Kim Stephens teaches in the Media, Communications and Journalism Department. One of those classes is MCJ 128, or Fresno State Focus, which is the capstone class for the broadcast and multiplatform option. In addition, Stephens is a news anchor for KMPH Fox26. She has worked with Fox26 for 22 years and has taught at Fresno State for 10 years. 

Why did you choose to be a news anchor? 

When I went to Chico State, I thought about getting into advertising. I did that for one semester. I wrote a commercial that made it on TV, which was fun to write. Then I went over into the newsroom, where it was crazy and chaotic. People were running around. I mean, it was like a scene out of TV, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is where I belong.’ Also, I love to write, so I realized it makes sense to do news. So, I interned in a newsroom, and then I sent my tapes out all across California. I started in Eureka and just started driving down. I applied to lots of places. I got a lot of rejection letters, but I ended up getting a job in Bakersfield, then I started writing and anchoring. 

Is teaching your side hustle?

It’s my side hustle that I look forward to being my main hustle. I do fantasize about the day where I’m not waking up at 2:30 a.m. to do the news at 5 a.m. Maybe I could take a walk or go to yoga and then come to campus. Just have a cup of coffee, not during commercial breaks, but in a relaxed environment, rather than cortisol coursing through my body. I do look forward to that. 

What does a typical day look like for you? 

I wake up at 2:30 a.m. I’m at work by 4 a.m. I’m going through scripts and rereading them, working with our staff if we need to add a story or update a story, and then at 4:25 a.m., go do my hair and put my makeup on. By five minutes to 5 a.m, I’m on set, and then I’m on the air for five straight hours. Every day is different, which is why I love my job. After I finish that, I come to campus and I’m here until either 4 or 5 p.m. I get home by 5 or 6 p.m., have a little bite to eat. I try to be in bed by 6:30 p.m. I try to get seven hours of sleep because I know that if I don’t get enough sleep, I don’t feel well.

How do you manage both jobs?

I’m a ‘drink every second out of every day’ kind of person. I really am using up every moment that I can. I feel challenged by that. I love it. It is a part of my personality. My son and my husband are constantly reminding me, ‘Will you sit down? Will you just relax on a weekend?’ Thankfully, they’re looking out for me, but I love it because I love attacking new challenges. I love learning something new every day, or maybe it’s every 15 minutes of every day. I’m meeting wonderful people here on campus. I feel like I get so much from the students. I’m learning a lot from them, and I am thrilled to be able to encourage them and teach them how to do the job, so that when they leave here, they have hands-on, real work that they can show and use to get their first job out of college.

How do you de-stress? What do you do in your free time?

I’ve got some kind of go-to music that I listen to to kind of help me switch from doing one to the other, or I listen to an audiobook. Other things would be gardening, crocheting and taking walks. I don’t feel too stressed. But I really do take up all the time I can out of my weekends because I do need it, like if I were a turtle, I’d go back into my shell for a little bit, kind of hide and regroup to fill my bucket of energy again.

Why do you do both jobs? 

When I lay in bed and try to turn my brain off and fall asleep, I think about what I did during the day. Most of the time, I’m thinking about how I hope that everything I did helped somebody, helped somebody learn about themselves, learn about their abilities. Because I love that. How empowering is it for you to teach somebody that they’re really good at something? I love being able to do that, or empowering people with information through the news that they may need to know, and that I did it humanely, just me being me.