You are an award-winning journalist following in the footsteps of your famous father Lester Holt, share the moment when you realized that a career in news and TV is what you wanted to pursue.
Growing up in Chicago, I spent a great deal of time following my dad to work. I have fond memories as a kid roaming the hallways of WBBM when they
used to be in the old building in Streeterville. It’s hilarious now that I get to work alongside some of my dad’s old colleagues at Channel 2, many who remember me from when I was a little guy. There have been several instances in the studio when we’re getting ready to go live on the air, one of my directors will say into my earpiece, “Hey Lester, can we get a mic check? I mean, Stefan.”
We moved to New York when I was 13, and throughout high school I would wake up early on Saturday mornings to hang out with Dad at 30 Rock when he anchored Weekend Today. In fact, my dad gave me one of my first driving lessons in the parking lot at MSNBC. I only remember hitting one curb.
Oddly enough, I’m not sure that I was truly interested in heading down the TV path. When I graduated high school, I had made up my mind that my future would be either working for the State Department or becoming a professional pilot. The “aha” moment happened while I was a first-year student in college at Pepperdine University, studying political science. One afternoon in between classes, I was flipping channels in my dorm and landed on Channel 32, the campus TV station. I recognized one of my classmates anchoring the news. I thought to myself, hey I know all about TV stations. I could do that! Several days later, I signed up to work at the station. My first job was running cameras, and floor directing. Eventually, I auditioned to be the anchor and got the gig. I was officially bitten by the news bug.
About a semester later, I declared a second major in broadcast journalism. I can’t remember the precise moment that I told my father about changing career paths, but I do remember him saying, “yeah I had a funny feeling you were going to do that.” From day one, he has been a constant source of support, and my go-to confidant for advice on how to navigate our profession. He’s my mentor on being a great journalist, but also my example on how to be a great dad.