Lisa Reyes '98: Determination Pays Off

Lisa Reyes always wanted to be a storyteller. As a little girl, she remembers standing in front of the mirror, reading out loud and hoping that some day she would be a successful news reporter. Since then, she has worked towards her goal in jobs that have taken her around the country.

It did not take Reyes long to get her first position after finishing up at NYU in December, 1998. She had an interview just two weeks after graduation. A week later, she was a news assistant at NY1. She drove around in white Chevy Cavalier, gathering news and doing interviews. “This was the real deal,” she recalled thinking. “I’m going to get fired if I screw this up. What if I come back with no audio or something?”

In the end, however, the job at NY1 provided the experience that Reyes needed. “I had to walk up to people and ask them questions. It really boosted my confidence,” she said.

Reyes spent more than a year driving around in that white Cavalier, but without a contract or benefits, she decided to move on. She continued to network and had her resume passed around FOX News Channel. Eventually the network offered her a position on the overnight news desk. Seeing it as a step in the right direction, Reyes accepted the job.

She was right about the opportunity. When a big story broke on her shift, management offered her a dayside desk job with weekends off - not bad for someone out of school less than 18 months

Looking for the next step, Reyes continued to pass her tapes around. In August of 2001, Reyes accepted a job at KBIM News 10 in Roswell, New Mexico, a town “where Walmart is the anchor store at the mall - that’s cultural shock,” she said with a laugh.

But, once again, her job provided her with new opportunities, including her first live shot. “I was so nervous and so scared,” she said. The stress caught up with her and she ended up with major digestive problems. But, when the camera went on, Reyes was ready and everything went smoothly.

During her time in Roswell, Reyes covered wild fires, which resulted in a live shot for CNN. “It was the highlight of my career,” she said.

From there she went on to an ABC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida, in early in 2003. She spent six months working in Fort Myers, perfecting her skills and competing with the NBC affiliate located in the same building. “After five months, I was feelin’ the flow,” she said. But, things did not work out with ABC, and Reyes left in June of 2003.

After leaving ABC, Reyes decided to volunteer at a hospital. It took her a couple of months to regain her focus, but she ended up back on the path to her dream.

One day, Reyes decided to pack up her car and drive to Charlotte, North Carolina under the pretense of visiting her cousin. Of course, she took her tapes with her. Reyes contacted News 14 Carolina, the local cable station in Charlotte and an affiliate of NY1. It turned out to be the right path to take. She got the opportunity to work for the station as a freelancer. “I was so focused,” she said. “Morning, noon and night, I breathed Charlotte.”

Her determination paid off. “I almost cried when they offered me a contract,” she said.

It has taken a lot of little steps, but Reyes has already achieved so many of her goals. “I get to tell stories,” she said with her smile evident even on the phone. “That’s what I like about it; I get to talk to people and tell their stories.”

—Joseph Daniel Michener, 06’G