- Last year, we introduced you to a talented young woman
whose dream is to become a successful broadcast journalist.
As the 2021 Kansas student journalist of the year,
she certainly was already on her way,
but that's an industry in which you can use a little help.
All the help you can get, right?
So we decided to introduce her to Ken Lindner,
one of the top talent agents in the industry.
But that was just the first part,
so let's look back.
And you're not just helping Riley for the summer, right?
- That's correct.
I am committed to helping you
not only through the summer, Riley,
but we're gonna do this together.
We're gonna choreograph your career through college,
we're gonna work on demo tapes, internships,
you'll be, you know,
helped with and by the the most wonderful people,
some of the most insightful people in broadcasting.
And then we're gonna help you get that first job,
and I will be here for you for your career.
- Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
- That's not all, though.
We actually have "Access Hollywood,"
they're taking it a step further
because we love "Access Hollywood" and they are so great.
They're gonna take it further with an all-access pass,
so you'll meet Kit Hoover, who I love,
you'll get to attend a newsroom meeting,
you'll get to give input and more.
They're actually very excited about this.
(audience clapping)
We have Ken and Riley joining us now, everybody.
So, Riley, when we last saw you,
you were headed off to college, so how's it going?
- Oh, it's going great.
I'm at the University of Arkansas
studying advertising, and I'm kind of
trying to decide right now between broadcast journalism
and news editorial journalism, so.
It was great to hang out with Kit yesterday
and kind of see what that looks like in the real world,
but I'm also doing an entertainment show
at my college station,
so I've been hosting that
and it's been amazing to just see that.
- Wait, so you already jumped right in,
like at your college?
- Yeah, no, it's been great.
All the professors are amazing,
I've learned so much already,
and I'm the copy editor for the yearbook
so I'm kind of seeing the writing side also.
- Oh my gosh, you're like,
you have too many jobs already. (laughs)
- Oh, yeah, a little bit. My mom would say, like,
I'm overwhelming myself just a little bit.
- [Kelly] I did that too, - Oh yeah
- [Kelly] you know what, it panned out.
Yeah, I did that too, - Clearly it worked out.
- when I was younger. - Yeah.
- [Kelly] You only get one life and you get excited,
- Exactly! Exactly. - You want do all the things.
But do take it from all of us older than you,
like, make sure you make time for you as well.
- Yeah, that's important
- Have some fun college experiences.
- For sure.
- Ken, you and Riley are still working closely, right?
- You! - Yes, me!
- Yes, you! (Riley laughs)
- Yes, Kelly, the mentorship is going fantastically well.
- [Kelly] Awesome.
- And, you know, we choreographed steps once we finished
with your show last time.
So the steps are, one, first of all,
we keep in touch every month.
Two, I sent Riley bits and pieces of broadcasters
that I think she can learn from and emulate
so when she gets on air, she has in her mind's eye
what she wants to do.
Then Riley secured this great job,
this television job,
on campus, hosting an entertainment show.
So she gets to have repetition every week,
and then I get to critique it every week,
so every week we're growing, every week
we're learning.
And then once we have enough tape,
I'm going to put together a demo tape
and get Riley her first on-air job at a local station
- Wow
- And then I'll be there for the rest of
her career, hopefully, to help her
fulfill her wonderful potential.
- That's the big leagues! - That's so cool!
(audience applauds)
- Yes, it's been great.
- I love what you did, too, because
even as, like, seeing that no matter what it is,
I love that you're saying, "Watch tape of people."
Like, that's how I grew up, singing.
We're all imitators, I feel like, until we find our own.
Like, until we find who we are and our purpose
via this vessel that we're, - Yeah
you know, a part of.
So Kit, you had people who were instrumental
in helping launch your career.
What did that mean to you?
- Everything. So to have Riley,
and to try to do this in my life, to pay it forward,
it's a little bit of luck and then hard work and dedication.
But you have to have people who believe in you
and want to take a chance on you.
Let me tell y'all, this girl's got it.
(Riley laughs) - She was so much fun,
I loved showing her around the set.
The biggest advice I could give her was
to take advantage of everything in college, try everything.
And as an interviewer, Kelly, what do you think?
I said I think the number one you can do is listen.
If you can truly be calm enough to listen,
not worried about your next question, ya got it.
- Yeah, and, whoo, listening can be hard
if you're a talker. (chuckles)
- [Kit] Yeah. - [Riley] Yeah. (chuckles)
- I mean, I've heard. (all laugh)
As Riley gets ready to take on this new on-air job,
she had a chance to fine-tune her skills
during her internship with Kit at "Access Hollywood,"
and sent cameras there to capture it all,
so check this out.
(funky music)
- I'm so excited that I'm here at "Access" today
to get to learn from the Kit Hoover
and see what she does on a day-to-day basis.
Let's go!
- Hi! - Oh my gosh!
It's so good to meet you! (Kit laughs)
- Now I get to meet you!
- I'm like, go Kelly! I could, like, cry!
I would say I'm most excited about talking with Kit.
I've looked up to her for a really long time
and I think seeing her in action is definitely
going to help me a lot.
- So today we're doing two of them, okay.
So let's see here, we're starting off,
I get my notes, - Right
kind of some reads.
We're familiar with Chippendale
and them met from a - [Riley] Oh yes.
- news story behind the group.
- The process of structuring a show is
definitely a lot more complicated than I thought.
- Disney+ got "Dancing with the Stars."
Did you ever watch that show?
- Oh, I love "Dancing with the Stars."
- You did? Okay, so now they're streaming.
So my mom can't find it.
- I had learned some the terms in my classes,
but I'd never seen it, you know, working with the clock
and trying to make everything work at once.
- "Masked Singer" is going to have a new format.
Did you ever watch that show? - Hmm.
- Then we end with something fun,
a hippo eating pumpkins.
Who doesn't love that, Riley?
- Oh! I mean, you can't go wrong, really! (laughs)
- Do you want to go track?
- Yes! I'm so excited!
- Okay, I'm gonna take you to the tracking booth.
- [Kit] You go in first.
- [Riley] Okay, okay, I will.
Oh, it's a little tiny space! - [Kit] Tiny.
- Kit kind of pushed me into the VO box
and I was very confused about what that all was like.
- Andy, can you believe they're letting me mentor somebody?
(both laugh) - [Andy] Oh wow!
- I had never recorded a voice over track before,
but I was not about to tell Kit Hoover no.
Hey mystery aside, let's test just how well
they really know each other.
- Perfect. Maybe hit "really"
know each other. - Okay.
- I think I did a pretty good job with the voice overs.
I was struggling a little bit,
but Kit said I did a great job in the end.
- We got ourself a pro right here!
(exciting hip hop music) (laughing)
- Let's go to wardrobe. - Okay.
- Perfect! - So you'll get to meet
my friend Michelle, - That's cool, yeah.
incredible stylist.
- [Michelle] Hi, ladies!
- How are you?
- I want y'all to meet my friend, Riley.
- Going into wardrobe was amazing.
I wish I had a closet that big.
She had just so many options.
- Hey Mich, can I match her today?
- [Michelle] We have similar pants, that could be cute!
- Oh my, those are like the same thing! That's perfect!
- Yeah, okay.
- [Michelle] And you can do it with white, that could work.
- Should I do it with the white top?
- Kinda switching it up, yeah.
- I like to dress like my mentees!
- Mentees!
- My one and only!
- It has been so amazing to spend the day
with Kit in person.
She is seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met
and she's just made me feel so welcome here.
- So you come in here, - Yes, perfect. Okay.
- Sit right in here. Mich? - All right.
- You take good care of Riley.
Put her there while I go change.
- [Riley] Good, thank you!
All right, let's get dressed.
- Oh my gosh, we're about to go to an actual taping.
I'm so excited!
After getting to learn from Kit, I can't wait
to see her on stage and in action.
- Come here, you guys just wait right there,
I'm just gonna change, I'll be right out.
Hello! She's ready! (laughs)
- Oh my gosh! We're twinning, I love it!
That's perfect! Big stand for the move today.
- I'm here at "Access" shadowing Kit Hoover,
and we've already gotten to do so much.
- [Kit] Okay, this is your deal.
Welcome to Riley's show.
Thank you for having me to your set.
- I looked up to Kit for so long and now it's finally
my chance to get to interview her
and pick her brain about some things I've been wondering.
- What do you really want to know from me?
- Honestly, I feel like from your perspective,
what has been something that's been really
challenging for you with just this job,
and like, has there been anything
that's been hard for you specifically?
- I think, starting off, I thought
it was gonna be an easier path.
I started off on MTV and I thought after that aired,
that I'd be like, "Okay great, what's the next thing?"
And this job, in this business,
you always have to be looking out for your next job.
- I really didn't even realize how hard she's worked
to get to the point she's at right now,
and she's just given me such great advice for my future.
- Take full advantage of everything
the University of Arkansas has to offer.
- [Riley] Perfect.
- I would take every class, every extracurricular.
I would do radio, you're doing the TV show.
I would write for the paper.
I would throw yourself into everything
and then see what sticks.
'Cause it's definitely an interesting business
but you're smart, and creative, and a hard worker,
you're going to do great.
- I'm so, so grateful to Kit for showing me all the ropes
and arranging this.
It was so clear that she cared about me
and spending so much time with me today was amazing.
- Hey, oh my gosh! - Here's the set!
- Welcome to "Access Hollywood!"
- This is so cool actually being here!
- Guys! My friend Riley! - Hi everyone!
- Let's give it up for Riley! (clapping and cheering)
- So here I am walking on the "Access" stage,
with the Kit Hoover in matching pick pants.
On the next "Access Daily," Iron Chef Ming Tsai puts
healthy meals to the ultimate taste test.
Then, Ana de Armas's "Blonde" is a hit.
Now you can channel Marilyn Monroe on a budget.
Today was one of my favorite days ever.
Seeing what was happening behind the scenes
in the control room was an incredible experience,
and the staff and Kit and everyone were amazing.
They gave me the best advice and it really helped solidify
what I want to do in the future.
- Thank you so much!
- Of course! Thank you so much!
- Don't stress out, out everything's in there.
- Oh I will, yes, I'm so excited.
- And friends for life in our pink pants.
- Yes! It's perfect, our pink pants, we love it! (laughs)
(audience clapping)
- So my favorite part about Kit Hoover is
that, like, first of all, I love that she just had
the same pair of pants in her thing that you were wearing.
- Oh yeah, she was prepared!
And then she was like, "I want to make her feel really good
and so she team effort it and she came out
in the same pants.
- (laughs) Oh, it was so good!
- We're friends for life!
- Oh yes, she's the best!
(audience claps) - I love that!
- You did great, thank you so much.
- What was your biggest takeaway from the experience?
- Yeah, I mean, Kit was just amazing.
She made me feel so welcome and she showed me
all the ropes, from tracking a voice over
in the voice over booth.
I didn't even know that was a thing.
I was like, whoa! This is a huge production!
And seeing all the behind the scenes and the control room,
it was all just such a cool experience to see
what I'm learning in class and take it
and apply it to the real world.
- That's awesome! Well, Ken, in addition
to being an agent and mentoring Riley,
you have a new book out called "Aspire Higher."
So tell us about it.
- Life choices are so important.
They greatly determine the course of your life,
so I wanted to--
- Good and bad.
- Right, good and bad. So I wanted to give everybody
the formula to make choices that raise self esteem,
that raise feelings of self-worth,
that raise feelings of self-love,
because if you love yourself, you're far more likely
to make positive choices in the future
because you feel like you're worthy and deserving
of a better life.
And if you have confidence, if you have inner strength,
because you've made choices, really good choices
in the past, you're far more likely to triumph
and transcend bad moments and crises in your life
and not fold like a house of cards.
So I am a huge proponent of studying the life choice
and mastering it.
- Yeah, I'm gonna read that, I love that!
Well, Riley, we know that college can be expensive
but we want to be sure that you have all the tools
that you need. That's why we're hooking you up
with a $5,000 gift card to the online tech retailer Newegg!
(audience cheers and whoops) (clapping)
- [Kelly] Yes!
- Oh my gosh!
- Congratulations, too, on getting to do that
and figuring out your life,
this should be a really fun time.
- [Riley] Yeah, it's so much fun.
- So work, but also have fun.
- Yes, I got it!
- [Kelly] Okay, everybody pick up Ken's new book,
"Aspire Higher" wherever you buy your books,
and check you local listings to find out where to watch
"Access Hollywood" and "Access Daily with Mario & Kit."