Meet Anne Marie Anderson

We were lucky to catch up with Anne Marie Anderson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Anne Marie, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I am a believer in desirable adversity. I am the youngest child of five and the only girl. With four older brothers I learned early in my childhood to compete. Whether it was playing in the backyard with my brothers, standing out academically or for fighting for playing time on the court, I learned to contest comfortably. My parents were wonderfully supportive but didn’t understand the opportunities sport could provide beyond the playing arena. I needed to press them to allow me to join club sports. As I result I cherished every practice as an opportunity to better my skills.

At 21 years old I interviewed with ESPN for a temporary production assistant job. I did not get the job on the first attempt but because I had a strong background in self advocating with my parents and coaches, I was comfortable doing the same with those hiring at the network. After presenting how I was different from their typical candidates and could add value I was offered the job. I credit that first professional resilience to my upbringing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

The position ESPN offered me at 21 years old was a temporary, six month production assistant position working from 6pm to 3am with Mondays off. Occasionally ESPN would offer a full time position if the candidate was a good fit after the trial period. I was hired permanently after my six month trial and since then have had an incredible career in television lasting more than three decades.

I continued to grow over the years adding to my skill set much as an athlete improves their prowess. ESPN was an incredible venue in which to learn from the very best in sports broadcasting and after I decade I moved from producing behind the scenes to a reporting position in front of the camera. I believe that stagnation is the death of inspiration so I constantly was looking to challenge myself. The ability to thrive in discomfort is perhaps my greatest strength.

I have covered six Olympic Games, heavyweight title fights, golf’s majors, NBA and Major League Baseball playoffs and countless other marquee sporting events. I’m in Rio de Janeiro currently as I write this with trips to Hong Kong, Thailand and Poland scheduled in the coming weeks calling Olympic qualifying events before the Paris Olympics. The opportunities to see the world, witness elite resilience and talk with elite performers still inspires me daily.

Through my work I have had the opportunity to interview and witness the work ethic of some of the greatest athletes in the world. Michael Jordan, Evander Holyfied, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams and others have fought through obstacles throughout their lives in order to be great. It was never about the wins for them but rather what they learned from their failures that made them great.

In January of 2025 my first book will be released. Cultivating Audacity – How to Dismantle Doubt and Take Bold Risks, is a guide to making friends with fear as a means to a fulfilling life. Audacious living isn’t just for the professional side of life but can be applied to one’s personal living as well. In order to be engaged daily we need to assess which barriers stand between us and the life we want to live. Is it fear, time, money, our inner critic or something else? Cultivating Audacity is a guide to take you from where you are to where you want to be.

As a keynote speaker I travel the world challenging audiences to take an unflinching look at why they haven’t yet done “the thing” and find a path to “yes”.

To be notified when preorders of Cultivating Audacity and well as inquire about speaking engagements readers can go to my website www.annemarieanderson.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Persistence, resilience and curiosity are three critical skills to not only success but enjoying the journey to elite living. Once you develop the mindset of “everything is just data” failure no longer is a period at the end of a path but rather a comma to redirect your growth.

It is impossible to utilize those skills effectively until you figure out what has stopped you from achieving your goals in the past. Once you have taken a deep dive into your story surrounding fear, time, money and other factors only then can the plan to move forward be designed.

My book, Cultivating Audacity – How to Dismantle Doubt and Take Bold Risks, walks the reader through the process and serves as a guide to dialing in on what you want and the path to achieve it.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

It is absolutely essential to recalibrate your relationship with rejection in order to grow. In my family I am known as a crier. I took every “no” personally and equated it to a character flaw early in my life. I still cry – it is a terrific release – but I also constantly ask “what is the lesson here?” after every rejection?

When I look back on my life I wonder what would have happened if I had accepted “no” on many occasions. What if I had accepted my mother wanting me to give up sport in order to take sewing lessons? (yes, that conversation really happened) What if I didn’t go back after not getting the ESPN job the first time? Teaching myself that “no” means “not yet” or “next” has been the biggest key to my professional and personal success.

Reframing rejection as redirection has changed my life. It allows me to hone in on exactly what is right for me in the moment. Some people have a negative connotation with the word “audacity” but the willingness to take bold, sometimes surprising, risks has kept me engaged and growing in every aspect of my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.annemarieanderson.com
• Instagram: @AnneMarieAndersonTV
• Linkedin: Anne Marie Anderson
• Twitter: @AnneMAnderson