“Don’t try to be the next me. Be the first you.”

When someone tells legendary sports broadcaster Suzyn Waldman, “I want to be the next you,” she doesn’t smile and nod.

Instead, she looks them in the eye and says:
“Don’t try to be the next me. Be the first you.”

That line made me realize: women like Waldman don’t just break barriers… they build new blueprints.

At this year’s Gracie Awards, hosted by the Alliance for Women in Media, I was deeply honored to receive a National Gracie Award for my work in media and storytelling. But what stayed with me long after the ceremony ended wasn’t the trophy—it was the truth in Suzyn Waldman’s words.

“If I’m the only woman in the room, and you take my job, there’s still only one woman in the room.”

Her point was simple but profound: Representation isn’t about rotating one woman in and another out. It’s about multiplication, showing up as your full self so you can expand the space for others to do the same.

And Suzyn walks that walk.

🎙️ The first woman to provide TV play-by-play for a Major League Baseball team.
⚾ The first woman to broadcast a World Series.
💪 A force who has redefined what’s possible in sports media—and a mentor through example.

Waldman’s message is one every woman in media needs to hear: Your power lies in being unapologetically original. In owning your voice. In rejecting the scarcity mindset that tells us there’s only room for one.

Winning a National Gracie was an incredible honor. But the real gift of that day was the reminder that none of us succeed alone—and that we all carry a responsibility to open doors wider for those coming next.

Thank you, Suzyn, for the fierce inspiration. And thank you to the Alliance for Women in Media for championing stories that matter and voices that need to be heard.

Here’s to being the first—and never the last.