MOLLY GRANTHAM Real Words About Real Life

Colleen Brannan introduced Molly Grantham, familiar to many of us as a long-time WBTV news personality and current anchor of the 11:00 nightly news. Colleen noted that Molly’s Twitter feed states that “She doesn’t suffer fools.” She is a two-time Emmy award winning journalist who has been named TV News Reporter of the Year for both Carolinas, one of Charlotte's top "40 under 40" and one of Mecklenburg County's "50 Most Influential Women." Her first book, Small Victories: The Off-Camera Life of an On-Camera Mom, was published last year and sold out on Amazon the first week. Since arriving in Charlotte in 2003, Molly has covered gangs, terrorism and the fight to legalize CBD oil in North Carolina.

She is actively involved in Charlotte’s cancer community, promoting awareness and helping raise funds for research. Cancer has hit her family hard, taking her grandfather and both parents. Molly began by introducing her guests, who included three members of the WBTV production staff and her husband Wes. She noted that she had spoken to this Rotary Club some ten years ago, when she talked about being embedded with the CMPD Gang Unit and reporting some really hard stories about the gang activity in Charlotte. She is proud to be back, this time to talk to us about juggling life, being a mom, being an anchor, being an author, and being authentic. Since she likes to do things in threes, and likes to provide an outline to frame her message, she proceeded to do so. TEDx Talk Last October, she was one of 200+ people who applied to give a TEDx talk, and she discussed the grueling process by which the pool of applicants was whittled down to 15. She described a program not unlike boot camp, where you were given a coach and had to practice every week, after which you were told how bad you were, how crazy your talk sounded, made to change your message, and generally made to feel nervous and worn out giving talks to a small camcorder in an empty room. And after six months, when they thought you were ready, you went out and gave the talk to a packed house, and it was wonderful. Her message was about “The Real We Are;” how in our professional (and personal) lives we hide behind a façade. Many times this is a requirement of our work, but we need to peel that back if we are to be authentic. Molly described her day, where she and the team go into a production meeting at three in the afternoon, decide what stories will be covered at 11:00, and spend the rest of the day working to put together a coherent, meaningful, and memorable broadcast. After the broadcast, she gets feedback from the audience; sometimes calls, some tweets, but mostly emails, occasionally hundreds. And the comments are primarily about (wait for it) her clothes, hair, and makeup. The audience demands the façade, and one cannot be successful in the visual medium of

REPORTER April 30, 2019

television without presenting it. While television is an extreme example, we all (especially women) are required to do this to some degree. She noted the irony of having to apply “concealer” before taking a seat at the corporate table, and told a story about a friend who had the perfect dress—easy to wear, pretty, flattering, non-disruptive, and one that no one could find objectionable. Because she was a consultant who traveled and spoke to different groups of people, she was able to wear that dress every day for the first four years of juggling children and a career. It eliminated making the clothes decision every day, and simplified her life, but this option is not available to most women. Molly then showed a series of slides of a male Australian TV anchor, and each slide showed that he was wearing the same suit, and that only his tie was different. He wore that suit for an entire year, and no one noticed or objected (try doing that as a woman for even a few days and see what happens!). He did it to demonstrate that the audience paid more attention to the content than the costume worn by a man, but exactly the opposite for a woman in the same job. In giving the TEDx talk, she was careful not to disparage TV journalism, because she loves her job and is proud of the work that she has done and continues to do. She acknowledges that this perception problem is not new, but notes that it is more prevalent and constant in today’s world, where every word is recorded and available instantly and forever on the internet. Molly thinks that there are some things that we need to do about the situation to become more of our authentic selves. First, take off the mask a little more, and get others to help us do it. Second, recognize that everyone is flawed, and that flaws make us interesting, and so hiding them all the time can be counterproductive. And then catch ourselves before we make judgements on the basis of appearance, and recognize that the person and message behind the façade is what is important, not the packaging. Actual News When Paul Cameron and Delano Little left the show and Molly became the sole anchor at 11:00, the team (after much soul searching and conversation) actively set out to change the format, getting away from “if it bleeds it leads,” and become more focused on the why of things and on the importance rather than the urgency of stories. Not that three men were shot in the club parking lot, a story that changes nothing and will not be remembered or make an impact on most of us; but rather that this is happening at about twice the rate this year as last year, and why is that and what does it mean? She showed an example in a story about a Statesville policeman that lost 95% of his tongue to cancer, and then had a new, functional tongue made from muscle tissue removed from his leg, allowing him to speak intelligibly. The existence of this type of medical advance, and the fact that it gave back the ability to communicate through speech is not only memorable, but important. Bad guy shoots bad guy is not important or memorable to most of the audience, but Robert the policeman who had a new tongue created for him is something that will be remembered and discussed by many. She then showed us a new promo for the show that delivered the message that what was being provided was ‘Real words about real life.’ Molly’s Kids Molly’s Kids is not a foundation or a charity, and Molly collects no money. She writes about children going through difficult, uphill medical battles. The families of these children are hugely impacted and sometimes put in horrible financial situations because one or both parents may have to quit working to provide care, not to mention the emotional toll on everyone involved. Molly started writing about this diverse niche community, and one story led to another. She created the hashtag #MollysKids, making it easier for these families to connect with each other and with the community, and the results have been amazing.

She does not solicit funds and does not write stories unless the parents request or explicitly authorize her to do so. Molly wrote a story about a girl named Allie who had a rare disease that resulted in her joints dislocating and bones breaking because of a massive failure of her connective tissues. The disease was so rare that it was not immediately diagnosed, and Allie’s mother was investigated because it was thought that her condition was the result of abuse. After the story appeared, it turned out that there were five children in the area that had this condition, and they have formed a support group. She told other stories about these children. Lilly, a baby diagnosed at 6 months with leukemia who has received tremendous community support as she goes through three years of chemotherapy. Jasmine, who almost died from stage 4 cancer at age 14, but as a result of her story being told, was connected with multiple organizations that provided support for she and her family, and she is now in remission. She asked if Molly knew of any scholarship programs that she might apply for to help her pay for college. Molly put out a request over Facebook asking for links to scholarship programs that might be available for Jasmine, who was then connected to over twenty scholarship programs. Jasmine applied for a number of them and is now attending Clinton College in Rock Hill with her first year fully paid for. John was a young man with end stage kidney disease who could not find a matching donor, until his story was widely shared over the internet. A father of four in Louisiana read about John’s situation, was tested and found to be a perfect match. He flew to Charlotte and donated one of his kidneys, saving John’s life. Molly attributes this outpouring of others to help these kids in response to the stories as resulting from an open heart, love, and sharing with authenticity. It is about real life, and it works. And that is where Molly chose to end her talk. Our thanks to her for the work that she does and for coming to share it with us. Speaker Write-Up: Rick Handford; Head Table: Noelle Culler, Mike Hawley, Colleen Brannan, John Shell; Invocation: Cheryl Banks; Photos: Bert Voswinkel; Introduce Visitors: Bill Bradley; Greeter: Linwood Bolles CLUB NEWS To our club members at UNCC main campus…Victor Chen and LJ Stambuk…glad you are safe. “Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately” won’t be forgotten. The club welcomed two new members this week. Andy Ross was introduced by Kim Brattain, who quickly shared his road to Rotary came through his grandparents (60-year members of Durham Rotary), mother (30-year member of Durham Rotary) and sister (Washington, DC Rotary). Impressive! Andy is managing principal of Arcos Properties, a commercial real estate investment and development firm, and can be reached at aross@arcosproperties.com. He and his wife, Katherine are both graduates of UNC Chapel Hill and moved to Charlotte from Washington DC in mid-2018. Katherine works as a boarding school and college counselor for the School Counseling Group. They stay busy with five-month old son, Hunter and one-year-old Australian Shepherd, Bodie. Welcome Andy. Noelle Culler was delighted to introduce Bryan McAllister. Bryan was raised in Tumwater, WA and while going to college to pursue a law degree, he took a part-time job in the jewelry business that set him off on a different course. He joined Rotary in Houston, TX and became quite involved with a water project in India. He re-joined Rotary in 2008 when he moved to Seattle and is a Paul Harris Fellow. Bryan moved to Charlotte in March to work with Finks Jewelers and can be reached at bryan.mcallister@finks.com. Welcome Bryan.

2019-2020 committee selections and Roster updates are due by May 7th. This process got off to a good start and has all but stopped. Please give this the attention it deserves. Apparently, a little known fact in this club is the meaning behind the color-coded NAME BADGES. New members wear a RED badge so everyone can easily spot them in the crowd and welcome them to the club. Members that have been in the club 25 years (25’ers) wear a BLUE badge. Members that have been in the club 50 years (Golden “50”) wear the GOLD badge. If you are not wearing a red, blue, or gold badge…you have a CLEAR badge. To further blow your mind, the back of the badge has the bar code that’s used to scan your attendance and there’s a number written in the corner. This number correlates with the slot to file the badge in the box. Since you rarely get to see the top of the box…this is it Byron Bullard had a procedure to replace an aortic valve last week and would appreciate cards from his Rotary friends (5802 Old Providence Rd, Coachhouse, Apt. 338 – 28226). Autobell celebrates 50 years in business. Congratulations, Chuck Howard, who took over the family business in 1986 and has grown the organization to 83 locations in five states, making it the fourth largest car wash chain in the United States. Welcome Sugar Creek Charter School Interact Advisor Jessica Beamer, and students LaDrika Davis, TaShaya Ross, Adrian Avalos, Octavia Blaylock, and Kaden Truesdale.

Commander Ralston M. Pound, Jr. Inducted into the NC Military Veterans Hall of Fame April 27, 2019 Ralston Pound was born in Charlotte NC, attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, VA, enlisted in the U.S. Navy flight training in September of 1941. Ralston was assigned to Air Group 16 aboard the USS Lexington CV-16 and arrived at Ford Island Naval Base in July of 1943. Participating in raids on the Pacific Islands, the Lexington took a torpedo at Truk Atol. He received the Air Medal for meritorious achievement in the First Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 June 1944 and received a Distinguished Flying Cross with gold star for actions at Kwajalein and Truk Atols. Ralston also received a Congressional Gold Medal for shooting down six enemy

aircraft – making him a Fighter Ace. Follow-Up -Committee selections are due in the Rotary office by May 7, 2019 -Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic September 10, 2019. -Charlotte Talks News Roundup at Spirit Square. Additional info/sign up with Noelle Culler, nculler@wfae.org. -Support Mt. Kilimanjaro END POLIO NOW climb : https://rotary7680kiliclimb.org (click on Warren Kean to

make your donation). MEMBERSHIP 07/01/2018 288 04/30/2019 282 Net Increase: -6 New Members: Robert Shaw, Andy Ross, Bryan McAllister Resignations: Gene Bratek, Richard Mialik, Em Syrewicze Visitors 21 Club Members 104 Total 125 (44.4%) Guests: Renea Robinson, Cameron Gadd, Patrick Griffin, Wes Hyland, Scott Dempsey, Shelly Hill, LaDrika Davis, TaShaya Ross, Adrian Avalos, Octavia Blaylock, Kaden Truesdale, Jessica Beamer, Kathy McGuire, Charles Prince, Moira Quinn, Darlene Harris, Sherrod Seward, Brian Anderson, Piers Wates, Ted Johnson, Kevin Brungardt BIRTHDAYS (05/08/19 – 05/14/19) 05/09 Fernando Ycaza 05/12 Gene Williams 05/14 Bob Culbertson, Mac McCarley, Neal Triompo WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES (05/08/2019 – 05/14/19) 05/08 Burgl & Ronnie Pruett, Katheryn & Kyle Woodruff 05/10 Nicole & Alex Browning 05/11 Ronda & Irwin Carmichael, Randi & George Edmiston ROTARY ANNIVERSARIES (05/08/2019 – 05/14/19) 20 years – John Tabor UPCOMING PROGRAMS 05/07 – Tony Zeiss, Museum of the Bible and More 05/14 – John Lassiter, Republican National Convention 05/21 – Winston Kelley and NASCAR President Steve Phelps (meeting at MPCC) 05/28 – Janet LaBar, CEO, Charlotte Regional Business Alliance Photos from our luncheons and other events can be found on Flickr Click here

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