Happy birthday, John!
When Facebook nagged reminded me that today is John Towriss’ birthday, I knew I had to do something more than write an insipid birthday wish on his wall. Way back in 1999, John hired me as a freelance field and package producer/assignment editor (among many other things) at CNN’s Washington bureau. I had just arrived in D.C. from NBC’s Moscow Bureau, where I had worked, for about a year, as an assignment editor/producer/translator/serf. I did have some very interesting experience, but moving from a small foreign bureau to the DC bureau of a behemoth like CNN, was amazing. But even more amazing was John’s calm belief that I knew what I was doing. I was 24, there was so much I didn’t know, but John saw me as a professional TV journalist. Because I was lucky enough to have a boss who saw the best in me, I lived up to my potential.
At the time, I was in my early-20s, I was arrogant, I didn’t appreciate what an amazing boss he was. In hindsight, I was so lucky to have a boss who truly believed I could do anything and calmly encouraged me. John would give me great assignments and step out of the way. He let me run and play in the various divisions of CNN, introduced me to huge on-air names as if I was on equal standing with them, and would routinely give me tremendous responsibility without a moment’s hesitation.
Now, at the time, I was a schmuck and I assumed that all bosses were that amazing. (I said I was a schmuck, stop yelling at me.) It’s only now that I realize how blessed I was to meet someone like him: I don’t just owe my career in TV to him. John gave me the gift of believing that if I worked hard enough, I could pretty much make anything happen. That belief is still paying off in a thousand, no a hundred thousand ways. You and I know that we live in a world where, unfortunately, too many (sad, frightened, lonely) people take a malicious delight in telling you all the ways that your dreams are destined to wither on the vine. So when you meet people who believe in you, and who give you the opportunity to prove them right…cherish those people. Reach out to them, and let them know that they changed your life, and then pay their kindness forward. For so many of us, a kind word in season can be life-changing. A supportive word can be the reason you go out for an exciting job, or ask your crush out; a supportive presence can be the reason you wind up with a life you love.
I’ll never forget what John did for me: how can I, when I still reap the rewards? By hiring me at CNN, and letting me learn and do so much, he made me believe I was the professional I so wanted to be. And while it was brutally hard work, oh it was so fun. To be in your twenties and wake up in the morning, absolutely excited to go to work…it’s a very special feeling. And John was the reason I experienced that joy. Happy birthday, John! It’s your birthday and yet somehow I received the biggest gift.