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Authors: Robin Roberts, Veronica Chambers
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AND NOW I NEED A JOB . I was impressed with her boldness and creativity in finding employment, so I told her: “Send me your résumé and I’ll see what I can do.”
You know how many times I’ve told a young person that and they don’t follow up? Sonny sent me her résumé the next day. My office was so overwhelmed with correspondence following my breast cancer diagnosis that we hired Sonny part-time to help out. She was a rock star. Nothing was too big or too small for her to tackle. A short time later, my assistant, Ayana, got a wonderful opportunity at CNN, and Sonny was promoted to my full-time assistant.
Sonny is smart and indefatigable. How she managed to convince Ben Sherwood, the president of ABC News, that she had no idea how to reach me for hours on end, without getting either of us fired, is what makes her so good at her job. Still she was relieved when our senior executive producer, Tom Cibrowski, came to her desk and said, “Robin’s at the hospital, isn’t she?” It was more of a statement than a question. Tom knew that I wouldn’t be unreachable unless the situation was dire. Sonny nodded yes. It was such a relief to have someone higher on the food chain to take the heat for me being missing in action.
The first call I returned was Ben’s. He told me the White House had called and wanted me to interview President Barack Obama the next day. Same-sex marriage was a hot-button issue that week because of recent statements by Vice President Joe Biden and others in the administration. The interview was a huge get for our team. I told Ben that of course I would do it, and I was excited to be asked. It’s always a privilege to speak with the president, especially one-on-one at the White House. I was still shaken up from my appointment, and so I told Ben that I was dealing with a personal matter and would have to get back to him to discuss the details. He later told me that he thought that was strange: “The president wants to talk to you and you’ll get back to me?”
But I needed just a few minutes to let myself process the fear and frustration I felt with that appointment. I had learned from my first battle with cancer that doctors who spout dire statistics don’t work for me. I have no doubt that this doctor is a good physician—she came highly recommended. And perhaps there are some patients who find her style refreshing, even reassuring in some way.
But it doesn’t work for me. I talked myself through the experience. I called Diane, who urged me to find another doctor. I could hear her on the phone, flipping through her notebook, Dr. So-and-So at this hospital says XYZ. Dr. So-and-So says such and such. I called Ben back. I spent most of the night not thinking about my need for a bone marrow transplant but huddled with my producers, going over topics and questions for my interview with the president.
The next morning, after GMA , Tom, my producer Emily and I headed to the airport for our flight to Washington, D.C. When we got there, our shuttle flight had been canceled. We hustled over to another terminal and were able to get on a later flight that would get us to the White House just in time. A car service picked us up at the airport, and we were off to see the president. Then a few blocks from the White House, we were rear-ended. The driver, of course, wanted to wait for the police to file a report, but now there wasn’t the fifteen-minute window we had left for me to stop at the hotel and change. We had to improvise. I told everyone—the driver, Tom and Emily—to please hop out of the car so I could change into my power suit in the backseat. Yes, I lead such a glamorous life. But you can’t be late for the president of the United States. He’s kind of a busy man, running the nation.
We made it to the White House with only seconds to spare. Every time I cross that hallowed threshold, I pinch myself. In my first book, I described seven rules to live by, and one of them was never play
You know how many times I’ve told a young person that and they don’t follow up? Sonny sent me her résumé the next day. My office was so overwhelmed with correspondence following my breast cancer diagnosis that we hired Sonny part-time to help out. She was a rock star. Nothing was too big or too small for her to tackle. A short time later, my assistant, Ayana, got a wonderful opportunity at CNN, and Sonny was promoted to my full-time assistant.
Sonny is smart and indefatigable. How she managed to convince Ben Sherwood, the president of ABC News, that she had no idea how to reach me for hours on end, without getting either of us fired, is what makes her so good at her job. Still she was relieved when our senior executive producer, Tom Cibrowski, came to her desk and said, “Robin’s at the hospital, isn’t she?” It was more of a statement than a question. Tom knew that I wouldn’t be unreachable unless the situation was dire. Sonny nodded yes. It was such a relief to have someone higher on the food chain to take the heat for me being missing in action.
The first call I returned was Ben’s. He told me the White House had called and wanted me to interview President Barack Obama the next day. Same-sex marriage was a hot-button issue that week because of recent statements by Vice President Joe Biden and others in the administration. The interview was a huge get for our team. I told Ben that of course I would do it, and I was excited to be asked. It’s always a privilege to speak with the president, especially one-on-one at the White House. I was still shaken up from my appointment, and so I told Ben that I was dealing with a personal matter and would have to get back to him to discuss the details. He later told me that he thought that was strange: “The president wants to talk to you and you’ll get back to me?”
But I needed just a few minutes to let myself process the fear and frustration I felt with that appointment. I had learned from my first battle with cancer that doctors who spout dire statistics don’t work for me. I have no doubt that this doctor is a good physician—she came highly recommended. And perhaps there are some patients who find her style refreshing, even reassuring in some way.
But it doesn’t work for me. I talked myself through the experience. I called Diane, who urged me to find another doctor. I could hear her on the phone, flipping through her notebook, Dr. So-and-So at this hospital says XYZ. Dr. So-and-So says such and such. I called Ben back. I spent most of the night not thinking about my need for a bone marrow transplant but huddled with my producers, going over topics and questions for my interview with the president.
The next morning, after GMA , Tom, my producer Emily and I headed to the airport for our flight to Washington, D.C. When we got there, our shuttle flight had been canceled. We hustled over to another terminal and were able to get on a later flight that would get us to the White House just in time. A car service picked us up at the airport, and we were off to see the president. Then a few blocks from the White House, we were rear-ended. The driver, of course, wanted to wait for the police to file a report, but now there wasn’t the fifteen-minute window we had left for me to stop at the hotel and change. We had to improvise. I told everyone—the driver, Tom and Emily—to please hop out of the car so I could change into my power suit in the backseat. Yes, I lead such a glamorous life. But you can’t be late for the president of the United States. He’s kind of a busy man, running the nation.
We made it to the White House with only seconds to spare. Every time I cross that hallowed threshold, I pinch myself. In my first book, I described seven rules to live by, and one of them was never play
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