Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien

CNN Anchor / Special Correspondent


CNN

New York, NY USA


Just because somebody says you can't, doesn't necessarily mean you can't. So how bad do you want it?

Videos

By Roadtrip Nation

Soledad O'Brien

Milestones

My road in life has been direct.
A defining moment for her was seeing her mom stop and watch as the principal disciplined one of the only black kids at her school.
Because her mom watching, the principal was pressured to speak to the child with the respect he deserved (which might not have happened otherwise).
She says that seeing the power of acting as a faithful witness was one of the first experiences that made her want to become a journalist.
Left Harvard to start working in TV news and she fell in love with the job on the very first day.
She worked her way up from production assistant, to writer trainee, to her first reporting job at an NBC affiliate in San Francisco.
Always set three goals for herself before every broadcast; it'd be things as small as, "stop nodding your head so much."
She encourages road-trippers to be really good in the moment, no matter what they're doing, because it will pay off down the line.
Says she got to where she is by always taking jobs that stretched her and scared her, and by refusing to take "no" for an answer.
Keep following my journey

Career

CNN Anchor / Special Correspondent

I produce experiential, character-driven documentaries that illuminate the challenging issues facing real people today.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Journalism
Television
Communicating / Sharing Stories

Interviewed By

New York City

New York City

It's the last week of the team's six-week Roadtrip-and also Hannah and Antoine's first time in New York City. While there, they meet up with MMA (Mixed Marital Arts) reporter Ariel Helwani who talks about his beginnings as a shy kid to becoming one of the most notable MMA sports reporters in the world. At the end of their conversation, he stresses to the team, "don't give up on your dreams." Antoine, Hannah, and Nika then move on to their last interview at the CNN headquarters where they meet with anchor Soledad O'Brien who talks about the hard work it takes to follow a dream. Afterward, the team reflects on the events of the trip and the people they met before signing the Green RV and saying their goodbyes.