WEBVTT - Let's Talk About Equal Pay...with Catt Sadler 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:10.200 This is Let's be clear with Shannon Dorney. Hi, everybody, welcome, Welcome, 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:13.680 What an honor to be here. I am Kat Sadler 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.759 and I'll be hosting Let's be Clear this week. And 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.800 as so many of you know, this platform, this space 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:25.240 is so sacred, was so important to Shannon, so just 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.600 to be invited here, I have to say, I just 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.600 I'm so so touched. I have to believe that knowing Shannon, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.720 even from the other side, she's probably moving things around. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.480 She's still such a force, and so in a weird way, 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.519 I feel like she even chose me to be here today. 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.680 So for that, Thank you, Shannon, thank you for her 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:47.559 whole team. I'm so so grateful to be here. For 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.080 those of you who may not know me and know 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.880 my career as an entertainment host and a TV host, 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:58.720 a journalist, I like so many of you, was very 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.680 invested in Shannon's life and her career, and I knew 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.640 her from AFAR and admired her for countless reasons, countless 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:10.520 reasons for her bravery, for just how honest she was, 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.920 how she fought for what she believed in, and that 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.680 is not easy to do. People like Shannon make it 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.480 look easy, but it's it's not. I had to learn 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.119 that the hard way. Has taken me many, many years 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.360 to figure that out as I've gotten older. But again, 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.880 because this space, this podcast was Shannon's way of sharing 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.720 her truth in her own words, I'm honored to help 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.919 continue with that mission and talk a little bit about 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:38.800 truth today. That's kind of I think going to be 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.000 my theme. In fact, a little fun fact. I even 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.800 have the word truth tattooed right here on my forearm. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.320 I was after a real nasty breakup, which I'm happy 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.160 to tell you about because Shannon would, she'd tell it 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.559 like it is, She'd tell you everything. But I thought 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.520 first it might be fun to kind of tell you 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:59.920 how Shannon and my worlds collided or intersected over the 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.200 years before I get into that, because to frame this 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.200 a little for you guys, I long before I was 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.880 a TV host on E and spent decades, you know, 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.120 reporting from all over the world for the Entertainment Network. 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.640 I always dreamt of being a journalist, but I was 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:20.680 from a very very small town in Indiana, and I, 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.880 like so many other teenagers in the nineties, was obsessed 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.880 with Beverly Hills nine o two and zero and would 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:33.680 watch religiously. It was appointment television and Shannon was an 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.200 icon then, I mean to me, I mean that cast 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.800 was obviously, you know, so impactful to so many and 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.160 shaped pop culture in so many ways at the time. 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.560 But Shannon was just she had this strength, she had 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:53.000 this aura, she had this just super such a magnetic 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.480 energy around her you could tell, even as an actress 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.000 on that show. So I grew up just kind of 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.560 idolizing her like so many people did. And Hollywood for me, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:06.400 I mean forgetting I know two and oh, I mean 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:09.480 Hollywood as a whole was a pipe dream for a 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:11.600 kid like me. I didn't know anyone in the business. 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.840 I didn't have family in the business, but I would 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.640 watch shows like Hers or movies on the screen and 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:23.680 did dream about one day coming to Hollywood. And you 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:25.680 got to remember that, y'all, this is a long time ago. 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.320 This was before people had phones, before we all felt 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.040 far more connected, before the world felt smaller. I mean, 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:33.680 it was huge. It would have been like going to 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:37.760 Mars to go to Hollywood. But I ended up studying 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:42.080 journalism in college in Indiana also, but would eventually land 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.720 my first ever TV reporting entertainment job in San Francisco. 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.360 So if you are old enough, and I know you 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.560 Charmed bands will know this. But Charmed was on the 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.360 WB network. I was hired. My first TV job was 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:01.120 the WB twenty, which was the affiliate of the WB 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:03.680 in San Francisco. So here I was twenty one years old. 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.320 Also another pinch me dream job that the fact I 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.800 landed was just crazy looking back, but I was hired 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.839 to be on this ten PM newscast in San Francisco 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.840 as a twenty one year old as the entertainment reporter. 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.320 And I even brought you a little keepsake because I 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.760 thought you WB fans, Charmed fans would appreciate this. I 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:28.000 still have my WB twenty mug from my very first 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.919 TV job back in nineteen ninety seven, the WB twenty 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:34.360 News of ten. Yep, that was me. So what that 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:38.520 meant was here I was this young reporter trying to 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:43.320 exude confidence, trying to be brave, trying to you know, 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.320 emit this strength, often faking it till we make it 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.400 when we're young. Right, But I landed this job, and 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:54.520 I remember it wasn't long after that they were like, Kat, 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:59.000 we're going to send you to Los Angeles on assignment. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.560 Did you not to the set of Charmed? Yes? True story, 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:06.599 And what I'll continue to do here is like wow, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:08.839 looking back, connecting all the dots and then just sitting 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:10.520 here in front of you guys today. It's just wild. 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.640 But I was so nervous, I was so green, I 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.479 was so inexperienced, and I just I remember that trip 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.479 like it was yesterday because it was the first time 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:25.040 I'd ever come to Hollywood been on the set of 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:29.159 a massive production of that scale. I remember it was 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.239 a night shoot. It wasn't on a stage or anything. 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.440 Was actually somewhere set. I think it was in the 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:37.159 home that Charmed was filmed in, and it was in 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.839 the mountains somewhere in this beautiful, like California picturesque setting. 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:44.960 I remember it was dusk, it was getting dark, and 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:48.880 I was so nervous because I knew I was going 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:52.560 to come face to face with Shannon Freakin Doherty. I mean, 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.200 I remember this like it was yesterday. And the exciting 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.039 part about that is I was able to have that 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.480 front row seat to watch them do their scenes. And 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:03.720 it was Shannon, it was Alissa, it was Holly, it 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:05.480 was the director, it was. You know, it was this 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:09.880 massive production, and I remember just being in awe of 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:14.480 the immense amount of work they were doing and thinking, 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:16.000 you know, she's not that much older than me, and 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:20.880 thinking like, look at how incredibly dedicated to her craft 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.039 she is. She's such a star, she is such a legend, 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.279 and you could feel her aura just by being in 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:32.479 the same room with her. Now, the bummer to this 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:37.520 story is that I must have waited hours to get 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:41.960 the interview with the girls that night, and I never 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.240 got this dinking interview. I never got the interview, and 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:46.359 it was because I think they were running late and 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:48.200 they were behind on their scenes, and you know, these 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.520 these productions have to you know, it's all about you know, 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.320 money and schedules and the union and all this stuff. 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.120 So for whatever reason, they could not take a break 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.599 and they never did do the interviews, which was totally 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:01.839 heartbreak for me. But on the other hand, it was 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.960 still so fulfilling because I was just there. I just 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.680 felt like a giddy little guest, not really a twenty 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.880 two year old journalist trying to get the interview. So 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:14.960 I was a little bummed. But of course, fast forwarding 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.000 to my time then on E and crossing Paso Shannon 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.000 and being able to cover her over the years and 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:26.000 always admiring her and respecting the stance she would take 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:32.120 no matter what until the very end, which is so admirable, 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:37.880 her vulnerability through her painstaking illness. I just sat over 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:39.840 here like so many of you and just you know, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.760 my heart, my heart was just so touched by her 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:48.480 sharing of her journey and her illness and still until 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.880 the very end showing us her courage and the way 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.840 that she would stare down everything that she was going 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:58.000 through and be so honest with all of us about 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:02.800 every step of the way. And then one other just again, 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:07.760 interesting connection is you all know Chris Cortazo, who is 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.240 one of her very very best friends and dear friends. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.560 As fate would have it, I have become friends with 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.320 Chris in the last couple of years because he actually 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.560 sold our home out here in Malibu to my partner 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.840 Gregan and me, So he sold our house for us 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.680 so that we could move to where we are now. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.280 So anyway, just so many little interesting, interconnected beats to 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.400 our lives and the fact that I'm going to say 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:35.079 it again, she and her team asked me to take 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:37.600 up a little space here today is really really cool 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:41.319 and very special to me. And to bring it back 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:43.600 to truth a little bit, I mean, I suppose the 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:48.120 way that my career evolved, and having been in this 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:53.560 industry and being on a massive television network for more 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:57.760 than a decade or twelve years up until that point, 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:02.600 I had really operated like so many, so many women 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.760 unlike Shannon do, so many women who don't feel like 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.200 they have the permission, like Shannon do, so many of 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:12.120 us who have been taught to stay in a straight line, 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.880 to keep things tidy, to not complain, to seek the 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:20.959 approval of others, to be liked by everybody. In many ways, 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:25.040 I was that girl. I was that girl from a 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.840 small town in the Midwest who just wanted to be 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.360 liked and didn't want to rock the boat. And that 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:36.520 is a very limiting self belief, and it is It 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.920 is not the way I would recommend any of you 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.520 live your lives. I mean, I had to learn, and 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:48.160 I've had my own journey. But I was that employee 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.559 in my company that you know, I guess I'd say 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.480 I was a yes girl. You know, yeah, sure, all 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.920 work extra hours, all work a longer weekend. I'm a 0:09:55.960 --> 0:10:01.319 team player. I never I never really challenged the powers 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:05.679 or the authority, and in many ways, on me, I 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:11.080 muszled my own creativity and muzzled my own needs, often 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:14.360 as a working mother. On top of that, to just 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:21.680 be liked, to stay in my sweet little spot that 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.360 probably somewhere in my subconscious I was always afraid of losing. 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.000 Because we are also taught as women that were just 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.840 lucky to be there, right Like I was a lucky 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:33.320 to have a dream job. On me, I was lucky 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:36.760 to do the work and be in the position to 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:43.640 interview celebrities, aless celebrities and these iconic figures that I 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.679 should just keep quiet and shut up and keep it 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.480 moving and never really a voice and a grievances about 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:52.560 anything to do with that. Right, And by the way, 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:55.160 take the pay we give you, because there's a lot 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.920 of people that would do this job for free, you 0:10:57.960 --> 0:10:59.960 know what I'm saying. So if some of you know 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:01.960 my name, maybe it's because you didn't watch E, but 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:07.400 maybe you know of my story that eventually the kind 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:12.880 of quiet, more submissive, go with the flow girl cat 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:17.439 that I once was. It took learning of a massive 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:22.120 pay disparity at my job for me to finally use 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:27.640 my voice and understand my power and understand what I 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.120 could do, what I needed to do, what I had 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:35.360 to do to be truthful to my own soul and 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.440 my own spirit and to stand up for what was right. 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.760 And so it's people like Shannon who had been in 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.600 the news, or people like Rose McGowan who had been 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.360 in the news who I had been covering, these other 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:52.920 remarkable women like Jennifer Lawrence speaking out and talking about 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:56.920 pay disperity or injustices in the workplace. It took me 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:01.160 reporting on them to see them as these old characters, 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:06.040 these bold people, these bold voices that did it anyway 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:21.800 because it was the right thing to do. Then my 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:28.240 own story became, you know, right paralleled alongside many of 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.480 those stories. I found out about pay disparity with my 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.559 co host, and I went through a myriad of emotions 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:37.880 because of that. It was about a year long process. 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:39.560 You know, I get asked about this a lot. It 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.600 wasn't like I learned the news and then I quit 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:44.360 my job and it was over. I mean, it was 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:48.280 a really quite a season, have a lot of soul 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.040 searching and figuring out what to do about it, you know, 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:55.320 I first learned that I was underpaid, severely, severely underpaid, 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.080 and I was embarrassed, and I was angry, and I 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.280 was frustrated. And how Hollywood works, you know, I had 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:03.240 an old team of agents, and so then of course 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.120 I bring this information to them. Whether they knew or not, 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.320 of course they had to have some idea of what 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.680 the disparity is. That's another whole part of the network 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.920 here in Hollywood. But I had a decision to make. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:19.760 It's like, let's ask for what I believe that I 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:22.880 am worth, and then if I don't get that, what 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.280 am I going to do about it? And so my 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.040 story is such that we did. You know, I asked 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.040 for what I believed was reasonable pay what I thought 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:36.720 was fair ballpark pay to what my counterpart had been making. 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:38.240 By the way, for those of you who don't know 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.480 the story very well, you know, we started at the 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:43.280 network the same year. This was really an apples to 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.000 Apple's situation. We had a very similar public profile like 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:53.840 this for me felt very very much like an injustice 0:13:53.880 --> 0:14:01.040 and a huge, huge, you know, evidential reality that this 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.960 was in fact an injustice and was wrong and by 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:09.040 the way, illegal. So we tried to negotiate getting my 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:10.640 pay to where it needed to be, and at the 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:12.480 end of the day, that network decided that they weren't 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.760 going to meet me there, not even close by the way. 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:19.880 So I always tell people this, you know, again, back 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.120 to the good girl culture that so many of us 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:26.480 were raised to be or to how to behave in 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:30.320 this very polite society as women, You know, how it 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:35.160 used to be. I got angry, and I always was 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.840 taught that angry anger itself was maybe a bad emotion 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.600 or a negative emotion, and it wasn't. It wasn't a 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.720 it wasn't a pretty way to behave. And it actually 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:49.120 took the anger from the situation to propel me forward 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:52.200 to do what I did. Like anger in that situation, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.320 it was the emotion that I needed to awaken my 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:59.120 voice in many ways, to use my reach and my 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:03.520 power and take a stand against what I knew to 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.800 be right. So I also just want to say that 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.520 for any of you, regardless of what you do, or 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:13.000 if you're working in corporate America or have your own 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.440 business or whatever it is, or whether or not you 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.680 don't work at all, there's something I think inside of 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:22.480 all of us, which is our own moral compass, and 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:26.000 I just think it's so incredibly important that we listen 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:31.000 to that guttural instinct. And for me, my decision became 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:34.320 easier because I was able to walk away and quit 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.080 that job because I knew, I knew that if I 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:41.840 were to stay, that would have been a disservice to 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.400 me and my spirit and my core, because I would 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:49.440 have been living a lie. Again, it's back to truth 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.960 and the opposite, which is essentially living a lie. I 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:57.160 would have gone air on air every day, day after day. 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.800 I would have settled for what I knew was below me. 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.720 I knew my worth was greater than what they were offering, 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:11.440 and I would have It would have just been an 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:18.280 act of self Deceit really the opposite of loving oneself. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.560 It would have been settling, and therefore I wouldn't have 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.560 been able to do even the job that I wanted 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.680 to do, that I love to do. So eventually the 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:32.160 decision became easy for me. I guess nothing was really 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.040 easy about it, but it was at least clear. Let's 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:39.280 be clear, Okay, the decision was clear that I would 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.640 walk away and I would exit, and that departure for 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.480 me taught me so so much about all of the 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:50.280 many virtues that Shannon talks about and believes in and 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:54.400 acted upon, which is be brave. You know, even when 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:56.760 your voice shakes, you've got to be brave if that 0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:00.080 is your truth, and and share your truth. And I 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.040 have to say, as scary as it is, guys, like 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:08.199 it's so incredibly rewarding to do it, I believe that 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:12.120 the universe on the other side of these scary moments, 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.320 these moments we were fearful, the moments where we feel 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:20.719 like we have everything to lose and real life is 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.440 on the line. I mean, I was a single mom 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:29.040 with two kids. Money mattered in my household, and so 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.639 to take that leap was a massive risk. But because 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:35.439 I did it, and I know this now, I can 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.119 sit here on the other side and say, I know 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.480 that I did that because I've been rewarded by the universe. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.359 I have been rewarded in so many ways. To see 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:48.240 the women in Hollywood rally around me after making that 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:53.879 decision and leading again, not something I'd ever done. I 0:17:54.000 --> 0:18:00.879 didn't love conflict. I disdain conflict in fact, But because 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:02.800 I had the courage to do that, I mean to 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.480 see the support I received from doing that. I don't 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:08.960 know if y'all know about the Golden Globes. You know, 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:12.880 event months after my departure in the thick of Times UP, 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.840 I mean so many women that again I love and 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.840 revere Sarah Jiska Parker and Eva Longoria and Deborah Messing 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.320 and Jennifer Lawrence and all these women taking a stand 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:26.320 on my behalf saying we stand with Kat because women 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:30.040 should be paid fairly in the workplace. Like I was 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:34.880 just astounded by the response that I received from other 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:39.320 women and maybe perhaps even more importantly, the young girls 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.960 around the world who would reach out to me after that, 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:47.080 after that act of mine, after that stand of mine, 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.600 young girls doing like school reports in their classes, and 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:55.560 then there would be college courses on equal pay and 0:18:55.680 --> 0:19:00.680 just we've definitely, I don't want to say a long way, 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:04.679 but we've definitely made progress in recent years. And so 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:09.359 that was just so fulfilling for me and unexpected for 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:13.080 me that my move would make any kind of impact. 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.080 I didn't do it for the impact. I didn't do 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.199 it for any kind of notoriety. In fact, I was 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:20.520 suddenly like thrust into being this poster child for at 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.879 the Times UP movement. Which I didn't ask to be. 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:28.360 But I'll also just say that it's so interesting if 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:32.440 you're open to being used enough service in your lifetime. 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.240 I remember being at E and I remember watching a 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.000 lot of the other TV hosts come and then they'd go, 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.119 or a reporter would come, and then they'd leave, and 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.840 we'd be at their goodbye parties and we'd be wishing 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.199 them well and we'd be toasting, you know, their career, 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.920 their contributions to the network and everything they did in entertainment. 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.600 And I remember always sitting there thinking, Hmm, I wonder 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:56.560 what my exit's going to look like. I wonder what 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:58.399 my goodbye is going to look like. I wonder what 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:00.480 my farewell party, what people are going to and I 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:02.280 wonder when that would be and how that would look. 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:08.560 And I never would have dreamed that my exit, after 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.680 twelve years, five days a week being with this company 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.720 and a dream job, that I absolutely changed my life 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:20.560 for the better in every way, that my departure would 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:25.080 look like that number one, and to just affect so 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:30.120 many others and so ever since that post in that position, 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:34.920 I have felt a real obligation to continue to tell 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:37.119 that story and to continue to shine light on the 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:41.000 disparities in the workplace for women and the inequalities that 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.959 are so so real still to this day, not just 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.240 for me and for white women, but for women of 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:54.520 color in particular. The disparity is horrific, and I hope 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:57.399 that we continue to shine a light on this issue. 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:04.719 And it does take a certain skin. It takes a 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:08.320 certain skin to keep speaking up and to walk into 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:11.560 your boss's room and to say no, I want the promotion, 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:14.320 or no, this is unfair, or how come I keep 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.119 getting this assignment. He keeps getting this assignment, and he 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:19.760 keeps getting promoted, and he keeps getting the better jobs, 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.359 or he keeps getting the praise or the accolades. So 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:25.280 I feel you, women, I feel you. I know what 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:29.680 you are up against. But keep going, keep going. And 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.879 I always like to give the advice to keep records 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:37.080 of your achievements and what you do, because it's one 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:40.240 thing to say I believe in myself, I know my value, 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:45.800 but there really is some added value if you can 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:49.639 just show your wins, have records of your wins. Whatever 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.080 job you're in again, whatever industry you're in, whatever life 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:57.959 situation you're in. The proof is in the pudding. You know, 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:01.359 if your clients are loving your work, or write that down, 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:04.119 or if you got this you know, thank you, or 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.360 nice email from another somebody else, you know, write it down. 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:10.640 Keep these things, collect these things, and don't be afraid 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:14.160 to ask proactively for what you want. I think that's 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:16.720 another thing I never really did growing up, is even 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:19.879 in school, even in work, I would never just I 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:21.639 was never that person just knocking on the door and 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:23.680 asking for what I want or asking for the assignment 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:25.679 I wanted, or as you know, raising my hand and 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:30.399 challenging anything like don't be afraid like that. Is what 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:34.440 I've learned through this whole process is just how liberating 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.639 it is and how much freedom there is when you 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.040 speak up. It's not even just speaking out, it's just 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:46.480 speaking up because again, as a society culturally over hundreds 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:48.280 of years, and this is just look at where we 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:50.000 used to be. I mean, my mom loves to tell 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:52.560 the story that you know, she had to ask my 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:55.520 dad to get a credit card because women weren't even 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:58.439 allowed to get their own credit card in our lifetime. Guys. 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:00.600 So you know, we have a lot of way to go, 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:03.000 but we have come a long way and let's keep 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:18.520 it going, is what I would say. For certain that 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.360 in many ways is kind of my my et story 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:27.000 and how that all came to be, and how again 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:31.040 I believe in truth in every aspect. In fact, my 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:36.240 podcast Kat Sadler now has morphed into you know, it 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:41.280 used to be more interviews with celebrities, kind of my background, 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:45.679 my experience of a conversation, for sure, but it is 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:50.280 morphed into let's talk about it. Let's take off the masks, 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:54.600 because let's get real. Let's be vulnerable. Can I be 0:23:54.800 --> 0:23:57.840 transparent with you? Can I let it all hang out 0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:01.600 again the way Shannon All always has. She was a 0:24:01.640 --> 0:24:06.600 pioneer at this. But what happens when we do this 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:10.400 with each other is that we give one another permission 0:24:11.560 --> 0:24:16.600 to be ourselves. We give one another permission to be 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:20.760 okay and understand that I don't care what you do, 0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:23.159 what your zip code is, if it's nine O two 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:25.400