This is the second installment of Hodges in Hollywood. After graduating from UW Oshkosh in spring 2011, alumna Kylie Hodges, of West Hollywood, traveled around the nation in the famous Wienermobile representing Oscar Mayer. These days, she is paying her dues in Hollywood working evenings as a freelance television host for Afterbuzz TV for MTV shows, such as Faking It and Finding Carter, and the NBC sitcom Undateable. Her day job entails working as an assistant story producer for the HGTV show Flip or Flop. Join us as we follow her journey as a young Midwestern professional navigating life in Hollywood …
While on the road driving the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, one of the most common questions I was asked was: “How did you get a job like that?” And I always wanted to say, “I asked for it.”
I knew I wanted to be an Oscar Mayer Hotdogger since I had first heard about the gig when I was in high school. In college scholarship applications, my response to the essay portion of “where do you see yourself in five years/post-college?” was about driving the Wienermobile. I wanted the entire universe to know that I wanted that job, hoping that someday, somebody important would hear what I wanted and agree that I fit the bill.
When it came time to interview for the job, I proclaimed, “I know I’m the perfect candidate.” Exuding confidence is key! However, don’t mistake confidence for cockiness–know your strengths and be proud of them. I knew I wanted to be the spokesperson of the Wienermobile, and I knew I had the chops to do it.
The same thing goes for my college internship on the ABC show Wipeout. I knew I wanted to eventually work in Los Angeles in the television industry, so when alumnus Kevin Wehrenberg came to visit my class, I approached him and introduced myself. I made it clear what my goals were, and we stayed in touch. A few months later, he offered me an internship on Wipeout. I was elated. One step closer to being a working television producer!
Now, I’m not saying that by announcing, “I want to be an astronaut”, you will instantly be an astronaut, but I certainly do believe in the power of intention. Make your goals a mantra and consider every networking conversation a sales pitch of yourself.
This mindset is especially important for graduating seniors! Have confidence that you are qualified for the real world once May comes, and believe that your resume truly is impressive. It’s easy to think you’re not enough, but if you don’t believe it–who will?
While writing this blog post, I realize that I need to take my own advice! I feel like I’ve been in a creative rut for a while and have been unsure of how to change my path to get to my dream job. Thinking back to my mindset at the end of college when I was telling everyone who would listen to me that I wanted to work in TV, it was all I thought about. Every action I took was with intention that it was a step forward, and not sideways.
I’m working toward repeating my goals to myself everyday and believing that they are attainable. Hopefully, with this driven mindset, if I accidentally spill my coffee on some Hollywood network executive at a Starbucks and they say, “who do you think you are?!” I can respond with confidence, “Your next TV host!”
If you’d like to stay up to date with me, follow me on Twitter @TheKylieHodges or Instagram @KylieHodges. And of course, stay tuned for more of my posts from Hollywood!
-Kylie
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