- Women are increasingly breaking into careers
that have traditionally been dominated by men.
Hi, I'm Lea Woodford with smartfem tv,
and today I'm going to be speaking with Lisa Guerrero.
at Fox's Inside Edition.
- [Announcer] Joining me now Lisa Guerrero,
- Lisa Guerrero a bonafide football fanatic
and former Monday Night Football sideline reporter
is on the field.
Lisa.
- Thanks Deborah.
- We're going to hear about her experience working
as a former national sportscaster and now an on air
investigative reporter.
And how she managed to pierce the glass ceiling,
and thrive in what was mostly a man's world.
- Hi Lisa, so great to see you again.
Thanks for being on the show.
- Thank you it's my pleasure to be here Lea.
- Lisa you have worked in male dominated professions
your entire life so tell me why do you think the
glass ceilings still exists for women.
- Because we don't get paid as much as a man does
for the same job.
One of the reasons that not enough young women
get into journalism and certainly not into
investigative journalism or sports,
is that there has been a perception
that if you get into those fields
you're not going to be taken as seriously
as men do.
And you're not going to get paid what you're worth.
And you're certainly not going to be paid
the way that's comparable to what a man
doing the same job gets paid.
- Do you think men are suppressing us?
Or do you think we do that to ourselves
or do you think that we do that to each other?
- I think it's little bit of both.
I believe that after years of
women going back to the 70's,
and I'll start with sportscasting.
In the 70's women were allowed to cover
sports in the locker rooms.
So they would be able to go on game day
and do post game interviews,
inside a locker room, throughout the NFL, for example.
Now, years later I think viewers are used to seeing
women cover sports.
So then it becomes easier through time to support,
the thought or the notion that women can do the same jobs,
as men can in sportscasting.
I think, the perception holds women back sometimes,
- The perception itself is something that can be changed
as I said, trough time and through recognition over
many years or many seasons of sports,
that oh yes, that woman did a really good job covering
MLB or I saw a woman who did a fantastic job
on a World Cup soccer game.
Or I really appreciate a woman who is doing
play by play for the first time in the MLB.
So once viewers start recognizing that women
can do those jobs,
then it becomes easier for us as society to
accept women as sportscasters.
So men can hold women back,
women can hold women back,
but time can hold women back.
And that through years and through seasons
and through recognition can
be changed and it is being changed for the better,
especially in sportscasting,
where now it's really hard to even imagine a network
not employing at least a couple of female sportscasters,
because everybody does.
- We love sports too.
- Look, right now the NFL says that 47%
of their fan base are women.
If 47% of your fan base are women,
then you need to have female faces presenting
the games and incorporating a woman's voice,
is not just politically correct,
it's financially astute.
Ad when the NFL realized, wait a minute,
our next big niche, a growing audience could
be women.
Then suddenly, women were allowed to cover sports.
Women were more visible on the sidelines
once the NFL recognized that we can tap into
the female audience and we can make money off of them.
So it really becomes financially wise
for them to do that.
It's the right thing to do.
So it's a kind of a combination of both.
- Women aren't the only ones facing the glass ceiling.
Minorities are too.
Can you weigh in on that?
- Sure, of course women do have a glass ceiling
in most professions.
Minorities face prejudice,
and bigotry, but if you're a female minority
you're faced with a double challenge aren't you?
So if you're an African-American woman,
if you're a Latina.
If you are a person of color that happens to be a woman,
you've got a real,
and I'm not going to say that it's a problem,
I'll say it's a challenge.
You have to prove that you're good enough as a woman.
You have to prove that you're good enough
as a person of color.
That can be really difficult especially for young women.
And sometimes it's hard enough just to do your job,
but without the burden of having to do your job,
better than a man or better than a white man.
That is daunting, I think, for a lot of women starting out
in any industry.
When you throw in some industries that are male dominated
to begin with,
then that becomes something that can be overwhelming.
When I started out as a sportscaster,
I was young.
I had a glamorous look,
so I wasn't taken as seriously.
But I wouldn't do what a lot of general managers
wanted me to do which was to cut my hair,
dress very conservatively, don't wear make up.
I'm Latina.
I have big hair, I like glamorous make up
I like to look like a woman.
I like to look feminine.
25 years ago, that was frowned upon in sports.
So I really felt that it was a challenge for me,
to prove that I knew sports as a woman,
to prove that I could look like what I wanted to look like
as a Latina.
And at the same time,
be able to build a viewership that trusted me,
and get players and coaches to talk to me.
So every day I felt like I had so many more challenges
to overcome in the locker room
or in the press box than a white male colleague had to.
- What were some of the biggest challenges
for you as a new sportscaster just starting out.
- The biggest challenge for me as a young sportscaster,
was trying to earn credibility.
Credibility is not something that can be handed to you
like a microphone.
Trust, trust from players and coaches that are willing
to talk to you, doesn't happen over night,
and it doesn't happen because you're cute.
It happens because you understand sports.
You're there day in and day out at BP,
batting practice.
And after the games, when I first started out
as a sportscaster in Los Angeles,
I was often the first person on the field,
before batting practice started,
and the last person to leave the field after
the game ended.
So I would sometimes be at Dodger Stadium
for 12, 13 hours.
And the reason I did that wasn't because
I had to do live shots throughout the day necessarily,
but I wanted to be there to prove that I was responsible,
that I was learning the game,
that I knew not just the player's names but the trainers,
who the people behind the scenes were,
who the bench coaches were,
who the scouts were,
who the people in the front office were.
I wanted the team, the organization to trust me,
and to know that I was there to do a job,
not just to be on television,
to wear pretty clothes.
So that took a while for me to earn
the respect of the players and the coaches.
But once I earned it,
I had it throughout my career.
I have it today.
I could still call Shaquille O'Neal if I wanted today
and get an interview with him,
because I earned his trust
when I was in the Lakers locker room
covering the NBA for Fox.
So I try to tell young journalists coming up,
that it takes a little bit to
earn the trust
of viewers and of coaches and of players,
but once you earn it,
you can have that trust forever,
for the rest of your career as long as you maintain
a career that shows that overtime
you still care about the games.
You still care about the viewers,
and you still understand sports.
- So Lisa, do you think things have improved for women
over the years?
- Sure, of course, 100 years ago we weren't able to vote.
Things have improved for women,
for minorities,
but I am a cynic, right?
I'm an investigative reporter and I chase lot of bad guys.
I think anybody has the potential to be a criminal,
so I'm always looking at things a little bit
glass half empty
and my fear is that with a Trump presidency,
we could see that
women's status in the work place
could be diminished.
That women's rights personally could be diminished.
So we can never take what we have for granted,
because what we have, and what our mothers and grandmothers
fought so hard for, could be taken away in an instant
if somebody chooses to.
If they have the power to.
If they have the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court.
Anybody that chooses to roll back rights for women,
could do that and president Trump could do that
and that's what worries me.
- Not only president Trump but some of the people in his--
- In his cabinet.
In his administration.
So he doesn't have a female friendly administration.
He doesn't have a climate friendly administration.
He doesn't have a science friendly administration.
He doesn't have a minority friendly administration.
So those things that we've been able to say over decades.
You know, things have gotten better for women.
Things have gotten better for minorities.
Things have gotten better for LGBT community.
Those things can be changed quickly,
and they could go south.
And I think that we need to be vigilant
as citizens, as consumers as voters, as journalists,
we need to be very aware that things could change.
And we need to be able to fight for our rights
to continue to be progressive,
to continue to have freedom.
Real freedom.
I'm not talking about freedom to carry a gun.
I'm talking about freedom to live our lives
in peace.
To have a transparent political system.
To have a free press.
These are things we take for granted
and we shouldn't.
- Lisa we came really, really close to having the very first
female president of the United States.
Of course, Hillary Clinton didn't make it.
But do you think that we will see somebody like her
make it as a president any time soon?
- I don't think we'll ever see anybody
like Hillary Clinton, again.
She came from an amazing
background of service.
She had the experience
as we now all have heard
that no other presidential candidate has ever had.
She was more qualified as a presidential candidate
than her husband was or that president Obama was,
or either of the George Bush's were.
So I don't think we'll ever see anybody lik her.
But will we have a female president in the future?
Yes.
In the very near future?
I think so.
I believe that when you look at what people want,
and what the voters want,
clearly they wanted her.
She won the popular vote.
So, I think people are prepared and comfortable
with the thought of a female being the president.
When you look at who is out there,
who is the bench,
who are the players coming up right now,
that could be the movers and shakers,
in both parties?
And you look at somebody like Kamala Harris,
from California.
When you look at a superstar like Michelle Obama.
There are people out there,
that have the gravitas, that have a legal background,
that have the education, that have experience,
and certainly in four or eight years,
will have experience.
More experience.
So I think it's just a matter of time,
we'll have a female president in my lifetime,
I'm sure of it.
And I'm not 25 anymore.
So I'm thinking that the person that is going to be
our first female president,
is somebody we've already heard of
and that we're probably familiar with already.
- What advice would you give young women
who are trying to get into a male dominated profession?
- I would say--
If I were to give advice to a young woman
who was starting out today,
and wanted to get into a profession
that was male dominated,
or a profession that seems to be more difficult for women
to break into, technology for example,
if this is what you're passionate about,
then you have to pursue it.
You can't let people say,
oh it's tough for women to rise up through that career path
because women haven't traditionally been successful
in that field.
You could be the first person to break the glass ceiling,
in that particular career.
So, if it's something that you care about,
if it's something you're passionate about,
then go for it.
And, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy,
because it's usually going to be harder.
But, you have to be able to build a thick skin.
I used to tell people when I was a young sportscaster
that I used to be a size to two and now I'm a size eight,
not because I got fat
but because I had to build a thick skin.
So things were difficult for me,
and I had to kind of let go of a lot of criticism,
or taking things personally.
And I really had to build a thick skin.
And say, I'm not going to let those things
get in the way of me succeeding.
So, that's the kind of advice I would give,
a young woman.
Is be prepared for criticism because it's going to come,
but try to let go of it,
try not to let it affect you,
and try not to let it take your eyes of the prize.
- Lisa, as always it's been great having you.
Thank you for coming and being on the show again.
- You're welcome,
thank you for having me and thank you for being a platform
for women to be able to share their stories
and hopefully inspire other women and young women
and women of color, to pursue their dreams
because we need more people and more women
to lift each other up, rather than tearing
each other down.
And that's what I love about you Lea,
that's what I love about smartfem,
is that you're really a wonderful caretaker,
of other women's dreams.
- I love you for being such a smart fem
and being such a great example for our viewing audience,
and for young women coming up the ranks.
- Thank you.