Hailey Frances of STN on the Station Sale That Flipped Her Life, Red Carpets & Chris Kattan

She was standing alone at a pond with her camera gear, a police helicopter overhead, waiting on a shooter who was moving from house to house. That was the moment Hailey Frances asked herself, what are we doing here? Years later she was leading content at Phoenix's CW station, had just told her husband to go chase his pilot's license while she carried the family, and then the station was sold. Hailey is an Arizona native and Cronkite School graduate with more than 15 years in broadcast journalism. She anchored and reported in Phoenix, Houston, Grand Rapids and Charlottesville, led content at KASW, Phoenix's CW affiliate, produced a documentary with iHeartRadio that aired in dozens of markets and hosted Positively Arizona. Today she is Director of Operations at STN, The Social Television Network, where the work is community journalism that connects nonprofits and corporate partners. She lives in central Phoenix with her husband, their son and their husky mix, Prin. On this episode of Off Deadline, Melissa DiGianfilippo, founder of Proof Publicity, sits down with Hailey to get into: The high school studio audition that made a 14 year old decide this was her life Mailing $10 VHS tapes to 30 stations and hearing back from one Why she wanted to be a political reporter near D.C., and why that lasted a year and a half The Golden Globes red carpet and LA press junkets that never filled her up Alone at a pond with a police helicopter overhead: the assignment that broke something The station sale that landed a couple of months after her husband left TV to become a pilot A Friday call home: I just need some joy, let's go to Disneyland Getting typecast as an anchor when she wanted to lead Four years away from TV before finding her way to STN The introvert who is fine on camera but hates a full room The Receipt: a wedding photo and the newsroom coworker she refused to befriend Chris Kattan sitting in her lap for an entire interview The unwritten rule: put in the time and you earn the respect Advice to her first-year self: follow your inner compass, not what is expected Learn more about STN: https://stntv.com Follow the host, Melissa DiGianfilippo: @melissadflip Learn more about Proof Publicity: https://proofpublicity.com Produced by Turnkey Media: https://www.turnkeymediaaz.com CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 0:26 Welcome to Off Deadline 0:51 Meet Hailey Frances 1:23 Prin the husky mix 2:05 Katie Couric, morning announcements and a high school studio 3:41 Cronkite, six internships and PBS 4:46 Why every reporter needs the general assignment foundation 6:08 $10 VHS tapes and a first job in Charlottesville 7:26 The win that felt hollow: red carpets and press junkets 9:29 The newsroom pace that broke something 11:18 Alone at a pond with a police helicopter overhead 13:56 The station sale that flipped her life upside down 15:42 Let's go to Disneyland 16:12 Typecast as an anchor 17:00 Four years of new skills before STN 17:55 The introvert on camera 19:06 The Receipt: a wedding photo and a newsroom love story 20:52 Married to a pilot 21:12 Rapid fire 21:26 Skydiving, a marathon and a two week backpacking dream 22:38 Chris Kattan sat in her lap for the whole interview 23:45 The unwritten rule: put in the time, earn the respect 24:56 Advice to her first-year self 26:57 Where to find Hailey #OffDeadline #HaileyFrances #STN #PhoenixMedia #ProofPublicity