NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — I've had the opportunity to interview a lot of people over the years, but this latest interview was a first: one he really didn't look forward to!
Not because of the person -- she's been a dear friend and colleague for almost 18 years. But because of the topic.
Vicki Yates is moving into a new chapter of her life in just a few short weeks: retirement.
As the saying goes: the days are long, but the years are fast. Indeed they are. In June of 2007, I took a seat next to Vicki Yates as co-anchor of NewsChannel 5 at 6 p.m. and the transition couldn't have been smoother -- thanks to Vicki -- who welcomed him with support and encouragement.
16 years later my colleague and friend is ready for a well-deserved retirement. I sat down with her recently to talk about how her award-winning career started, what she'll miss the most and what's next.
"Sometimes at night, when I'm home, I'll think wow I'm gonna be here, y'know I'm gonna be watching somebody else do the news," she said. "But there's a part of me that just really looking forward to it. I get signs that 'yeah this is when you're supposed to go, this is it.'"
Vicki said she loves what she does.
"I love School Patrol, I love anchoring, I love all of it. I love the people here," she exclaimed. "But there was something that said 'you know what? There are other things you can do.'"
She wants to travel and to spend more time with her grandkids as well.
Her two young granddaughters are no doubt looking forward to more time with their "GiGi" and vice-versa!
"Having grandkids is like, it's the best! And I tell everybody, if you have grandkids, it doesn't get much better," Yates said.
Vicki grew up in Detroit and attended Michigan State University where, surprisingly, journalism was not her first career choice. It was advertising.
"I've always wanted to write. That's what I wanted to do. I thought if I can get a job or a career where I can write, creatively or any other way that's what I want to do," she said.
When advertising didn't click -- journalism came calling.
"We had our own newscasts at school and things just started to click, and I was given an internship at WJIM TV," she said.
She dove into the news business -- despite a big emotional obstacle: a lack of self confidence. Yates said she was a very insecure child, in that she always thought everybody could do things better than she could. She also had major stage fright.
She recalled the trauma of having to read a Bible passage in church on Easter Sunday when she was a young girl.
"I just thought I'm gonna die if I have to stand in front of a crowd," she explained.
She didn't mess it up. Instead, she overcame those insecurities in a remarkable, award-winning broadcasting career, with stops at TV stations in places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Then, in the Spring of 1990...Nashville and NewsChannel 5.
"The longest I had worked somewhere was five years, in Pittsburgh. And so I thought 'okay I'll work here another 5 years and then I'll move on somewhere else,'" Yates said.
But five years turned into 10...15...20 and now, 33 years. A remarkable run in a city that's seen a remarkable transformation.
"It's a completely different place. I mean, seriously, I even drive around now and think what used to be there? Because it's not there anymore," she said.
What is here is her heart. With a demanding career, Vicki raised three children on her own: all of whom are now successful adults. She humbly deflects praise -- instead, giving much credit to Nashville's family-friendly environment.
"Y'know this is where I was supposed to be. I'll be honest, there was a lot of praying going on y'know that I'm making the right moves, that my kids are doing fine," she said. "It was just something that was important to me, was to raise my kids in a great atmosphere. Where I live, people were very friendly, my kids went to a good school."
She's always appreciated Nashville. And for more than 30 years, she's shown it, eagerly volunteering for community events, and supporting non-profits.
"This is our neighborhood. I mean, Nashville is our neighborhood," she said. "And you have to be involved. You can't just go home every night and say' eh you know what I've done what I had to do, I did my 8 hours at work, I'm goin' home.'"
