Never stay stagnant if you want to succeed

The last 25 years have seen a big change in how professional women are seen in the TV industry. We have come from occupying lesser roles to being key players that have helped advance strategies and businesses. I have had amazing female role models through my career, Dawn McCall, Carmen DiRienzo and many other exceptional professionals and visionaries that have helped pave the path for all of us.

We are in the midst of change as a society and as an industry. Millennials are starting to take over leadership roles and they have different views on work and on gender roles that are far from what they were when I started my career. As women, we need to show our value, creativity, and resourcefulness. Challenges need to be viewed as opportunities to grow and learn new things. It is imperative that women, looking to succeed, never stay stagnant. Times change and we need to adjust and move with the flow to assure we will always have the place we seek and deserve.

Many years ago, when I was about to finish my master’s degree, I was interested in an internship at Discovery Channel. My advisor tried to discourage me from pursuing it, as she said it was hard to get. Well, I didn’t listen, and two weeks later I started my internship at Discovery Channel, a ride that lasted twelve years of my professional life. The lesson here is don’t let other people tell you what you can or can’t do.

Sometimes we will be able to get what we want, and others we won’t. It is important that we fight for what we want and go all the way. Rejection is tough, but we tend to appreciate what is hard to get. So, never give up and continue to fight for more equality in a society that still today is not as generous with female professionals.

About the author
Doris Vogelmann, VP of Programming and Operations at V-Me Media, Inc., has over 25 years of experience working in the TV industry. She started her career in Lima, Peru, where she worked on the production team of a popular children’s program, which later was produced in Ecuador and Chile. Then joined the International Division of Discovery Communications in Bethesda, Maryland and was later transferred to the Miami offices where she performed key roles for the launch of all of its Latin American Networks. In 2007, she joined Vme where she has been an important part of the programming strategy for all of their networks – Vme, Vme Kids and Primo.