Let’s Get Social!

The Secret Power of Networking

Written by Guest Writer: Haley Lesavoy, George Washington University

As a student working in the television industry many of my peers complain that it’s not what you know, but whom you know.  While this is often times the case, what many students fail to realize is that with networking, they too can make connections with people that can mentor and help them on the road to success.           

Ever since I was little, my Dad, who’s a corporate attorney in Pennsylvania, would take my younger brothers and I along with him to his business functions.  I always loved watching how he worked a room, going up and introducing himself to each and every person and always ending every conversation with the exchange of business cards.          

As a teenager hoping to pursue a career in television, I realized early on that as important as it was for me to learn the most I could about technical skills, it was equally, if not more important, to meet the people that have already experienced what I was, and am still trying to achieve.

Last year, as a sophomore at The George Washington University, I joined GW’s chapter of the Alliance for Women in Media. A friend and I got business cards printed up and I attended all networking events and functions, playing the same game I had watched my Dad play for so many years.  While I was always the youngest one by far attending the events, I always made it a point to meet and introduce myself to as many people in the room as I could. The connections I made from attending those events have proven to be invaluable. My position as a freelancer at Bloomberg News in New York this past summer and my current position producing videos for the Washington Post were in part accomplished as a result of networking.

Professors are another valuable resource when it comes to being successful in the field.  I cannot tell you how many times I have turned to my professors for advice and guidance throughout the past couple of years.

Today, I serve as George Washington Chapter President of the Alliance for Women in Media, the very same organization I joined last year to help me get started. As I continue to pursue a career in television, I will continue to learn as much as I can, work as hard as I can, and meet as many people as I can in order to “make” it in the industry.

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Haley Lesavoy is a Junior in George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs from Allentown, Pennsylvania. She realized she wanted to go into broadcast news at the age of 11, when she anchored for her middle school’s morning announcement show Serendipity Live.

While at George Washington University, Lesavoy has worked for the school newspaper, television and radio stations and currently serves as Director of Productions for GWTV. In addition, she is host of her own music countdown show, Select Seven. She is a two-time Gracie Award Winner, recipient of the Loreen Arbus Award, has worked as a freelancer for Bloomberg News in New York and currently produces videos for the Washington Post.

Lesavoy hopes one day to host her own entertainment show, you can follow her on Twitter: @haleylesavoy and watch more of her videos on Vimeo

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Watch Haley Lesavoy On Camera Reporting for the Washington Post