Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Barlow.
Jenn, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m an Emmy Award Winning TV Producer, TV Host, Storyteller and Lover of life. I’ve produced hundreds of TV Shows, thousands of digital videos for online platforms, and am responsible for billions of online views. Currently, I am a TV host for “It’s How You Get There,” travel series on the History Channel (in its 3rd season) and Executive Produce a children’s YouTube series with over 4 million subscribers.
I’ve been in the industry a while, 16 years to be specific. (But dreaming of it my whole life.) When I was a young girl I wanted to be an actress and perform, but as a woman in the industry now, who has experienced all sides of the industry (both Good and bad) My vision is clearer: I want to be a media mogul, a leader, a producer, a host, a friend, a helper, an advocate who lifts others up, and tells great visual stories.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
You could say I’ve been performing since the time I took my first breath. I took drama classes when I was younger. I sang in the church and prestigious traveling choirs, I played clarinet and piano, I entered monologue and improv contests, took classes, sang for my family in my living room on my karaoke machine, you name it, anyone who would give me five seconds of their attention was my audience. I’ve always had a deep love of performing.
My family didn’t always agree with that notion. When I was younger, my family was very weary and protective of me “getting in the business too young.” To be honest, no one in my family had ever even graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree, so when I was older and still wasn’t exactly encouraged to go into acting, I had come to a compromise in my head, I’d go into the news industry. That way, I’d go to college and get a degree but also get to be in front of the camera and tell great stories.
The news business was my training ground and my eye-opener to the world of television. News in general is great as a foundation in theory, it teaches you how to tell a story well.
But, it’s a hard business. I never drank coffee before I worked in news, I never said a curse word before I worked in news, and never worked an overnight shift before for that matter. News gets to you, If it bleeds it leads, that’s what you learn very quickly. And I worked in news from the time I was age 17 to 21. In 2008, when the job market froze and jobs were hard to come by, I was constantly told that we should feel lucky to have a job. As they kept cutting jobs and laying people off. The thing is my first paid job as a news assistant was making $8.00 dollars an hour while typically working overnights from 12pm midnight until 9am in the morning. Or 3am until 12 or 2pm if I was lucky. That way, I could go to school during the day. Did I mention? I was also in college full time at the time, taking more than full-time credits and burning the candle at both ends. I was the first in my family to go to college, let alone a 4-year university. So, it was extremely important to me that I not only kept my grades up and earned that degree but it was also important to already be working at a news station. (or so I thought)
As I mentioned before, I started in news when I was 17. It became to wear on me. I had graduated high school a year early and frankly, I was just so exhausted between my heavy school load during the day and often working overnights at the news station, there would be days I didn’t remember driving to and from work or class. Weeks would pass by in a haze. I was in a constant fog of exhaustion. All because I wanted to work hard and “make it” in the industry. The truth is, I wanted to make my family proud. I thought that the news industry would be a respected profession. and my ticket into the tv industry. My 17 years old-thought process: Become a successful reporter. Prove to my family, I could make it in a respectful area of the entertainment industry. The thing is I wasn’t a reporter. I wasn’t even on camera really. I was a highly exhausted news assistant, apprentice, morning traffic producer. Basically, glorified intern who filled in the gaps during the job freezes in 2008. I was never allowed to really be on camera. Then when I finally got a big break to be a weather reporter in small-town Idaho, I was going to go in debt ten grand a year just to say I was on camera. Living the dream. Going broke, hating life to live the dream. But that wasn’t the half of it. I looked too young. I was told constantly, I was too blonde, looked too young and had wayyyy too high pitch of a voice to be taken seriously in news. I had male counterparts who made double what I made. No one ever took me seriously. Here’s the thing, I learned a lot from the news business, how to tell a great story and more importantly what I wanted out of life. To tell fun stories. I learned that I wanted to entertain and educate people. And most importantly, I wanted to have fun at my job. So, I quit.
I wanted to act. Or so I thought.
Acting can be a lot of fun and exciting. Every day different. It can also be super rewarding when you see the final video product come to life. When you star opposite a major celebrity and are made to look really cool. Despite all your hard work, and gym time, the driving around the city to thousands of auditions, despite all the parking tickets, oh the parking tickets. And years of your life chasing the elusive dream.
Acting can also be devastating. Being an actor opens you up to a lot of rejection and wasted time and wondering if quitting your prestigious job as a newscaster was worth it. Acting as a blonde female, or any female for that matter opens you up to the creeps of the world. I cannot tell you how many “auditions” I went on where I was asked to take off my top. Or hit on. Or if I just went to dinner with the “producer” I’d get the part. Or how many roles I was offered that started with Sexy. Sexy girlfriend, sexy cheerleader, sexy whatever. People think just because you look a certain way, that they have you figured out. Because I’m blonde and young. That I’m sexy, or worse off, easy, or they assume you’ll get with someone just to get apart. That has never and will never be the case. I’ve worked too hard, too many exhausted hours, graduated high school early to be the first in my family to get a bachelor’s degree to have those terrible assumptions associated with me.
I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. I didn’t want to be the subject to these creeper producers trying to take advantage. I wanted to be cast as the smart female because I was the smart female. I was the hardworking, smart female that deserved more. So, I quit.
But here’s the thing. The Ah-Ha Moment.
Sometimes like dating, not every job is for forever. Just like not every person is your soulmate. Often, people come into your life for a season, a reason or a lifetime. I feel like you have to look at jobs the same way. They are often meant to teach you something. and sometimes that teaching moment is what you don’t want. It’s okay to date around so to speak in your career field in order to find what truly sets your soul on fire.
Ready for the 3rd Act? Here’s what I realized There were parts of my barely there acting career and parts of my barely there, news career that I loved. I loved the storytelling of the news biz and certain people along the way who helped guide and shape me and I loved the on-camera performance side of acting with the excitement of the different productions and sets I was being introduced to. So, how could I marry these two loves together? That’s when I had the Ah-ha moment, and I figured out that TV Hosting and Producing was much more my thing.
Being a TV host and Producer is what I live for. Hosting is all about being fast on your feet, knowledgeable, quick-witted, and smart. It’s like an elevated version or character version of your own personality. Sort of like acting. An extension of you. The producing part of it all is the control, the conductor. You are the organizer, the quarterback of the team, making sure things are coming together and moving in the direction that the story needs to go. If you can master the on camera and the off-camera part of producing and hosting, you experience the best of all worlds. This is where my strengths could be showcased. Are showcased. This is where I could tell the real entertaining and educating stories that I wanted to tell. This is where I found my happiness.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Jenn’s Friends – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
My business in a nutshell is Me. But it’s more than that, and every day it evolves certainly but the type of videos, tv shows and digital media that I make at its core is selling friendship. I am an expert in educating and entertaining people. Whether it is telling the history of a certain car or city on my travel series “It’s How You Get There,” or it’s being the zany kid-friendly version of myself on the Kid’s YouTube Series I produce, “Totally TV.” I want everyone to feel entertained first of all but most importantly, I want them to feel like they can count on me. That I’ll tell them a great story. That they have a friend in me. No matter what show of mine they are tuning into watch. Most days, I start my programs with the phrase, “Hello my friends.” Just so people know what they are getting with me.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My plans for the future include expanding my empire. I said earlier that when I was younger, I wanted to be an actress. But in retrospect, I’ve always wanted to be a media mogul. Someone like Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Seacrest, Conan O’Brien, Tyler Perry.
They seem to be great TV hosts or in front of the camera performers and storytellers when they want to be, but more than that, they help people. They produce excellent TV shows and movies. They make people laugh, they direct, they build schools and animal sanctuaries, they run production empires. And they are like America’s best friends. End game, I want to be my own version of that. Tell great stories and help people.
As for my shorter-term goal. I want to continue to produce great shows, but I also want to help people in the meanwhile produce their own great content. Tell their own story. I have started a side consulting company where I advise those in the digital content space. I have personally had a hand in helping to create billions of views online with various YouTube channels so why not share some of that. Whether people are starting their own YouTube channel and want algorithm advice or they want me to oversee any part of their production needs, I’m there to help them.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.JennBarlow.com
- Phone: 951-265-8313
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennbarlow/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JennBarlowTVHost?ref=hl
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JennBarlow
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennbarlow/
Image Credit:
Freddy Duarte
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