Gas! Gas! Gas!: Julie Millet
Up close and personal with NYC's favorite morning reporter on PIX11 News.
Julie (Parise) Millet wakes up at midnight to do her dream job: reporting breaking news, feature stories, and, occasionally, the morning traffic on PIX11 News in New York. A writer who set her sights on being in front of the camera, Julie toughed it out in the smallest of markets to make it to the top—and now, she’s doing the damn thing while also teaching others as a talent coach. (To think we met one another while working at Victoria’s Secret during our summer college breaks… sniff, I’m so proud!)
If you’ve ever yearned for your moment on primetime or wondered what it’s like to be on TV for a living, you must read Julie’s BTS action and advice… coming up right now.
What it was like to make the switch from writing to being an on-air reporter?
I was writing for CBS New York right after school in 2009 and did that for about four or five years. When you're in that job as a young person, I think everyone assumes you have aspirations to be on air. At the time, I really didn't. But people kept saying, “You know, you could do it if you want to! We can help you.”
Then, I remember we were covering Superstorm Sandy and I was watching all of our anchors and reporters go out into the field and be there for days working their butts off (we were all working our butts off back in the newsroom, too). I though, “I want to be the one out there.” That's when I decided to pursue it and started putting together a reel while still working full-time.
The hardest part of the decision was, in this business (like many creative industries), you have to start small. I had to leave New York City and apply at stations across the country in very small markets. The job that was offered to me was in Augusta, Georgia, which is a very small town, market size 113 out of 200, or something like that. Leaving the big city life to do that was something else, but I did it. And that propelled me through the rest of my career path all the way up to today, reporting in the number one market in the country, which is fantastic.
It's so great to see you on PIX11 News covering breaking news and lifestyle stories in NYC. What does a typical day at work look like for you?
A typical day starts at a time when many people consider it to be nighttime. My alarm goes off around 12:30 in the morning, I get dressed and ready and I'm at the newsroom by 2 or 2:30 am, depending on the day. I get my assignment, do a little research, then do my hair and makeup and head out to my assignment.
Then, I'm out in the field covering whatever's going on, whether it be breaking news or a feature story. Our newscast goes from 4 a.m. until 10 a.m., and that's typically when I'm on the air. I usually wrap by 10:30 am, unless I have a special project or a feature to work on. Then, I go home to my second job, which is being a mom. I go to bed around six in the evening to get some sleep.
OMG! So if anyone were to ask you if being an on-air reporter is glamorous, I'm assuming your answer would be no…
I would tell them how many times I've had to pee in a cup in my car. If you’re out on assignment at four in the morning and there's nowhere to go to the bathroom…
You also stand in for the traffic reporter when they’re out. How much of a heads-up are you getting when the schedule changes and you need to fill in?
They usually try to give me as much of a heads-up as they can. The only thing it really affects is how I dress. When you're out in the field, you dress for the elements, whatever those might be, but when I'm filling in at the studio, I know that I'm not going to be wearing a coat, I'm going to have to wear nice shoes, that sort of thing. There’s been a time or two when I've had minimal warning, but typically, it all works out, and I keep clothes and stuff at the newsroom.
Do they style you or do you do it all yourself?
I wish I could say they style me, but they don’t. That's something that’s changing in our industry: There's less of a budget for things like that. It's not just us, it's probably every station across the country.
I was working for the same company now as when I was pregnant (not Pix, but the same parent company), and they gave me a budget to buy new clothes during the pregnancy, because it's part of the job. Other than that, you're on your own! I try really hard to be stylish, I've taken makeup lessons and things like that—it’s more of a personal investment than anything.
Being on camera makes a lot of people insanely uncomfortable and nervous. Did you feel that way starting out, and, if so, how did you overcome it?
You overcome it by just doing it and getting the reps in. My very first job on-air, I was a morning reporter doing five or six live shots a day within two hours. You realize you have to be yourself to be authentic and have viewers trust you and believe you. Sometimes, it's hard; some days, it still is hard to really lean in and be myself. Like, “Does it sound weird if I say it that way?”or whatever it might be.
”Being on camera is the smallest part of it. The biggest part is getting the story right, getting the facts straight, and telling a compelling story.”
I learned quickly that being on camera is the smallest part of my day compared to the rest, which shifted my perspective quite a bit. I realized, ”Oh, being on camera is the smallest part of it. The biggest part is getting the story right, getting the facts straight, and telling a compelling story.”
Recently, you covered a new circus show. Give us some insight into the process once you got that assignment.
We have an assignment desk that does all the research and calls; they try to give you as much information as they can. You take that and put it together into a script. Then, once you're on the story, it becomes yours—you're making the calls, you're out in the field or on the ground. If you're covering a breaking news story, you're the eyes and ears, you're making sure you’re picking up everything that’s happening.
On a feature story like the circus, you’re given an idea of what it’s going to be when you get there. But, when you do, you're the one saying, “Alright, how do I make this visually compelling and exciting?”
For instance, they had a circus performer rolling around in a giant circle hula hoop. I was like, “I think I can do that.” They were like, “Are you sure?” And I said, “I can at least try it.” So, I tried it off-camera first, and decided, “Aright, I can do it enough to put in TV.” So, it’s that sort of thing.
You cover some serious crime stories in New York as they’re developing. How do you keep your cool?
It took a lot of practice—I used to get really hyped up, anxious, and worried. I still have a little bit of those feelings, because I want to make sure I’m seeing everything and getting the facts right. But, I learned there's a formula to everything: When you get breaking news and you’re given information, however little it might be, you get to the scene, look around, and say what you see. Usually, you’re working with a team of photographers who are helping and you talk to people in the neighborhood and get the background that way. Especially in New York City, there's usually a media line to the police who you can call to get more information.
Something that might surprise people is that, as a reporter, you see other stations out in the field and, oftentimes, everyone's helping each other. “Well, I talked to this person and she told me this…” I'm sure some reporters don't help other stations, but I've never encountered anyone like that. We're all out there doing our jobs, so we're all helping each other.
That's great! I feel there’s a stigma that it's super competitive and you're all fighting to get the best shot, like something you see out of Anchorman, but that's good that it's not. Speaking of, what would your advice be for someone who may feel like it's too competitive to even try to get into this field?
It only takes one person to see the potential or light in you. When I first applied to be on camera, I must’ve applied to at least 50 different places and I got one “Yes.” That “Yes” got me to the next “Yes,” which got me to the next Yes.” It could be something as simple as you’re knowledgeable in a certain area that the news director or hiring manager is looking for; it could be that you fit whatever mold they're looking to fill, or you mesh well with the team.
There might be a stupid reason you’re told “No.” I've gotten emails that said things that, “You're not who we're looking for right now.” I don't know even what that means! There's always going to be stupid stuff like that, but you can look past it. There's room for everyone.
Is there a moment in your career you're most proud of?
It's tough in this job because a lot of your hardest-working, proudest moments usually come during really sad or negative events. It feels funny to be like, “Yeah, I covered that deadly fire and I was there for eight hours and did all this work,” because people died, you know?
When I was working in Virginia as an investigative reporter, I was interviewing a U.S. senator from Virginia, and I was prepared with all these facts. He was touting this bill to help find missing people in Virginia, and he was giving numbers of the missing people who had been found, and his didn't match mine. I asked, “Why do these numbers not match up? Explain where these came from.”
He realized that his office had made a mistake and his team was overblowing the number of missing people who had been successfully reunited with their families. It was a simple question that I asked him that turned into an eventual change in the law in Virginia about how missing people are reported. All of it was because he realized how easy it was for mistakes to be made. So, I did that.
Wow, you influenced the law! That’s incredible. What are some of the best lessons you've learned?
An overall big lesson is that you might be stressed about something and it might seem like the end of the world, but it never is. You're going to keep on living, so you might as well not stress too hard about it.
“Taking reporter energy and translating it to the rest of my life is a lesson I’m working on.”
Something I'm still working on (and I think a lot of women deal with) is standing up for myself. I'm working very hard to get the people pleaser out of me and not be afraid to ask tough questions. When I'm in my job, I have no problem with that, but when I'm in the office talking to my colleagues, then it's hard to ask for help or point out something that I think could be done better. So, taking reporter energy and translating it to the rest of my life is a lesson I’m working on.
Another big thing I've learned (I know we touched on this a little bit) is being kind to the other reporters out in the field but also to everyone around me. It's tough when you're working in an industry that works so fast: We've got deadlines and it's easy to get mad if something doesn't go right or snap at someone. But, I make plenty of mistakes and I want people to treat me with compassion, so I always try to treat others the same. It comes back to you, for sure.
Where do you look for career inspiration? Has there been anyone you've tried to model your path after?
In the early days, I definitely watched a lot of network and national news: Good Morning America, Today Show. I still do to see everything from what someone might be wearing that looks good on camera to how they report a story. I take in TV news as much as I can.
I'm lucky to be working in New York because I'm around a lot of people who are at the top of their game and have been for a long time. That's another piece of advice I would give: Seek out mentors. I work with a lot of strong women and people who I go to for help. I have an anchor on my show who I met when I was an intern at CBS 15 or 16 years ago. I've stayed in touch with her for advice and I watch her stories all the time. She now works at PIX and was part of the reason why I wanted to go here. Seeking out people who you aspire to be is never a bad thing.
“That's advice I would give: Seek out mentors. I work with a lot of strong women and people who I go to for help. Seeking out people who you aspire to be is never a bad thing.”
I also look to the older women in my industry, especially the moms now that I'm a mom. Growing up in this industry from a 20-something to a 30-something, I thought, “God, it's going to be impossible to be a mom and do this job,” but it's not and people do it. I do reach out to the other women on my shift, especially to vent or ask questions or things like that.
You've been a mom for over a year now. Do you think that's had any type of effect or not?
Yes, 100%. Especially in this job, the stories I do hit me a lot differently now—in a good way. It helps to put perspective on things. Like, when I go to the deadly stories, it’s not that they didn’t hit me before, but they hit me in a much different way now that I have a kid. Approaching grieving family members and asking them for interviews and saying, “I also have a son and can't imagine what you're going through.”
It helps with my stress level too, because at the end of the day, as stressful as it was, I know I'm going home to my son and my dog and my husband. It puts a different perspective on my day-to-day and helps with work-life separation: When I'm at work, I'm at work; When I'm home, I'm a mom. I just don't have time to be taking work home anymore.
Is work fulfilling your passion? Is there more in store for you from here?
Oh, you know better than anyone, there's always more to come. I do feel very, very blessed. I know that's cliche, but this is something I literally dreamed of doing. I tell myself when I'm having a bad day or my alarm clock goes off at midnight and I don’t want to get up: “This is the exact job you wanted to have when you were young. You did all this work to get here and there are people that would be dying to do this.”
I would love to continue to grow in New York and tell more stories and keep working hard. It's always changing here, there’s always something happening. New York is definitely where I want to be; I don't want to go anywhere else. Other than that, I don't know exactly how I'm looking to grow immediately…I feel like I'm just getting the hang of what I'm doing now! But there will be more, for sure.