution of storytelling in the media. Listen to empowering tales of resilience and adaptability, particularly from women overcoming physical challenges while maintaining influential careers. Carolyn's memorable celebrity interviews and her grounded perspective on the humanity of high-profile figures add a unique layer to the conversation. Celebrate with us as we honor family milestones and the essence of meaningful community discussions, truly capturing the unique paths that lead people to settle in Mount Pleasant.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Radio Group
Production Sponsor: rūmbo advertising
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC President
Michael Cochran | Co-host | Foundation Chair
John Carroll | Co-host | Member at Large
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Scott Labarowski | Co-host | Membership Chair
Jennifer Maxwell | Co-host | Immediate Past President
Darius Kelly | Creative Director | DK Design
Welcome to the Building Business Podcast powered by the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. Special thanks to the Charleston Radio Group for sponsoring the show. My name is Mike Compton. I'm currently your Chamber Marketing Chair and co-owner of Roomba Advertising GoRoombacom. We've got a great episode ahead of us, but first I'm'm here with my co-host, Amanda Bunting-Komen Say hello, amanda.
Speaker 2:Hi everybody, I am Amanda Bunting-Komen, like Mike said, and I have a marketing company called Social ABCs and I help businesses with their marketing.
Speaker 1:She does a fantastic job. Does our marketing for the chamber.
Speaker 2:I'm on the marketing committee for the chamber as well and really enjoy helping plan this podcast oh, it's a lot of fun, isn't it?
Speaker 1:we have a good time. We have a good time. Uh, folks, we have a celebrity in the studio today. I'm not kidding, I'm a bit starstruck myself. We've got the one and only carolyn murray from count on news to wcbd tv in charleston. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, wow, what an introduction.
Speaker 1:Um hardly the celebrity when you said that I turned around I wanted to see who came in behind me, but but I appreciate that no way everybody lit up when you walked in the room today I don't know about that heck yeah, I mean, I know my wife and I are fans. I try to do actually too many push-ups today to try to try to get on the health side.
Speaker 3:You are inspiring well, I appreciate that. Uh-huh, thank you so much. Why don't?
Speaker 2:you start by giving us a little bit of background about yourself, for those people who aren't familiar with Carolyn Murray.
Speaker 3:All right. Well, thank you so much, amanda, and I appreciate your good work, known you for years and you've done a really good job of keeping us connected in so many ways in the community. So it's good to sit next to you and right next to you, mike, and across from you, to sit next to you and right next to you, mike, and across from you, matt. So again, thank you for having me here. I am Carolyn Murray. I like to say that, though I was not born in the low country saltwater runs through my veins I was born in New York City. Actually, my parents are natives of Charleston, but they moved to New York in 1966 and, wouldn't you know it, there was a blizzard that year. So I ended up being bored at home. My dad delivered me how far back in my story did you?
Speaker 3:guys my dad delivered me because there was a blizzard. My parents didn't have a car. That's a dad right there I had dad goals, but they sent my brother outside to look for the ambulance, but he fell asleep actually fell asleep on the during a blizzard, during a blizzard, with blankets around him or whatever, he nodded off for a second typical older brother exactly eight years older they.
Speaker 3:The ambulance never made it to my parents brownstone, so my dad had to deliver me. So somehow we made it back to charleston. Like three years. We lived in new york, um, and we moved to downtown charleston around 69, 70, the corner of Cumming and Cannon Streets, and my parents owned a little small mom and pop store. So I say that to suggest and to clarify that I am such a Charleston girl.
Speaker 3:All of my formative education was through the public schools of Charleston. I went to Courtney for first grade, albemarle Rivers Middle School School and then to Burke High School. I went to the University of South Carolina, graduated in 1988. But I do want to get back to what happened the year before I graduated high college, if that's OK. Oh my gosh. So it was, and I say that because just being in this space right now it reminds me of it. I was a journalism student at the University of South Carolina and obviously, you know, wanted to work in front of microphones in some capacity. And I went to WPAL radio station on Waupu Road on a Saturday and introduced myself to the general manager, bill Saunders Hi, I'd like to work in radio someday. And he was a bit of a curmudgeon as some old.
Speaker 3:SAT word and he sent me into the studio adjacent to where he was and said I'm going to point to you. And when I point to you, I want you to read these public service announcements on air. And I'm like what? You know, I'm a kid and I'm like all of a sudden, you know, and this is before cell phones, so I couldn't even call my parents to say I'm going to be on the radio, or friends or anything. This thing is happening.
Speaker 3:Hopefully you have quarters in your pocket or something, nothing, not that I am flying blind so I go and I do that, and we actually do it for several hours and he would come in periodically and he would talk to me. And so I spent an afternoon there and he said okay, you have some talent, you're hired, you're going to work for me this summer. And I did. I did an internship. At the end of the internship he said I'm going to hold your job for a year. When you graduate, you'll come and work for me as my news and public affairs director. That's how my career started in broadcasting.
Speaker 2:Your first knock, my first knock. That doesn't happen. You didn't even graduate and you already had a job. I had a job and I loved it.
Speaker 3:I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I said it in my senior year at Burke High School that I wanted to do. I said it in my senior year at Burke High School that I wanted to actually be a news anchor. And so, some 36 years later, I'm still waiting for someone to prove me wrong. I somehow got that right. That's a lot, that was a lot.
Speaker 1:I'm still digesting. You're one of six. I'm one of six. Did your dad deliver? Anybody else?
Speaker 3:No, so you must be daddy's girl. No, he said. You know what I'm not going to mess this up. I got one done, one and done.
Speaker 1:Oh, amazing, I love that.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, that was a bit of a setup, but you know.
Speaker 1:What did your parents do?
Speaker 3:I'm sorry. So. My father owned several mom-and-pop style stores and worked with his brother. They had a meat market that was very, very popular for years Murray and Middleton's Meats, then it was just Murray's Meats and then it was Link's and Meats. But primarily he worked at Cummins Engines for probably 20, 30 years. He's now retired. He's also a minister. No kidding, he's a a minister. No kidding, he's a minister at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church.
Speaker 3:My mother worked in domestic work for many, many years, but when we were older she went back to school and got a nursing certificate and worked probably 25 years at MUSC before retiring. Oh my gosh, Wow.
Speaker 1:Entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, very, very busy, very, very connected to the community in many different ways, with six kids too, with six kids. So you know.
Speaker 1:My gosh, that's amazing. Amanda, do you have anything that you wanted to bring up?
Speaker 2:I know I put a lot out there. I want to know more. How are you? Can you tell us a little bit how you shifted from radio?
Speaker 1:yeah, to television? Probably not long not long.
Speaker 3:So I worked at wpal for about nine months, okay, and then I started working at wmgl, and I did that for a few months, but I knew ultimately what I wanted to do was work in TV. And so while working at WMGL, which was a station West Ashley, I started an internship at WCSC TV channel 5 on East Bay Street. So I would work at the radio station in the mornings and then in the evenings I did news and public affairs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:So I would go to the television station at night and I just did a lot of observation, but primarily I was an intern. The news director at WCSC, don Feldman, came to me and said you know, I've been watching you work and I know you've got a little bit of a hustle working really hard. I want you to make a tape for me. And I said, okay, fine. So I'm kind of nervous, like what does he want on this tape? I'm thinking he wants me to edit things together and he says, no, I actually want you on the tape, a resume tape. And I'm like, oh, okay, and so I got that job.
Speaker 3:Nice, yeah it was very interesting, so I started first tape first tape. There's a lot of firsts so always seem to be in the right place at the right time, and so the year was 1989, february 6th. It's the day that I started on air at WCSC TV as their sunrise anchor, and I did that for 12 years, loved it, love, love, love that Morning person.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:What I should clarify is I worked sunrise, the morning shift for about a year.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then?
Speaker 3:I moved to the afternoons.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:I've been working nighttime, afternoon, evening newscasts for 35 years, so do you prefer the afternoon evening, not the sunrise? Well, I'm naturally a morning person. I love waking up. You know 4, know 4, 30 in the morning.
Speaker 1:3 in the morning. Um what, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:No, that's sorry, that's how she does it all, mike well what time do you go to bed?
Speaker 3:generally 1 15 in the morning. That's almost always the time that I get in bed. 1 15 am. Well, I do.
Speaker 2:The 11 o'clock news Are there naps in between, sometimes Trying to figure this out.
Speaker 3:Normally I try to get in a nap between 11.30, 12.30. It's like a good hour nap for me.
Speaker 1:We're creeping in our nap time right now.
Speaker 3:But I still keep a bit of a hectic schedule. I did not today because I was coming here, but yesterday, the day before I'm up at 430. I'm on that Ravenel Bridge by 6 am. Okay, and I will get in 6 to 8. I walk, I may get a little bit of a sprint in there. Sure sure sure, but yeah so it's a lot.
Speaker 1:It's awesome in there, but um, but yeah, so it's a lot, it's, a lot, it is, but um, what a great bridge, though, what a great walk. Oh my gosh, I'm still new.
Speaker 3:It gives me energy, yeah yeah, exactly I think. Oh, the wind coming at you like that and the height and it's just pretty.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is really pretty, it is lucky to live near it I agree well, I'm still kind of honeymooning, you know, six, seven years into it still well, you think about covid that didn't count right. All you know, six, seven years into it, still Well, you think about COVID.
Speaker 3:That didn't count Right, all that you know. I'll have to get you up.
Speaker 1:We'll do it together one day, 6 am I'm there.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, maybe.
Speaker 3:There are two 6 o'clocks. Yeah, one in the morning and one in the evening. Uh-huh, 6 pm. Yeah, I had an amazing experience at Channel 5, just to clarify that, I worked there 89 to 2001. And my so long to them was actually, I think, september 9th of 2001.
Speaker 2:Right before, Right before and 11.
Speaker 3:But I was on to my next adventure, which was WBBM TV in Chicago, and I started there September 13th of 2001. So really an incredible time in our nation's history to be in a really big television market, the number three market, had an amazing experience. I worked at WBBM for two years and there was a big layoff. It was a CBS station, laid off about 30 of us at one time, but I fortunately had maintained really good relationships in Charleston and so I wanted to, just, like Dorothy, do nothing but come back home. And so I did, but this time at a different station, wc BD TV, and I started there September 29th of 2003. Okay, yes 2003.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I'm coming up on my 21st year at the end of this month did they throw you a 20th, like party they did a really big, big which took my breath away and I was completely surprised by it.
Speaker 3:Um on air and uh yeah, one of the greatest gifts ever given to me was seeing people who I love and people who I admire and have had an opportunity to work with, surprising me, with telling me that you know they appreciate all that.
Speaker 1:I try to do so it seems like a family on set. I mean, you guys seem close. I'm a pretty happy girl, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I really. You know our schedules are really hectic and sporadic and it requires a lot of us. You know when you work in front of a camera and when you work so closely with the community, because it means really big sacrifices in other areas of your life, sure you're?
Speaker 1:personal.
Speaker 3:You all know that, right out there yeah and um and so to work alongside particularly brendan and rob, who I work most closely with, and to just absolutely love these guys so much, it's a really special thing because it means that even when you were at work, you're still comfortable, you're still probably having fun, you have personal stories and our relationship is real.
Speaker 2:Is that one of the things that you would say is a positive influence on your longevity with Channel 2? I never thought about that, but that's a very good point, Amanda.
Speaker 3:It is. I mean because I will tell you that for those who know my tenure in television, they will ask are you ready to retire? I'm never insulted by that, first of all, but I'm like no, because I still enjoy it so much. And what an amazing place to work. I mean this community that makes you.
Speaker 3:you know, I could be all dolled up with hair and makeup and someone will hug me, like she and like you are now, like she is now listeners, like she is now and then I can be in you know whole foods or harris teeter and someone says, well, I didn't recognize you because you're in a ball cap and a cooper river bridge run t-shirt, but I heard your voice and I'm just as comfortable. Mean, we have such a special community. So when we start talking about you know, our neighborhoods and our streets are full, it's because this is a pretty sweet place to live and work 100% agreed and we're not.
Speaker 1:I don't feel like we're starstruck, right, I mean I feel like it's more of a community If you live here with your family and your neighbor. I ran into Dannyana mcbride at target and his little girl was, you know, carrying him away to go get a toilet or what have you, I don't know. And I double took and he's like what's up, man, I go hey man, what are you doing?
Speaker 3:gotta go yeah, that is a very special part of our communities because we don't have big professional sports and those kinds of things that we just appreciate, everyone who contributes, I think, to our well-being. Bill Murray.
Speaker 1:I mean, I haven't hung out with him yet. I'm sure you have.
Speaker 3:I've seen him so many times in Whole Foods and it's always very funny, he's always the same.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, everybody's got to go grocery shopping. We have to do that, foods and it's. It's always very funny and it's always the same. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, everybody's gotta go grocery shopping. Every we have to do that, everybody's gotta go. Well, we're talking about that economy today.
Speaker 1:But anyways, yeah, um, that's, yeah, I just like the. And then mount pleasant, specifically, I feel, has a special you know, love to it, right mean. And then the economy in Mount Pleasant. I feel like there's so many small businesses and popping up left and right.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. You know, amanda and I were chatting about this and I like to tell people that I see every part of this community every day. So I grew up West Ashley and so I'm West Ashley very often because my mother is still West Ashley and my husband's mother's there. So there's nothing for me to pop in and go and, you know, kiss them on the forehead or run an errand for them, and then I go to a gym. I teach bar. Oh, you teach bar. I teach bar one day a week.
Speaker 1:No, I don't, I don't, I'm lying.
Speaker 3:You heard the word bar and got excited.
Speaker 2:right yeah, so me too, and on a Friday, that other bar.
Speaker 3:So on Fridays I teach bar at Pivotal West Ashley. And then, of course, I live in North Charleston and we absolutely love it. We live right on the Ashley River. It's beautiful. It's a hidden gem. No one knows about it, I can't say anything more about it. And then I work in Mount Pleasant and then I spend most of my outside time in Mount Pleasant working out, because there is nothing that gives me greater joy than waking up when it's dark and early and going and sneaking onto that bridge and there are about 20 of us who kind of know each other and seeing the sun come up.
Speaker 1:Oh good, there is a run group. You are around people, I am around people. I was a little nervous about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I am around people. My favorite yoga studio 360, which is a locally owned small place.
Speaker 1:Shout out.
Speaker 3:Just love it I mean it's the best of all worlds to be able to visit our communities. You know, mount Pleasant does things really well and making small areas that may or may not go noticed still very nice and welcoming. That's when you make people feel special. The point I'm making is the entrance to Patriot's Point. They did a little beautification project there and it's also the entrance to when you're coming into Channel 2. And it's much more open. It's safer for those of us who are walking and cycling and those kinds of things Walking and cycling and those kinds of things. But just the attention to detail with the greenery in that area, it makes you feel welcome. So well done, mount Pleasant. You know some people may pass by that and never see it, but for those of us who are on foot or on wheels we appreciate that. It makes us feel special and it certainly makes our community look better.
Speaker 1:It's in the details for sure, and it's growing.
Speaker 2:There's more being built there more green space under the bridge Right they're doing more at the waterfront park.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh, believe me, I know I have the mud on my shoes to prove some of the changes that are going on there, but it's so lovely. I mean, everyone should. One thing, if I had to say if there's something that I would encourage more in our culture, it's that we are out of our cars just a little bit more. I could get people to step out of their cars and be in our beautiful outdoors for about 15 to 20 minutes a day and build on that. That would be my hope for us as a community, because our community is so welcome and just so agreeable in terms of the temperatures. I mean, even if it rains, it's probably not raining at two stores down, exactly right if it's normally, it's raining one place.
Speaker 2:It's not raining on the beaches right never you can always count on that exactly you can count on two. You see how she did that.
Speaker 1:I did it. She's quick, oh my goodness, speaking of count on two well, I have kind of a quirky question Do you have the first outfit that you wore back in 89?
Speaker 3:That is an excellent question.
Speaker 1:That is an excellent question Because I'm trying to span your tenure on camera, off camera.
Speaker 3:Well, I, actually have several outfits from at least 30 years ago, when I had a dress on the other day and my sweet Coenka airs it oh, I like it and I'm like honey. This fabric is older than you.
Speaker 2:I mean, I really do have outfits.
Speaker 3:I don't have that outfit, but that's so interesting that you asked that question you got the 80s.
Speaker 1:That was a great time right in a wardrobe.
Speaker 3:I'm sure I did wear.
Speaker 1:We'll get some photos of you. We'll have to dig something up.
Speaker 3:This dress that I wore my going away party from Channel 5. They gave me a huge I mean just such a lovely going away party and the dress that I wore and I've worn it a couple of times and every time I do, every time I wear it at Channel 2, I have the picture of it was Bill Sharp and Debbie Chard and Warren Pepper and me in the picture that I still have this same dress.
Speaker 1:That's good.
Speaker 3:But I did also wear my cheerleader skirt the other day to my 40th high school reunion.
Speaker 2:How about that?
Speaker 3:Shout out. That's great Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, listen, she's in great shape. You got to give her that.
Speaker 3:No, I don't know about that, but it's just I didn't say that I was breathing properly while wearing it, but I did say that I put it on for a minute.
Speaker 1:The point there, too, is you've seen a lot, you've been through a lot, you've told a lot of stories, in different ways too, from the 80s until now.
Speaker 3:I'm blessed. We say that so often now that it's really easy to not even understand what the word means, but for me it means. I had a very simple prayer in my life, and it was to be able to help people communicate, and I knew it very early in my life that it was what I wanted to do, in part because of the community of leaders I lived around. I lived in a real neighborhood where pretty much every house had an African-American teacher or educator, and I lived across the street from a woman named Sadie Oglesby. Ms Oglesby was born in 1900. And so her life had a lot of challenges, but her parents thought it important that she be educated.
Speaker 3:She attended Fisk University and then returned to Charleston years ago and taught at Avery School. She taught Latin and she taught English and, for whatever reason, this woman who was born in 1900 and this girl who was born in 1966 had an amazing friendship. So many afternoons I would go to her house and I would sit in her very dark paneled library and we would read to each other, and we did that for years. She passed away in the 1980s and so she never saw me work professionally, but as an homage to her, whenever and I have a podcast called let's Talk yeah shout out, let's Talk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out, let's Talk. Clearly, no one.
Speaker 3:Carolyn loves to talk, but, as when my signature out is, goodbye until the next time. And that was her signature out.
Speaker 1:Oh, come on.
Speaker 3:For her show, and. But the point is it's all I've ever wanted to do, because I realized that if you have an ability to speak with someone, everything changes. Everything about even if you can't travel to a foreign land, if you have the ability to have a conversation with someone who did, there's exposure, there's growth, and so it's. I don't know that I necessarily connected. You know, know, understood that when I was a child, but I certainly realized it early enough in my life that it would ultimately determine who I would become and the kind of work I would do.
Speaker 1:Dang, but you're more than just that, though, too. How many boards are you on?
Speaker 3:A lot, you're given your time To whom much is given. Much, much is required. Not that it becomes a burden, but I try to associate and be a part of boards where I see where our missions are aligned and I'm committed to them and so it doesn't feel like a burden. I mean, I really do. I enjoy them. I am surprised that I have not talked about Mike and Kirby yet our beloved animals rescues. Yes, I'm a huge animal lover.
Speaker 1:Mike and Kirby, yet Our beloved animals.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, rescues, yes, I'm a huge animal lover Mike and Kirby, mike and.
Speaker 1:Kirby, that's cute, yeah.
Speaker 3:So Mike is our pit mix. His birthday is October 2nd. He will be 14. And Kirby is our sweet little cat, very mischievous. If you want to see videos, I will show them, but you need to allot time for that.
Speaker 2:Do these cat and dog get along? You want to?
Speaker 3:see pictures. Oh, I'll show you pictures. They are so in love with each other. You know so, Rob Fowler. You know, Rob Fowler.
Speaker 1:He's a guy he works in weather. You've seen him before. He gives a lot of his time too, he he works in weather. You've seen him before. He used to have a mustache.
Speaker 3:He gives a lot of his time too. He used to have a mustache, so Rob Fowler will walk in the station every day and we get a picture of Ro and Reed.
Speaker 2:His grandchildren, his grandchildren and sweet Addie.
Speaker 3:And then I pull out the real good stuff Mike and Kirby. Let's see if I can find a quick video of them that's so cute.
Speaker 1:Well, you guys, um, as a team, give a lot of your time, because I mean fowler will even show up to my neighborhood golf cart parade. You know, like that is just amazing to me and I notice how many boards you're on. I see josh and hannah at just about every fundraising event that I go to, so it's just amazing how entrenched you guys are in the community. Big fan of Hannah, by the way. My wife is very aware of this. I watched back when she did the traffic.
Speaker 2:I was up my commute is down the hall for crying out loud.
Speaker 3:I was watching the traffic for my wife? Yes, exactly, she's wonderful, she is a joy to be around.
Speaker 1:Oh is she.
Speaker 3:Okay, good, good to know. But anyway, still talking about Mike and Kirby, yes, yeah, we really do, and I think that also again speaks to culture. So when people come into our station, you know we have a very, very young staff. Yeah, they see the way that we operate, they see the way we communicate, they see the way that we operate, they see the way we communicate, they see the way that we get along and they pretty much you know as delicately as I can say they step in line. This is how we operate, this is how the wheel continues to move along. Smoothly is if we all operate in this way, and I love it.
Speaker 1:You need good leadership. You need good leadership. You need a good culture this way and and I love it you need good leadership. You need good leadership. You need a good culture and, um, and and I'm sure the crew is just as lovely as you guys are I would imagine the guys you were. I'm a producer, so I love the production oh my goodness storyteller at heart as well. Yes and uh, your whole staff is pretty cool, I bet they are a shout out to them.
Speaker 3:if you want, we absolutely, and we try to, and it's unfortunate that people don't realize. I think the work we do, what I do sitting on the desk every night, I mean it does take a lot of effort to put on makeup every day.
Speaker 2:I'm joking.
Speaker 3:But the real hard work is done before I even walk in the building. So I try every day to say something kind, and not just to placate them, but just to let them know how much we appreciate their hard work. That it's not recognized by the thousands of people watching. People think that we've done all the work, but usually they are carrying the weight of the newscast every day. So, oh yeah, we love our staff, staff and we couldn't do without them. Yeah, yeah, All of the producers and all of the people behind the scenes, the technical directors, our engineers who are on the ground, our sales associates. I mean it takes a lot. People walk into the station.
Speaker 3:They're like this place is huge and I'm like yeah there's a lot that's going on here that you don't see when you're looking at the screen. Oh my, gosh.
Speaker 1:So much the whole well-oiled machine, I'd imagine.
Speaker 2:Well, on that note, I wanted to ask you know, from when you first started to now, how has storytelling changed, and also if you could maybe talk about what you think is going to happen in the future with storytelling.
Speaker 3:Well, great question, because you know, there are many, many changes.
Speaker 2:So I remember We've talked about AI a lot on this podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm seeing the AI conference next Tuesday in. Somerville First time I'm seeing it. I'm a little nervous.
Speaker 3:Oh, that sounds really interesting. Yeah, I'll tell you more about it. Is it open to everyone?
Speaker 1:Uh-huh AI for SMBs, the first of its kind small to medium-sized businesses is what SMB?
Speaker 3:stands for Very good, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh-huh. Well, you're right. When I walked into the newsroom a television newsroom we had typewriters. Yes, and I remember being so excited when we got computers, and people smoked cigarettes in the newsroom People smoked that.
Speaker 2:That's not a thing anymore.
Speaker 3:When you went to a news story you had a map a thing anymore we. When you went to a news story, you had a map and a person could become very disgruntled, frankly angry, if someone had taken the map out of their car. The map, the map the map was important. Yes, yes, oh, and remember oh I also can remember my excitement when map quest was created because, then I could just print it on a printer and carry my 10 sheets, you know, for my drive to Somerville with me but then I had another um.
Speaker 3:In more recent years, when we were still reliant on maps, I had this other um, really strong tool in my chest my six, five co-anchor, brendan Clark. Because nothing gave Brendan Clark more joy than to write a to draw directions to Brendan was doing sports at the time to a football game.
Speaker 3:On a paper, he someone would be heading out the building and he would say, no, come here, let me draw this map, and he would clear his desk and he would draw, and then you're going to turn, here there's a tree and then right around here there's a convenience store. Then you make a left here. So I mean, the changes are unbelievable. I remember having to go to the county library to do research for stories oh yeah, actually having to pick up a phone and have a conversation with someone to get research, so it's changed tremendously.
Speaker 1:No Google, no tremendously no Google. No Google, no Google.
Speaker 3:But I think there's something to be said for what I personally and it may not necessarily be the case for everyone, but I think it's a loss because there's a nuance, there's intrinsic learning. When you have to have a conversation with someone, you learn things just serendipitously. It comes out in the course of a conversation, like today. So I think that is what's lost in the industry. But I think, because people are thinking in 15-second sound bites and things, they don't even notice that it's lost because they're on to something else anyway, Right, so I take it in stride.
Speaker 3:You know, it's just something that we adapt. You know we just have learned to adapt to the pace of what the world requires.
Speaker 1:But it's fascinating because you have to be on that pulse of that pace that the world requires and you're doing it on a daily basis.
Speaker 3:Well, some, some our 22 year old daughter would say that I'm slipping at remarkable speeds. As a 22 year old daughter could only say to their mother, she's like keep up, mom, carolyn.
Speaker 1:Murray is not slipping. Don't let that go.
Speaker 2:I don't know she knows the news for anyone else.
Speaker 3:You're slipping.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't know. She knows the news for anyone else You're slipping. I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 3:As many times as I have to call on our daughter or someone like help me with this or whatever I don't like being that person, I try to keep up because I certainly don't want to be a burden to anyone, and I enjoy learning.
Speaker 1:Yes, I enjoy learning. So there's a balance. Yeah, we remember life before all that and then I, we still are learning more about it. Gen x was more of a curiosity curious generation that knew how to live back in the day. No, google, you know knocking on doors, you know hustling and grit, and now it's like you can just google anything. And now ai is coming around making it even more easier, and I'm not complaining.
Speaker 2:We just have to. You know I AI is coming around making it even more easier and I'm not complaining. We just have to use it. You have to use it the right way. The right way, what is the?
Speaker 1:right way. We have to figure that out.
Speaker 3:Because it's human nature to seek ease and comfort. Oh my gosh, so you have to be so disciplined and to not allow yourself to slip in a place where that becomes your brain. And so you know, for those who are already naturally disciplined and are aware of I, can't do too much of this, though I like it. I like how it feels, it's making this part of my life easier. You know, I think that there's always going to be a balance and it's just being mature and determining how to, you know.
Speaker 1:Learning, learning about it, talking about it.
Speaker 3:Because you could use anything to your advantage. I mean, I certainly like the advantage of using an ATM machine and not having to go into a bank, but every once in a while I want to see the folks at the bank Right, you know, make sure everybody's doing good machine and not having to go into a bank. But every once in a while I want to see the folks at the bank, right, you know, make sure everybody's doing good.
Speaker 1:That's so true. What else you got, Amanda? You had a couple of questions you want to discuss.
Speaker 2:Well, the last time, I think, I saw you in person, you were at a women's event and you were on a panel. It was for Charleston Women Magazine.
Speaker 1:Oh nice.
Speaker 2:You were on a panel with realtor Terry Haas and Kim Powell.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, it was out at the Allendorf Farm. Yes, that's right. Salty Oaks, salty Oaks, yes.
Speaker 2:So I just had a few questions about you know things that you can share for aspiring women entrepreneurs, women leaders, women in business from your perspective and your tenure.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, that was a very special event, gosh, I didn't want to leave.
Speaker 1:What was the event? Talk about the event.
Speaker 2:It was a brunch that Charleston Women's Magazine put on Okay.
Speaker 1:Shout out to that.
Speaker 2:Out at Salty Oaks in Onda.
Speaker 1:Do? They do a yearly thing.
Speaker 2:They do they do, yeah, okay, so check it out for next year.
Speaker 3:A panel of maybe eight to ten women. You spend a day there, there is a farm and you get to spend some time with the animals and it's just. It's very relaxed and yet still is quite comprehensive in its approach, because there's a nice meal and there's conversation, and then you still get the empowered speeches and then there are cute animals. So it's quite comprehensive. I think my husband was the only guy there, so I'll tell a couple of stories.
Speaker 2:Are we still good on time? Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Okay, so that particular event. I will start with why my husband was there. It was because I wasn't driving long distances yet, and I still drive pretty much every day when I'm going to the bridge, but for the most part, my husband does all of the driving okay, driver.
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't see him today.
Speaker 2:I know it's because we have someone who's working on our working on something at our house, and so he needed to be there, right?
Speaker 3:so, um, but he will go back to the station with me tonight for the 11 o'clock news. So I'm going to slip this story in very quickly. I had some major health concerns in 2019 that came up and the bottom line is I kept falling. So I was doing the bridge all the time. I wasn't tripping over anything, but I would fall. I'm like why am I falling? What do I? Do I go to the doctor? Why am I falling? You do I? Do I go to the doctor? Why am I falling? You're getting older, carolyn.
Speaker 2:No, I'm okay, that's the first thing, right.
Speaker 3:But so you know it's like, okay, well, let's monitor this. And I did so. I kept falling, Not every day, you know, maybe once a week I would lose my balance, or it just seems like my legs would give out. Once a week I would lose my balance, or it just seems like my legs would give out. So, to make a long story short, went to the doctor and they determined that I had two conditions in my spine Neurosarcoidosis and neurofibromatosis. Neurofibromatosis are tumors on my spinal cord and neurosarcoidosis is inflammation in the spinal cord, both things happening at the same time.
Speaker 3:They couldn't remove the tumors because they are actually connected to the nerves, they are part of the nerves. So March I think it was March 17th of 2020 is when this determination is made and I'm going to have to have surgery. And the next day or two days later, a pandemic is declared and the world shuts down. And the next day I'm hospitalized and my husband drops me off at the curve at MUSC and I don't see my family again until June. Oh my.
Speaker 2:Carolyn June. Oh, my Carolyn.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was in the hospital that entire time. I lost the ability to walk. I was in a wheelchair pretty much until I came home. So that's why I still carry the stick, because I still have the conditions in my spine. It causes some problems with balance and if I'm in a heel I feel discomfort, but I can still do the bridge. I still practice yoga every day. I teach barre you wouldn't know. So sometimes you know I am very careful or I try to be when I say for some people we are able, mind over matter or I'm able to do some things despite what my MRI will show. I don't know how and I don't say that to challenge someone who might be dealing with some health issue and they can't do it. I don't know why, but I just know that it is what it is and there are some things I can do and some things that I can't do. I just live with it and wish everyone well with whatever they're dealing with Everybody's dealing with something.
Speaker 3:Everyone's dealing with something. Everyone's dealing with something 100%. That was a big story as to why Jimmy was the only guy at that event but he was the guy at that event.
Speaker 1:It's an important story, it's part of your journey and thank you for sharing, oh my gosh
Speaker 3:I don't know if anybody knows that yeah, something a lot of people know and so they'll see this stick and they're like, oh, you're still dealing with that and like, yeah, and it's fine earlier you said it was no big deal and listener, she's wearing heels I told you not to wear heels she would not take her heels off but you know when I when I think about just to circle back to your original question, Amanda, I was so humbled to be on that panel with those women and I felt absolutely inadequate to sit alongside them, because they are doing really big things with their lives.
Speaker 2:No, they really are, I mean.
Speaker 3:Woodhouse Spa and Terry and a real estate company, and I can't remember the other woman's industry, but but you know they are doing really big things and I think that we all respect what we bring to the table and what we bring to the world. I think for me why this feels so natural, that in a lot of ways it doesn't feel like work, it just feels so natural to me. I'm like, oh you know, which is why sometimes I have a problem saying no to things, because it's like, oh my gosh, that sounds like so much fun, or I enjoy that person's company. Of course I'll be there. Oh what. I haven't slept an hour in two days. I'll get to it eventually.
Speaker 1:You should probably check your husband's schedule too and see if he's available to drive you.
Speaker 3:Well, he yes.
Speaker 1:Oh, he's an automatic available. Oh, that's what she's saying.
Speaker 3:He's pretty much an automatic available, but you know.
Speaker 3:But at the end of the day, one of my favorite things about the community that we have in Charleston with women is, I think, back 30 years ago, toward the beginning of my professional career, I didn't see us doing the same kinds of things, but I think that, overall, society has changed.
Speaker 3:I think that women are in places where they are much more influential. They are calling the shots really good ones, and I think that we have just become much more comfortable with not only being at the head table but making sure that the people around the head table look like us, sound like us, share similar concerns, constraints with schedules, balancing, you know, managing families and those kinds of things. I love myself a good man who understands that. Yeah, you know, she probably is the person managing the household, sure, and my husband certainly does, and you know he's my biggest cheerleader. So you know it feels good and I love that. Those kinds of attitudes allow women, such as the women who were at that event, to step into doing those the kinds of work that they really want to do yeah to non-genderfy the the daily duties of the household it's a huge thing, I think it's.
Speaker 1:It's changed now. I don't think it's the same. I don't think it was like our parents, right? I had good growth role models. My mom is a strong woman, my wife is a strong woman and you know, you could just see the difference and I think that y'all are trailblazing for you.
Speaker 3:Just said y'all I did.
Speaker 2:I know, I know Right, I'm from Detroit, I live in.
Speaker 1:Tampa. You know it does, it does, it does. I think you guys are trailblazing that for the future generations you know, especially here in Charleston.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. This really is a good community and you really can call on anyone on any given day. You can see it through social media. You know, women supporting each other and genuinely supporting each other Not, you know, supporting each other with just a hashtag and then turning aside and doing something else or whatever. I mean really showing up for women Because, you know, I mean it's not just a something on a t-shirt. I mean we really are stronger together, we're better when we help each other. Just because I have doesn't mean you can't right. It's not one or the other, we both can and be really happy yeah, a hand up, not a handout there you go.
Speaker 1:I like that um, so is there any lessons along the way that you could give that aspiring?
Speaker 3:Oh boy, every day there's a lesson, Every single day there is a lesson. I had the amazing experience of, you know, living here in my home community where a lot of my family still is, and a story that will actually air next week. But we are so happy that we will be together on Saturday. My cousin, my cousin Ursel, is turning 110.
Speaker 2:110. That is amazing 110 on Saturday. Born in 1914.
Speaker 3:We need to have them on the podcast, oh my gosh, isn't that amazing.
Speaker 1:That is amazing. So you've got some genes, then Getting some tips, I tell you.
Speaker 3:So we spent an afternoon with her and we were hoping this story would air tonight, but we've got some issues with our staff and we weren't able to.
Speaker 3:It was again supposed to air tonight, but anyway, but it will air next week and it will be even better. Air next week and it will be even better. But you will just be amazed at her vibrancy. You would think that this is a very fractured conversation. No, she sounds like she's in her 50s. I mean, still gets her nails done and oh, it's just all this stuff. And so you know, at the end of the day, if there is a lesson to be learned is that whatever your experience is, whatever wherever your professional life and personal life takes, you try to find a little bit of joy and stay in that moment and appreciate what is happening in that moment, because it goes really really fast, really really fast. I've worked 36 years professionally and I can recount a lot of stories, but a lot has happened and I'm still as eager to go to work today as I was February 6th 1989. Crazy. Well, it is for me.
Speaker 3:I mean because what's the alternative? I could be sour about it, and then what a waste.
Speaker 1:Exactly why. Why Might be negative?
Speaker 2:And then why? And then what does that teach your daughter and the community?
Speaker 1:Yeah, how you making the best of your day if you're going to go through negative.
Speaker 3:Yeah, every day I try to find a little bit of joy.
Speaker 1:That's.
Speaker 3:Carolyn.
Speaker 1:I was, you know, as we're doing research over the past couple days, one of the thoughts that came to my mind was that more good news. I want to hear more good news. I wake up in the morning, I turn on my podcast news channels what have you? And it's all just banging my head, negative, like people, it's just the world. You know what I'm saying, yes, and you obviously know what I'm saying, yes, and, and you obviously know what I'm saying, you were the one there telling us all about it every night if it, if it bleeds, it leads.
Speaker 2:That's so true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not trying to say I'm not trying to point fingers and I'm not. You guys are doing a great job I love it, but yeah but I think that curiosity, I think everybody kind of is like who says what goes on tv, what goes on air? Do you, do you push for the good news, or is it?
Speaker 3:you know what I?
Speaker 1:mean like how?
Speaker 3:all good. What a delicate balance, everything that the two of you are saying right now. Your point I agree with you 100. So of course you know, or very often when we go and we speak with groups, the sentiment is the same People challenge us on it.
Speaker 3:They love this community. They want to hear about the good news. And I will generally ask did you watch last night's newscast? Let's say half the group says yes. Can you tell me a good story? Nope, can you tell me a bad story? Yep, there were good stories there. Why don't you remember them? Why don't you remember them? Why don't you remember?
Speaker 1:them.
Speaker 3:Good point. Good point it is. That's human nature. Our brain is designed to remember that what might have put us in danger?
Speaker 2:It's just the natural thing. And when people tell me, this I never ever.
Speaker 1:I don't discount it.
Speaker 3:I understand it, we all do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Even when we walk away from the conversations today, the things that will be remembered are oh my gosh, you were in the hospital. This bad thing, this bad thing. Your dad delivered you whatever that was a good thing. That's awesome I could have said a million good things and those things it will be remembered eventually. But the thing that you might share with someone else or that you might think about again is that thing that seems extraordinary out of the ordinary, a challenge, difficult, because we're human.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, you've been doing this a long time, haven't you? That was a very pro answer right there. I loved it. I loved it, but it's just true, so true, it's just true, and so what I do? To try to control my thoughts, because I'm that was my next question is how do you ingest? I do, because otherwise it's not healthy.
Speaker 3:Yeah and um, yeah, exactly I, you know, I said this to the two of you just during our conversation in the green room that our daughter's in psychology and she is such a good reminder she's not on social media and those kinds of things and I'm like, well, I've got to be. She's like, well, I know you do, you have a responsibility here, so just be more intentional with it. So I do not watch news before I step in my building. Okay, yeah, I don't watch news.
Speaker 1:I am very intentional.
Speaker 3:I listen to podcasts and I'm not saying that they're necessarily zen and breathe deeply. Carolyn, you know they are informative. They may be your podcasts. Yes, you know they are informative, they may be your podcast.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:So like Hidden Brain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, give us some podcasts. I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam. Hidden Brain. Hidden Brain is my absolute favorite, and let's see.
Speaker 1:So this is my podcast lineup. I haven't found mine in a while, so I was wondering maybe he could find mine.
Speaker 3:This one is Psychology on Purpose, the Happiness Lab, hidden Brain let's Talk. I got to have that there, which is mine and Oprah's Masterclass. That's it. Those are ones I listen to and right now and I am an avid book listener, not necessarily because I tend to use them with my when I'm on the bridge and so right now I am listening to Wait for it.
Speaker 1:We got a bad signal here, listen.
Speaker 3:Okay, it's a lovely one, katonji Brown Jackson, us Supreme Court Justice, which was came out this week, and yeah, so, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's great. I'm going to add that to my reading list too.
Speaker 3:It's exceptionally good, yeah, so it's really good, and then I'll throw out some others Hundreds of books. It's my jam.
Speaker 1:In the reading list.
Speaker 3:Darius Rucker is a favorite. His book is excellent.
Speaker 1:Really yes.
Speaker 3:Okay, must read, must read. I could just go through them all day long.
Speaker 1:Is he a cool guy?
Speaker 3:He's wonderful. I'm assuming we had his bandmate on.
Speaker 2:Also among the bros, Jim Sonfield. Jim Sonfield was on oh yeah, super nice guy the drummer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I met Dean.
Speaker 1:Dean.
Speaker 3:Dean sorry.
Speaker 1:Dean. Who's Dean Is Dean part of the band too.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, yes, yes. You just lost your car building.
Speaker 2:sorry this is so good, while it lasted.
Speaker 1:I get to edit this too. Oh man, what, what? I'm sorry I'm still asking the dumb question here what is he? Is he a drummer? Now, he's not the drummer.
Speaker 3:He's a guitarist. Guitar, yeah, he's the bassist.
Speaker 1:He's the bassist yeah, did you know that, matthew?
Speaker 3:okay all, I'm bringing somebody else down with me. Well, the two of you will be together wherever you end up.
Speaker 1:In a dunce corner somewhere. Amazing, carolyn. Is there anything that you want to talk about on spars, on your boards and the nonprofits that you are on right now? Is there an event that's coming up?
Speaker 3:So I serve on a lot of boards. I serve on the Medical University of South Carolina Neuroscience Advisory Board, charleston Animal Society, the International African American Museum. I am just literally coming off this month first tee of Greater Charleston. We had our gala this past weekend. Neighbors Together, formerly Tri-County Family Ministries, and there's one more.
Speaker 1:How do you spend all? I mean good Lord.
Speaker 3:And the City of Charleston Health and Wellness Committee.
Speaker 2:She doesn't sleep. Remember, I don't sleep.
Speaker 3:I actually you'll love this story. A few years ago, I knew I was dealing with sleep deprivation and was falling asleep as soon as I would get in a car or something. I mean, I just was not another company for your husband.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, what's your husband's name anyways, jimmy. Hi, jimmy, jimmy, love you, jimmy.
Speaker 3:Yes, I haven't met you yet, but thank you but um, so I decided to do as part of his story, which is always one of the secret. You know the advantages of being a reporter is something that interests you. You get to investigate as a reporter.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:And so I went to Roper and I said I'm curious about my sleep hygiene. Oh, okay, well, we'll, let's, let's do a sleep study. So I spent a night at Roper with these electrodes on my head to monitor my sleep, and so I wanted everything to be out there in the open. You know the results of the study, so we're all mic'd up, everything's mic'd up.
Speaker 1:And you're documenting this too.
Speaker 3:This is all. This is for a story.
Speaker 1:I love it, I love it. You're putting your full self into these stories.
Speaker 3:Yes. So the doctor says I don't want you to drive home from this interview because I can see how sleep deprived you are. And he said I'm certain you are falling asleep while driving. He said it should take about 15 minutes to fall into REM sleep and it was taking me less than a minute. He said you are going from talking to sleep to REM sleep.
Speaker 1:And I was that's not healthy, is it? I was Wow. So what are you doing? How did you so?
Speaker 3:I will just add this to what he said in terms of his directive and what he advised. He said Carolyn, I know what you think you are doing. You think but I've got to exercise. That's better for me, right? I've got to fit all this, I've got to be yeah, so I've got to exercise, Like you're telling me to not do something and sleep when I could be exercising. He said I know it's counterintuitive. He said, but you are aging yourself by not getting sleep. You hear that that's counterintuitive, he said, but you are aging yourself by not getting sleep here, that.
Speaker 3:That's how important sleep is yeah, that's your only takeaway from our form not the only takeaway thus it is, it is important but um so full disclosure. I still, it's still hard for me to do it it's hard for you to grasp. It is because, just naturally, I think, any person thinks effort, movement, is the healthier thing to do.
Speaker 1:We're all going through it too.
Speaker 2:We're all trying to work hard got the kids, even if you don't have kids. You've got the gym. You've got your friends.
Speaker 1:You're constantly going. I got to go to bed by 10, 11 o'clock the latest and I'm up at six, so I'm getting okay, sleep, I don't, but I need a new pillow. I think you know anyways but sleep and self-care is so important, so will you please self-care a little bit, carolyn, I mean as a fan.
Speaker 3:But I'm just. I'm very honest. It's so difficult for me and and I work on it every day it would have been nothing for me to have still. I mean, on average, I probably get three or four hours sleep an hour Come on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but we had this conversation earlier. She gets her energy from being around people and communicating.
Speaker 3:I understand I do. That's where I get energy, like when I don't have it, and I don't know if it's being one of six or whatever it started I get fomo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it could be a self, you know, some sort of fear of missing out. You know like, so you just sleep.
Speaker 3:I mean just well, and it's in part why my husband will see he comes to work with me every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I get it now. This is, and he stays with me all day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he's there and so he drives. And because he knows, as soon as we get in that car, you know we turn on the radio before we make that right turn going on to the bridge, before we hit that first band oh gosh I'm in another world. I'm dreaming of willie wonka and meeting oprah and trips to paris.
Speaker 1:I mean I'm, I'm sleeping you know what about your kids?
Speaker 3:one so we have a daughter who's 22. So proud of her. She graduated johns hopkins in may with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in French Our little French speaker.
Speaker 1:Oh, really yeah.
Speaker 3:That's all I got.
Speaker 1:I don't even have that, so silly.
Speaker 3:So she's working in research right now at NUSC.
Speaker 1:My question is is she sleeping?
Speaker 3:She thinks there's nothing more important on earth than sleep. Okay, okay. And it's funny that you, you know, this child comes from me like how?
Speaker 1:genetics is weird, but it also came from jimmy too, but I also think it's the result of her observation too.
Speaker 3:You know, I get none of it and she's always trying to. She, she's, she does it delicately, very gently. Mom, you have got to get some sleep, and when I didn't leave the house this morning, a chair rose up from her bedroom that I slept in this is today this is today.
Speaker 1:So yeah, this morning that I did not go and do something before coming here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm telling you I. I feel like I've shared a little too much, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:But and, at the end of the day, if you, I'll send this to you. If you want me to cut anything, out, we cut it out yeah, this is totally. This is great. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it well you mentioned oprah oh, dear this is a fun question don't.
Speaker 1:Don't forget um, if you could have any celebrity anchor uh oh, that was my yeah. You like that question yeah?
Speaker 2:As you, four day yeah.
Speaker 3:Or Well, you know, I interviewed Oprah. I interviewed Oprah.
Speaker 1:You did, I did. It's one of my all time favorite interviews. So, we're three degrees from Oprah right now.
Speaker 2:I met Oprah too.
Speaker 1:You did.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oprah was wonderful.
Speaker 1:You also met.
Speaker 3:Taylor Swift no, I did not miss.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, because the organization I worked for at the time Was received, because the organization I worked for at the time received the Angel Grant when she came to Charleston. So we met her backstage for like a minute. We shook our hands. I have a picture to prove it. It's over my desk. I believe you.
Speaker 1:I believe you.
Speaker 3:Well, and then you also know she did one interview that day and it was with me and there were so many sweet moments in that day At the time. She had this penchant for white chairs and she had white chairs brought in for our interview Come on.
Speaker 3:So you know, you go through this crazy thing called life and you have these people who you are just like. I don't know why I love you so much. It's not because of your wealth, it's just because there's something about you, things that you say I would have said, or I laugh so hard. I mean just like you know that there's a connection. And my Oprah Winfrey experience was that I mean, it wasn't that I simply idolized her, I just understood her and I knew. You know, I had these thoughts in my head as a young journalist, like if I ever met Oprah, I know she would get me and she did, and she let me know that she did, and we were as warm and comfortable around each other as if I had known her my entire life. Of course it's a natural quality that she has to help people feel that way, but it's not in the sense to just make you comfortable. That's just how she is.
Speaker 3:And so the interview was everything I wanted it to be. So we go after the interview. I'm on cloud nine, literally. There's no way, my feet are untouchable, Right yeah. I go to sit down, they have me on the front row and this man is sitting there and I, as I'm going to the front row, I also meet Diane Sawyer and I. I'm a huge.
Speaker 2:Diane Sawyer fan, right.
Speaker 3:So I'm telling this man as you guys know, I love to talk. I'm like this day has been an absolute dream. I just met Oprah Winfrey. I just met Diane Sawyer. I can't believe this. I'm on the front row, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm talking and he's just enjoying all of this. We hug. You know, I go on my merry way. I'm telling someone how I met the guy who oh, I'm sorry, what I didn't say was he's diane sawyer's husband oh, okay neat. Do you know who he is?
Speaker 3:no mike nichols yeah yeah, mike nichols, than you, mike Nichols, he said nothing. He said nothing. Sure, he just let you talk, he just let me talk. Of course he just enjoyed it and it was just really, really special. Oh yeah, it was your day, it was, and I've had the opportunity. I have always it's been my experience to meet people who genuinely, like I, have a pretty hard press, I think, of anyone who was not kind, and so that's why I'm very comfortable, regardless of the situation I'm in.
Speaker 3:You know these three decades, I'm realizing people are just people. There's hardly anyone that makes me nervous. President Clinton, hillary Clinton, charles Bolden astronaut I've interviewed all of them are just people. There's hardly anyone that makes me nervous, right? President clinton? Hillary clinton, charles bolden these are people not I've interviewed all of them interviewed supreme court justice sandra day o'connor oh my gosh, I mean every single person.
Speaker 3:The only person who was somewhat of a challenge or seemed uncomfortable but it was because she was dealing with a criminal trial was martha stewart oh, that was interesting, especially the time that you were interviewing yeah, yeah. But billy d williams, um, I mean, that was just, oh my gosh, he was so charming, he was here, he was doing an art show and um, and took my mom and I out to dinner. I'm like what oh?
Speaker 3:that's cool I've had some really amazing experiences. Yeah, yeah, and at the end of the day, people are just people, people are just people.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, you're pretty, you're pretty cool too, meaning you know the vibe you bring to the room is very, very chill, very, as matter of fact. So thank you I appreciate again for being, for being that, because I was a little little imposter syndrome coming into this. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm like what?
Speaker 3:no, at the end of the day, people are people. People are just people that's what you said.
Speaker 1:I like it. I like that a lot. Thanks for your time, carolyn. Um, how can people get a hold of you? Is there? You know you talked about social media. You have to be on it, I get it. Do you know your handles offhand, I think.
Speaker 3:I do.
Speaker 2:We'll put them in the notes. So do you mind if I share your Instagram handle?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's CarolynMurrayWCBDTV handle. Yeah, it's carolyn murray wcbd tv.
Speaker 1:There it is, and then I think I'm just carolyn murray, wcbd for facebook, right? Yeah, that's all meta.
Speaker 2:We'll find you from there, yeah and you're on tv every night, right, I'm on tv every night that's awesome yeah, no plans of um yeah, on facebook it's carolyn murray tv2 okay there you go thanks, carolyn, for being on the show with us. Um, I've always appreciate what you have to say. I love listening to you every day.
Speaker 1:Um yeah, amanda was the one who brought you on I'm like what are you kidding me right now? The actual celebrity gets to be on the show.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, my husband cannot function unless he watches the news every night.
Speaker 1:Oh, he's a nighttime guy, okay.
Speaker 2:Well, the 6 o'clock.
Speaker 1:And which one are you on? Again, carolyn, remind me.
Speaker 3:So I co-anchor the 4, the 5, the 6, the 10, and the 11. What so?
Speaker 1:my co-anchor at four is aaron morgan, and then at five it's six. I call him six five. Brendan clark, and is he tall? Is that why you call him six five? Yeah, okay, I mean the dumb question there. Yeah, I have.
Speaker 3:Well, actually I have a million nicknames for brendan, but um, but my favorite for him is six, five and um, and then we call it brendan and I co-anchor the 10 and 11 and of course, our meteorologist for those newscasts is rob fowler. And um, yeah, and then I have a podcast, let's talk. Yes, and I love the podcast because it says everything about me. Let's talk. I love a good conversation. Um, for the reasons that I've already explained, and this happened, um, organically, I did an interview and we wanted to make it a long format. In this age of everything just being so condensed, it didn't sit well with me and my, just my natural way. I like a good, long, in-depth conversation because of the nuances, the things that come out that you didn't know right, and so, um, that's why we started the the podcast.
Speaker 3:It's not for everyone, but I think you know a 20 or 30 minute drive and just hearing a voice and hearing a conversation, I just personally find it to be entertaining, and so it was awesome. I listened to the governor, the new mayor, yeah yeah, you interviewed the new mayor and I haven't heard doing it yeah I love doing which new mayor, the uh coxwell yeah, city of charleston, yeah, city of charleston there's all new mayors this year, except for mount pleasant yeah
Speaker 3:right you know that is one thing that I will say that did not come up in our conversation. One thing that I have always appreciated and recognized in mount pleasant, at my local communities that I'm a part of, is the only one we've had women mayors really wasn't yeah, I didn't know that okay yeah, linda page and um cheryl woods flowers. What are?
Speaker 1:you doing in the next 10 years?
Speaker 3:what's going on, huh.
Speaker 1:Huh.
Speaker 3:On the bridge, of course, oh well, I will say this this is something that's.
Speaker 2:She's the mayor of the bridge.
Speaker 3:Kind of interesting. The bride, the beloved wife of our late mayor Harry Hallman, brooke Hallman, is my seamstress. Oh. And so Brooke and I have an amazing friendship, and we have for decades now, because I very often have to have things altered, and maybe once or twice a week, and you know, of course we have a daughter and I have a husband, so anything I go to Brooke and so our little setup is, I will go and I'll put something at her front door and then under the cover of darkness I may pick something up is on my way to yoga and it's just the sweetest relationship. I adore her. She's such a jewel in this community. I don't want to say the wrong age for her, but I think Miss Brooke is mid-80s and still dances and still works as a beloved seamstress for many, many a girl in more pleasant going to prom. So she's quite a gem. She's busy, she's very busy.
Speaker 1:She doesn't need a shout out, then she doesn't need it.
Speaker 3:Love Brooke Holman. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:But in your podcast you interview a lot of great people. I love it. It's a lot of fun, Isn't it?
Speaker 3:It's so much fun. Charlemagne the god.
Speaker 2:He's local too.
Speaker 3:Well right, he's from Monk's Corner and what I think the biggest radio show in New York now. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But the list goes on, you know.
Speaker 3:I mean you definitely see a tendency for me to interview people who have a connection to this area, but I'm certainly not limited to that. But it's easy. Usually people want to talk.
Speaker 1:That's what we like to do is talk to the people that live and work in Mount Pleasant. I mean, it's just a really cool area you know, and again, I feel like there's a lot of under-the-radar just really cool people that live here and make change here.
Speaker 3:Not everybody's from this area, you know well. How did you end up here?
Speaker 1:yeah, I just visited the in-laws every once a year. Coming from tampa, it's a seven and a half hour drive. We just popped up every easter and that commute down. I did, I cut I cut the big time and and landed in mount pleasant, etched right in on north mount pleasant with everybody else and haven't looked back. Loved every minute of it.
Speaker 2:He was smart too. One of the first things he did was attend a chamber event.
Speaker 1:It is, it is. We jumped right into the chamber.
Speaker 3:So we do. How did you know to do that I?
Speaker 1:build community like yourself just to meet people, just to join a board and do things. That's what we do, that's what you know. Room builds culture has always been.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Build yeah.
Speaker 2:It's interesting to me how people just don't know to like they don't know when you move to a new community.
Speaker 1:To seek out chambers Right To seek out chambers or businesses, or business associations. Or whatever industry you're in you got to put yourself out there, whatever industry you're in, like marketing, ama. Not everybody can do one knock and get an internship and then do one tape and get a job, carolyn.
Speaker 2:We got to hustle out here. All right, some people have to network, that's funny.
Speaker 3:That's good. Well, I've been very fortunate, so I've been very fortunate. But you know, I agree with you and I respect that and I think perhaps it needs to be said more often because we know that it works. And so sometimes, when you know that it works, you don't say it because you assume everyone else does and people don't.
Speaker 1:Exactly, yeah, people don't. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it Right. So thanks again. Awesome conversation, carolynolyn, thank you. Thank you so much for your time. Uh, thanks, amanda, good work thanks, mike yeah, yeah, always a pleasure to co-host.
Speaker 1:Uh, we miss our presidents right now. Uh, they're. They're busy being president, busy being president, so the marketing team had to step up and do this lovely conversation with you, carolyn murray, thanks to our sponsors, the charleston radio group, thank you to matthew for engineering. Um and uh, yeah, we'll see you on the flip. What's your what's? What's, what do you say? Uh, what's your ending?
Speaker 3:I'm gonna steal it so my ending for let's talk is goodbye until the next, goodbye until the next time.
Speaker 2:Goodbye until the next time, let's leave it at that Lovely, you say it this time.
Speaker 3:Goodbye, until the next time. All right, well done.
Speaker 2:Stronger than a dream.
