I didn’t expect to be writing about my most recent experience so quickly, but after my announcement of CityMaven, it’s like something clicked and the events I ended up going to immediately following were a true testament to the saying “if you put something out into the universe, things will happen!”
The morning after my launch, I kicked it off by going to Good Morning America, where I go to most often because I’ve become friendly with the people there and the environment has become a very comforting one (even at 6am!). I was mainly going to see JLO, Bill Skarsgård, and Stephen King as their guests, but like in a lot of other instances where the guests were my main drive for going, what ended up happening was way more exciting.
As soon as I got there, the security guard outside the main door recognized me. It’s not the first time this has happened; he usually asks me why I look so familiar, and this time, he didn’t even asked. He just smiled, laughed and sarcastically said “again?”. The only response I had was to laugh back at him and shrug it off (granted, this is my 11th time going so I could only hope someone would question why I was there again, LOL!) He ended up walking over to me and saying “we should probably be on a name basis at this point”. So we exchanged names, a few words about the upcoming football season, and then out of nowhere he asked if I wanted to watch the first segment of the show in the downstairs studio. I was taken back by his question because I didn’t know that was a thing, but was way too excited to potentially experience something new that I immediately said yes.
** Quick background for those of you who are not too familiar with the show; Good Morning America’s first hour is filmed downstairs with just Robins Roberts, Michael Strahan, George Stephanopoulos, and Ginger Zee to discuss and tape all weather and world news for the morning. The second half is filmed upstairs with a live studio audience and covers all the celebrity guests and entertainment news. **
Now back to my story.. He led me inside the downstairs studio and had me sit on a ledge in the corner next to a lovely couple who was visiting from Orlando, FL. We got to see Robin, Michael, George, and Ginger all do their early morning segments (some pre-recorded, some live). Since it’s just them and the camera crew, it’s a much more relaxed environment compared to upstairs that is always filled with lots of energy. While sitting there, a camera man stood nearby and when he looked my way, I smiled and waved to say hi. Well, that one simple act caught his attention enough that he decided to come over and give me a lesson on how the time sheets and cameras worked in relation to other news stations. I found it truly fascinating to learn more about how they align segments to ensure national and local news time up perfectly, especially when it comes to the weather! Another crew member was great at asking Robin and Michael to come over for a photo op with us - she wanted to ensure we had some quality time with them before heading upstairs to the live studio :). Robin and Michael were as sweet and charming as always, taking pics and conversing for a little before they finished up and headed upstairs.
When I arrived upstairs to the studio, Tom Kelly was already gearing up the crowd and filling the room with a ton of energy. I met Tom the first time I went to GMA - he is the comedian/hype man whose job it is to rile up the crowd before the live segment starts so when you’re watching at home, you see a crowd thats cheering loudly and reacting to everything going on. He took an immediate liking to my family and since then, we have stayed in touch and whenever I come now, he loves to make it known that I’ve been there a million times and has the crowd acknowledge me for my dedication to the show.
JLO, Bill Skarsgård, and Stephen King were all great guests to be present for - JLO received a standing ovation while discussing her new movie, Hustlers and wedding plans with AROD (ugh, swoon), while Bill and Stephen were greeted with awe as they talked about their new IT movie, “ITChapter2”, as well as Stephen’s new book, The Institute. While they were all entertaining to the crowd, I was more entertained by the fact that during these segments, a props manager walked by me, tapped my shoulder and asked me if I used to work there as an intern. I laughed and said no I come very often which is why he must recognize me, and he responded with, “you look so familiar I swore you did!” That was the third person from the crew to come up to me that morning and I was floored - talk about a coincidence!
The point of the story and what I came to realize after this experience is that if I didn’t go and put myself out there or speak up when I was in the moment, I don’t think they would have even noticed that I was there so much. I know I am not the first person to go multiple times, but when I do, I try to make it a priority to get to know the workers behind the screen; get their backgrounds, their perspectives on the shows, etc. and its been so nice to slowly see the results of that come to fruition each time I go! I used to never be able to do that unless someone opened up the conversation first, and that change has definitely happened from going by myself and wanting to make the experience better than just sitting in the stands and watching from afar. Nothing changes overnight, but I will leave you with this: if you’re willing to put yourself out there and not fear the consequences, the chances are, the results will turn out better than you think.
