ODE TO CALEB: Part I of my conversation with Paula Madison, Executive Vice President of Diversity for NBC Universal.

     *One of the things that fascinates me most about people is their back story - - the events and milestones that played a role in shaping their lives.

     I had the honor of interviewing Mrs. Madison for the first time more than eight years ago while writing for Impact Magazine.

     She had just been promoted to president and general manager for KNBC in Los Angles, California, the second largest television market. She was the first black woman to become general manager at a top-five network-owned station.

     At that time, I was charged with researching and pitching story ideas to the editor. During my research I came across Paula’s story. I knew absolutely nothing about her at the time. I did know that whoever she was, she was special. Special to me means, here is a black woman in my profession who has realized enormous success in the news business. Success that this little Louisiana girl had not seen, at least not in the mainstream news organizations with which I had become familiar.

     Now, more than eight years later, her star is still rising and Paula Madison is as gracious now as she was then. Her staff equally so. Her office is located on the top floor so the views are spectacular. This is important because in the Los Angeles area the naked eye view of the city, on a smog free day, goes for miles.

Paula Madison

     When the interview began my first question was, ‘What’s the best thing about being Paula Madison?’

     “That’s easy. The absolute best thing about being me is that I am a Grandmother. In the past, people would ask me what was my best accomplishment, what am I the proudest of - - and, I would say, well, my best accomplishment ever is being a Mother,” says Madison. “ So, I didn’t think that anything could be better. Now I know that even better than being a parent is being a grandparent. My husband and I are unbelievably happy.”

     Paula’s daughter is a single mom and a doctor who is in her fourth year of residency, which is the medical training required of doctors prior to solo practice in their chosen field of study. Mrs. Madison was newly married and only twenty-three years old when she became pregnant with her daughter. She was juggling graduate school, work and adjusting to her new life as a wife and mother. A scenario that many in this day and age are also experiencing.

     “I could say that it was somewhat overwhelming, but it wasn’t,”  admits Madison. “It was for me [an opportunity] to line these things up as best as possible and figure out of everything that I am staring at, what are my priorities? Well, my number one priority was Mother. My second number one priority was wife, and everything else fell away after that.”

     With that assessment, Paula took a leave of absence from her graduate studies program at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. In 1974, when her daughter turned 5months old, Madison got her first job as a newspaper reporter with the Syracuse Herald Journal. She credits her mother for helping her and her first husband with their young daughter while they worked. Paula worked days and her husband worked rotating shifts - two weeks during daytime hours. “My mother would fly in when we both worked days and she would stay with us for two weeks. Without her none of this would have been possible in many ways.” 

     Madison’s daughter is part of an increasing population of parents who are raising their kids without the benefit of having a spouse or their parents’ physical help. And, most moms now days particularly those of the 50’s generation are employed full-time. Another factor is sometimes physical distance, which fortunately is a non factor in this case. 

     “Thirty years makes a huge difference,” says Madison. “[My husband and I ] were fortunate to be able to provide my daughter with a Nanny for her son. And, we see him and her - more him - four days a week and we usually have him on weekends. So the difference between then and now, between mommy and grandma is that I have the experience of being mommy. I have the ability to look back and see the decisions and the lifestyle changes I made to be able to anticipate what my daughter may be facing. To the extent that I can give her some guidance, or I call it wisdom or mother wit for her and my grandson. I do.”

     Family is of paramount importance to Madison. She not only gives guidance to her daughter, but she and her two brothers work in unison to impart strong values with 

younger family members .

     “It is very important that I live my life in an honorable fashion. I think that one of the things missing from some of the conversations that some of us are having with our children is the concept of not bringing shame upon your family,“ says Madison. “There’s   a legacy to be handed down. It’s important that my daughter, my nieces, nephews and my great nieces and nephews see that this generation is taking care of not only itself, but future generations.”

CAREER: Funny how life happens. Paula’s strategically mapped out career plans take a new direction. 

     Journalism was not Paula Madison’s first career choice. It was education. Every summer since the age of 13, Paula worked as a day camp counselor or camp instructor for the Archdiocese of New York. She spent that time working with children as young as age 6 up to her peer age group. Using her experience working with youth and the knowledge that pursuing a career in education was indeed one of the normal career paths taken by blacks at that time. Madison set out to train for the inevitable. She received a scholarship to attend Vassar College where she pursued Black American Studies and Education.

     “I was going to pursue a doctorate in educational administration. So, I already had that mapped out.” In fact, she had already been accepted into Columbia University’s Teacher’s College when she applied to the Newhouse School of Journalism.

     “I had done my student teaching. It wasn’t nearly as easy as I kind of set myself up to believe it might be. Not that I ever thought teaching was easy,” she comments. “ I had worked with kids every summer, but it was very, very different in a classroom setting. I had anticipated that there would be a certain foundation of knowledge that I could build upon. And, once I got into the classroom, what I realized was that there was an awful lot of remediation that I would have to work with [the students] on before I could even start the work that I was there to work with them on.” Her experience in the classroom was in some ways the antithesis to her initial teaching experience and expectations.

      As life would have it, a close friend of Paula’s who had admired her writing ability suggested that she consider attending journalism school.

     “I was totally unaware of what the profession of journalism was. Now, did I read newspapers absolutely. And, did I watch television and listen to the radio, no question. Did I understand that that profession was called journalism … never knew that. I was not aware that there were all of these other fields for which we [African Americans] could be gainfully employed.”

     Madison says while growing up in her New York community she was fully aware of the normal career route for blacks during that era - - that of doctor, lawyer or educator. She chose educator.

      “You could count every African American in an anchor and or reporter role on less than one hand. So, it never entered my consciousness that this is a job, and that this is a job that I could think about. So, when [my friend] suggested that and explained to me what journalism in fact is, I thought, wow, I probably would like to do that. So, I switched [professions] and applied for a fellowship at the Newhouse School. I went to journalism school there and that was how my career as a journalist at least started.”

     Madison appears to have moved effortlessly through the rank and file of her new profession. This is not unusual in most organizations if your are good at what you do. The news business is a little different because most people choose a career path in undergrad that points to print or television. They then hone their skills, master their area of expertise and spend a career in one genre or the other. Madison has had the fortune of doing both.

     She started as a print reporter in 1974. In 1982 she transitioned from newspaper journalism to television news where she received a job at WFAA-TV as the community affairs director and news manager for the station. She moved on to KOTV-TV in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she served as news director. In 1987 she became executive news director for KHOU-TV in Houston, Texas.

     Madison went on to spend ten years at New York’s WNBC where she served as assistant news director and news director for the television station. Within three years of becoming news director, WNBC was ranked first among all local newscasts. A distinction that had eluded the television station for 16 years.

     As she moved up the corporate ranks transitioning from New York to Los Angeles, she had proven herself as a newspaper reporter and excellent television news manager. She also earned the distinction and honor of becoming the first African American, first woman, first person or combination there of in a number of those positions . In her new role as Executive Vice President of Diversity for NBC Universal. She is the first person ever to hold this position for the conglomerate. 

     “In the era when I became a journalist, there were still instances where I ended up being the first this and I was the first that. And, people would ask me, how does it feel to be the first. And, I would go ‘why?’. Why am I the first. There’s not one job where I thought it made sense that I was the first. It honest to God is unfathomable to me that in the 80s, 90s and even in the 2000s that I was the first to step into a role - when I promise you that there are legions of African Americans who could have absolutely filled these roles and could have done exemplary work. I think that I just happened to be prepared and at the right place at the right time.”

     Madison’s dedication to excellence was taught by her parents. The words of her mother  motivated her to do and be her best.

     “I would come home with a report card that I thought was pretty good. And my mother would look at me and say, ‘ You know, I didn’t come to this country for you to get a B.’  That’s a very clear message. Now her follow-up would be ‘If a B is the best that you can do then I’m okay with that. But, you prove to me that that’s the best that you can do. ‘Cause otherwise, I did not come to this country for you to get a B.’ Well, that’s a huge motivator,” she states. “That’s a significant motivator. So, the stories that [my parents] raised me and my brothers on really had to do with, I’d say a theme of achievement, pride and looking out for each other.” 

     A solid foundation for children and teenagers is imperative. When Paula was about 16, she shared with a school guidance counselor that she wanted to attend an Ivy League school. The response was less than favorable. 

     “She laughed and threw her head back to tell me that people like me didn’t attend Ivy League or Seven Sister Schools. Well, as an overlay, that statement did not jive with how I had been raised. So, there was no way even at the age of 16 that I was going to allow her to belittle my goal and with one belittling statement, wipeout why my parents came to this country,”  she recounts. “This woman is looking at me and telling me that people like me don’t go to Yale and Vassar and Holy Oak. Well, [she thought] you don’t know my mother and you don’t know my father, and in fact, you don’t know me!”  As previously mentioned, Paula persevered.  

     Paula grew up during the Civil Rights era and believes that the same theme of achievement, pride and looking out for each other that she was taught growing up was also the foundation of that movement. She has unwavering principles that are guided by a quest for diversity and equality. 

     Part II of the interview with Madison continues Thursday. She shares her goals for diversity achievement in her new role with the NBC Universal, her thoughts about  Barack Obama and her legacy. 

Tibberly G. Ríchard served as an entertainment writer for EURweb.com for a number of years. She also served as an on air personality with RadioScope, the Entertainment Magazine of the Air. Ms. Ríchard currently does a weekly television segment called The Parents' Corner, and runs a consulting business. She received a BA in Mass Communications from Southern University A&M College , Baton Rouge , Louisiana and completed Masters Degree courses in Public Administration from Southern University, Baton Rouge , Louisiana and the University of Maryland , College Park . She also received a Certificate of Completion, Charles Hamilton Houston Law School Preparatory Institute, Georgetown University Law Center, Summer Program.

Contact her via tibberlyrichard@eurweb.com, or tgr@vit-com.com. "My greatest joy is my two-year old ‘hand-full’ of a son Caleb W. Cox. He inspires me to be better in every aspect of my life. He is my reason for writing this column. I love you sweetheart. I thank God that you chose me!" Mommy.