Editor's Note: March is Women in History Month and March 8 was International Women's Day. As a tribute to these occasions, I honor my good friend, Hayley Wielgus, who certainly has made her mark in the competitive world of TV journalism. She is an inspiration to me and many people - both men and women - who wish to follow not only in her broadcasting footsteps, but also in their commitment to community service and volunteerism.
While she noted to me that she hardly felt worthy of being interviewed for this momentous month, I would beg to differ, as she - like so many other women in the workplace - are worthy of being singled out for balancing both demanding careers and a thriving family life. In honor of this important month, we chatted recently to discuss her career and the importance of women to the industry.
By Allan Brown
Hayley Wielgus' career path proves that the old adage there's an exception to every rule is definitely true.
You see, while most young children dream of wanting to pursue a specific career one day, then change their minds the next and end up actually entering an entirely different field when they do reach adulthood, Wielgus knew early on in life exactly what career path she wanted to enter as an adult.
And, she pursued that goal with gusto even as a child, and never changed her mind.
"Very early on, probably when I was four years old I had one of those Fisher Price tape recorders with a microphone and would do my little reports and interview my mother and sister about whatever came to mind," said Wielgus, who today co-anchors the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts with Bob Mueller on WKRN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Nashville, Tenn.
According to her bio on the website, she loves that her position allows her to get out in the field often because she considers herself a reporter at heart.
And, while she acknowledges that it is certainly not common for a person at four years of age to know what career path they want to follow, it was one woman in particular who she admired that kept her eyes on the job she coveted even at that early age.
"Katie Couric was my news role model from a very early age," Wielgus said, adding that the would watch the Today Show every morning before school and enjoyed how the former NBC anchor conducted herself on the show and in her interviews.
"I really liked her style, I thought she was very relatable and I looked up to her as a kid," she said, adding, that Dominique Sachse, an NBC local anchor in Houston, where Wielgus grew up, was also someone she admired.
"I liked watching how they did things," Wielgus said, admitting, "That it probably was not a kid thing to do to watch local news."
She admitted that she "has no idea why" she gravitated to that desired career path, but said she had entered many elementary school writing contests and Optimist Club speech competitions along the way.
"I was always interested in news, public speaking and broadcasting," she said.
During this Women's History Month, women like Couric and Sachse paved the way for Wielgus to create a successful path and style all her own.
Prior to arriving in Nashville, Wielgus previously worked at WWSB ABC 7 in Sarasota, Florida, where she served in multiple roles at the station over more than six years. She went from morning and noon anchor to evenings and also covered health stories and special assignments.
She also frequently hosted live political and community-news-focused round table discussions and appeared as a guest on the station’s “Suncoast View” talk show.
She covered the 2012 and 2016 presidential election campaigns during their many stops through the swing state of Florida. She also reported live from the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Prior to WWSB, Hayley was a weekend anchor and reporter at KYTX CBS 19 in Tyler, Texas, and worked for Bloomberg Television in Washington, D.C. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism - with a minor in Spanish - from Texas A&M University and a master of science in journalism-broadcasting from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
In between obtaining her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she served as an intern for the-then CNN Headline News Network in Atlanta.
All the places she's worked and the stories she's covered along the way have benefited her immensely, she said, and prepared her for her current position in Nashville.
One thing Wielgus has noticed along the way is the prominence women have in the industry, something that was not always the case, as the first female local anchor didn't take to the airwaves until Robbie Timmons did in Lansing, Michigan, in 1972, way before Wielgus was born.
"I think women really have become more prominent in both local and cable news. It feels like there are more women than men in the newsroom now," she said, adding that the number of females in leadership roles has also increased dramatically from let's say two decades ago.
"So many women have been attracted to this field," she said, though not exactly being able to pinpoint why that is true.
For, Wielgus, "I like the fast-paced atmosphere of news and it's an ideal field for someone who is naturally curious and I would say I am. You have a front-row seat to history."
With the recent pandemic having affected all areas of the medium and more reports being done virtually, Wielgus said she misses getting out into the community to both cover stories, interacting with the local population and working in an active role with many charities and causes that she holds close to her heart.
Outside of work at the station, she serves on the board of directors for Special Olympics Tennessee. She’s been involved with the organization for many years and was a certified swim coach in Florida and Texas. She also has volunteered through numerous organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Junior League and the Nashville Pi Beta Phi alumnae club.
"We get a lot of support from the community and viewers who like to get to know you," Wielgus said, while acknowledging that the support and social media can actually be a double-edged sword for those in the industry.
"I think it's both positive and negative," she said, adding, that viewers, while mostly well-intentioned, can also often have an opinion on personal aspects of a broadcaster's life, in addition, to the professional ones.
And, she noted "Definitely both men and and female viewers can be equally critical. I can't say because I'm not a man, but it's more of an effort to be a woman (in this industry.)"
The advantage to being a woman in broadcasting, though, she said is that "with viewers, women like to watch women and men like to watch women," she said, adding that social media is a way you can connect with viewers and seems, in her experience, to come a little more naturally to women in the business.
The negatives to being a woman in the business don't outweigh the positives, she said, though, adding, "I doubt the men get the DM's women get or get asked out for dates while on a story."
In her free time, she loves spending time with her rescue dogs, Mattie and Jade, her soon-to-be one-year-old daughter, Brighton, and her husband, Max Winitz, who she met while working in Sarasota.
For a working mother, Wielgus feels she has a great job to be able to spend time with her family, as opposed to women in a strictly 9 to 5 position.
"There are advantages and disadvantages, she said, adding that, "I get to be home with Brighton in the morning and in between (most) newscasts, so it's nice in that way, but, "On holidays, you're often working and you definitely don't have the flexibility to leave work early. You have to be present for the (next) newscast."
As for the age-old dilemma all working women face, Wielgus feels that you can have it all, a family and a career, although the trajectory to that is often more difficult than those stay-at-home mothers face.
"You can have a career, 100 percent, you're just not going to be there as much," she said, adding, though, that "I think you cherish the time you do have because you don't have unlimited time with them."
Wielgus did mention one thing that she feels employers could improve upon that would be a huge benefit to working women trying to balance both their personal and professional lives.
Many employers don't offer paid parental leave and and she feels if employers offered that and more flexibility, women would be better equipped to balance both motherhood and a career without leaving the workforce.
As for Wielgus, she said having a husband who is in the same business has more advantages than disadvantages.
"You each understand the demands of the career. A lot of people outside TV just don't get how it works," she said, acknowledging, though, that the downside to that is "It's hard for both to find jobs in the same market," and one of the spouses usually has to take a backseat to the other when the right position opens up.
With March being Women in History month, she noted the massive gains females have made in broadcasting and hopes they continue.
She noted that more and more local stations are pairing two women on their newscasts as opposed to the traditional male/female co-anchor team. The move by NBC in 2017 to pair two women, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, was a huge step in the right direction to erasing the long-held belief in the industry that co-anchors should be of opposite sexes.
"There are no rules anymore," she said, adding that it really should be about which two individuals have the best chemistry, regardless of their gender," she said.
As for how she has been treated as a woman in a once male-dominated field, Wielgus noted that she has never felt less than equal to her male co-anchors, something many women who started in the field 40 or 50 years ago might not be able to say.
"I've always felt respected by the men I've worked with and I've felt like the men I've worked with have treated me as a partner," she said.
To that end, Women's History Month and the recently celebrated International Women's Day hold a special meaning to Wielgus. As women continue to make great strides in both broadcasting and the workplace in general, she feels it is a celebration that should continue to grow.
"I love that it's being celebrated more. It's important to celebrate women and give them the credit they deserve. I don't think that women give themselves the credit they deserve," she said, noting that the month-long celebration is important to observe so that history can give women those accolades. "We should celebrate the history of women and I love that it's being celebrated more. I've learned from (the observances of the month) and learned about women in history.
"There will obviously always be differences and always room for improvement for respect in the workplace," she added, noting one difference between the sexes that she feels is worthy of mention.
"I would say it seems that women are often asked to take on additional tasks and I think that's because we're not great at saying no or setting boundaries when it comes to taking on too much."
Aside from the media, one thing that Wielgus hopes changes is how our educational system treats the subject of women in history. She feels that school curriculums should go more in depth on the topic, as it's not something she feels was brought up enough - if at all - during her school days.
As for students in today's schools, they now have women like Wielgus who they can both look up to and be inspired by as they make their own marks in the world.
As part of Women's History Month, WKRN has been profiling "remarkable woman" to use as examples as of how far women have advanced in the workplace. These women have shown, that, like Wielgus, females today can both be remarkable and have it all.
