BBC America's Ann Sarnoff on her Greatest Mentor

 

Best mentor: “A mentor of mine has been Gerry Laybourne. In my early days at Nickelodeon, when I was a new mom (with a 6-month-old and 3-year-old), I was working on the budget presentations and spend a few late nights at work. I showed up at Gerry’s desk the morning of the presentation, and she told me I didn’t look so good. I told her that I had been working late that week and hadn’t gotten much sleep. And then she said something totally unexpected: ‘Ann, you need to bring your kids to work’… That was really important advice that I took to heart. I brought my two kids into work with me every so often, both at Nickelodeon (which was pretty easy to do), and every job thereafter also that they could see where I work, get to know the people I work with, etc. A few years after Gerry gave me that advice, my daughter Rachel entered an essay contest sponsored by Viacom and Working Mother magazine entitled ‘Why My Mom Works’ and she won. To me, that was a great testament to her really understanding why I love what I do and feeling a part of it.”