COVER STORY
How did you start working in television? And how did you then get to be doing what you do now? It was an unexpectedly smooth path - I was extremely lucky. I had the advantage of knowing right from the start the direction I wanted to follow and I didn’t waste too much time searching. I was already practicing for what was to become my career for 22 years when I was just a little girl. I would cut up a cardboard box, I would paint it, I would make it into a television set and get inside it. Later, when it became reality and I got into that box through which you reach millions of people into their homes, I felt like a fish in the water. I started with TV shows for teenagers, then entertainment shows and then, when I felt more drawn to the serious side of things, I changed direction. I was a news anchor for 15 years, I have moderated social and political shows, I have reported live from important events, I have learned to ask questions through which I could either draw attention to injustices or to emphasize someone’s value. All these years have helped me prepare for what I’m doing now: the diction classes or public speaking classes, the media training I provide are all aimed at helping people to bring out the best in themselves and to let themselves be seen in their best version. What are your parents like? Were they encouraging towards your interests? I was a good kid but at the same time I had a very definite need for independence. It was not often that I would set myself a goal and not follow it. I was sometimes more and sometimes less open about this.
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My parents understood this about me and from then on they always told me what they really felt about things I was doing, but at the same time gave me the freedom and confidence to follow my dreams. What was the first TV show you presented like? How about the last one? The first one was called “A crazy, crazy world” on Amerom TV. I was in highschool at the time and my colleagues kept asking me if I had a sister who worked in television - there was a huge difference between the chatty person on TV and the introvert along the school halls. Fast forward 22 years, while on my last news journal on Prima TV, I had the courage to express myself publicly, to say what I meant and, more importantly, to be not only a voice for my beliefs but also a voice for other people when necessary. How did you start supporting social projects for children? I had a peaceful life, a predictable professional trajectory and just about everything that a person could wish for within reasonable limits. But there was something missing and I didn’t know how to define it. I did recognize this hard to define factor when we crossed paths though. I wasn’t aware of it, but I knew how to make a child laugh and bring comfort. And when a child did smile to me open heartedly and held my hand it was clear to me this was the new direction I was seeking. So I first started going to a children’s institution and then I went back to school - I completed a Masters in speech therapy so that I could teach kids how to speak. I built a social