I didn't necessarily dream of being a television producer—I entered college undecided. When it was time to choose a major, I knew I was interested in video and photography, and I was naturally creative which helped. I had my first internship at Live! With Regis & Kelly and from that moment on I knew I wanted to be a TV Producer.

My first job as a Sales Assistant at CBS helped me transition from college to the real world. I was commuting and working in the city, and it was all new to me. Mostly, I took that job to get my foot in the door at a TV network. Since I wasn’t working in my desired field, I learned the importance of not losing sight of what I really wanted to do. I could have easily stayed in sales, but knew I needed to move into TV production soon if that’s what I truly wanted my career to be.

I didn’t make many mistakes in sales, honestly, but I definitely made mistakes in my second job as an executive assistant (it was my first job in TV production). I didn’t ask enough questions or assert myself enough. I was scared of being too pushy, and I was insecure. Ultimately, it meant I appeared too passive to handle the role, and I was let go. That day actually turned out to be one of the best days of my life. It awoke something inside me and forced me to take charge. Three days later, I was hired at The Dr. Oz Show. I am forever thankful for the day I lost my first job.

I am a tried and true morning person. On show days and non-show days, my alarm goes off at 5 A.M. On the four days a week I don’t have a show, I meet my sister for a Barre class, my favorite workout. Then we grab Starbucks (my husband sometimes meets us) and chat before heading our separate ways to work.

I aim to be at my desk by 8 A.M. I commute about 25 minutes on the subway so I use that time to read, listen to music, write for my blog, or study for grad classes. I like to walk from the subway to my office, about 20 blocks (confession: I get off one subway stop early just to get this amazing almond milk that I love to mix in my coffee).

On a show day, things start a bit earlier and look something like this:

7:00 A.M.: Briefing starts with Dr. Oz.

8:30 A.M.: Rehearsal Begins

10:00 A.M.: Taping of the show begins

11:40 A.M.: Show taping ends, we have a port mortem meeting.

After that, I head back to my desk to start prep for my next show!  No rest…

When I started at The Dr. Oz Show, I saw the job only through a television production lens, meaning I focused on the production value more than the content. As I grew with the show, my passion for health and wellness did as well. The show pulled that out of me.

The more I worked to produce episodes meant to help our viewers lose weight, the more I learned about myself and my own battles with the scale. After struggling for years with my own eating disorders, I decided to seek therapy. It was the best thing I ever did. I learned that, for me, dieting is 99.9% emotional. I was so passionate about the fact that therapy seemed to lift the huge weight of disordered eating off my shoulders that I wanted to share my experience. So I started my blog.

My ultimate goal for my blog is freedom from the chains of yo yo dieting. I am raw with my writing. I make myself vulnerable to my readers, and therefore we all connect. I try to help people see that emotional eating isn’t the problem, it’s the symptom of something deeper, and I approach diet and wellness as a journey, not a destination.

To honestly communicate with my readers, I give anecdotes from my own life. If I emotionally ate an entire bag of Oreos one day, I will write about it and own up to the fact that I binged. It helps readers see they aren’t alone, and it holds me more accountable. I encourage balance through past experiences.

Mostly, I try to communicate that we are all in this together. Instead of saying, “You do this,” I say, “We do this.” I know that when we are in a place of food restriction, it’s for an emotional reason. Once we work through the emotion, together, we find that one cupcake is allowed, not five.

I love the news. Specifically breaking news. I can be found watching CNN for hours at a time. I read a lot of books. I read the newspaper. I follow mostly news sites on Facebook,  [and I read] health and wellness blogs and magazines. I am also a really good listener and try to pull [inspiration] from what people are talking about.

Success to me is based on whether I am making my boss’s job easier. If my boss can trust me, I know I am doing a good job. The trail-markers of my success have been my promotions: I remember perfectly the day I got promoted to Associate Producer and the day I got promoted to Producer.

Ignore anyone and everyone who says, “you’ll never make it.” I’ve had people in my life say that I “got lucky.” They say that opportunities like mine are one in a million. I don’t believe that.

In competitive industries, like TV, where there are only so many jobs, I see people all the time talking others out of following their dream because it’s “too hard.” I believe if you want to make it, you can. Stay humble but always look up. Do what you have to do to reach your goal. If you have to stay late, stay late. If you have to come in on a Saturday or a Sunday, do it. If you have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations do it. Push yourself.

My husband always helps me put things into perspective. He is my first stop after a bad day. I think everyone needs a person like this, that calms them down and talks them off the ledge.

I also like to make a to-do list for the next day. That always helps me re-organize my thoughts and get back on the right track. I love to sleep, too. Literally love sleep. So many times after a bad day, I'll go home and just get right into bed. Other than that, I love watching reality television to de-stress. Kardashians, Teen Mom, anything on TLC.

For starters, I always wake up looking forward to my next cup of coffee. (Laughs.) Then I look forward to finishing my nutrition degree and finding a way to incorporate that into television and media. I’d love to write a book and build on Monday Dieter.