Brittany Michaleson and Krista Escamilla: Christians in Journalism

Keegan Stewart: Hello and welcome. This is the LCU podcast, a podcast that will bring stories, insights and people from Lubbock Christian University. I'm your host, Keegan Stewart, and I'm happy to be with you for another episode. On today's episode, I had a conversation with Brittany Michaleson and Krista Escamilla. Brittany is an LCU alum and current reporter and anchor for Fox 34 and KCDB here in Lubbock.
Krista is a news anchor for News West nine in Midland, Texas. Krista also has two daughters that are students here at Lubbock Christian University. We talked about the industry of journalism, what's fun, what's challenging, what goes into telling a story. They also share it on what it's like being a person of faith working in this industry. We concluded with hearing how LCU has been a blessing to both of them in a multitude of ways.
I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Brittany Michaleson and Krista Escamilla.
Krista, Brittany, thank you all for taking the time to be here today.
Krista Escamilla: Thank you, Keegan, for having us.
Brittany Michaleson: Of course, we're glad to be here.
Keegan Stewart: I want to start out and if we can just just by establishing, the LCU connections just a little bit. Brittany, we'll start with you. You're an alum. Tell people about your LCU experience.
Brittany Michaleson: Yes, I grew up in Plains about an hour away here from Lubbock. After high school decided I wanted to come to LCU, got very lucky with a scholarship to be able to do that. So that really kind of helps with my choices. But loved being here at LCU. I graduated in May 2020, so I studied mass communications, got to do all of the, you know, radio station stuff, everything involved in production for games and everything like that.
So yeah, I've been out of school about two years now, but loved my time here at LCU, so.
Keegan Stewart: And Krista, you your your story is a little different as it relates to LCU, but you actually have are going to later this month have two daughters that are students here. So will you inform us about your LCU connection?
Krista Escamilla: Yeah. So my daughter Aspen came here two years ago. She's now entering her junior year, and she came here to play golf on a golf scholarship. And she absolutely loves her time here and loves it so much. She convinced her sister to come here, too. And so her sister, Allie, will be joining her this fall. So, yes, we'll have two daughters here at LCU and we couldn't be happier about it.
Keegan Stewart: That's awesome. And your daughter, Allie, is going to be majoring in our newest communication degree, integrated marketing communication. And so she's going to be one of the, you know, the pioneer students in that program. So we're real excited about her.
Krista Escamilla: Yes, we're excited about that, too. I never would have thought that any of our kids we have four I never thought any of them would go into communications. And it seems like in some aspect they all are, which is fantastic. I love it.
Keegan Stewart: Where did you go to school and what did you study?
Krista Escamilla: So I went to first I started at community college back in California, so I grew up in California. I was a singer and dancer my whole life. My mom's a dance teacher, so I grew up in the entertainment business, emceed all her talent competitions, super involved with our community, went to college at our local community college and studied theater and dance.
And I had a teacher that was doing a little TV class that year and said, you know, you might want to go try this out. And I tried it and I said, Yeah, that was fun. That was fun. He said, Well, news might be something that you would be good at because at the time I told him, I don't think I want to audition for my jobs the rest of my life.
I was a professional singer and dancer at the time. I thought, Yeah, I just don't think I want to do that. I knew that in my heart, being a mom was my number one goal and dream and so I just thought, I've got to do something different. And someone said, Why don't you go and intern at a TV station and you'll either love it or hate it, right?
I mean, that's it. You'll either love it or hate it in the news department. And I said, okay. I went and I loved it and I switched my major my sophomore year going into my junior year where I transferred to California State University, Sacramento, and the rest is history. I got bit by the news bug and and been in it over 25 years.
Keegan Stewart: And 25 years. Britney, you are in the second year of your career. You said just a moment ago that you studied mass communication here at LCU. How did you take what you learned here, your degree and how did you get into journalism?
Brittany Michaleson: Yes. So my last semester here at LCU, I was able to do the internship program in Washington, D.C. and was at the Voice of America there. So that was really kind of a big step for me to actually be at a station, kind of with a team. It's not your typical news station. I'm in kind of a broadcasting house for the U.S. government, but I worked with a team there that had a weekly show and really got involved in kind of all the behind the scenes stuff.
So I got to see a lot of what happens behind the camera and then graduated right in the middle of the pandemic. That kicked me out of D.C. actually in the middle of that semester. But searching for jobs, I kind of knew since high school that I wanted to go into journalism. Did all of the competitions for UIL In high school?
I did when I played that are kind of the same thing. Like I loved being on stage and things like that. And one day my dad, I had no idea what I wanted to do and my dad was kind of like, well, I mean, you you do want to play you do all the journalism stuff. You love sports.
You're not the worst looking person. Like, why don't you go be a sports reporter? It was like, okay, cool. That sounds, sounds fun. So that kind of got me interested. And like a deep dive I was creating quiz lists of, like, every team in the NFL and just random stuff like that, and then decided, I don't watch sports enough to be a sports reporter.
So then kind of went the news direction. But that internship really kind of solidified like, okay, I really like this is where I want to be. So like I said, the middle of the pandemic, no one was hiring nobody. You know, everyone was cutting back, if anything. And I didn't really want to move. I love Lubbock. Maybe eventually I'll go try another market.
But I mean, I love it here. Growing up in a really small town like Lubbock is big for me, so I enjoy it here. And finally in September, Fox hired me on as a reporter and so, yeah, in January of last year we merged. So now we're with Fox and KCBD which is just a very well-respected station here in town.
So that was awesome to kind of join in with that team and people who have been doing this for almost 50 years, if not more so, just great to learn from those people in this business. So yeah, that's just kind of how I got involved in all of it, I guess.
Keegan Stewart: Krista, you mentioned a moment ago, 20, 25 years of experience in this. What people may not know is you took a break from being on the news, but you're getting back into it real soon. So first, can you give us a kind of an overview of your experience with the news and also what made you want to recently decide to get back into it?
Krista Escamilla: Sure. Sure. So twenty, let's see. 23 years ago, 24, actually, 24 years ago, I came to Texas after being in a really, really, really, really, really, really, really small market. Saint Joseph, Missouri. It was like 195 or 198. And I was there about a year and I was there morning show anchor, weather producer and reporter. So you would literally go in at midnight produced a show, then you would you would anchor.
Then you have to set up your interviews for the next day with three guests a day, all while doing weather. And then I would have to go if there was a breaking news, go out and report and then beyond the five, six. And then I'd say, okay, I think I have to go sleep. I don't think I can do the ten tonight.
And so that was that was my life for about a year. And I thought, well, you know, I've done that, done my time here in Missouri. I want to get closer to California, sent out my tape. As you do in the business, you send out your resume reel and I then got this offer here in Midland, Texas, and I thought, okay, great, it's closer to California.
I don't know why I'm going to Midland, Texas. Never heard of it except for baby Jessica fell in the well years ago, and that was all I knew of Midland, Texas. And so I thought, well, okay, let's give it a try. Got out there and the actually let me back up the day I signed my contract, I got two job offers in California and I thought, well, why?
And then I thought, God's got a reason for me to go to Midland, Texas. I wasn't going to break my contract. I didn't want to start my career off that way. And I thought, there's a reason I'm supposed to go to Midland, Texas. My first day on the job, I met my husband, and I would interview him on the morning show as the financial advisor and long story short played footsies under the anchored did not play footsies under the anchor desk gas fed.
Keegan Stewart: Krista's daughter Aspen LCU student is in here listening long so little context there.
Krista Escamilla: Yes, yes. He asked me to lunch and and the rest is history. We are very blessed with four children had our first child about two years after I'd been in the market and when Austin was born, I just thought, I can't go back to the hours of news. The hours are long and you're you're really married to your job, you know, especially in the early years, you know, you're really you're getting the experience and you're you're saying, yes, I can work doubles.
You're now yes, I can work triples, whatever that means. But you're you're always trying to do the best to, you know, to to get the experience in your career. So I thought, you know, I need to step away. And so a family is first and so stepped away for about six years and Aspen them was born, Ali was born.
And then when they were about to go into school, I thought, well, this might be a good time to go back in while they're in school. I could work. I had a friend that was at the CBS affiliate at that time and he said, Well, if you want to come back, what do you want to do? And I said, Well, how about the morning show?
Because that would allow me to be the best mom I could be there for all the activities at school, I can pick them up from school, run them around to dance and golf and baseball and all the soccer, all the things they were doing. And I wouldn't miss out on being a mom because that's my number one priority.
Did that for ten years and had the I mean, I have the best husband in the world. He was Mr. Mom. He would get up and make the kids pancakes every day, get them off to school. Right. And it was just it was a great way to still be able to do the career I love. But to be the mom that I want to be, which is the most important and most important thing to us.
So then I guess about 2016. Yes, 2016. I was getting tired of getting old because getting up at three in the morning takes a toll on you after about ten years. And I really wanted to be more intentional with my time and the kids and get to enjoy that time because the time that they're in your in your home is so short.
When you look back and you think, I want to be there for the most important moments, and they were all starting to get older and busier. So I thought this was a good time to step away again and, and focus on being a mom. And I could help market my husband's companies. So I did that from 2016 until now.
And now the big three have all left and gone to college. And we have our son, Alex, who's 13 at home. And I thought, well, this is a good time to once again, maybe I'd been talking to the news director who's amazing. Her name's Melissa Hendricks. She was a staple in our in our community as the as the number one anchor for years.
She's now the news director. And we'd been talking for three or four years. And I was like, Oh, not right now. It's not the right time yet. It's not the right time. You will now that everyone's off at college. And I thought, well, this is a good time to to maybe go back. So I'll be going back and anchoring the four and 5 p.m. news.
Keegan Stewart: How much did you miss it when you were away for? A little bit.
Krista Escamilla: Well, luckily I kept myself pretty involved in our community. I still emceed a lot of events during that time. I had a show on bass and PBS. I've always focused on being, you know, trying to be a positive role model in our community and sharing positive news and focusing on the good. So I had a show on PBS where I got to do that, so I still kind of kept in it.
And then I have a podcast that I do as well. It's called The Krista Ischemia Show, so I still got to highlight all of our amazing community members and our nonprofit organizations because at the end of each podcast, I give away a donation to a local nonprofit. And so it still kept me really involved in doing it. And so it's not I didn't get that where oh, I miss that so much because I was away from it.
Luckily I was still, still in it. I really missed the people and I, I would say that's the thing I miss the most was some of the people that I worked with through the years because we have some wonderful journalists and colleagues that I, I really admire and look up to and have been fortunate enough to work with through these 25 years.
Keegan Stewart: Brittany, what what is your favorite thing about the job, being a reporter, getting to anchor? What's your favorite thing? Yeah, I.
Brittany Michaleson: Mean, you mentioned the people that not only your your coworkers. I mean, it's tough sometimes. You're doing really tragic stories. Sometimes are just things that are really stressful. Maybe it's something, you know, you don't really know much about and then you're supposed to report on it and be this kind of source of knowledge for the community. And maybe it's something, you know, I've been doing this two years.
I'm a fresh adult is what I like to call it. So you've got to have, you know, a good support system with you. And I'm lucky to have that here. So I love just like working with my team, but also one of my favorite things, being a reporter is that you're doing something different every day. You know, one day I'm driving an 18 wheeler talking about training truck drivers, you know, because there's a shortage.
The next day, I'm, you know, doing an obituary for this firefighter who's been a staple at his community or, you know, just anything. And it ranges from the happiest positive story to really the most tragic, devastating thing for a family. And you've got to kind of go along with those ebbs and flows. But it's just going into work.
For me, being a type-A person, you go in sometimes and it's like, I have no idea what I'm doing today, you know, what story am I doing? What am I working on? That's tough, but it also makes it exciting. I'm never bored, I never go in. And it was like, Oh, I'm just going to sit here at the computer today, you know?
I'm always doing something different and you get to meet a lot of really cool people. If I never got involved in news, there would be so much about Lubbock that I didn't know was going on was happening in general. Because, I mean, you probably don't pay attention to your local government or things like that, but being involved in news, I just I have got to meet a lot of super cool people who are doing awesome stuff.
Like you mentioned nonprofits, just people who are really making a big difference in the communities. So I love just doing something different and meeting a lot of cool people.
Keegan Stewart: What's your favorite thing about being in this industry?
Krista Escamilla: Krista Oh, I love so much about it. Definitely the people and the way that we get to help people and we get to inspire and encourage and educate. And in many ways we get to help be that voice for the community and sharing. Like you said, it's not always the good news, which I always like to focus on the good news.
But sometimes there's those those tragic stories. But we also get to be that face that they're familiar with when when you're telling it. Because I always like to think of when I'm sitting behind the camera on the desk, I'm talking to my best friend. And I hope that that's what they are seeing from me on TV, because I want them to get that news from a friend.
And so I love there's so much I could go on and on. I think one of my favorite things is when we get to help other people. We the Permian Basin Rehab Center is a organization in West Texas that we do a telethon for every year. And when we get to raise $1.5 million for those kids, there's no better feeling than getting to do that and getting to really to help change their lives because they you never know when you're going to need therapy and whether it's a physical therapy.
They work with a lot of children that have had Down's syndrome and autism and or they were preemies and when you get to go into those centers and see how the money you just helped raise now is helping these kids like your heart just is overwhelmed. And so I love that. I also love the fact that we get to be there to help them.
If there's a, you know, thunderstorms coming their way, we can help them out and say, you know what, you might want to take another route and this is going to save you time. It's going to save your family's life. I like that we get to be that voice and help them make their day better or make their life better.
Keegan Stewart: One of the themes I wanted to get to with both of you, and I'm curious to see what you all have to say and where this goes. But what what does it mean to be a person of faith? What does it mean to be a Christian and work in the news to tell the news and the world's changing all the time and you guys have already gotten to it.
Some things are hard, but what does it mean to be a person of faith that's in the spotlight on this platform and in Lubbock or in Midland?
Krista Escamilla: Do you want to go first? Want me?
Brittany Michaleson: Well, I mean, I feel like you've kind of got a different perspective on this, maybe just being at different markets and things like that. But I feel like being here in West Texas, we maybe don't have as much of a challenge being women of faith in this industry, whereas if you are in some big market in a city or part of a station where your news directors are telling you you need to report from this angle, you need to say this, but I hear I don't have a boss that's telling me you need to write and push this agenda.
You need to you know, we don't really have that pressure here. I'm a journalist. They respect, you know, my knowledge and schooling that prepared me for this role. And I get to write kind of how I want to write. And we have people check, you know, our stories just to make sure everything's accurate. But I don't have someone telling me what to write.
And we've got an audience here who most of them, I would say, grew up in a, you know, faith based background or things like that. So to hear stories about people, you know, getting through something because of their faith, that's not something super foreign to them. You know, they like seeing that. I feel like there's probably some people, of course, that still are like, why is this on the news?
But for me this week I did a story with Carly Katchersid, So she's a 17 year old who was really severely injured in a car crash. And she's had just a huge showing of support afterwards. And it's like, well, who is this girl that all of these people were just so, you know, supportive of her and pushing for her.
When she came back from Houston, from the hospital, she had a parade, you know, and we just heard all these great things. And then to meet her was just awesome this week. And she was just. So you I left the conversation just feeling so joyful, like it was just contagious. And when she says, God got me through this, nothing is too hard.
When you have God in your life, I can report that because that's her saying that, you know, that's not me pushing some Christian agenda. That's my subject telling me this is what got me through this terrible situation was my faith, my family. So that's something that I feel like we have the privilege to get to do with our stories.
And I've had a ton of stories like that and I kind of don't shy away from if they sit there and tell me this is really what's fundamentally been my biggest, you know, support through all of this. That's the story. And I've had people say, you know, we did this with the other station and they just kind of like, I liked how you didn't you didn't skip out on including that because they may in that conversation.
That was maybe what I felt was what they said was the biggest thing that got them through. So I'm not going to shy away from that. And I feel like we do get a good privilege to be able to share that here in our area. So I don't know how it is, you know, in other markets, but you're right.
Krista Escamilla: You're exactly right, Brittany. And we are very lucky in that aspect because as in other stations, they may not be as apt to to let you put those soundbites in where here in West Texas. And I'll give a great example. When I went to work at CBS 7, the owner is locally owned owner. His name is John Bushman, and he actually owns the hotel here that the elegante that ya'll have here in Lubbock.
I don't know if you all have been in there. That's another thing. I get to see y'all now that I'm in Texas. I love that. We didn't get to say that in California. I love the ya'll so in in there elegantle when you walk in they have the ten commandments up and he owned the TV station, the radio station, the hotels in Odessa, the mall.
And he puts the Ten Commandments up. And you don't get that very often as in in this industry where when you walk in on your first day, they say, here's our here's our, our, our, our top five rules for our company. And the first one is God and family first. Never had that in broadcasting in in any place any place I interned I was in Sacramento.
I was in Tampa, Florida. I was in Missouri. And out of all those, we never had anyone say God and Family First or have the Ten Commandments up in, you know. And so Mr. Bushman really taught us that everything we do from from I don't care where you work in his company is brought from faith, because that's the most important.
And I have to say that really helps set the tone for that wonderful. I spent 12 years working for him until he sold the TV station and that that was one of the best 12 years in broadcasting because everything got to come from faith and everything we did. And then also, I would say not only being a Christian, but being a mom helped me become a better journalist as well, because I see every single story that I read.
I know there's a parent behind or a child behind that story or someone's aunt or someone's uncle or someone's daughter or something. So it also makes the way you write your stories with a little bit more personal touch and human, human interest. Like, to me, every story is a human interest story. Doesn't matter what the story is. There's a human behind that story.
And I want to make sure that we're telling the truth, because as a Christian journalist or a Christian and a journalist, you are a truth seeker. And that's what we should be doing, is seeking the truth to help our community.
Keegan Stewart: Brittney, what what's story? Your piece that you've covered are you most proud of in your two year career here?
Brittany Michaleson: That's tough. You know a lot about who I am. I mean, we've done, you know, the Enneagram stuff, everything like that. I am hardcore, perfectionist. It is very, very difficult for me at the end of the day to say I'm proud of that. That was a good story. They're few and far between. That's I just seeing that question.
I was like, I don't know what I'm going to say to this. It's tough. And you want to you know, like she said, there's a mom behind it. There's a daughter behind it. You know, there's people's lives, you know, at stake here, kind of, you know, with what you're saying about people or how you present their story and you want to do it justice.
You want to honor, you know, whoever you're talking about. And so it's hard to be fully satisfied. You know, especially I it's kind of a running joke in the newsroom. But I do I get put on a lot of obituaries and it's just it's you're you're responsible for telling 60 years of someone's life in 2 minutes, a minute and a half, and that's just tough.
So it is it's hard for me to be like that was awesome. But one of the stories I like I mentioned the Cally catchersid story this week that was just so uplifting to be a part of. And we got to go there for her therapy. And so that was cool to just see kind of everything she's doing.
But another one was a kind of Christmas tree farm that started in a front yard here in Lubbock. There's a firefighter at the Woodrow Volunteer Fire Department who passed. He had firefighter related cancer. And before he passed, I was able to talk with his wife just about they were they were having a fundraiser to get some new equipment to help kind of pull those carcinogen out of their their clothing, their equipment to kind of help with that.
And was able to talk with her before he passed and kind of do that story. And then three weeks later, he passed. And she you know, we had this awesome interview with her just talking about, you know, of course, as the wife of someone who's you know, dealing with this, she, you know, gave us a great interview about why it's so important to support our firefighters in that way.
And so I was able to use that interview kind of in an obituary for him. And, you know, it was very, very upfront about it. This interview was three weeks ago, you know, before everything but talked with her about that. And I had to actually go they made me go live from the fire station that night. And I was so uncomfortable, you know, I was like, this is their space.
You know, after someone's passed, it's like you're you're entering part of their world and showed up, kind of. We stayed away while we were there. Of course, the family shows up and I'm just like, Oh my gosh, I feel so just in the wrong place right now. She came up, she was watching it on her phone the whole time.
She came up after and ran to the car when we're going to turn around. And I rolled down the window and she just gave me the biggest hug. Just thank you so much. I didn't know you were honoring him in that way, you know, just crying. And I was just so I just felt so, I don't know, honored in that moment that I was able to be the one to honor, you know, her and her husband.
And later she we saw kind of posts about this Christmas tree farm kind of starting up on this in this front yard. Not really a farm. They were fake Christmas trees, but they kind of started popping up and they had names on them and figured out it was one of her friends. They you know, the daughter's mom loved Christmas trees for her wedding.
They had a bunch of trees as decorations. And then it was like, well, what do we do with all these Christmas trees? Now the wedding's over. They're just sitting here. So in their front yard around the holiday, they started placing these trees up and putting people's names and different maker underneath. And so people would drive by, see these trees and be like, I have someone I want to honor in that way.
And so there, you know, there was one there for that firefighter. There was one just for people who had passed in town that were difference makers and then had impacted people in their community. And because of that relationship, I had, you know, with that wife, we were able to talk about that. And I just I just loved just the whole kind of idea behind it and how they were all just honoring people that that they loved and wanted to keep their memory alive with those trees and just being able to talk with her after he had passed and everything.
It was just an honor for me to be a part of and just to be able to kind of tell part of that. So I. I loved that story. A whole lot.
Keegan Stewart: That's great.
Krista Escamilla: That is awesome.
Keegan Stewart: Krista, what what story that you've told, your years of experience, are you most proud of?
Krista Escamilla: There's so many. And I think of a lot of the stories because I have a different just a just a different experience behind the desk and getting to cover breaking news, than being out in the field. I, I feel like a lot of the times you don't realize the impact of the story until years later. And so a lot one that in particular that I can think of is there was a search for a little girl, little destiny.
She was lost and we stayed on air all night long until she was found. And when we got calls into the newsroom or calls from the police that, you know, so and so sites saw the broadcasts. Please, we appreciate you staying on air. We're the only station that stayed on air all night long until. And we were like, we're not going home till this little girl is found.
And when she was found, it was one of those moments where you go, wow, the community we all the the team, the community, everybody made a difference here and really impacted this little girl's life. And she's alive today. You know, it's one of those you think years later that is that's so amazing to be a part of that.
I have I have so many different stories. I could go on my favorite interviews, of course, have always been when I've gotten to interview my children. And I don't even know if Aspen remembers this. I interviewed her as a Girl Scout when she was young and she used to come to work with me. Her and Allie would say, Mom, can we go to work with you tomorrow?
It's a you know, you have to get up at three in the morning, right? Yeah, yeah. We'll do it. And they would come up there and they would bring their blankets and they would be asleep on the on the chair and then in the background you'd see their, you know, they were getting hungry. So they'd go to the they would go over to our refrigerator and you could see their little heads behind walking behind the anchor desk.
And like that memory right there is so cute for me, you know, for them to be there. I've gotten interviewed pretty much all of our kids through the years, and so they're definitely my favorite interviews that I've ever had. Some other stories, I would say just the ones that make the most impact on our community, where we've gotten to say, you know what, today you don't want to drive to school because, I mean, there have been 150 accidents already this morning, you know, and then you're doing the school closings and you're you're getting to save lives.
And so for me, those are all so wonderful. I got to interview Jeannie Cooper, who was on The Young and Restless. And, you know, she was pretty incredible lady got to interview her a couple of times that she had some West Texas ties. And when she opened the Springboard Center, which she was, she was as she's passed now, she was a recovering alcoholic and her son, Corbin Bernsen, was as well.
They opened the Springboard Center. And so I got to be a part of that and a big launching pad to help them get the word out about the springboard center and how they want to help change lives by by helping people recover. So I could go on and on. There's so many amazing really just anything where we're helping to make someone's life better.
Those stories, they always come to the front of my mind.
Keegan Stewart: Krista, what advice would you give to. Well, maybe Britney or someone else that's a young journalist in the first part of their career. What advice would you give to them as they, you know, get started or continue like Britney?
Krista Escamilla: I would say always be true to yourself and, you know, stay true to who you are. I've worked with a lot of young journalists, actually. One of my favorite things I did in through the years was I would get to sit down with each of the reporters and anchors and help them with their not only their on air presence, but with their, you know, with with their writing and getting to hone their skills and then get to see them then graduate onto a new market through the years.
And now some of them are in Dallas and in Houston, and I'm like, I'm so proud of it. I feel like they're like my little, you know, they're like, they're my kids, you know, because I got to see them grow as journalists. And the advice I always gave to them was, make sure that you're always yourself and don't try to be somebody you're not.
Because Barbara Walters was Barbara Walters. But I'm not going to get on the desk and try to be Barbara Walters. Right. I'm going to be Krista Escamilla. And you don't try to be somebody you're not. You need to find your way of of delivering the news in your way of being a journalist. And that is always going to be the best way.
And then the other advice I always give is make sure you set boundaries, because the job can be overwhelming at times and you can live it. 24 seven And for me, as much as I love that my career and my time there, I love being a mom and wife more than anything, or daughter and girlfriend, you know, wherever you're at in your life.
So make sure that you set those boundaries and you make sure that you say, you know, I of course I can do that this day. But I also am not going to emcee 20 things this month. I'm going to I'm just going to set those boundaries and I'm going to, you know, work at a good amount of time.
But your mental health is just as important. You take that time off for you and for your family as well, because that is really key in this business. And and stay positive if you love a job. I feel like I never worked a day in my life on this job because I loved what I was doing. And so I think that's important to make sure you love it and you're doing it for all the right reasons and you will have the best outcome at the end.
Keegan Stewart: I want to conclude here by talking just a little bit about LCU. Yeah. So Brittany How do.
Krista Escamilla: Go Chaps
Keegan Stewart: Go chaps exactly.
Krista Escamilla: The same right they get right.
Keegan Stewart: Yes she got the chaps hand sign up looks good. How would you how would you say the communication department in your training here helps prepare you for for this job that you're in now Brittany?
Brittany Michaleson: Yeah, for sure. So like I said, you know, we got to do a lot of behind the scenes stuff while I was in school here, even just doing I was the director for the games, just for the cameras inside, you know, the RIP during basketball, volleyball games telling cameras, Oh, go get this shot, get this shot as the coach are doing something right now.
You know who's acting crazy in the stands and just getting that experience behind the scenes is really cool. So now I feel like I have a different kind of perspective when I'm sitting on the desk or out at shots and we've got a photographer or, you know, you just kind of know more where they're coming from, what they're trying to do, just getting that experience as well.
So I enjoyed having a lot of the behind the scenes experience and then even, you know, with the radio station, we had different guests come in for different shows and you kind of got to create your own show and kind of figure out what what am I going to do with this? What am I going to share, what kind of stories, what kind of people do I want to talk to?
And so that was really good experience, just kind of interview wise as well. I feel like in classes we got a ton of the fundamental kind of basic knowledge we needed. That kind of just gave me a really good foundation for my job. So going in, I mean, every station's going to have different programs, different ways that they like to go about doing things.
So you're going to have to learn that on the job that's not something you can really prepare for. But I had the good foundation to where I wasn't having to figure out how to write necessarily. And it's still, you know, a work in progress. I get better at writing every day, but I had a good foundation where I could just focus on, you know, kind of learning all the different programs, everything like that.
So we, you know, just had that really good foundation through classes, just about kind of, you know, what the telling the truth, just kind of how to go about the formula of writing your and things like that. So, so yeah, we got a lot of that experience as well.
Keegan Stewart: Kristen We've already mentioned it, your daughter Aspen here LCU your daughter Allie starting later, later this month. What is LCU meant to you and your family in this two years where you've you've been involved with them?
Krista Escamilla: Oh, it's meant so much. I've just seen Aspen grow in her faith and just in her confidence and loving where she's at. It has been such a blessing to our family. And I don't mean to put words in your mouth, Aspen, but I would say it it really, truly has been the best, best place and best fit for her.
She has made amazing friends. She has really just grown her faith through different organizations and also had a lot of fun during that follies and get in the right master follies.
Oh, boy. Was that fun folly. I want to go to every show next year. I only got to make one this year and I'm like, This is great. I mean, it was so much fun to see them all in the friendships that are formed and to be able to that with the closeness with all of the instructors. Because you can tell I walked through campus with her maybe about a year ago and probably talked to two or three professors, just one little stroll and just the way that they just stop and talk to you and really just you can tell that they care so much about each and every student.
I thought this is the exact place and this is exactly where God wanted her to be. And we you know, sometimes in life you think you have it all figured out, right? Because we I know we have. And I know that we you know, we thought she was going one path, right. And we thought I know. I thought I was going one path.
I could I could tell stories and everyone in our family. And you think you're going one place and then God takes you another and you go, thank you. That this was exactly where she was supposed to be. And so I'm so grateful as a mom that she's right here at LCU, because I believe that the foundation that you set for the rest of her life is going.
It's just amazing. And I'll know she'll never forget her time here. And she loved it so much. She convinced her sister to come here too well. And so I love it. And I'll be forever grateful for LCU for sure.
Keegan Stewart: Krista, Brittany, thank you all so much for being here today. I really enjoyed this conversation.
Krista Escamilla: Thank you, Keegan. Now it's our turn. We get to ask you questions now, right? Is that.
Keegan Stewart: Right?
Krista Escamilla: Yeah. I don't know too. Can I ask one? Yeah, please. Okay. Tell me what you love about doing the podcast.
Keegan Stewart: It is a way to tell stories from 35 different angles. You know, I'm really excited about this. LCU podcast because of that. It gives us and it gives us another platform to be be dynamic in how we share the things that are taking place on this campus. We have an awesome alumni, Brittany, that's doing great in our local market.
Let's bring her in and talk. You know, we have we have a mother of two students that's doing the same thing in Midland. Let's bring her in and talk about we have a new provost. Well, that could be a great opportunity for our staff and faculty and people of the community to meet him. You know, our president and a couple of Bible faculty go to Israel.
Well, let's bring him in here and tell them about that trip. We have a new program, but, you know, there are so many ways that you can use it. And so I'm excited to do that and figure out as we go through this academic year, how many different ways can we use this? How can we get video incorporated into it?
You know, there's it's a very fun and ever changing thing. And so that's why I like it.
Krista Escamilla: I love that. Well, congratulations. I think it is. It's an amazing avenue. And I think that's what's great about broadcasting is that we are we're telling stories and there's nothing better. I feel like we can learn from everybody story. And that's what I love about podcasting, too, is because you can learn from each episode and you go, Oh, I love that little nugget.
I'm going to take that into my life and it's going to help live a better life. So congratulations. I think that's awesome. And every student should be listening to this podcast. You know that. Students Okay, tell your friends to tell their family every time.
Keegan Stewart: Share it. Yeah. Or have you tell them where to go. Find your podcast.
Krista Escamilla: Krista It's easy to do go. You can go to YouTube. The Christa Escamilla show we're also on all the podcast platforms Apple, Google,Play, you know all of them. There's a bunch every podcast platform we're at. But I would love for you to listen. It's just a I always give a quote of the day on there. Hear my guest quote of the day and we always finish up with a honoring a nonprofit in our in our community and so it's a way to really share this story.
So yeah. Thanks for listening. Please subscribe especially on YouTube. Yeah, I'm really trying to get those numbers up so.
Keegan Stewart: You can see Krista in the Midland market on News West 9.
Krista Escamilla: News West 9.
Keegan Stewart: Nine news last night. Look for there you can see Brittany here in the Lubbock market. She's a reporter and anchor for Fox 30 for KCDB. Thank you so much for listening today to the LCU podcast. If you enjoyed it, send it to someone that you think will enjoy it to follow. Subscribe. Thank you all for listening. We hope you have a great day. God bless.
Outro: Thanks for listening to LCU's Podcast. For more content like this, go to LCU.edu.