In Conversation with Jake Williams

Tell us about your background: 

I started on my career path as a journalist and producer as a freshman at Cornell. That spring, I joined a fraternity and ran for an officer position in my house. When I got up to give my speech during elections, I froze from stage fright. I have no memory of what I said, but what I will always remember is my friend Aaron coming up to me after the meeting and suggesting that if I wanted to get over my fear of public speaking, that I should try getting on-air at the student-run radio station, WVBR. It took me some time to build up the courage to do it, but I'm glad I did. I got involved as a DJ and then doing sports and news updates on-air, and ended up liking it more than anything else I did at college. It helped me take what had been my greatest weaknesses - public speaking and writing - and turn them into strengths. I spent a year each at ESPN and Sporting News Radio before going to grad school for journalism at the University of Missouri with the intention of becoming a sportswriter.

There, I became, for the first time, intently interested in politics, and after graduating, worked on several campaigns, culminating in working as a field representative for the Obama primary campaign in New Hampshire in 2007. At the time I left, I wrongly thought the media industry would be a more secure career bet than an Obama presidency, so I went to work as a local newspaper reporter on Long Island, where I discovered what it meant to be a public figure. After being laid off during the Great Recession, I found work at CBS Sports, first as a researcher and later as a producer and writer.

I've worked in every form of media - television, radio, newspapers and now podcasting - and in newsroom environments with tight deadline pressure to get things out to tens of thousands, or more, readers, listeners and viewers. I'm now in development on a documentary podcast series on the history of athlete activism in the United States, and am hoping to sell the series with the intention of producing and writing the series.

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

The enormous upheaval the media industry would experience because of massive consolidation, what the loss of resources put into local journalism would cause in terms of people's trust in the media, and the impacts of social media giving everyone and anyone the ability to have a public platform.

Best career advice you've ever received?

It's probably true of a lot of industries, but I remember someone telling me the media industry is a battle of attrition. People will give up and leave the industry for whatever reason - job opportunities in bigger cities for better pay, for example - and the people who make it are the ones who don't give up.

The other great advice I got, which was specifically about interviewing, but could be applied to most things - if you ask a question, listen to the answer and don't worry about your next question. There might be something in that answer you should follow up on that might take you down a path you never expected, but that will leave you having learned a lot more about your interview subject than any of the initial questions you had might have allowed for.

What leadership qualities are important to you?

Kindness, the ability to listen, managing morale and being able to communicate clearly what you want from your team and hopefully the ability to bring out their best

What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far? 

The media industry is extremely competitive and changing constantly, so I have to keep teaching myself new skills and technology to keep up.

And for fun, what is your favorite wardrobe staple?

Colorful shoes - people always seem to notice my footwear more than anything else I wear unless I have on a tie.

LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakegwilliams/

Instagram: @jgwilliams99