See a Photo Gallery of pictures taken during the conference.

Conversations with Soledad
A Work-Life Luncheon for Women in Media

On February 15, 2007, over 120 women gathered at the Princeton Club for Conversations with Soledad, a lunch-time visit with Soledad O’Brien, co-anchor of CNN’s American Morning. This event was Murray Hill Institute’s first profession-specific conference. Attending were journalists and editors from magazines and news agencies, producers from television and radio networks, as well as a number of independent writers, producers, and journalism students.

Soledad enchanted and inspired us all with a combination of humor and keen insight that is uniquely her own. Her candor clearly struck a chord with the audience as she spoke about her experiences on location covering the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, anecdotes about life at home with four young children, and her early experiences as an aspiring journalist. Woven throughout were several themes that gave “hints of how to keep the scales even,” as one participant put it. Her strong and close-knit family, particularly her husband, with whom she has a collaborative understanding that they will both support each other’s career opportunities, her energetic interest in her field and capacity for hard work, her personal and professional integrity, and her personal friendships have all played vital roles in her ability to manage a busy career while giving primary importance to her family.

During the question and answer period, she gave encouraging and thoughtful advice to a number of students and younger journalists who asked about career advancement: start in whatever way you can, work hard, learn and go forward if you stumble, without worrying too much about what other people may think—good advice as well for more experienced people who are beginning a new or challenging adventure.