It’s not always easy to uncover what you want to be when you grow up. You always have to go through changes and try different things. That’s exactly what happened to Karina Anglada. Her mother saw something in her that she didn’t even see herself which became the turning point in her life. Karina is a media producer and editor for the Golden State Warriors. She won her first Emmy for Champions Rewind. Karina gives us a peek of the world of professional sports and talks about finding your passion, taking risks, and making things happen by taking action.
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Listen to the podcast here:
The World of Professional Sports with Karina Anglada
I had Omar Elkalyoubie on. We spent the entire hour talking about the fabulous charity, Give Kids the World. Some people were probably thinking, how does that tie into what I talk about each week? I believe that when you’re a leader, you are always looking for ways to help others, to make them better, to give them an opportunity, to reach for the stars and achieve their goals. To me, having the ability to focus on helping others is important. I worked for a few charities that I feel have the same values as I do. They’re looking for ways to help others. That linkage to leadership is what is a passion for me. I had the opportunity to not only have a great time meeting the best fans in the world, my Survivor fans. They’re loyal, they’re real and they talk about every aspect of the game of Survivor with me. How great is that? I also had the opportunity to once again visit the village where everything happens. I met some of the greatest kids. They are stronger than you can imagine. They’re dealing with life-threatening diseases and their families are just so grateful that they have the opportunity just for one week to not worry about anything and just focus on the fun.
I had some fun too. As I said, I lost my voice. It sounds a little different. Saturday night was party night. We had karaoke. Of course, I had to sing my go-to song, I Will Survive. I’m trying to remember if I was singing or screaming but either way, it was a blast. I was probably screaming because I remembered the DJ when he gave me the mic for the second time. He said, “You don’t have to scream.” I was probably screaming. For those of you who are actual fans of Survivor, you know Figgy from Millennials versus Gen X. We are now a part of the party committee. We know how to get the party started. We sang two additional songs, which if I must say, rocked the house.
On Saturday morning before the Karaoke night had started, I was already beginning to lose my voice just from talking all day and being with the kids. When I called my husband, I told him that I had to save my voice. He thought I might be saving my voice because I do this fabulous radio show. I laughed and said, “No, I need to save it for karaoke.” For karaoke night, a scratchy voice is not okay. If you want to donate to this great cause I will post a link on my Facebook page, The Carolyn Rivera show. You can go there and check it out.
I have another fabulous guest with me. I have an Emmy award-winning guest, Karina Anglada. She is a media producer and editor for the Golden State Warriors. Karina won her first Emmy for Champions Rewind and we will be able to talk about that later. The category was sports daily or weekly programs. One week after she got that award, her team, the Golden State Warriors, won the championship. I think it’s fair to say that she might have been that good luck charm for them. She’s also worked for the Detroit Pistons and Auburn Athletics. She’s young. She’s already had a pretty amazing career and there is so much more to come. I’m so excited to be able to speak with you, Karina. The audience can’t wait to hear all about what you’ve already been able to accomplish. Welcome to the show, Karina. How are you doing?
I’m doing great. Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be a part of this.
Take advantage of opportunities to learn as much as you can. Share on XI am more excited and I know the listeners are very interested in hearing a little bit about your insight and your background. I’m going to start this interview from the beginning. We all know when you’re in school how difficult it is to decide on a career, “Are we picking the right one? Will I love it?” There are so many people who struggle to find their passion. Clearly, you’ve done that. Tell me, how does a psychology major turn into an award-winning video producer? How did you find your passion?
You’re totally right about the struggle to find your passion because that was me when I was in college and high school. I was interested in a lot of things. When I started at the University of Illinois, I was actually an undecided major and that allowed me to take different classes on different topics. I fell into psychology because my mom is a social worker and I was interested in that. I loved all of my psychology classes but by chance, I had the opportunity around that time right after I declared my major. We got tickets to go to the Oprah Winfrey show, which filming in Chicago, which is where I’m from. We got to go and I’ll never forget it. Before the show started, my mom turned to me and she said, “I could see you doing this thing in video production.” I was like, “Mom, no. I just declared my major. If I switch it again, I’ll never graduate.” She was like, “Just think about it.” I listened to my mom. She encouraged me to try an Intro to Journalism class. That class is the beginning. It led to some other internships and other opportunities. I joke with the people that Oprah is the reason I am where I am now. It’s pretty funny.
Oprah is fabulous. You don’t even realize how fabulous she is. She can steer somebody in the direction of finding their passion. You always have to listen to your Mama because moms know best. You took that first journalism class. What was it about it that you said, “This is it?”
I asked my mom the other day, I was like, “Why did you say that you could see that, that day specifically with the Oprah show?” She said, “You looked so happy when we were there.” She said, “The show hadn’t even begun and I was like beaming.” She was like, “I want to see my daughter look like this all the time for her entire career.” When I took the journalism class, I was actually still hesitant. I was like, “I’m not sure if this is for me, but I’m interested in it.” I just loved being able to interview people and connect with others. That was the biggest thing. I found an internship posting and I applied for it. I got it. The rest is history. I love interviewing people. I love shooting and learning how to edit. That was how it all began.
You mentioned that your first real taste of video production was taking an internship. I know that so many people don’t take the time to focus on getting an internship during their college years. In fact, if I could turn back time, I would make all my kids do internships. Tell me a little bit about that internship and what you did to get it.
The first internship I ever had was with the Athletics Department at the University of Illinois. I found it through that Intro to Journalism class that I took. It was in that class that they told us, “If you pursued journalism, you have to do internships.” That was drilled into our head. When I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do or if this was the right switch to make, I found an internship and I applied and I got it. I remember that first year I didn’t do that much. I just dipped my toes in the water. I was learning about the cameras and learning about directing and filming and editing. It wasn’t until my second year that I was with that internship that I said, “I got to turn it up a notch.”
I only have so much time in college, if I don’t take advantage of every second I have to learn, this will be useless. From that year, any opportunity that they needed volunteers for, I’m in. I remember we’d get emails and I would check my email throughout the day seeing if our bosses had sent anything because I wanted to be the first to volunteer and learn as much as I could. That set the foundation for things that I’m doing now years later. That was one of the best, best opportunities I ever could have had. I recommend that if you’re in college, you absolutely need to have not just one or two internships but multiple so you can find what you’re truly interested in.
I myself did not do any internships and I didn’t push my kids to do any internships. Honestly, I think 100%, if I had the opportunity to redo, turn back time, I’d make all three of my kids focus on that because it does make a difference. It does two things. It either solidifies that you’ve made the right choice, you’ve found your passion, and you continue going down that road. It also can tell you, “I don’t love this. I’ve made the wrong choice. Maybe I should, try something else.” I just think it’s important. Internships are not that easy. I’ve talked to some college students and sometimes they feel like I don’t even know where to go or how to find them. Since you’ve had a couple under your belt, what tips can you give to people that are listening that are potentially looking for how to secure an internship or what to even look for in terms of getting one?
It is tough. I remember when I lose maybe a junior in college, the spring before that summer, I probably applied to 50 different internship applications. That was a lot of work; a lot of time. The one thing I did is I just searched Google and the jobs that I dreamed about, I would type in those jobs. A lot of them were with networks. I would be led to places like ABC and they have fall and summer internships that you can apply. It’s exactly in the same place as their job board where their full-time staff was applying. I just spent a lot of time researching. Our journalism department had some other resources, so I would look for those emails all the time. It’s just tailoring your experience to whatever the internship is. It’s just like a job. That set the foundation. To be completely honest, I didn’t hear back for many people. I think my junior year I only heard back from maybe three or four different places. One of them, I lucked out big time because it was CBS Sports in New York City. Thank God I had family in New York. I was able to stay there with them and I got that internship. That just, even more, solidified my decision. As I said to myself, “I’m doing this. I can see myself in field down the road.”
To get into a CBS Sports internship in your second year or junior year of college is amazing. Did you actually work for the Detroit Pistons on that internship or it was after that?
If you have a fixed mindset, you stay in your box and you never get outside of it. Share on XIt was after that. You mentioned not knowing where to go. I actually got my master’s degree in something completely unrelated to journalism because when I graduated undergrad, the market was tough. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. I ended up pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science. It was through that program that I realized my true passion was storytelling and video production. I made it a point that this is what I wanted to do and I committed to it. I worked with the Pistons after my Master’s program and I graduated. I didn’t have a job for about three, four months. That was tough too because I was like, “I’ve had all these other opportunities.” I was climbing the ladder it seemed and then I hit a wall. I didn’t have a job for a month. I was living at home with my mom and dad. I was struggling. It was very tough. I had applied for internships for tons of tons of jobs. Finally, in October I heard back from the Pistons. I went through the phone interview, went through the actual interview and I got the job. I’ll never forget when I got that first email saying, “We’d like to do a phone interview,” I cried because I was so happy. That was my first big girl job out of school. It was a lot of fun.
It’s impressive to work for the Detroit Pistons, your first job after school. It’s amazing that your first job out of college was with not the Golden State Warriors, but the Detroit Pistons. It’s impressive as well. I think it’s safe to say that sports are still run by men. In the media production and editing arena, I’m sure it’s changed a bit but it’s still dominated by men. Let’s face it, you’re a very petite woman. How has that challenged you in your career?
There have definitely been some challenges. A lot of times there’s this inherent assumption, being a woman that I want to do this job because I want to be around the players. There’s this constant questioning about my knowledge of sports. That’s something that I’ve dealt with in different capacities throughout my career. There’s one story that I’ll never forget. I was actually in college and I’m helping set up for a spring football game. You set up the day before all the cables and cameras. I was just helping. I went up to one of the people that were there and I said, “Can I grab that table?” He responded and said, “No, I just need you to go and make babies.” I still I vividly remember that and that stuck with me. At the moment, I was in shock because I was like, I never experienced that from the people that I worked with or any of the internships that I had. I had respect from everybody. This older gentleman was saying something stupid. That’s just one example of one of the things that I’ve had to face. A lot of times I’ve turned it around. I’ve tried to flip it because there aren’t that many or there aren’t as many women working in sports as there are men. Because of that, in a way, I stand out.
A lot of times I try not to stand out, especially when it comes to filming. I don’t want to be in the way. I want to get the shot and respect people’s space. It helps in certain ways because people recognize me. My current job, fans will stop me. They’re like, “You’re the girl with the camera.” For me, as much as those challenges suck and make me boil my blood boil sometimes, I try to flip it and turn it into a positive and use it to my advantage because there aren’t that many of us. To me, I view myself as a trailblazer. I’m just trying to keep pushing forward.
First of all, for somebody to say that you need to stay home and make babies, it makes my blood boil as well. Turning it around and making it so that you gained the respect, that’s what it’s all about. You have to gain the respect of the people that you’re working around and that you’re working with. You’re not some fangirl just trying to be near the players. It cracks me up because I don’t know why sometimes people don’t think that women understand the game of sports, whatever that game is, whether it’s basketball or baseball or football or whatever. We could read the rules just like everyone else.
It’s crazy because like I said, there’s that inherent assumption that women know less about sports. They want to be around the players. It’s funny because if you look at it, there’s a lot of men in the industry. I can question the same thing for them, “You love sports, don’t you want to be around the players?” I try and flip it. It’s a challenge and there are certain obstacles that I face and when it happens at the moment, I get upset. I brushed him off my back because at the end of the day, if I let those challenges be my focus, then I will not be successful because I’d be focusing on the wrong things. It’s like you said, I have to gain respect. I have to prove to everybody that I know how to shoot, I know how to edit, I know how to produce, I know how to do it all. Something that I’ve held on to throughout my career is we’re proving myself.
Actually, you just have to continue to prove yourself every day regardless of the industry. If you’re a professional athlete, you’re only as good as your last shot. Did you make the basket? Yes or no? If you didn’t yet, you’ve got to make it next time. It’s just like in your career. You’ve got to take the shot, you’ve got to get that video, you’ve got recreate each and every day. You’re absolutely right with what you said. You can’t focus on the obstacles because then you become part of the problem. You become just as negative as everyone else and sometimes hard. You have to brush it off. It makes your blood boil and you have to take a step back. You think about what you want and then focus on what’s going to get you there. Focus on looking ahead, focus on all the positives because we’re talking about obstacles, but there’s probably only a few obstacles in your daily life and then so much more is so exciting. You’ve been able to accomplish so much. Have you had mentors to help you on your journey?
Yes. I’ve had so many mentors. That’s the amazing part. When I can track the number of people that I’ve had helped me and the number of people that have challenged me, the ratio is completely off. I’ve had way more mentors helped me. I’ve had countless from college. My brother is my mentor and my parents are my mentors. Even my friends and colleagues that are on my equal level and even people above. I’ve been very blessed to have so many mentors throughout my journey and I’m very grateful because they’re the ones that respect my work and respect who I am and I’ve never had issues with them.
Being a woman, it’s not always easy. Sometimes you just have to take risks. Risks are challenges for us for many people. In life, we all need to take risks to step out of our comfort zone in order to continue to learn and grow. What risks have you taken to get you where you are now?
The biggest one that stands out is just me choosing and affording to be able to move anywhere, physically, geographically. When I graduated from college, I told myself if I wanted to go after my dreams, I had to be willing to move anywhere in the country. I did. I didn’t know anyone in Detroit. I knew not a single person. Then I flourished there. Then I had opportunities at Auburn University. I never in a million years thought I would end up in Alabama. I was a city girl from Chicago and never thought I would end up in Alabama, but I had some opportunities there. I knew a handful of people but it was still another risk. That is one of the biggest risks that I’ve taken. Also, another thing that I did was taking opportunities that I didn’t necessarily feel ready for.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Share on XWhen I was at the Pistons, we had someone leave. He was the director of our video board show and we needed someone. My boss at the time said, “We know you have experienced directing at Illinois, would you be interested in directing our video board show?” My gut reaction was I said no, because I was scared, but I slept on it. I thought it over. I said, “This is an opportunity and an open door. I have to walk right through it even though I don’t feel ready for it.” Those are just some of the few risks I have taken that I feel like helped me grow into the person that I am.
There are so many things that you talked about that for me hit home are clearly things that sometimes people shy away from. When they shy away from that, they’re basically limiting their ability to grow. Let’s start with the first thing, basically moving anywhere. It’s funny because in my career I did the same exact thing. I moved around a lot. I started in New York City. I moved to Maryland. Then I moved to Texas. Then I moved to Florida. Then I moved to Jersey, then back to Florida, to the Philippines, to Kansas City, back to Florida. You’ve got to have that open mind. For me, it was probably a whole lot easier because I went with a family and it sounds like you went individually to that place where you knew nobody. You started a new job. You had to figure out where to live, how to make friends, and how to create who you are today. That moving around and having that open mind just to get up and go gave you the opportunity certainly in Detroit.
It’s having that open mind, like you mentioned, and embracing that fear. It’s easy for me to say that now but in the moment when I was doing everything, it was scary. I drove a U-Haul from Chicago to Detroit by myself. I’d never driven a U-Haul ever in my life before. I had a job to do literally and figuratively. I didn’t focus on fear. I just went forward. We mentioned it before, but envision the long-term goals. I had big goals for myself. If I chose to stay at home and stay in Chicago, I might not be where I am now. I would definitely not be where I am now. Taking those risks is something that is hard to do at the moment, but you just have to find ways to trick yourself into taking them.
You’ve got to figure out how to make yourself vulnerable a little bit but then going after it. It’s that commitment to do anything that it takes to achieve my goal. The second thing that, hit home when we were talking was taking on responsibilities when you don’t feel 100% ready. I coach people in real life. That is one of the things that I hit home because so many people think that if they took an inventory of their skills, they would have to write down each and every skill. You look at a job description and it always outlines, “You need this skill, you need that skill, you need this experience and that experience.” “I have maybe four out of the five or three out of the five. I can’t apply for this job.” You can absolutely apply for the job because you know can do it.
You have to have the mindset to take yourself to the next level. You need to be able to step back, think, learn and know what it’s going to take to get you there. Even though you were scared to take on that new role, to take on the production and directing off of something that you felt like you weren’t ready for, you did it. How did you trick yourself? How did you change your mindset because you said no initially? You said your gut reaction. You said no first but then you slept on it. What was different from you in the morning when you woke up? You went back to work and said, “I’m going to do it.”
Something I’ve learned from my mom is the whole metaphor of if there’s an open door, walk through it. Then in that instance, my boss had the door wide open and was asking me to walk through it. I just said, “Why not do this?” Am I just going to keep doing what I’m doing and settle, not learn, push myself or challenge myself? From my experience, the hardest times, the most painful times, the most uncomfortable times has forced me to grow the most. My brother’s a huge mentor of mine and he always talks about this. Do you have a fixed mindset or do you have a growth mindset? The growth mindset is the things you mentioned. Are you open to new things? Do you embrace the fear? Do you embrace the risk and the scariness that comes along with it? If you have a fixed mindset, you stay in your box, you don’t get outside of it. That’s something that I’ve always tried to focus on. For me, I tricked myself into doing some things. It was as simple as writing down a to-do list and saying, “I’m going to accomplish this goal this week, that goal next week.” It was forcing myself to break down the bigger goal into something smaller that I can take one step at a time.
When did you start working for the Golden State Warriors?
I started working with them in January 2017.
In a year and a half, you have created and won the Emmy Award for Champions Rewind. Tell us about what Champions Rewind is.
Champions Rewind is our television show chronicling the Golden State Warriors’ journey throughout the playoffs and towards the championship. The Warriors have been to the finals for the past four years. They won three of the four championships. It’s just been an exciting time to tell their story. It’s great because that’s what fans love the most. What fans want the most is to have their team be a winner. It’s a lot of fun. We produce it the fall after the team wins in June. It’s been such a fun adventure. It helps me achieve a lifelong goal that I’ve had for a long time.
At the end of the day, there are challenges that we all face in life, whether individually or as a team. Share on XIt’s unbelievable. People have attempted or have been trying to get this Emmy Award for so many years and in many cases. You’ve been able to do it your first year basically working with the Golden State Warriors. You have also edited nine other television shows for the Golden State Warriors. What shows where those?
Every month throughout the season, we’ve produced a 30-minute television show that airs once a month or a couple of times a month before or after a Warriors game. We’ve done all kinds of shows. We had one show just dedicated to our opening night when the team got their rings. We’ve had other shows featuring past coaches and current players. For example, one of our players Zaza Pachulia, he’s from the country of Georgia. He brought the Larry O’Brien trophy back to his home country. We had a crew of a team of people that went out with him. We edited a show for that. The content varies but it all comes back to the Warriors. We’re excited this year because we’ve got a lot of topics that I can’t quite share just yet, but I know fans are going to absolutely love it. It’s so much fun.
Following him back to his home country with the award or a trophy, that in and of itself is fabulous as well that. That’s great. If people are interested in media production and being an editor, what is it that makes things great? You said something earlier about being a great storyteller. It’s interesting because if you’re a speaker, I do speaking engagements as well and that line, just being a great storyteller is what makes or break it in those types of work environments as well. When you’re doing video, is there something that is better to tell the story? What do you think has transitioned you to get that Emmy Award?
The cool part about working with this team and with the Warriors is that we’ve got a bit pretty big team when it comes to video departments. There’s thirteen of us in our department. That alone helps because we had a whole other group of people that were making it happen as well. Sometimes the more help you have, the better the product is because teamwork, as cheesy as it sounds, makes the dream work. I think the key to being a great storyteller is just honing in on stories that resonate with people. At the end of the day, there are challenges that we all face in life, whether individually or as a team. With the show that won the award, I chronicled the beginning of the previous season when the team lost the championship. That was dramatic in itself. That opens the whole show and set the tone. You set up the drama and you set up the story. It depends. Every story is different. You might not want to open as a dramatic scene depending if there’s a lighter topic. That’s the one thing. Each story has its own special sauce. It’s tailoring it to the subjects and the people that are there and letting them tell their own story.
Think of it from a leadership perspective because every show that I do it links back to those leadership skills in your job. There’s a team of people, so you have to be able to work together. You have to be able to find who has what skill sets. Tell me about how you would define leadership and what does leadership mean to you?
To me, a good leader is one that is a great teammate. It’s someone that doesn’t have an ego and it’s someone that has the group interests at heart before their own interests. That’s what a true leader is to me. I’ve been fortunate to work with leaders that exhibit those things. I try to emulate them in a lot of ways. If I had to pick a list of three things, those would be the three things.
Karina, you have shared so much with us starting with how Oprah Winfrey has changed your life simply by going to her show and being able to find your passion. We talked about how important it is for college students to focus on internships because it gives you the opportunity to find out what your passion is. That’s what life is all about. We’ve also talked about how sometimes it’s difficult to get women in sports and there are biases that you have to deal with, challenges and obstacles. Do you know the game? Is it that women just want to be around players? You specifically said that you flip it around and use it to your advantage. You stand out as a woman in a man’s world, but you’re not their googly-eyes at the players. You’re there to do a job and to achieve the goals that you stepped up to and put forth for yourself. We talked about the risks that you took to go to a place where you knew nobody and take on a role where you might not have felt 100% ready. We talked about Champions Rewind, the Emmy Award-winning show that you’ve put together at the Golden State Warriors, which is phenomenal.
The last thing that I loved that you said was your leadership and what leadership actually meant to you. It was all about teamwork, having no ego and having the group interests at heart. Thank you so much, Karina, for coming on the show and sharing your experience. I know that you have so many fans out there. They were very excited to hear your story and how you inspire others. You’ve already had such an amazing career. I know that all of us are looking forward to more from you. Karina, thank you so much for coming on this show.
Thank you for having me. This has been an absolute honor and a blast. If I’m not inspiring anybody if I’m not making a difference in my own little world, then why am I even here? I’m grateful to share a little bit with the audience and this has been so much fun. Thank you for having me.
Important Links:
- Give Kids the World
- Facebook page – The Carolyn Rivera show
- Karina Anglada
- Champions Rewind
About Karina Anglada
You name it, Karina Anglada dealt with it during her two-and-a-half-year stretch as an RA at Forbes Hall.
“One time, one section of the fourth floor was flooded because someone — we never found out who — somehow managed to rip the water fountain off the wall. Let’s just say this happened in the wee hours of the morning; I’ll let your imagination do the rest,” says the two-degree alumna (BS ’10/broadcast journalism, MS ’12/library and information science), now a producer/editor with the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
I love telling stories. I have over ten years of experience working in video production, and I specialize in short and long-form editing.
Here’s some of my Emmy-nominated work:
1) Golden State Warriors “Champions Rewind”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjvdeJKbLJA (*won EMMY award for Sports Daily/Weekly Program)
2) Detroit Pistons “Flight Crew Physics” (Video: https://vimeo.com/94521753)
3) Detroit Pistons: “Greg Monroe & St. Jude: Abby’s Story” (Video: https://vimeo.com/87026015)
4) Auburn Athletics: “An Unlikely Connection” (Video: https://vimeo.com/161998505)