If you find a BabyBjörn Baby Carrier and Google Calendar in
the vicinity of a stock trading floor, chances are you just might catch a
glimpse of Fox Business Network reporter and new mom, Sandra Smith.
Having grown up in Chicago’s financial district, Sandra knew
how to talk about U.S. equities, commission reports, investment management, and
just about everything else with a number in it. And as she rose the ranks as a
trader, she certainly could engage enlightening discussions around financial subjects.
She could not have predicted, however, that those discussions would eventually
evolve into a full-time career as a TV news reporter.
“Growing up with a lot of family members who were financial
traders, I knew I would eventually work in that business,” Sandra says. “And so
I never thought that reporting the news on TV was in the cards for me.”
Apparently, those cards played out differently because
Sandra was offered the job as an on-air reporter for Bloomberg Television, and
then in October 2007, started her current job as a reporter for FOX
Business Network.
Although Sandra continues to talk about the financial
world, she’s just as passionate to talk about her whole new world: motherhood.
Raising her six-month-old daughter, Cora, inspires exciting news each day.
“Every time that I walk into Cora’s room and see her face,
it’s just like Christmas morning,” Sandra says. “I never realized how much
personality children can have at such a young age. It’s so fun to watch!“
She has also realized how important it is to stay organized
as a working mother. Before having her daughter, Sandra would travel monthly
for business with her husband, John Conolly, back and forth between New York
and Chicago.
Now post-baby, their life is just as full, with Sandra – a nursing
mom – waking at 5 AM with the baby, conducting radio interviews, going into
hair and makeup, submitting the news topic, and reporting on-air the rest of
the day.
But by the day’s end, when Sandra returns home, mommy-mode
kicks back in.
“One of the first things I do when I walk in my house is swoop
Cora up and tuck her in my baby sling,” she says. “I love wearing her and
feeling her heart against mine.”
Sandra has also tried to find the optimal work-life balance
for her family – and she’s been able to organize it, courtesy Google Calendar.
“It is really challenging to be a working mom, and it helps
if you are able to organize your schedule,” she says.
One of Sandra’s occasional nightly events that is likely not on the calendar is her midnight
pop-ups. “The middle of the night is me time,”
she says. “After we’ve all gone to bed, I sometimes pop up for an hour or two
just to do something for me – like clean the kitchen or read a book – and then go back to bed.”
Sandra shares the scheduling tool with her husband whom,
after falling in love with through a long-distance relationship, she married
in 2010.
“John is such a support to me and a true team player,” she says. “He has incredible patience and calmly walks our daughter up and down the hall when she’s fussy. Fatherhood has really made his qualities shine.”
As a veteran reporter and a new mom, Sandra is quite
confident that women can excel in motherhood and have a career. “I think as
moms, we have a tendency to be really hard on ourselves, and we have this weird
instinct to want to take on everything,” she says. “But, I truly believe we
have an amazing ability to multi-task and can successfully manage both personal
and professional lives – but you really have to want to do it. And, you have to delegate sometimes and ask for
help.”
And while Sandra’s news reports may be filled with complex
financial analysis, her life message to her daughter is very simple.
“I want
Cora to always remember the love we have for her,” she says. “It’s
instantaneous and unconditional love.”
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About the Writer:
Cori Linder is a professional editor and the Featured Blogger for Modern Mom Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/editorcori or via
email at editorcori@gmail.com.
