Most journalists start on a much smaller stage before landing an opportunity at one of the biggest names in broadcast news. Nick Valencia is one of the exceptions. After he graduated from University of Southern California, Nick caught the attention of CNN after he self-funded a journalistic adventure to Uganda. He was first hired as a teleprompter operator but quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the few home-grown broadcasters in the CNN organization. Nick has served as the National and International Desk editor and the head of the CNN Spanish Desk. He is now a national correspondent and is among the first on the ground for the biggest and latest breaking news stories across the United States. In this episode, Nick discusses how he decided to pursue journalism over sports broadcasting, the different X factors of broadcast journalists, climbing through the ranks from entry level assistant to national correspondent, continuing your extraordinary work to demonstrate longevity and consistency, and his vision for the future of journalism for hyper-local stories. For the show notes, check out skilledup.com/nickvalencia.