Inspired By Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters recently passed away at the age of 93 and I wanted to take a look at her career and life and honor what a trailblazer she was for women journalists.

I remember watching her as a young woman myself on The Today Show and I have always been a huge fan of her special interviews. 

Barbara began her career on The Today Show in 1961 and by 1974 she was co-hosting. The first woman to co-host the show. It’s thrilling to turn on the TV today and see TWO women hosting.

“We’re not here without Barbara Walters knocking down that door and doing it when there was no precedent, there was no example, there was no representation of that path,” current host, Savannah Guthrie said.

Just two years later, at ABC News, Barbara Walters would hit yet another milestone, becoming the first woman anchor on an evening news program. It’s amazing to think this was only 47 years ago!

She was offered a $1 million dollar salary, with a 5-year contract at that time, which made her the highest paid news personality in television history. Truly extraordinary. 

After ABC News she went on to co-host and produce for 20/20, spending 25 years there, was co-creator and co-executive producer of The View where she spent 17 years and she held her “10 Most Fascinating People” interviews for over 20 years. Most of these projects overlapped one another. Talk about one busy woman! 

She was also a working mother and talked about balancing work and life as she raised her daughter, Jacqueline, whom she adopted in 1968. 

She won 12 Emmy awards over her career and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. 

The list of people she interviewed over her career is nothing short of incredible, including every sitting president since Richard Nixon (Trump and Biden were interviewed by her before becoming President.) 

She asked tough questions, she never seemed intimidated no matter who she was sitting across from and she seemed to bring us, the viewers, right into the conversation with her. Her legacy lives on. 

Watching her interviews over the years inspired me, as I now do interviews for Her Success Story, Slater Success Live, at events and for my upcoming book. I read about how much prep Barbara would do before interviews and then let it go, so she could be present for the interview and let it lead her where it was important to go.  

I saw this quote from her and it is the epitome of showing up, something I tell my clients daily. 

“Just work harder than everybody. You are not going to get it by whining. You are not going to get it by shouting. You are not going to get it by quitting. You are going to get it by being there. I think that’s what happened with me.” - Barbara Walters