Like I have mentioned before I am interning in Los Angeles, CA for CNBC and I am having the time of my life. During this internship I have been given opportunities to attend events I never ever thought I would get to go to.
So this is the story on how I got to shadow Phil LeBeau. If you are not familiar with who Phil LeBeau is, no worries I will fill you in.
Phil is a CNBC reporter who focuses on auto and airline related stories. He is based in Chicago and has had a very successful career with broadcast journalism. LeBeau graduated from the University of Missouri with a journalism and broadcasting degree. please remember where he went to college because this is VERY important in the story.
I got this wonderful opportunity to shadow Phil LeBeau at the 2020 Corvette reveal in Tustin, California. This event was honestly incredible because of how it was set up. It was in a hanger where I assume they have stored planes. The event had a full service bar as well as In-N-Out burgers for all to enjoy.
I arrive to this event by myself and once I get there I need to get my credentials right away so I can meet the producer, talent and camera operators. Keep in mind this event is half outside half in the hanger. I walk up to get my badge and as I am standing there ants immediately crawl all over my legs like they were personally greeting me for coming to the event. I am trying to ignore them and hope they just fall off, but that is not the case they are legit biting me. So what do I do? I'll tell you exactly what I did. I took off my shoes and swatted them off my legs like a crazy person... many people from the bar tent looked extremely confused and I can't blame them. Many ant bites later they decide to evacuate my shoes and legs.
Finally, I find the crew and we get prepared to go into the hanger for an early access interview with the President of General Motors, Mark Reuss. Upon entry they take my phone and cover any areas where I could take video or pictures, this is normal. I meet Phil for the first time and he is very nice and willing to answer the MANY questions I have.
After Phil interviews Mark we begin to start talking about where I was from and where I go to school. I tell him I am from a small town just north of Indianapolis and he knows exactly where it is. Then I tell him where I go to school not knowing that he is a University of Missouri Graduate.... I am all like "yes I love Alabama, Roll Tide it is the best school in the world!" LeBeau then asks me if I looked at Missouri and I was like "eh, no. It wasn't really appealing to me at all!"............ I had absolutely no idea that he was a Mizzou fan and grad.
A few short moments later he says to the producer "you will love this girl!" I am thinking to myself "oooo okay I am flattered". Then he says "she goes to Alabama and HATES Mizzou." I immediately think "oh my god, did he go to Mizzou!!!????" So I asked him knowing that he might say yes... and he does.
I am feeling like a complete idiot, but trying to laugh it off because I really had no idea. The whole night I am apologizing because I insulted Mizzou to Phil LeBeau.
As the night came to an end he wished me luck with my reporting and broadcasting endeavors and that he wasn't mad. Now we are LinkedIn friends and it clearly states in his bio that he is, in fact, a University of Missouri fan.
So now I am sure to be careful about sharing my opinions about other schools to people I look up to. I also look back and think how innocent and hilarious it was.
WHOOPS and ROLL TIDE!
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