Before any of the jobs, there was a show called In Real Time. I produced it for TrojanVision, USC’s campus television station, and I don’t use the word “produced” loosely. I’d roll in with three or four camera operators, run multiple interview stations, carry each episode through editing and on-air promotion, and do the part most students never even thought about: convincing the venues to let us in.

The show took us behind the scenes at Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère in Las Vegas, Medieval Times, Knott’s Scary Farm, the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, Santa Anita, onto the floor of the U.S. Senate, and even to Cuba with the USC baseball team.

The Cirque du Soleil episode won a College Emmy.

Looking back, this is where the thread started. Long before I worked in marketing, I was helping people tell stories they couldn’t tell on their own. The formats have changed. The audiences have changed. The work hasn’t.