Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Van Vliet.
Hi Chris, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
For me, it all starts with one word: passion. Realized at a young age that I was super passionate about broadcasting. I remember being 4-years old and pretending to be a radio DJ with my Fisher Price tape recorder. As I got a little older, I acted in some theater productions and was the Vice President of the student council in high school, which meant I got to do the morning announcements and host events like the talent show and fashion show.
I was always really drawn to anything that involved performing and I took every chance I could get to be in front of a crowd and get a reaction from them. In college, I majored in Communication Studies and when I graduated, I was incredibly fortunate that my internship at a small TV station an hour away from my hometown turned into a job as a reporter. I’m humbled to say that of that has now turned into a career working in television and radio as well as being a podcaster and YouTuber.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t know if anyone has a smooth ride, no matter what kind of job you do! Everyone’s journey is filled with obstacles and hurdles along the way, but I think it’s important how you deal with those and grow from them. Growing up in Canada, the dream of being on TV, especially in America, felt very much like that – a dream.
Even though I majored in Communication Studies in college, I had to work hard to get my foot in the door in the “real world.” During my senior year, I reached out to every radio station and every TV station in my college town and asked if I could volunteer and just see how things were actually done outside of what we learned the classroom.
While a lot of those emails and phone calls were met with no response, I did get a few people to write me back. Three to be exact. I was invited to be a street team member for a radio station; a community television station said they would be happy to have me as a studio volunteer and a news-talk radio station offered me a job! My career had officially begun!
I soaked up every bit of information that I could and then looked into getting an internship for the summer after I graduated. The problem was, no one was interested in giving me an opportunity. After hearing “no’s” or getting no response to every single application I submitted, I googled the email address for the General Manager at a small TV station that was about an hour drive away from my hometown. I sent him an unsolicited email telling him that I would be in town during my Spring Break and would love to talk to him about a possible internship. This was of course a total lie as I hadn’t been to that town in more than a decade and had no plans to be there. He wrote back that he would make time to meet with me simply because I was going to “be in town.” My plan worked! That meeting turned into an internship and that internship turned into my first job on-air.
And that has basically been the playbook for my entire career. Taking chances and betting on myself. Because if you aren’t willing to bet on yourself, why would anyone else?
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am fascinated by the idea of storytelling, it’s at the heart of what makes us human. And I think that’s why I was so drawn to broadcasting at such an early age. It’s the concept that two people could experience the exact same event, but when they describe it to someone, it could sound like two completely different stories.
A lot of my job now consists of having in-depth conversations for both my podcast called “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” and my YouTube channel. I believe that the quality of your life depends on the quality of the questions that you ask, and that can definitely be applied to interviews. Ask better questions, get better answers. But the key to a great conversation is listening. The late, great Larry King said it best, “I never learned anything by talking.” I try to keep that in mind with every interview that I conduct, whether it’s with an actor, an athlete or a Presidential candidate. I love hearing stories that they’ve never told before, often because they weren’t asked about it in the right way.
I have also taken my passion for the great outdoors & fishing and I co-founded a fishing brand called WOO! Tungsten. We make environmentally friendly tungsten weights that are specifically used for bass fishing.
Any big plans?
Moving to LA during the middle of a lockdown last summer was definitely a big change! I had traveled here a lot for work over the years, but I’m so grateful to call this home now. I can’t wait until everything can open back up safely and I can really explore!
While I have some massive goals for myself, I’ve always approached life with a simple goal each day: to be excited for that day holds and then at the end of the day to be proud of what you accomplished. I think that if you can do that each and every day, it’s hard to not live a fulfilled life.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: chrisvanvliet.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet
- Youtube: http://YouTube.com/ChrisVanVliet
Image Credits:
Zues Dominguez – Dom Digital Media
