Talking with Tammie

Some people are natural athletes. Some are gifted in the arts. Those gifted with a mind for numbers and systems contribute in engineering and sciences and more. It’s these natural gifts that allow each of us the opportunity to shine in our own way, to make the world that much better for those still to come.Tammie Reed can talk.”Everyone has a gift,” says Tammie. “Mine is running my mouth.”Taking it on the RoadIn June 2005, Tammie Reed graduated from University of Phoenix with her Bachelor of Science in Business Management. She’d just been downsized a third time and was growing frustrated with the economic climate dictating her professional success. “You don’t have to depend on the state of the economy. You can’t rely on corporate America.” What her experience and education taught her, she says, “You can do it on your own.”She moved her family to Atlanta and began chipping away at her dreams of broadcast success. “It’s not an easy industry to break into,” says Lloyd Wright, 30-year broadcast veteran. “The news markets are shrinking and under-funded under corporate ownership. There’s simply less money to throw at talent that may end up the next Oprah. There’s too much risk to local outlets.”Tammie interned as a publicist on “Charlie’s Talk” for two years before learning that lesson the hard way. The show was cancelled leaving her once again at a crossroad. “If I learned anything from that experience, it’s that producing a show is not that hard.” So she picked up a camera and started shooting.New Media EconomyThe nascent new media marketplace has shown enormous promise over the last decade. As more and more traditional broadcast outlets are forced to reevaluate their models in the face of shrinking viewership, indipendent producers are in a position to capitalize. In fact, in a move that stunned much of the media community last month, ClearChannel station KFTY-TV in Santa Rosa, California turned their model on its ear: they layed off most of the station’s news gathering staff and plan to ask the local community to provide content for the station. In a recent interview with The San Francisco Chronicle, Clear Channel executive Steve Spendlove says it’s a sea change, but has promise. Promise, especially given the station has been struggling to stay afloat — and to stay relevant — in the market for many years.It’s this climate that makes for the perfect opportunity for industrious independents to make a difference. Leo Laporte, one of independent media’s pioneers, says that major media has done it to themselves. “Mainstream media turned into a machine for reaching their hands in peoples’ pockets. That’s why most people don’t like mainstream media — its very clear that’s what they’re doing.” But what Laport and others have created is not just a replacement for traditional media. “This isn’t radio. This isn’t TV. To the degree that we can distance ourselves from old media is the degree to which we’ll be successful.”VisualizationTammie Reed says she’s the perfect entrepreneur. “It’s not that I’m a bad employee. But I always end up telling other people what to do.” Bossing people around may be one thing, but putting the system in place to achieve goals is something completely different. And there, Tammie is a hardened achiever. For her, it’s all about visualizing success.”I put a Vision Board on the wall in my office.” It’s a bulletin board, she says, covered with clippings from magazines and pictures of the people she wants to interview. “It’s covered with little heads.”Not for long, though. Tammie’s success rate so far is one for the majors. Her latest batch of shows includes interviews with Ludacris, Usher, Laura Turner, and Michael Knight from the show “Project Runway.” Bill Rancic, entrepreneur and winner of “The Apprentice”, liked Tammie so much he invited her to his wedding. “I don’t know how I’m doing it. But I’m just doing it.”She’s landed the show on local stations in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Alabama. Los Angeles and Miami are coming soon, as well as her home state of Ohio.What’s coming out of this show for Tammie Reed, and her hands on experience with indie media production, is a drive to give something back. This spring, she’s launching a second show, “Talking with Kids”. For her, it’s an opportunity to give her own kids a chance to explore business and media as she has done. “It’s such an amazing experience. Now, I have a chance to show others how to start their own business, to get started and give back to the community.”"In ten years, I want to be national,” she says of her next move. “How it’s going to work, I don’t know. That’s not the problem.” It’s an expensive process to produce a television show on the rough. But Tammie Reed has learned that her network is more powerful than she’d ever imagined, and her instinct is rarely wrong. “I don’t care if I’m homeless. I’m doing this show.”__________________________________Find Tammie Reed online at www.talkingwithtami.com. Look for the show in your local area coming soon.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 5:10 pm. It is filed under Blog and tagged with Social. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.