Author: Kelly

1. You started as a lifestyle reporter, but a visit to Walt Disney World changed your life. What about that experience hooked you and made you focus full-time on theme parks?

Part of what I love about having a journalism background and having experience in reporting is that you can choose any career you want. If you randomly end up in Orlando and ask yourself, ‘What is going on in this city?’ you can [turn it into] a job, which is exactly what happened to me. I got married in 2015 and my husband suggested I go to Disney World for my bachelorette party. There were 11 or 12 of us, and it was the most complicated vacation I’ve ever planned in my entire life. A normal person would think it was too difficult, and never want to go back again, but me, as a reporter, went, ‘What’s going on here?’ And I needed to just dial in and figure out how people do this, and that hunt for more information and learning more about Disney World has sustained me 10 years to this day, where I’m still invested and curious in everything that’s happening there.

2. On the outside, it appears that you have a “dream job.” Is that accurate or a misconception? What kinds of challenges does your job present that most people wouldn’t realize?

I love my job, but it is, at the end of the day, challenging. While no one wants to hear someone complain about how often I have to go to the Magic Kingdom, there is an element to reporting on one of, if not the largest, entertainment companies in the world that often gets under-discussed. Everything I say—even if I say it casually into a mic instead of written down for a major publication—has to be at the same level of expertise and professionalism. That is where the lines blur, and it can be really tricky, especially when you host your own podcast. Because I can’t ever tell people something that isn’t fact-checked or isn’t true. Everyone makes mistakes, but as a reporter, it’s very important to me that even if I’m yapping in my house [on my podcast], just telling a story about a theme park, all of it has to be true and accurate. And so, I do still very much live a life of a newspaper reporter, even in this fun context.

3. You’ve won numerous awards for your stories, with your work published in a variety of outlets including The New York Times. What’s one story you’ve written throughout your career that stands out the most?

The most challenging story that I have written while covering theme parks was definitely the one I wrote for Vox after Walt Disney World reopened during the pandemic. My job for a long time was real light and fun. It was roller coasters, it was “lands,” it was fun-themed cupcakes. And then it became local government, union mandates, and wastewater levels. It really became a very serious reporting job. And that shift was something I didn’t expect but thank goodness I had the training for it. I went to Disney World for the reopening, and it was really challenging to report about, because I felt like ‘I’m in this space, I need to make sure I represent every single person in this puzzle.’ I needed to represent cast members, who are the employees at Walt Disney World. I needed to represent local government. I spoke to [Florida State House Representative] Anna Eskamani, who is incredible, just one of the most prolific voices in Florida government today. I was able to really piece together a full picture of what it’s like, not just, ‘These are the lines! These are the 6-foot tape [markers] on the ground.’ I was able to really report about it from all angles, and that was extremely challenging, but definitely one of the proudest moments of my career, because I felt like I really was in a time and place where I was able to cover it as accurately as humanly possible.

4. Has your podcast changed the way you think about storytelling compared to print or online journalism? Is podcasting and creating content for social media an evolution of more traditional reporting?

I’m still a journalist, but I think that podcast host, content creator, reporter—that all needs to be woven in, which is modern-day journalism in a nutshell. I do think the lines have blurred a lot, because there is a huge spectrum. I don’t think you have to choose which bucket you’re in, and if people perceive you as a content creator, that’s totally fine. Just as the way social media evolves, my career has shifted. And I really don’t know what happens next. Now the modern model of what I do is, ‘If you’re freelance, you have a niche, you’re known for this one thing. You write some stories, you have a podcast, you’re on social media, you post videos, and maybe you have a newsletter.’ And what’s interesting is that four years from now, that won’t be the case. But because I have a journalism background, because I chose to study a trade and not just a subject, I really do feel like I can pivot to whatever comes next, because at the end of the day, it’s all storytelling. And if you can get information out in a clear, concise way, that’s really all that matters, not the formula from which that comes.

5. What advice would you give to students or aspiring journalists who want to tell stories that capture wonder, creativity, and joy? Do you have any suggestions for students who want to turn their passion for writing about a niche topic into a profession?

The great thing about graduating from the College of Media is that you’re going to have the skills, no question. Now, the challenge is finding out how to make your passion your profession. Let’s say you have a different media job and want to report on this one wacky thing. You can self-publish posts, newsletters, even videos about it. You can become an expert, the face of that, and likely be hired to report about it. 

Remember, at the end of the day, you came from studies that benefit you in any career you end up taking. Having the expertise is only half of it. The more abilities you have, the easier it’s going to be to get work. Early on in my career, I would upsell a story by [providing photos]. If you have video skills, on-camera skills, voiceover skills, it will always benefit you. The more experience that you can have under your belt in all these different facets of reporting, the easier it’s going to be—freelance or full-time—to land a job.