Kaitlan Collins, co-anchor and chief correspondent for CNN This Morning, is no stranger to sleeping four hours a night, or packing up to travel at a moment’s notice. Which is great if you love the news…but it’s not so great if you love your boundaries. This week, we spoke to Kaitlan about how she’s learned to set boundaries – from the anchor desk to the White House Briefing Room.
In this episode, Kaitlan shares:
The moments where she’s had to keep her composure on live TV
Her public speaking advice
How she’s dealt with public scrutiny – and political landmines
Her advice on dealing with change in the workplace
On Career Challenges
Kaitlan: There were some moments in the Trump White House that I think took on a different layer than covering past White Houses, which is in the sense of the relationship with the media and people who worked in the White House. And it certainly doesn't apply to everyone who worked there, but there were a lot of people who wanted to undermine the media. They wanted to make you look like you hadn't done your homework or like you were a hypocrite because they thought that was an effective way to undermine your reporting. And then people wouldn't trust your reporting.
And every day, it wasn't that I felt out of control, but I felt I had to do so much prep to be ready for those moments because I never wanted that to happen. Because I knew what it would mean and I knew the implications it could have. And so that was a moment where I know a lot of White House reporters felt like, we're doing the best we can. We're just trying to get the truth and the story of what's going on inside this White House, which is our job. But it felt like you had this like force against you with White House officials, who, you know, were talking about your personal life, your personal characteristics, things like that, and they weren't afraid to do it.
On Navigating Change In a Workplace
Kaitlan: The big thing to remember, I think, is that you can't control it. You have to remember what your job is and what other people's jobs are, and there are people who are at the corporate level, and that is their job. This is their world. It is their decision. You fretting over it is not going to change anything. And I think the best thing to keep in mind, and CNN has had a lot of changes, is to focus on: What's the work? What does that need to look like? What is your job? What can you make a difference in?
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