Next week will mark my one-year anniversary since joining the Village Media news team and I have to say, it’s been a pretty great ride.
Honestly, I never thought I would even have the opportunity to get back into the news business given how the industry has looked in recent years. Prior to having kids, I could literally pack up and move across the country for a job — something I did twice.
Post-kids, that was definitely not an option anymore and I didn’t hold out a lot of hope that there would ever be an opportunity to get back in the business where I lived. So when I saw the job posting for Village Media, I immediately updated my resume and hit send. And I am grateful it got noticed!
I have worked as a reporter in community news for nearly two decades in towns of various sizes — one as small as approximately 3,500 people. Minus a few brief stints in magazine work and corporate communications, it’s all I have known as a career. And I missed it... a lot!
I will admit I was nervous about “getting back out there” when I applied for this position last year and I definitely wondered if I still had what it took to do the job.
For the first few months, I definitely grappled with a bit of “imposter syndrome” when someone asked me what I did for a living. Even hearing my kids tell their friends that “my mommy is a reporter” felt odd for a while, because anyone who knew me growing up knows I was definitely more of an introvert. I still am, but just like Beyonce (OK definitely not just like Queen B) I have to draw from somewhere deep inside and put on my own Sasha Fierce hat.
COVID has definitely changed how things are done right now, but the nuts and bolts of the job will never change: Talk to people and tell their stories. I am lucky in that my “beat” tends to allow me to look at things from the more “human side” of things — which is what I personally love to do and, hopefully, do well.
Getting to do it as part of a team that is supportive and kind — despite some pretty cheesy senses of humour — definitely makes me want to show up every day and do my best for them and for our readers.
Getting to do it in pyjamas sometimes may also be a perk!
Nikki Cole is a staff reporter at Village Media.
