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I have always had an affinity for reading books and writing stories.
In fact, many times I would ditch hanging out with my friends to instead sit outside on the hammock and immerse myself in other people's stories.
When my cousins and I would gather together for family parties, I was the lone child talking into a hairbrush and pretending to interview the other kids. But then again, I also made tons of videos pretending I was a background dancer for Janet Jackson. You can see where the whole storyteller but also an entertainer thing was born, right?
It came as no surprise that when I applied to colleges, I just knew that I wanted to work as a journalist, a writer...and an entertainer.
I was accepted into the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana where I studied Broadcast Journalism and also dabbled in psychology and Spanish.
Post college, I got my first job in a small town as a general assignment reporter and fill-in weather anchor. In this market, I shot and edited my own stories, daily.
After some time in Northern Wisconsin--reporting on everything from a murder to a local library worm race--- I needed to move back home to Chicago where I continued my career in television, this time behind the scenes. I honed my skills in the third largest market as a producer--everything from Politics, LIVE breaking news to feature segments--as well as writer and shooter/editor.
During this time I also continued my studies at The Second City Chicago, where I learned the art of improvisation, acting and voice-over. While working full-time behind the scenes in media, I was also the on-camera host of several digital shows ranging in topics from technology, real estate, video games to Thai Food.
Since then I've worked at CLTV/WGN as a producer/writer, CBS Chicago as a producer/writer, FOX Chicago as an on-camera traffic anchor and feature reporter and Hubbard Broadcasting (SHE 100.3) with my own radio show "Jenny Milk and Jay".
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I am first generation born in America. Both my parents were born in Poland and came to Chicago.
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My first language was Polish. I have distinct memories of going to kindergarten and not being able to fully speak English. Needless to say...I wet my pants. A lot. Don't judge me.
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Kids were cruel and I was shy. They taunted me with "cat got your tongue" and my mom needed to send me to school with a backup pair of pants each day. The good thing about kids...our brains are sponges. By the time I went to First Grade, I was fully immersed in the English language, and for the most part, my pants wetting days were over. Well, there was that one time when I was in Girl Scouts, but that's a story for another day.
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Some other random facts about me: I was a gymnast and have some gnarly scars to prove it. I can still do the splits. I love to dance and don't care if you think I'm good at it.
