ABC station head tells students to ‘find mentors and be a mentor’

By Amber Marshall
May 9, 2014

“Find mentors and be a mentor” was a key piece of advice provided by Rebecca Campbell, president of ABC owned television stations group. Campbell visited Cabrini on April 23 as the Executive in Residence as a part of the Nerney Leadership Institute.

As part of a program organized by the Nerney Leadership Institute, Campbell’s visit shed light on the possibilities of obtaining a career in the field of broadcasting as well as highlighting the reality of the digital revolution.

Throughout the day, Campbell was scheduled to meet with communication and business students in the morning and the rest of the Cabrini community later in the afternoon. In both cases, Campbell utilized the wisdom she has gained in her career and instilled it in those who attended her talk.

“I have seen an unbelievable transformation in the last 10 years.” ABC, which is owned by the Disney Corporation, runs eight separate television stations in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno. However, in the last 10 years, it has branched out from those eight stations to reach 138 different content media or platforms.

Campbell’s meeting with Cabrini communication and business majors was just one part of her-day-long visit to the campus. Later on in the day, Campbell then met with the Cabrini community as a whole to discuss her role at ABC and how she obtained the position she currently has.

Campbell was appointed to president of ABC Owned Television Stations Group in May of 2010, but there was a lot of hard work and dedication that led her to that position. “Always aspire for the next thing, but don’t focus on the next thing,” Campbell said. She stressed the importance of focusing on the current position being held and how loving what you do can open doors. “Every position I have held was one I would have been happy to retire doing,” Campbell said.

With the rapid changes within technology and society, jobs have decreased in certain areas. There are a lot of jobs that are considered to be a craft, which is why it is important to broaden one’s horizon and learn multiple skill sets. “Change allows for more platforms to get the message across.” Campbell said, “Make your own noise. Speaking from my experience, we put the best people in a position, man or woman.”

In current society sex, race and ethnicity hold less weight in the hiring process, which is why it is important to offer many different skills a company may need. “When I hire someone they need three things. To be smart, have energy/be passionate and have integrity. If you don’t have the third, the first and second don’t matter.”

Although Campbell has achieved much success in her life, one of the messages she shared was something her father once told her, “you will do well in your life, but you need to do good.” It is important to be good at your job but in order to achieve success it is also important to treat people the way you want to be treated, Campbell said.

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Amber Marshall

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