I first met Carolyn MacKenzie in August on the set of Global’s The Morning Show (where she is a host) about thirty seconds before my back-to-school shopping segment. That was enough time for her to greet me warmly and put me at ease – exactly what someone needs before going on live television! After learning more about Carolyn, I came to the conclusion that This Mom Loves readers would enjoy getting to know her too!
I love the story about how you met your husband. Would you mind telling it again for my readers?
I was working out at the gym, and I fainted in the middle of a step class. When I came to there was Chris standing above me checking my vitals, asking me a bunch of questions. As soon as I saw him and how cute he was, it came rushing back, what had just happened and I was mortified and nervous and couldn’t look at him again during this whole Q & A. And then he loaded me in the ambulance and off I went to the hospital.
Then three months later, we got set up on a blind date. We didn’t recognize each other, because remember I only looked at him once during that whole time. And, we women change dramatically from no makeup to makeup, working out at the gym to being at the bar. Also, I fell on my face, so my face was rapidly swelling at the time he met me. When he met me three months later swelling was down, hair was down, makeup was on, and I was a completely different person.
It was about an hour into the date when I started talking about the scar tissue on my cheek and he asked, “From what?” and I explained I passed out at my gym. As soon as I said that he took a step back and said, “Oh my God, you’re the girl! You were my medical call a few months ago!” We were there with my girlfriend who was dating his friend, so I went running to her and he went to his friend. I had told my friend about this cute firefighter after the incident happened, but little did she know that this was the firefighter that she was setting me up with months later! And the rest is history as they say. When our moms found out, they just were resigned to the fact that we were never going to date anyone else ever again – this was it.
You have two kids now. How old are they and what are their interests?
Kate, our eldest is nine, Matt is six. They both are quite into sports. They both play hockey and Kate’s also doing cross-country right now. But hockey is pretty much our winter life anyway. And Chris coaches; he’s the head coach for Matt’s team and an assistant coach for Kate’s team so we live in arenas!
With your kids in school, do you have any tips for other parents in terms of managing those busy weeknights?
It just really comes down to the mini-village that you surround yourself with. Thankfully, my husband and I are a really good team and we share duties – cleaning the house, taking kids to their programs, making dinner – we’re not traditional or old school in our house in the sense that no one person has one job, it’s distributed evenly between the two of us. Throw in some great babysitters and a wonderful grandmother, my mom, who helps us out quite a bit, that’s really what gets us by from week to week but it’s definitely a balancing act. And anyone who has kids knows that anything can throw that balance out of whack very easily!
Shifting more to the work side of things now, in this day and age how important do you think post-secondary education is for people who want to get into broadcasting?
I will never be one who puts down post-secondary. I think there’s a lot to be learned there and it expands your horizons in many ways. I went to journalism school and I have nothing negative to say about my education and how it helped me prepare for this world of journalism. I know when I did internships, and I did quite a few of them, I always felt very confident and prepared to tackle whatever I was assigned. However, I was in a specialized program, and I think the more you can specialize your post-secondary education, the better. Those programs really prepare students for the careers they hope to pursue.
Having said that, high school has changed a lot since I was there and now I think the high school internship and co-op programs are fantastic. If young people are getting training and exposure earlier and accelerating that process then all the more power to you. It’s so competitive today, if a professional opportunity arises earlier than expected, then you may need to jump on it rather than complete a degree.
So for you, it’s not so much about that piece of paper, the diploma, the degree, as it is about getting those experiences and being in that environment.
Yeah, for sure!
You were doing the 11 o’clock news before moving to The Morning Show. What did you find were the pros and cons about going from one to the other?
Oh wow! It was a completely different show! I went from being involved so closely with the news – even before I did the 11 o’clock news I was a reporter – and going from news to this show, it’s just such a completely different ball game. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour live show, and there are chat components where you give your opinion which is so new to me because being a journalist for so long you just don’t do that.
In news, you’re impartial, you state others’ opinions, but you’re not supposed to weigh in for fear of presenting a bias of some kind. At The Morning Show, there are moments where we do have an opportunity to weigh in, and I’m always trying to figure out how I can phrase something in a way that’s not expressing my opinion whole-heartedly, but then I grapple with the fact that people at home watching a morning show maybe do want to hear what I have to say on a particular topic. So, I’m always wrestling with how much do I say, how far do I go?
I can understand that! I would find that difficult as well.
I don’t want to tick people off, you know? You do want to challenge what is being said, and ask interesting questions of each other but I always struggle with how far I should go and how much I should say.
And how many tweets are you going to get that disagree with you!
Oh I know! And I take them so to heart! There are people who really couldn’t care less about what others think, and then there’s me! Ever since I was a kid I’ve been a people-pleaser, so when I get those unfavourable tweets or comments, I always take it to heart and stew over it for most of the day!
This question gets asked a lot, but I’m always curious to hear people’s answers. As a woman working in television do you feel any sort of pressure in terms of your appearance and do you think there is a double standard there between women and men?
Ah, yes. I think because we are a visual medium, appearance certainly plays a part. Of course you have to be presentable and look professional. You also have to understand your audience and dress appropriately given the content you are distributing. Because there’s a news component to my show, perhaps I can’t dress as fashionably as I would on the weekend, or even on another show with different content. Now when it comes to a double standard, I would say women are more harshly critiqued than their male counterparts. I’m sure I get more comments about what I wear and how I look compared to Jeff and Liem. I get comments about my hair, my clothes, even the way I cross my legs!
I’m thinking this is an example of Carolyn’s great fashion that she wouldn’t wear to present the news.
It seems like often with men, it’s okay if they show signs that they are aging, or if they gain some weight, but women can get attacked for that.
For sure! And it even happens within your own darn family. A couple of weeks ago a family member, who is from a different generation, told me, “You’ve gained some weight and you gotta watch that.” And I was thinking okay, I know I’ve gained some over the last few years, from having a couple of kids and a thyroid problem but cut me some slack! It’s funny that you mentioned that fresh off the heels of that conversation!
The Morning Show covers such a wide range of topics which I’m sure is interesting for the hosts. What are your favourite types of segments?
For me, the more fun the better! I spent so many years in news, and it wasn’t until I came to The Morning Show that I asked myself why I was in news so long! I actually like the lighter material, I like having fun and talking more water cooler issues rather than the really hard, difficult subjects. I mean they need to be discussed too, but I’m realizing at this stage in my career, I just kind of want to loosen up and lighten up.
Carolyn with one of her favourite guests ever (fine, she didn’t exactly say that….}
This next question is a little bit self-serving, but for anyone who ever gets the opportunity to be interviewed for television, what do you think makes a good guest?
Passion. I think anyone who is passionate about what they do will make for a good interview. And I think that can apply to anything and everything. I tell people that when they’re coming on the show, when people have said, “I’m writing a book and I’m coming on the show, can you give me any advice?”, I say, “Speak from the heart, be passionate about you are doing, you are your best advocate and salesperson because you are the closest to that project. So speak passionately!” That would be my advice!
I see a lot of women who are working in TV who are diversifying, coming out with product lines or working with companies, things like that. Is there anything else in the works for you? Or are you just happy doing what you’re doing with The Morning Show?
Oh Kate, I have such a one track mind, it’s bad! I give my all to what I do in the moment, so thinking of other projects – side projects – just stresses me out! I see a lot of women who multitask in the business world. You’ve said exactly what they’re doing – they have beauty lines or skin products or fashion. I mean, if someone were to come up to me of course I would entertain the thought, as long as it wouldn’t involve too much of my time because I don’t know how much more time I have to spare! I have this job and then the job of being mom and whatever is left over goes to my husband. There is very little left after all of that. Any extra projects…I just don’t know if I could!
I understand that! {I’m also secretly wondering if my husband asked Carolyn to steer me away from too many side projects…} Last question: how would you finish the sentence, “This mom loves…”?
This mom loves family time. Friday nights with the family! You know it’s very simple for me, this mom loves her down time with her favourite people in the world and that’s my husband and my two kids. We light a fire, get out a board game, I pour myself a glass of wine. Exactly that.
You can catch Carolyn Mackenzie on Global’s The Morning Show weekdays from 6-9:30 a.m., and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.