Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is going to be a longer one part of
Speaker 1: my interview series where I talk with fascinating people about
Speaker 1: how they spend their time. Today, I'm going to be
Speaker 1: chatting with Tracy Davidson. Tracy is the co anchor of
Speaker 1: my local NBC news stations four o'clock and five o'clock
Speaker 1: news programs. She's won multiple Emmy Awards for her work
Speaker 1: over the years, and she is a fixture here in
Speaker 1: our community for her leadership. So Tracy, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: Thank you for doing this. So tell our listeners a
Speaker 1: little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2: Well, I have been in broadcast journalism for about forty years,
Speaker 2: and I am grateful that I still love what I do,
Speaker 2: and I do co anchor the four and five o'clock
Speaker 2: newscast on the NBC station in Philadelphia. I also, as
Speaker 2: part of my role there, am the consumer reporter. But
Speaker 2: my consumer beat is specifically about helping people who run
Speaker 2: up against challenges with governments or businesses or something that
Speaker 2: they just can't get resolved themselves. That's when they come
Speaker 2: to me.
Speaker 1: And I bet that is pretty satisfying to see problems
Speaker 1: like solved that people like, well wait, if Tracy's on it,
Speaker 1: I guess I have to make this right now.
Speaker 2: You know, it's very very rewarding. I always say it's
Speaker 2: sad that sometimes it takes somebody from a television station
Speaker 2: to call a company to make them do the right thing.
Speaker 2: But a lot of other times it's just that something
Speaker 2: has slipped through the crack, somebody made a mistake, and
Speaker 2: once they get a call from me, they say, well,
Speaker 2: let's just check this out, and then you know, they
Speaker 2: find out that the individual is do their their washer
Speaker 2: and dryer or a refund or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: So it makes for very satisfying television. And I mean
Speaker 1: part of you know, we're talking about time management on
Speaker 1: this show, and from being on the air so much
Speaker 1: over the past forty years, you probably think of time
Speaker 1: in a very different way than most people do. I
Speaker 1: wonder if you could talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, my days, I think because of what I
Speaker 2: do are in fifteen minute increments. Everything that I do
Speaker 2: is blocked in fifteen minute increments, and I see the
Speaker 2: value in even two minutes or two and a half minutes,
Speaker 2: because sometimes we'll have a break that's two and a
Speaker 2: half minutes in our newscast, and I know that that's
Speaker 2: actually a lot of time. If I have to double
Speaker 2: check some facts on a story and do a little research,
Speaker 2: or I have to text my executive producer and ask
Speaker 2: a question, I can, I can actually get a lot
Speaker 2: done in that two and a half minutes. So I
Speaker 2: value and know the value of time. And you know,
Speaker 2: it also makes me very aware that it's easy to
Speaker 2: waste that time that could be put to good use.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so my schedule is all in fifteen minute blocks,
Speaker 2: and I know that you move blocks and tiles around.
Speaker 2: My tiles are fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1: Fifteen minutes exactly. Well, and you have some routines through
Speaker 1: your day, I wonder if you could talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about your morning routine.
Speaker 2: Sure, So my morning routine starts at five o'clock, which
Speaker 2: is coffee and sort of prayer and meditation time, and
Speaker 2: then five point thirty starts to do a quick review
Speaker 2: of emails, just to check on what's happening during the day,
Speaker 2: because my job is constantly being aware of everything that's
Speaker 2: happening and what we're covering at the station, so I
Speaker 2: quickly do that, and then it's whatever the workout is
Speaker 2: going to be for that morning. If it's going to
Speaker 2: be walk to the gym and then work out, or
Speaker 2: it's going to be drive to another gym and do
Speaker 2: a class. So that usually sort of ramps up between
Speaker 2: five point thirty and six, and I'm almost always home
Speaker 2: by seven, and I organize my clothes and get ready
Speaker 2: during seven to seven eighteen, which is the first segment
Speaker 2: of the Today Show, so that I see what they have,
Speaker 2: and then at eighteen it's into the shower and then
Speaker 2: into close and out the door, and I usually make
Speaker 2: the eight twenty one or the eight to fifty one,
Speaker 2: depending on how my day's going.
Speaker 1: A train or train Yeah, okay into the city. Then
Speaker 1: from here into the city. Yeah, I wonder curious. Do
Speaker 1: you do anything on the train? Are you just looking
Speaker 1: out the window or what's the what is your usual? Uh?
Speaker 2: No, that's valuable time. Yes, that's valuable time. And that's
Speaker 2: why I always look for a seat, even though I
Speaker 2: always say I sit during my whole day, so I
Speaker 2: might as well stand. But if I can be on
Speaker 2: my laptop. That means I can review things that are
Speaker 2: make my day, my to do list for the day,
Speaker 2: which I usually make. I can't believe I'm like going
Speaker 2: through this whole thing in the afternoon before I go
Speaker 2: get up to the set to get really really ready.
Speaker 2: Between two forty five and three o'clock, I make my
Speaker 2: to do list for the following day. But then I
Speaker 2: sort of review that on the train and say, do
Speaker 2: I need to add to that. I also when I
Speaker 2: know I need to slow down a little bit that
Speaker 2: I'm going too fast, that's when I take a minute
Speaker 2: and listen to some meditation on the train. But it's
Speaker 2: always it's never a throwaway because that's valuable time for me.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I'm curious with you know, doing a show
Speaker 1: that is then in the afternoon, that's when you are
Speaker 1: on air and the segments you've been doing are airing.
Speaker 1: How much of that is done before you get into
Speaker 1: work that day, and how much is happening that day.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm very curious how that is sort of
Speaker 1: plotted out in terms of filling then the time that
Speaker 1: you are on air.
Speaker 2: Later almost all is done that day. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: my stories take a little bit longer, and they don't
Speaker 2: have to run a certain time. But our newscast is
Speaker 2: all about news of the day, and so what we
Speaker 2: start talking about at six point thirty in the morning
Speaker 2: and then plan is our coverage, and then go out
Speaker 2: and plan and shoot and research that airs that day.
Speaker 2: So it's constantly being developed over the afternoon. And and
Speaker 2: in fact, when I go on there at four, while
Speaker 2: it might have been gathered, much of what I'm about
Speaker 2: to read at five hasn't even been written yet. So
Speaker 2: those two and a half minutes or three and a
Speaker 2: half minutes when we're in a political season, so the
Speaker 2: commercial breaks are longer, are vital for me to be
Speaker 2: looking at the copy and the stories and making sure
Speaker 2: they're right and are they the most updated information. So yeah,
Speaker 2: so it's all being done right then in real time.
Speaker 1: And a lot of it is, I'm sure changing as
Speaker 1: it goes on. So you've got to be quick on
Speaker 1: your feet with what you thought you were talking about.
Speaker 2: Right, the Hogway is about to past xys, It was
Speaker 2: about to pass it at four to ten, but when
Speaker 2: the story comes around again at five point twenty, the
Speaker 2: house may have already passed it. So we're constantly updated.
Speaker 1: Yeah, constantly, updating, absolutely, And for our international listeners, they're like,
Speaker 1: why is there longer break during ads? Tracy and I
Speaker 1: are in Pennsylvania, which is a swing state in the US,
Speaker 1: and so we tend to have a robust market in
Speaker 1: political ads for this season.
Speaker 2: Right Tracy, we are one of, if not the most
Speaker 2: important state to the political campaigns right now. And if
Speaker 2: you need evidence, it's you'll see it in the commercials,
Speaker 2: You'll see it in billboards, You'll see it by the
Speaker 2: number of visits that the presidential candidates and the vice
Speaker 2: presidential candidates the number of visits that they make to Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we're a very popular state right now, very
Speaker 2: very purple.
Speaker 1: Very much. But it makes for an interesting job for
Speaker 1: Tracy for sure. Well, we're going to take a quick
Speaker 1: ad break. We'll be back with more with Tracy Davidson.
Speaker 1: I am back talking with Tracy Davidson about her routines
Speaker 1: and how she manages her life. Tracy is an anchor
Speaker 1: on our local NBC station here in Philadelphia. So Tracy,
Speaker 1: maybe you can talk about what some of your biggest
Speaker 1: time management challenges are these days.
Speaker 2: Well, So, even though it sounds like I have my
Speaker 2: mornings planned out if those are always a challenge, especially
Speaker 2: because for me there's this issue of clothes. I have
Speaker 2: to wear clothes to go report in, and then I
Speaker 2: have to take clothes to go on TV in, and
Speaker 2: so I just have to be very intentional and say
Speaker 2: that Sundays are my prep days and I have to
Speaker 2: take a solid half hour if not hour, to lay
Speaker 2: everything out. Otherwise the dominoes could fall as the as
Speaker 2: the days go on in the morning. So, yeah, that's
Speaker 2: I have to make myself do that on Sundays because
Speaker 2: I realize by Wednesdays if I haven't done that, and
Speaker 2: I'm scrambling at seven nineteen when I should be in
Speaker 2: the shower to yeah, to find my clothes and to
Speaker 2: figure out what I'm wearing and where the shoes are,
Speaker 2: and so that's definitely, that's definitely a job.
Speaker 1: I was going to say that that seemed I mean,
Speaker 1: the seven to a seven eighteen timing for somebody who
Speaker 1: is on air getting ready seemed pretty incredible to me.
Speaker 1: So I guess I'm glad to hear that it's that
Speaker 1: it's a little longer than that.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well, that's that's the time that I am
Speaker 2: not in the shower, right, So I'm getting everything ready
Speaker 2: so I can listen and sort of keep an eye
Speaker 2: on the Today Show. And then it's seven eight, So
Speaker 2: really it's not eighteen minutes. It's getting everything ready and
Speaker 2: then I jump in the shower, so it's more like
Speaker 2: forty minutes to totally get ready.
Speaker 1: Got cha, gotcha. So what is the difference between something
Speaker 1: that you would be wearing to report in versus an
Speaker 1: on camera outfit? Oh?
Speaker 2: Well, an on camera outfit would be something that is
Speaker 2: less comfortable and with heels, and the reporting is very
Speaker 2: much just street clothes, just something that I would go
Speaker 2: out in the street and report, go visit somebody's house,
Speaker 2: and it's just it's just a little bit more laid back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious for on camera thing though, I mean,
Speaker 1: especially as more and more people spend parts of their
Speaker 1: life on camera. Any advice you have for people on
Speaker 1: looking good if you're going to constantly have a camera on.
Speaker 2: You, you know, I no, I guess, you know, I see
Speaker 2: people here would be My advice is just to be
Speaker 2: just to look natural, because and I think that it's
Speaker 2: even gone a little bit more that way, even on
Speaker 2: air and on our sets. Because I don't know, it
Speaker 2: just doesn't seem real. Everything that we see on social
Speaker 2: media these days is not real, and I think people
Speaker 2: would prefer to see real. We know what you look like,
Speaker 2: all perfect, but that's only like a sliver of your
Speaker 2: real life. But somehow then everybody watching it interprets it
Speaker 2: into oh my gosh, look they always look perfect. I
Speaker 2: would prefer to tell people everyone looks just okay, you
Speaker 2: know when they go on camera.
Speaker 1: I would love that, Believe me, I would love that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if I could show up one day and say,
Speaker 2: you know, it's the same journalist whether I have all
Speaker 2: my makeup on and my hair done pretty yeah, or
Speaker 2: me and a ponytail yeah, and a button down shirt yeah,
Speaker 2: Because that's.
Speaker 1: Something that you then have to build into your work
Speaker 1: day before four o'clock as well is hair and makeup too.
Speaker 1: How much of a time does that tend to take?
Speaker 1: I assume you're multitasking as it happens, Yes, I.
Speaker 2: Am, Yeah, I usually do it. We have an editorial
Speaker 2: meeting from two to two twenty and during the editors meeting,
Speaker 2: I listen.
Speaker 1: And put on my makeup excellent, excellent, yeah, And so
Speaker 1: in order to be up at five am in the morning.
Speaker 1: What time are you going to bed? And what does
Speaker 1: that look like on the other end of your day?
Speaker 2: Nine point thirty is a hard out in fact, in fact,
Speaker 2: I set my phone alarm to that. So, yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: constantly I guess because of what I do I can.
Speaker 2: I'm always back timing. I'm always thinking how much more
Speaker 2: time do I have until this happens. So by about
Speaker 2: nine fifteen, I am ready to crawl in bed with
Speaker 2: a book, even if I read only three pages. That's
Speaker 2: sort of the be in bed by nine fifteen, that's
Speaker 2: the idea.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So when you come home after the five o'clock
Speaker 1: segments have aired, are you getting on another train and
Speaker 1: heading back to the house. What does that look like?
Speaker 2: Yes, So I walk out of the station at six
Speaker 2: twenty or six ten. I get on the train at
Speaker 2: six twenty, A husband picks me up up at six fifty.
Speaker 2: We get home, we eat at seven o'clock. We're pretty routine,
Speaker 2: and by seven point thirty, I'm either cleaning up the
Speaker 2: kitchen or walking the dog, or we both clean up
Speaker 2: the kitchen and we both walk the dog. And so
Speaker 2: by eight o'clock it's you know, eight to nine is
Speaker 2: the relaxation time. And if I really need an extra boost,
Speaker 2: that's my time to do crafts.
Speaker 1: What do you do?
Speaker 2: What kind of frowny one? Oh? Just anything, you know,
Speaker 2: I make things. I make things with shells. I put
Speaker 2: candles in deep shells, or I make candles in antique teacups.
Speaker 2: It's just sort of what fills me up when I'm
Speaker 2: really drained.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I want to talk about a little tip
Speaker 1: that you just gave. I'm going to ask you for
Speaker 1: a few more time management tips for our listeners. But
Speaker 1: you mentioned you set your alarm for nine thirty to
Speaker 1: get yourself in bed. What led to that and how
Speaker 1: is that helpful?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think that we all need I mean, we
Speaker 2: can all get and if you I know that nobody
Speaker 2: can see this and we're just seeing each other, but
Speaker 2: if you could see how many alarms I have set
Speaker 2: on my phone throughout the day, because because then that
Speaker 2: allows you to get deeply into whatever you're doing, and
Speaker 2: then it will remind you if I'm constantly thinking, and
Speaker 2: this mostly happens at work, but if I'm constantly thinking,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I have a Zoom interview coming up
Speaker 2: at eleven fifteen, then I can't get deep into the
Speaker 2: story I'm writing at ten thirty, and so if I
Speaker 2: set my alarm for eleven ten for an eleven fifteen
Speaker 2: zoom interview, then I know I can just sort of
Speaker 2: set it aside and know that that will that will
Speaker 2: get me, that will get me where I need to go,
Speaker 2: because otherwise I'm just thinking about I hope I don't
Speaker 2: miss this, and I hope I don't miss this, and
Speaker 2: then that makes the time between ten thirty and eleven
Speaker 2: ten not all that valuable because I can't get deep.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, Now, setting alarms to call attention to things
Speaker 1: is a is a great technique. Well, we're going to
Speaker 1: take one more quick ad break and then we will
Speaker 1: be back with a few more tips from Tracy. Well,
Speaker 1: I am back talking with Tracy Davidson, who is a
Speaker 1: co anchor on the local NBC news station in my
Speaker 1: area in Philadelphia. So, Tracy, I wonder if you can
Speaker 1: maybe share one more time management tip that helps you
Speaker 1: with your busy life.
Speaker 2: Well, as you just pointed out, I think setting my
Speaker 2: alarm really helps. And I also, you know, I just
Speaker 2: I lay it out, I really know what my day
Speaker 2: is going to be and can change of course, because
Speaker 2: I'm in news. But when I have a plan, then
Speaker 2: I know sort of what the goal is and that
Speaker 2: that's very helpful to me short term and long term.
Speaker 2: The day and then the week. I can look out
Speaker 2: over my week on Sundays and say, all right, this
Speaker 2: is going to be a night that maybe I pushed
Speaker 2: past nine thirty because I have to be out at
Speaker 2: a speaking engagement. And then I know that the next
Speaker 2: night I got to tuck it back in make and
Speaker 2: make sure that I give myself some time to recover.
Speaker 2: So I mean, I think that I'm always looking at
Speaker 2: long term and short term.
Speaker 1: And you do this weekly planning on Sunday, I mean,
Speaker 1: as you're right thinking about your weekend then also choosing
Speaker 1: your outfits, and that's right, all those good things. Yeah, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1: Any sort of time on Sunday that tends to happen,
Speaker 1: or when it's just when it happens.
Speaker 2: Oh, I think that you know, the whole backtime thing
Speaker 2: starts happening around three o'clock thinking, thinking it's time to
Speaker 2: start getting into work mode. But around our house, we're
Speaker 2: very conscious of the of the Sunday scaries, and so
Speaker 2: we try to make something fun for dinner or just
Speaker 2: get that ready and then we can relax a little bit.
Speaker 1: Nice. That's good to know. So maybe Chase that you
Speaker 1: could talk about something. One of our taglines on this
Speaker 1: show is taking days from great to Awesome. What's something
Speaker 1: that you've done recently that has taken one of your
Speaker 1: days from great to awesome? You know?
Speaker 2: You know, working out has always been a priority for me,
Speaker 2: but I have for the last few years just gone
Speaker 2: to the gym to just lift weights or just do
Speaker 2: a class or and years ago, I used to walk
Speaker 2: for a full hour before I worked out or anything,
Speaker 2: and so now I've sort of added that back in
Speaker 2: because it gives me time. It gives me it gives
Speaker 2: me think time. And I've realized that my thought work,
Speaker 2: which is critical to all the things I do, whether
Speaker 2: it's speaking to women's groups or working on a story,
Speaker 2: any of that requires thought time. And my best thought
Speaker 2: time is in the morning, and so I've really been
Speaker 2: taking that time to get up and go for a
Speaker 2: walk and I and I keep a little notebook with
Speaker 2: me all the time now so that I write things down,
Speaker 2: and that has really that's made a huge difference in
Speaker 2: my life in the last six months.
Speaker 1: Because you have to come up with ideas all the time.
Speaker 2: Correct, Yeah, I mean, well, we hear from people who
Speaker 2: need our help, so that's helpful. But I'm always thinking
Speaker 2: about ways to present all the things I talk about
Speaker 2: resilience and confidence in my speaking world. I'm always thinking
Speaker 2: about new ways to talk about that, new things that
Speaker 2: I can learn about, the skills about the science and Yeah,
Speaker 2: so that's what I'm always thinking about.
Speaker 1: I wonder if they're you know, in your speaking you know,
Speaker 1: you talk about ways for people to be more resilient.
Speaker 1: I know you've experienced various challenges in your life too.
Speaker 1: I mean I wonder if there is sort of I mean,
Speaker 1: something you can help people think about to tap into
Speaker 1: that resiliency. I mean, if there is something you're going
Speaker 1: to advise people like I want to be more resilient.
Speaker 1: I mean, what is one thing you can do well?
Speaker 2: I think it's just choosing the outlook.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Of all the things, all of the choices that we
Speaker 2: can have taken away from us, the one choice that
Speaker 2: we can always make is how we're going to see
Speaker 2: a given event or a person. It's a choice, and
Speaker 2: so you can let that person make you crazy or
Speaker 2: you can say that person is different than I am,
Speaker 2: and it's okay, and I because you're hurting yourself, you're
Speaker 2: slowing yourself down right, same thing with the situation. I
Speaker 2: can see this situation as horrible, Oh my gosh, the
Speaker 2: world is going to hell in a handbasket. Or I
Speaker 2: can say, Okay, there are some things that are not
Speaker 2: great about this world. There are wars, and there are famines,
Speaker 2: and you know, there are terrible, terrible things, and and
Speaker 2: there are really good things happening in the world. And
Speaker 2: I have the ability to change my world right now
Speaker 2: the people that I interact with right now. I can't
Speaker 2: solve a war, but I can change the culture in
Speaker 2: my little office. I can be kind. I can see
Speaker 2: a stranger on the street and say hello. I have
Speaker 2: the ability to And that's huge for resilience, to be
Speaker 2: able to see something and choose to see in a
Speaker 2: way that is hopeful.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of power in that word. And isn't there.
Speaker 2: That's one of my favorite words, because I think that
Speaker 2: we we always think that it's or we tend to
Speaker 2: think that it's one way or the other, and most
Speaker 2: times with almost everything, it's an and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: So Tercy, what are you looking forward to right now?
Speaker 2: Well, I have Lifting your Voice conference that's coming up
Speaker 2: and it will be in the middle of October, and
Speaker 2: it's one hundred women coming together talking about resilience, talking
Speaker 2: about their challenges, talking about confidence, and you know, we
Speaker 2: all have sort of threads that run through what everyone's
Speaker 2: lives that connect us, and I'm really looking forward to.
Speaker 2: One of the subjects we're talking about is transition, because
Speaker 2: we all go through many transitions throughout our life. We
Speaker 2: don't really see them because they're many, right, But then
Speaker 2: when huge transitions come up, a change in job, a
Speaker 2: change in marital stat as, the loss of a spouse, say,
Speaker 2: moving to someplace new, a diagnosis, whatever, the transition is
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, we are thrown for a loop
Speaker 2: and it's just change, and it's just resilience. And there
Speaker 2: are steps that you can sort of ease yourself through
Speaker 2: that with self compassion. And that's one of the things
Speaker 2: that I'm looking forward to talking to people about because
Speaker 2: every woman that I come across lately seems to say
Speaker 2: that they're in a period of transition and they're feeling
Speaker 2: a little unstable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess we're all in transition all the time.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the normal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1: Well, Tracy, this has been fascinating. Maybe you can tell
Speaker 1: our listeners where they can find you.
Speaker 2: Sure, you can find me at Tracy Davidson dot com.
Speaker 2: You can find me at Lifting your Voice dot com,
Speaker 2: and you can find me at Nbcphiladelphia dot com.
Speaker 1: Excellent. Well, Tracy, thank you so much for joining us,
Speaker 1: and to my listeners, thank you for listening to again
Speaker 1: one of these longer Before Breakfast episodes. If you have
Speaker 1: feedback on this, or you know questions you want me
Speaker 1: to forward to Tracy or other people you'd like to
Speaker 1: hear from in the future, please let me know. You
Speaker 1: can always reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: And in the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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