She drove to Chicago for a job she didn't get. One season later, she was a producer on The Jerry Springer Show.
Reena Friedman Watts was a small-town girl from Kentucky chasing a radio job. When it fell through, she spotted a flyer for Jerry Springer Show interns in the same courtyard, called her dad, and walked into NBC Tower two weeks later.
Then years later she started over again. More than once.
If you feel stuck in your career and wonder whether it's too late to pivot, this conversation with host LuRae Lumpkin is a permission slip with a plan attached.
You'll hear:
• What Reena watched to go from intern to producer in a single season
• Why she worked for the boss everyone else avoided
• Why she left a producer title to answer phones in Los Angeles
• How twenty years of persistence with one publicist turned into one of the last interviews Jerry Springer ever gave, and later a piece of an HBO documentary
• How she built the Better Call Daddy podcast around daily calls with her father
• How to rebuild your identity after every move and every role
• Her career change advice for seasoned professionals
Now a mom of four and 500 episodes deep, Reena still lives by the rule that carried her through every pivot: if the idea is real, put it on the calendar or act on it today. Otherwise, it quietly disappears.
Links and Resources:
Connect with Reena: Better Call Daddy Podcast
Free resources from LuRae:
If this episode spoke to you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with someone standing at their own crossroads.
Chapters:
- (00:00:00) The creative idea that cannot wait
- (00:02:05) Better Call Daddy and the father-daughter legacy project
- (00:05:30) Intern to producer: what she watched to get promoted
- (00:08:20) A singing scholarship, sports medicine, and the pivot to radio
- (00:13:40) How she landed one of Jerry Springer's last interviews
- (00:19:20) The episode that led to an HBO documentary
- (00:23:50) Rebuilding your identity after every move and every role
- (00:26:40) Leaving the nine-to-five and learning sponsorships on the fly
- (00:31:10) Career change advice for seasoned professionals
- (00:37:50) Confidence, cutting toxicity, and the gold in your inbox
Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to and then i did this? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube to leave us a review!
