Brooke Baldwin, HUDDLE: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power

[1:24]Zibby Owens: Hi. This is Zippy Owens, and you're listening to the award winning podcast, moms don't have time to read books. I'm also the host of moms don't have time to lose weight, and I'm the editor of the anthology, which you should run out and buy, called Moms Don't Have Time to: A Quarantine Anthology. All proceeds of that book go to COVID nineteen Vaccine Research. And I'm the editor in chief of Moms Don't Have Time to Write, a new publication on Medium, and we're accepting submissions, so please send your personal essays there. And if all that isn't enough, you can follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens, and my website is zibbyowens.com. Okay. Now back to this amazing podcast. Brooke Baldwin is a veteran journalist who you've seen on CNN over the last decade covering some of the world's biggest breaking stories. She's the Peabody Award finalist. A native of Atlanta, she now lives in the New York City area. You can learn more about her at huddlethebook.com. And the book we're talking about is called How Women Unlock Their Collective Power.

[2:21]Brooke Baldwin: Welcome, Brooke. Thank you so much for coming on Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Thanks, Zibby. This is so great. Thank you for having me. Of course. Okay. Your book is Huddle, How Women Unlock Their Collective Power, which is amazing and exciting and inspiring. Thank you. And in the book, you not only interview so many women across so many industries and races and backgrounds and everything, but you share so much of your own self with us, which I really, really appreciated. So tell me a little bit more and I know you talk in the book about it, but tell listeners how you came up with the idea to do this book, including your little text exchange with your girlfriends and your own huddle and, you know, all of that. Well, it's a funny thing, you know, as a journalist, I am happiest, I feel like, and best trying to like, let someone else shine. I'm the one asking the questions. And so I don't always, you know, open up, but I felt like, you know, for the reader, if I'm interviewing all these various women and telling people to huddle and how to activate and nurture your own huddles, damn, I need to like, tell everyone a little bit about myself and why I feel like I have a bit of some knowledge on the subject. Right. And so how did I born and raised in Atlanta was always, like always loved, girls, women led a bunch of huddles, probably ran for girls class president more times than like should have happened. So I was always part of girls are leading girls. And then I dove into journalism. I graduated college, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, what? Go heels. And I dove into journalism, which has been the most spectacular thing for me in my life for the last twenty years. But as a result of that, I put career first. And so I was living in like small town America and was like working all the worst hours you can ever imagine, weekends, holidays, overnights, the whole thing. And so I never had a huddle. Like I was huddle less in my twenties and in my thirties. And so I came to CNN thirteen years ago and around the twenty sixteen presidential election, I was zigzagging the country. I just had noticed women showing up in ways I'd never noticed in my twenty year journalism career. And then there I was in Washington. I don't know where you were on the women's March Trump inauguration weekend, but on the Saturday I was embedded in the Trump motorcade. That's where CNN put me. So I'm literally like balancing on the back of this flatbed truck as we're meandering down constitution as this newly elected president, Donald Trump is heading to the White House for the first time. And I'm not gonna lie Zivvy, like as a woman, as a journalist, I was a little troubled about what the next four years would look like, but tried to maintain my objectivity as I was reporting live that day. Then the very next day, I'm back on the clock for CNN. I'm in the middle of the Women's March in Washington. And I have never in my life been around so many women ever, ever. I mean, that was half a million women showing up. I just was so, it was my moment where I had filed a way that women were showing up in ways I'd never seen before. Here I am in the middle describe in my book, the mother of all huddles and bam, like that's when I knew I needed to dedicate the next chapter of my career to spotlighting, whether it's well known women or ordinary, extraordinary women. And thus that was like the unofficial beginning of my huddle journey. Wow. And the journey took you from, like, buses at the march to, like, Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine production to The Class. I mean, like, to horrific traumatic situations. I mean, you were all over the place. And I feel like towards the end when you talked about the power of huddles with the nurse, I can't remember her name. That was most moving. Right? That was so moving. Tell everybody about that because Well, like I knew that, you know, obviously I'm writing this book in the middle of a pandemic in the wake of the George Floyd death. I talk a lot about black lives matter and those three women founders. And then of course I wanted to dive in with a nurse. Thank goodness for our frontline health employees, right? Our frontline workers. And so Emily Faucette is a woman right around our age, who a little bit younger works at Lenox Hill as a nurse. And she was just telling me her story. I'd had her on my show. She actually started this whole thing called like hope huddles at Lenox Hill in Manhattan, among those who worked on her floor at the hospital when it was like the worst of the worst in Manhattan. And she told me about how it was her personal friend, Huddle, who just really sustained her, how she was able to survive. We thought we had a bad just living in Manhattan or being in America and dealing with this pandemic. But can you imagine she was telling me the story of this one day she had to watch five different people die. And it was her girlfriends who held space for her, who dropped off lunch for not only Emily, but like every nurse in her unit or provided donuts or what, who did the grocery shopping for her and like left it in her apartment door. And it was this one particular girlfriend that, after she had had that horrible day when five people had died, that she just let her sit on the phone and weep. And that is what huddling is all about. Ugh. It literally, like, makes me wanna cry. Like, I get the chills just hearing about it. You know? Because, like, what can you do? Like, what can you do as a friend when someone's grieving or going through something so awful? It's like case and you listen. Yeah. Listen. Anyway and and, you know, all the time I've spent thinking about the pandemic, which has been a huge chunk of like mental real estate this past year, like for people, I had never really thought about what girlfriends were doing to prop up their friends who were nurses. You know what mean? Like, I I it's just like that element never like, of course, the work of course, nurses and doctors in general. Yes, of course. I just I just didn't imagine people showing up like that and giving like spa baskets and like Yes. Helping get through the day to day. I'm so happy. I'm so happy that was in place for some people that was, you know, such a gift. So there's so many different kinds of huddles. And one, talk about in the context of how many really atrocious things you've witnessed from As a journalist. As a journalist. I'm sorry. As a journalist from like Parkland and just like all the nationwide traumas. You've you're like there on the front lines. Yeah. And you wrote about and I wanna hear more, like, people ask you all the time. You said, like, how you get through it? And I hate to ask anything people ask you all the time. But I really like, you you're you're so close to all of that. Yeah. So often or you were at least. And you said that the class is one way to get through it that so tell me about that as a coping mechanism and also just in general, what else you have found to be really helpful. You done the class? I have not. I've heard a lot about it, but Okay. Okay. I mean, all right. For everyone listening, the class is, how do I describe it? It's this workout. And so I have my wellness huddle and a lot of people do the class with me. Now obviously virtually the class is kind of like this funky combination between your workout, you're at the gym, but it's also church and it's also therapy all together. And in normal times, we're all packed into this Tribeca studio, sweating, moaning, grunting, yelling, crying, and listening to amazing music. And if that sounds weird, like it kind of is, but you, I don't know. I think that I've done so many workouts and love sweating, right? But there's something about being in a room, moving with predominantly women all in there who not just want a good workout, but who really want to drop into themselves. It's a, that's a phrase that a lot of the instructors use, right? So it's all based upon it's amazing music and Taryn Toomey who founded the whole thing, JC Gossett, Natalie Kuhn, who are these founding teachers, they talk about neuroplasticity and I'm gonna do my best to try to explain basically like when you're moving your body, doing the same repetitive motion for an entire length of a song, you don't have to worry about funky choreography or like running on the bike and getting back down and moving to the left, moving to the right, doing the same thing the whole time. And so in that space, you're like rewriting the grooves in your brain and you're able to think more, I don't know, deeply. And as a result, I have just found myself feeling myself more, thinking more deeply, owning my own body, not feeling competitive, not looking at the person next to me, feeling more comfortable in my own skin. I mean, and I had always been, like I did the class and forward space and Alita and a couple other things. But for me, through the pandemic, these women have just really been my lifeblood. Like I started doing the class almost every day and I write about the class because of how it is really one giant huddle. It's a company founded by women. It's run by mostly women. It's mostly women in these classes. And actually one of my favorite people who I used to move next to was this man, is a man, but that is a perfect example of a wellness huddle and also how that can translate in the pandemic and how you can move virtually with people. And I still feel connected, even though I'm by myself in a room, I'm still connecting with the instructors. I'm still texting with various people who I move with. I just to have gotten to be back in the studio, we did this full class, had a little collaboration, and I was moving next to one of the instructors and you just, you feel the community, even though they're not physically there, you feel them. Wow. Yeah. No. I've heard I have so many people who have said that they love it. But when I was reading your description, I don't know if I could do the whole yelling crunch. I don't know. No. I didn't at first. Okay. And I thought it was totally weird. And then it's all like your comfort level. Some people feel very comfortable being very vocal and part of it, I'm sure there is some science between like literally using your voice as you're moving. And by the way, like the first time I did the class, I hated it. And it took me six months before I went back, but then I was hooked. You just have to try it Zippy one time. All right. Well, maybe in the privacy of my home if they still offer it virtually with like the camera off or something. Yes. It's be I feel like I've supposed tried everything at this point. I don't know. I'm like yeah. Anyway, tell me also about this great moment you had with Alison Cammarata. Who by the way, I met through a good friend of mine, Christina Aleshi, who was at CNN. I don't know if you know her or not. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Anyway, so she introduced me to Alison a while back and, you know, she's been amazing. And I was like so not surprised that like, she's the one who was like helping you through that moment. Like, totally, of course. Tell me tell me about that. It's like Okay. So this is a perfect example. You know, are various huddles I highlight in this book. Right? Every everything from women's sports to politics, to Hollywood, to the space where women are trying to change some of these gun laws. And this is part of the section in the book where I'm talking about myself and my own huddles and certainly my own huddles at CNN. And I had really this career highlight at CNN and it would not have happened had it not been for my huddle. So what had happened in the last couple of years, there was a giant hurricane that was brewing on the off the coast of one of The Carolinas. And I've hosted this two hour show for a decade in the afternoon and I am always in the studio, but any good journalist wants to be in the field for the big story. And the hurricane was the big And I knew that day that I would not be on my show. I was literally sitting at work knowing I wouldn't be on TV because I'd be booted because they had decided to put the three prime time anchors. They wanted to elevate the moment and put the prime time anchors in during the afternoon. That's when the hurricane was supposed to be making landfall. They were hoping to obviously up the viewership. And it just so happens that all of our prime time anchors are male. Now I'm irked. Okay. So number one, I'm irked. Number two, total coincidence. This whole thing coincides with this week at CNN. They do this once a week. It's a lovely thing. It's called make you matter week. And lo and behold, who do they ask to be interviewed and made to matter? Me. So I'm sitting the day that I know I'm booted off my own show over this breakfast with mostly young women at CNN who all wanna sit there and hear Alison Cammarata, this wonderful, brilliant, CNN colleague and anchor, asked me all kinds of questions about how did you get to be where you are at CNN? And what's it like to be a woman in journalism and all these things. And I was sitting there like silently sort of stewing, right? And I didn't want to let all these young women fully on to how I was feeling. We finished this whole interview. I invite myself into Alison's office where I fling myself onto her sofa. And basically I'm like, I'm so pissed and please tell me how to handle this because I wish I was covering the hurricane and what should I do? And Alison has a few years on me and she is cool, man. She is just like, girlfriend, I have covered my share of hurricanes. Like you do you and you get out there and let me give you some pointers. And so she says like, you need to go talk to the boss and you need to tell him, you need to say like, Hey, why am I not there? And I'd love to put me in coach. I'd love to be there for the next one. So take her advice, walk the 15 paces across the newsroom, go find my boss. And I'll never forget. I was like, why did you send all the boys? And he said, well, you know, they were being a pain in my ass. And I, without missing a beat was like, well, I can be a pain in your ass too. And he said, next time, Brooke, next time. And true to his word, a couple of weeks later comes back in my office. He's like, are your bags packed? I was like, why? He goes, you're getting on a plane tonight from LaGuardia going to Florida to cover this hurricane that's brewing in The Atlantic or in The Gulf. And so I do and I go, not only do I go, but I also have two other women who ended up being instrumental as part of my CNN huddle. One of whom is really high up in logistics down in Atlanta and another is my producer who's by my side. And we end up talking our way into a helicopter. It's such a long other amazing story, but basically talking our way into a helicopter to get the first aerial footage of this town, Mexico Beach for literally the entire world to see the aftermath. This ends up being like the worst hurricane that Florida has seen in a long time. And I ended up getting nominated for a bunch of awards for my coverage of this hurricane disaster. That never would have happened had I not had my huddle at CNN. Wow, sometimes you just have to ask. Today's episode is sponsored by Quince. Summer always makes me rethink what I'm reaching for every day. Lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment you put them on and look effortless. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. They focus on high quality essentials. 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[19:57]Brooke Baldwin: Right? Sometimes you just have to ask and you have to be vulnerable with your huddle to say like, how can I, what should I'm I not feeling great about this? I feel talented. Why was I not, you know? And by doing that, then you ask and true to the It's so funny because as a viewer, I always am like, oh, I feel so bad for the people who got this hurricane assignment. Oh, You know, as they have, like, the wind whipping and they're, like, flying I wanna be there. No. I'm like, what? Real okay. I'm always like, what's what short stick did that guy draw or whatever? You know? It's like being pelted. People want to be in the middle of the big story, whatever the big story is, whatever the big story is. Wow. And what about when you're in a story where your own emotions are completely swept up in it? How do you handle that? Well, you mentioned Parkland a second ago. I remember being live in Parkland the day after the shooting had happened. And I had Congressman Ted Deutch standing to my left and a correspondent was tossing back to me and we had just played this clip of this mother. I'll never ever forget the sound of her shrieking as she had found out her 15 year old daughter had been killed. And they toss it back to me fresh out of this sound bite. And I couldn't say anything, like there were no words for that moment. And I quickly tried to bring the congressmen in so we can share the moment together. And we both wept on television. And it's taken me years of doing what I do to feel like it's okay to just show myself because this is a very real, very tragic human moment. And you just allow yourself to feel the things and to try to be the best you can be as a journalist to interview then the congressman about how the hell does this happen at a high school in America. Those are the moments that you can't not feel it. And you don't always physically emote. I remember being in Newtown and seeing tiny white caskets being wheeled out of a funeral home. And I kept my distance, I remember going back, I was living in Atlanta at the time and like had finished that entire assignment and went back home and just like, didn't bother flipping the lights on in my high rise apartment. And I watched the sunset that day and I had this one song playing on repeat and just wept thinking of those families and those children who would never see the sunset again. And you just have to be human, right? As a journalist, we're all human. And this is a horrible, horrible thing that keeps happening in this country. And that's why I wanted to write about, I wrote about that in my book. And I wrote about, as a result of covering these tragedies over and over, organizations like Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action and how that's a huddle. Shannon Watts and Lisa Congresswoman Lisa McBath, that's a huddle. 6,000,000 women and men, Now the largest grassroots huddle in America, moms demand action. Like that was really important to include them in my book too. Have you ever thought about going into politics? So weird. No one has ever asked me that until literally the last week. And I always say like, no, I think I'm way more comfortable interviewing politicians than being one myself. No. Really? Okay. I don't know. You just have this very, you're obviously such a leader and the way you talk about different social issues, could just, I don't know. What a giant compliment. Am No, you seem very like a leader maybe from your student council days. I don't know. It's a carryover or something. Few times in high school. Not, not humble brag. Okay. Did you ever like, was writing a book always on your list? Like one day I'll do that. Or is this, did this come out of nowhere Or was it like, I hope someday I do that? It was like, I hope someday I'll do that. It wasn't always like, I have to be an author. It was like, I hope someday there will be a thing that I will care about so much that I'll wanna write about it. I wanna dive into the deep end. And then that thing came, you know? And so I then I spent my two years working on this book. I should have worn my T shirt. Meant to wear my T shirt to this interview. Oh my gosh. I don't remember it right now. Know. Because I was thinking in my head as you were talking, I was like, well, wanna, you know, I wanna like make the huddle expression even more, you know, mainstream, like the way that you call the huddle with your friends. Like, I just Yes. You know? I would love like, that is honestly simply like, that's my goal. I want to like add this word to our vocabulary. I want it to be part of our lexicon as women. I was joking with somebody the other day, like I will feel like my job is done when I'm sitting at a sidewalk cafe in the city. And I hear somebody like a table of women next to me being like, so did you huddle? Like, are we going to huddle this weekend? Just it's a noun, it's a verb, it's where women come together or energized by the mere fact of their coexistence. To think that it could be, I'm hoping some sort of movement among women where women can know, like we don't all have to have sharp elbows and compete for few positions at a table. Like, you know, so many of us have had to do for so long, like, you know, having crisscrossed this country and talked to so many successful women, like the through line is that they, you know, what someone else's success is their success, like lean on one another. Abundance mentality, as Megan Rapinoe says, throw down your ladders if you have access to success. That's what I'm trying to put out there. I love that. So do you have any advice to aspiring authors? Advice to aspiring authors? This is like a no duh, but because it's such hard work, I did this whole thing. Obviously the news cycle has been super slow. I really wanted to do it. So, when I was booking all these plane tickets in the before times and traveling all these weekends in the middle of all these crazy weeks of covering the Trump administration and impeachment and everything else, like I wanted to do it. Like I was almost to be like I was possessed, not to mention self serving. I like sitting around with these women from like chef Dominique Crenn to Megan Rapinoe to Stacey Abrams, no skin off my back. Like I'll do that. Right. But you have to want to do it and you have to want to go deep. And you also, I would say like, stay true to yourself, your literary agent or someone else might say, Oh, well, this is really hot right now in this genre. So like, you need to kind of curtail. And I just remember like my, I love my literary agent, but there were times where I'd be like, I'm a journalist. Like, I'm not a social scientist. I'm not a researcher. I'm a journalist. Just staying true to yourself as you are going deep in the thing and to have, I mean, I still look at this and I'm like, Holy shit. Do you know? Yeah. It's awesome. It's great. You know? It's really awesome. And then last question. So on the journalism front. So, like, what is coming next now? Yes. Well, honestly, what is next is a three week vacation in the British Virgin Islands. Oh. The only thing I had is number one. Oh my gosh. I just I left CNN five seconds ago. I was there for an incredible run, 13, and I need a break. I just need some meditating and like, I need to read some novels and like to take some me time after that. I do not know yet. I've started to get some interesting phone calls. What I do know is that I want to dive into the deep end of storytelling. I was so spoiled getting to talk to these women. You know, when you do live TV, it's like five minutes, boom, move on to the next five minutes, boom, move on to the next. And with this book, you know, sitting with these women for an hour or hours, and then we'd finish and then I trim the tape recorder off and they'd be like, woah, woah, woah, Brooke, like, we need to know about you and who's in your huddle and why are you writing this book? And what's it like being a woman in journalism? And I was just like, it changed my life. Those conversations changed my life. And so what I do know is that I wanna dive in deep like I did with this book, you know, and spotlighting, you know, famous or ordinary, extraordinary Americans. I don't totally know yet beyond that what it will look like, but stay tuned. I will. I'll be following along. Thank you. This was so much fun. I loved it. If you ever need a British Virgin Island going I'll just like You're welcome to fit in my suitcase. My life and, you know, that sounds amazing. So, anyway, I'm kidding, but have fun. It'll be great. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for highlighting my book. It means the world to me, Alright. Everybody pick up Huddle. Alright. Thank you. Bye. Bye.