My Very First Interview by a Reporter

Wednesday, January 28 2009 | Category : This-N-That
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This is the same exact message I posted over at my Tishia Saves Time blog so if you read it over there it’s the same stuff. I had to write about it over here too LOL.

It all started with this:

Hello Tishia!

I’m a freelance reporter working on an article for PayScale.com and AOL about moms who successfully work from home. My editor suggested finding a virtual assistant — which I’d never heard of before! — and I found you via Mary Lutz’s blog (via ShowMomtheMoney.com).

Are you available for a phone interview next week? I’d be asking you about how you started working from home, the challenges you’ve faced along the way, the reaction of friends and family, etc. If you’re not interested in participating, perhaps you know of other moms I could contact.

Thanks so much for your help!

And it just ended with a 20-30 minute interview! I love how she found me too – isn’t it awesome how links point someone to you?

I’ll be honest. My first reaction was to tell her no thanks and give her some other VA’s to contact. I’m always so nervous with things like this. Actually I’ve never been interviewed by a reporter before – I’ve done a couple interviews with Kelly for Wahm Talk Radio and things like that but never by a reporter.

Instead of letting fear and lack of confidence make me pass this opportunity up I bit the bullet and decided to step out of my comfort zone and do the interview. I mean hello how could I honestly turn it down?

She sent me great questions ahead of time. I thought about them, wrote notes and felt prepared, as prepared as I could be. I knew there would be things that would come up that weren’t prepared ahead of time (and that’s something else that freaks me out – on the spot type answers, etc) but I told myself I’d be just fine.

I was fine…until about 20 minutes before the interview. That’s when the nervousness set in. But as soon as we got on the phone we chit chatted for a few minutes and she totally put me at ease. I didn’t feel like I rambled. I felt like I finished my thoughts. I felt good. Other than my hands were shaking, face flushed and heart racing LOL.

She told me that the article is for a series of articles that are being put together titled Confessions of _______. So mine will be Confessions of a WAHM. I think that’s kind of cool.

Now of course I wonder when and where the article will be published – of course I didn’t think of asking her that while we were on the phone!

5 Comments for “My Very First Interview by a Reporter”

  1. 1Angie (Losing It and Loving It)

    Very cool opportunity! I would’ve been sweating bullets too. You know when ever I have done podcast interviews before, I always get nervous right before. Can’t wait to see the articles. Glad to see you stepped out of your comfort zone.

    Angie (Losing It and Loving It)’s last blog post..Weekly Weigh In: January 28th

  2. 2Deanna

    Congratulations! That’s awesome!

    Deanna’s last blog post..Get the Exterminator!

  3. 3Cassie

    Yay! Congratulations, that’s so exciting!! Good for you for stepping out of your boundaries. It takes a lot of guts to do that, but it’s always worth it.

    Cassie’s last blog post..WAHMs, how many cups of coffee a day?

  4. 4Nell @ Casual Friday Everyday

    GO GIRL GO! I love this. So awesome.

    :–) Nell
    CasualFridayEveryday.com
    Twitter.com/casualeveryday

    Nell @ Casual Friday Everyday’s last blog post..Dream Weaver

  5. 5Mary Lutz

    Wow! That’s totally awesome!!! Congrats! I’m proud of you!

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