Faces + Places
hundred heads of cattle and lifting hay bales in the blistering sun or in the depths of winter. She said, “I learned hard work as a kiddo. I had a colorful upbringing.” During high school Abe tried a little bit of everything from volleyball and cheerleading to student council. When she got to college she set her sights on broadcasting, a dream she had since high school. Her junior year she was hired at a TV station in Mansfield, OH as a part time videographer. “The equipment back then was big and I was carrying heavy equipment,” she said. The work ethic she was raised on helped her keep her focus on her long-term aspirations. “I was just hungry. I wanted to go get it just like a lot of young journalists do. We will just do anything it takes even if it means staying up all night to study and going to work the next day. I had this passion to be a TV news anchor. I Felt like God was calling me to it. I was hungry for it.,” Abe said. It paid off. Her senior year she got an on-air job reporting at WMFD-TV. Abe graduated from Ashland University in 2005 with a degree in journalism and electronic media production. Before she graduated, Abe met her future husband, who had moved to Kentucky to begin his career. She already had her sights set on Lexington, but it would have to wait. Abe’s first job was in
Charleston, SC where she spent six months working for the local CBS affiliate. “l learned a lot there. I learned a lot about this business. It’s a tough business. It toughens you up. You need to make slot, you need to knock on doors you are afraid to knock on,” she said.
“I HAD THIS PASSION TO BE A TV NEWS ANCHOR. I FELT LIKE GOD WAS CALLING ME TO DO IT.” When a position for a general assignment reporter opened at WTVQ in Lexington, Abe took it to be closer to her fiancé. “This is where I started my roots and started home,” she said. The couple married in 2006 and in 2010 welcomed twins, a son, Kayo and daughter, Kemi. “It was a dream come true,” she said. After her contract was up at 36, Abe stayed home to raise her children and pursue a master’s degree online with Boston University in health communication which she earned in 2012. “It confirmed my interest in nutrition and medical advancements and all kinds of health reporting,” she said. Abe calls those years “mommyhood and the masters.”
TOPS Magazine | June 2017
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