Exclusive Interview with NFL Sideline Reporter Laura Okmin

I grew up in Chicago where loving sports really has nothing to do with gender. It’s not about being a girl or a boy…it’s about whether you’re a Cubs fan or White Sox fan. Sundays were all about the Bears – whether you were hanging with your girlfriends or boyfriends.

I’ve always loved storytelling. That passion began as a young girl who loved creative writing and then as I got older, my writing changed, but my love of storytelling remained. By the time I got to college, I knew I wanted to be a journalist – but I didn’t know what kind of journalism. I loved news and politics, but at that time, I didn’t really think sports would be a possibility – I didn’t see many women doing it. My first job was in Montgomery, Alabama where I was a one (wo)man band – I shot, wrote, produced and reported news/politics on the weekdays and sports on the weekends. The first time I stood over a dead body was when I knew my heart wasn’t in news. I stood with the other reporters and officials -with the body in eye sight- and everyone was talking about where they were going that night. A very kind police officer noticed I walked away and followed me. He told me he didn’t want me to think they were callous and didn’t feel anything and that eventually it would get easier. He told me one day i’d be able to stand over a body and talk about what I was doing on a Friday night – because it’s the one thing that would allow me to do this job. I was 22 at the time and went home that night and called my mom crying, saying I didn’t ever want to be able to stand over a body and talk about my Friday night plans. I knew that day I wasn’t built for that path – which was exactly how the path I was supposed to travel opened up to me. There is no better place for a storyteller than the world of sports. 25 years later I still love this job as much as I did back then. It’s been an amazing journey to tell other people’s stories – as I learned mine.

If I wasn’t doing this job…I would be figuring out how to BE doing this job. I never allowed myself a back up plan – even while everyone kept telling me how seemingly impossible it would be to succeed.

 

But I will say this, my path continues to go into different directions that I never saw coming. I became an executive producer and started a production company to create content….I do media training and coaching for professional coaches and athletes…and I have a company for all these incredible women in sports. I still love working sidelines and telling stories – but I also love the different directions that has led me to. The beginning of my career was spent checking boxes: I want to do this: Check. I want to do that. Check. And I was fortunate enough to check off some pretty amazing boxes. But my life truly changed -and became even more fulfilling – when I stopped thinking so linear. That’s when my growth really began. After years of being told how hard it is for women over 40 in this business, I’ve never been happier and I love that I continue to grow.

 

How did I…or how DO I? Rejections are part of this business – and part of life. You can’t avoid them, you just hope to learn from them. The biggest thing that helps me? Knowing there is enough success for everyone. I never feel like i’m competing with someone – if it’s MY opportunity, i’ll get the opportunity. If I don’t get it…it was never my opportunity to begin with. I know MY opportunity is on the way, I just don’t know when it’s coming – so I have a choice: I can spend the time waiting while being angry and bitter about something that didn’t happen OR…I can spend that time getting ready and getting better for when my opportunity presents itself. I think in my 30’s I SAID that and in my 40’s I started truly believing that. It doesn’t mean I don’t get disappointed, but I don’t live in it. I give myself a set period of time to feel it…and then move on from it.

 

 

It spoiled me for life. I actually first started covering him when he played baseball for the Birmingham Barons and I was a young sports reporter in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He showed me what a true pro looks like in handling the media. As a young reporter, he also helped prepare me  for being comfortable in this role. As a Chicago girl, there was no bigger sports hero than Michael Jordan – so to be able to talk to him and get to know him as a human being and not as an icon was instrumental in my growth. It taught me not to be intimidated which was challenging  at 22 and often one of very few women covering a story.

 

As for covering the Bulls during their second three peat in my hometown? Man, that was a moment. But the most wonderful thing I got out of covering the Bulls in their heyday was meeting a  young, aspiring sports broadcaster who worked for ESPN2 by the name of Stuart Scott who would turn into my best friend. My favorite sports memories are watching the Bulls win championships and Jordan’s flu game…sitting next to Stuart and saying how unbelievable it was that we were witnessing history. We vowed, in those moments, to never not stop and APPRECIATE those moments. That was the beginning of a 20 plus year friendship and that’s what i’m most thankful for when I think of that historical run.

I have loved watching these men and women find their voices and use their voices. These are some of the most intelligent, articulate, compassionate and charitable people I know. I can honestly say that these past two years I have had some of the most incredible conversations with athletes than ever before in my 25 years covering sports. I find myself rarely talking to them about WHAT they do, but truly learning about WHO they are and what they care about.

 

You’re going to be tested. You’re going to be told you don’t know what you’re talking about…you’re not smart enough…you’re not pretty enough…you’re not…enough. And all I can say is challenge accepted, sisters. Men ask “stupid questions”…we’re stupid. One slip of the tongue or one mistake and suddenly “you don’t know anything.” I think that makes us have to prepare harder. We don’t have a safety net which made me fall in love with research and preparation.

 

 As for working long hours and knowing people – that’s not gender specific. That’s simply do you want this bad enough? This field is so competitive and i’m asked all the time what it takes to “make it.” Some of it is what you know, who you know, how good you are…but I really think the difference in the beginning is who sticks it out to GET the first job. It’s the toughest job to get because you’re being hired on your POTENTIAL. It took me over 6 months and countless resume reels. I think Stuart said it took him 99 reels – imagine if he would’ve quit on 98 – think about the doors that wouldn’t have been opened because he didn’t stick it out. It goes back to waiting for YOUR opportunity and not knowing if that opportunity is coming on your 10th resume you send or your 100th. That’s hard as you’re watching your friends get jobs, get paid, get homes and get LIVES. All I can tell you is that it’s worth the wait.

I didn’t have women mentors and I also didn’t have a network of women peers growing up in this business. We were all so focused on blazing our own trails in a male dominated industry. I think I was trying so hard to NOT make gender an issue that the last thing I was focused on was empowering women – myself or others – I simply wanted to check my boxes and move onward and upward. So, the short answer to a very long answer….why did I start GALvanize? I wanted to give this generation of women something I never had: Women. After spending the majority of my career – and life – as a “guy’s girl”…adding women to my life has made my world so much fuller in every way. I’ve always had passion for what I do but this gave me a purpose – and that’s magical.

Creating LO Productions showed me I was much smarter than I ever thought I was. I never would’ve thought I could secure money, bring in corporate sponsors, negotiate air time, put together budgets and hire crews – that was a huge boost to my confidence and to knowing my value. It changed my world completely.

 

As for the media training, that was – and continues to also be – a life changer. My career has been built on building relationships – not sources or contacts – and that has made the relationships and the trust even deeper.

I was in my early 20’s when my mother passed away, just beginning my journey as a young reporter. I said goodbye to her in the hospital room, after she passed, and pushed open the door  thinking to myself how would I feel if there were cameras thrust into my face and reporters yelling, “how do you feel?!”  “What does it feel like to not have a mother?!” I made a vow in that moment to always ask questions I would want someone to ask me and never ever forget I was talking to a human being.  Empathy and listening are my two favorite traits in myself and others.

 

Also…Be prepared. And once you think you’re prepared…prepare some more. Know what you’re talking about…love what you’re talking about…and treat people well. Kindness goes a long way in this job…and in this life.