Expressed opinions Entrepreneur Contributors are their own.
Soledad O’Brien has left a full-fledged career in network television to build an integrated media production company from the ground up. It took passion, resilience and initiative to do that; All the values that O’Brien has learned since childhood. Growing up in a large middle-class family, O’Brien was taught the value of a dollar, and if you want something, whether it’s a physical item or an opportunity, you need to figure out a way to get it.
Soledad O’Brien Productions
At first, the “something” she wanted was to be a doctor. She studied pre-med in college and took a job as an assistant nurse. However, it was during this time that he learned an important life lesson that would change the course of his career: You should not only follow something good because you, you must be passionate about it. Although O’Brien described his biochemistry coursework as “good to memorize,” he never felt more inclined to really understand the material.
He did not find this passion for journalism until he started interning at a TV news station. From producing and reporting on local stations to stepping into the national stage and making career headlines on CNN, O’Brien has always loved being creative and able to shape stories.
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So, what led him to leave the network and start production at Soledad O’Brien in 2013? O’Brien explained that the decision came down to his frustration with the way he wanted to live and being “just a body” in a sea of reporters telling the same story. Re-framing the same news instead of his passion for valuable reporting is a constant condition that creates the highest ratings. Starting production at Soledad O’Brien was a way to regain control and regain a sense of purpose.
O’Brien credits hard savings and financial resilience as the secret weapon that enabled him to make this leap. O’Brien explains that there is a significant gap between the financial decisions we make and the way we live our lives. She is passionate about helping people navigate this crossroads and is now co-hosting new radio shows and podcasts from Edelman Financial Engine, Everyday Wealth, providing guidance and insights to help listeners take control of their financial possibilities.
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In addition to making sure he had the right financial base, O’Brien also leaned towards friends who were running the company when he entered this whole new world of entrepreneurship. Despite years of experience under his belt, at first he constantly felt like a “new guy” as he navigated the unfamiliarity of running a business. Every day brings new challenges and unknown areas, such as “How do we manage a production budget?” Or “What are we going to do about quarterly taxes?” However, the more time he spent on the job, the more frequently these questions and feelings of uncertainty were answered and replaced with confidence.
Through the production of Soledad O’Brien, he uncovers meaningful untold stories that take on a challenging look at the often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, opportunity and poverty. Outside of his professional career, O’Brien has contributed to many projects that focus on filling the equity gap and empowering people with the right financial tools. From starting the PowHERful Foundation to help young girls in color graduate college, to co-hosting daily resources with his media colleague Jean Chatsky to facilitate discussions on important financial decisions, O’Brien is passionate about helping people use money as a tool. . To live the way they want.
For O’Brien, the entrepreneur lets him take control of his life because it brings one of the biggest benefits: “Owning your own time.” Coming out of the epidemic, with more emphasis on the value of time, more and more people are looking for an entrepreneurial lifestyle. For those looking to make the leap, O’Brien’s biggest advice is to talk to an asset planner right away and find out if you’re financially ready. From there, he recommends “a slow roll in it”, a nice time to gather advice and equip yourself so that you can finally “make your own way by taking in all that valuable information.”
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