Meet the Media
Amber Philpott
WKYT promotes a brand that stands for Kentucky and anchor Amber Philpott embodies that spirit. Born and raised in the rural outskirts of Cynthiana, Philpott jokes she grew up so far out there wasn’t a soul around. “It was a good childhood,” she said. Philpott grew up surrounded by her parents and grandparents. “My grandfather drove a school bus for 47 years. He never met a stranger,” she said. Something Philpott may have inherited. Philpott’s parents remember their only child lining up her stuffed animals across her bed creating a captive audience for her creative mind. “I would do my version of a newscast,” Philpott reflected. Speaking in front of a crowd has never intimidated her. When she was just a little girl, Philpott stood up in church to speak with what she describes as a huge booming country accent. “I said I wanted to read from the book of Hebrews with the biggest accent ever.” Accent aside, public speaking came naturally. “I’ve always been that child who talked too much, who had a wildly creative and over zealous imagination,” she said. She took that imgination to Morehead State University where Philpott earned a degree in communications and electronic media in 2003. Armed
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by Michelle Rauch photos courtesy of Amber Philpott
with that, she was ready to follow in the footsteps of her idol, the long-time Lexington anchor she grew up watching. “I loved Sky Yancy when I was little. I wanted to be Sky Yancy,” she said. She wouldn’t have to wait long. Two months after graduating, Philpott was hired at WYMT in Hazard as a backup producer. While it was not the onair position she had her sights on, it was a valuable foot in the door that gave her experience. “I begged them. I will sweep the floors if you will give me a chance,” she remembered. It wasn’t long before Philpott became a reporter. She was a one man band which means she did everything. “I tell everyone I loved working in the mountains because everyone asks, ‘where’s your crew’ and I say ‘you are looking at her’.” Four months later, in October, she was already poised to sit at the anchor desk for the morning show. “It was on from then. I was hooked for sure,” she said. After a short 15 months at WYMT, Philpott was asked to come to Lexington to fill in at WKYT for three days while a co-worker was on maternity leave. She co-anchored the 11pm news with Sam Dick during the impor-