Elsa Bolt

I would attribute my success to a lot of hard work, a lot of passion, a lot of love for what I do, and then also the people along the way. The expression 'it takes a village' is so true. I was surrounded by people who helped mold me. I'm so thankful to all the teachers I had, I'm thankful to my bosses, I'm thankful for anyone who's been a teacher along the way in my life journey. My mom was my best friend and we were very close. She always instilled in all of her children the value of education, the value of working hard for what you want to achieve, for working hard to achieve your goals. She passed away 9 years ago, but I really owe a lot to my mom, and I carry her spirit with me in the way that I conduct myself with my work ethic, but also in my personal life as well. I truly believe that everything that I have done led me to where I am now. All those countless sleepless hours sometimes, all those countless hours of work, all those wild schedules, have all led me to where I am. Everything has led me to my husband, led me to being a mom, led me to being an executive news producer. I'm just very grateful and thankful for anyone in my life who had some sort of impact on that, and that can go back to even elementary school teachers, my parents, my colleagues, and just in general people I meet. Sometimes you meet people and you hear their stories, and that is something that becomes impactful for you.

The career advice I have received is basically also the career advice that I give, and one of it is just be an ever-learner, always wanting to grow and learn. I feel like I'm still learning today. I think when you explore life or explore your career in that way and want to learn everything and anything about your field, about your craft, that's so valuable. I do believe in a lot of hard work. However, I know what's also important is a balance. I know that our physical and mental health, all of that is also important, so it's finding that balance. But giving your all, I think if you give your all in anything that you do, so even if you don't get an award or a reward, if you're giving your all, that's all you really need. That's all the satisfaction you need. That self-confidence, those self-affirmations too, you will feel good. There are days that I leave this station where I know I gave it my all. We had big breaking news content that we were covering something for hours and hours, and I'm tired, but I know that when I leave work, I gave it my all, and that is rewarding and fulfilling in and of itself. Whatever somebody's goals are, don't be afraid to go after them, don't be afraid, and know that the work that you put into it, you're gonna know you did that work. You're gonna know you worked really hard, and that's fulfilling.

I would tell young women entering this industry to fully commit to their work and pursue their goals with confidence. Give your job your all, stay focused, and don’t be afraid to aim high your ambition and dedication are your greatest assets, and they will open doors to opportunities you might not yet imagine.

In this age of citizen journalism, the online medium is amazing. We do a lot as a station with our digital department, and we produce that digital content. Our news reports are also going on the web, and that's really important because everyone these days are getting a lot of times their news content from their phone. But what's really important is that the information is accurate. We notice today is sometimes there's misinformation or disinformation, or now we're in this age where there's doctored information, there's fake videos out there. As journalists, we have to do our due diligence in making sure that we're checking our sources and verifying videos and making sure that the content is accurate. That's such a big part of it. Something that's disinformation or misinformation or something that is doctored is not content that is newsworthy. That's content that we have to be careful with. There's a lot of news content online that is incredible news content, and we also produce that kind of content. You can get real-time information out a lot of times on events that are happening, and it's fantastic and wonderful, but in this day and age, it's about really making sure what we're doing is we're credible in our content, and we're reliable, and we're accurate, and that's what's also really important today.

Number one, I think being kind. I'm very, very big about conducting myself in a kind way, in a compassionate way. You come across people every single day, you come across different faces, and some faces you don't even see. Maybe you're driving in traffic or you're at the grocery store and there's someone in front of you, and I think kindness, even a smile, goes a long way. You never know the day that somebody else may be having. Either way it goes, maybe someone had a wonderful day, maybe they had a not-so-great day, but you were kind to them, and that only brings kindness to whatever it is. I really do feel like I am an empath, and that I really like to hear other people and hear their stories and have compassion for others. I just think that's so important. My outlook in life is, like, ultimately, am I being kind? And I think that I like to bring kindness also in whatever I do. When I was doing reporting and I was out interviewing someone, and maybe they lost a family member or something, or maybe it's something else and it's a hard day for them, it's really hearing them and really talking with them and treating them in a certain way with compassion. I try to always think that way with others, the good in people. I'm always trying to look for the goodness in the world, the good in people, and I like to try to conduct myself in that way in whatever I do, whether it's professionally or personally.