Vincentian woman living her dream in Toronto

Vincentian Canadian journalist and news anchor Nneka ‘Nickie’ Elliott is the epitome of initiative and persistence and her rise to success is a story of street smarts and dedication that anyone can take a cue from.{{more}}

Nneka attended the Kingstown Preparatory School (KPS) and the Girls’ High School (GHS). She graduated from the all-girls institution in 2000, after which she took up studies at the then A level College in Glen.

After her local studies, Nneka left St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2002 for Ryerson University in Toronto and it is there that her mind became set on becoming a television news anchor.

Nneka, who was recently in St Vincent and the Grenadines to celebrate the 100th birthday of her aunt Theresa McKenzie, agreed to an interview with the SEARCHLIGHT, which she did on Wednesday.

At Ryerson, Nneka studied radio and television arts, and as she remembers, “I always wanted to work on air.” Her four-year programme at Ryerson was a multifaceted media programme that taught her how to, among other things, work a camera and operate a soundboard.

Nneka recalls that during her third year at Ryerson, one of her teachers told her about an internship programme at CFRB radio.

“I applied…they were looking for a summer reporter and I got that job,” said Nneka, who added that what was so special about her getting the job was that the position had applicants from all across Toronto and, “I got it.”

The summer internship proved a stepping stone for Nneka, who gained reporting experience before graduating, while ending up with a job as an audio editor and weekend anchor, even before she graduated university.

This is where her story gets interesting. After graduating in 2006 from Ryerson, Nneka was still working at CFRB on weekends, but she stressed, “I really wanted to do TV, but I had no TV experience.”

So, in her effort to attract job offers in TV land, Nneka came up with an idea.

“What I did was that I got a friend with a camera to record me doing different scenes, like fake pieces. I did an entertainment piece, a lifestyle piece and other pieces and I combined those with work I had done on the radio. So, what it was really was fake TV and real radio,” explained Nneka, who stressed that she did it to display her skills.

She sent that tape and an application to the National Weather Channel, which, at that time, only had ‘on-call’ weather anchor positions.

“I wasn’t really a weather person, but I always liked geography. I sent that tape and I got the job. I was an on-call weather person for two months; then a full-time contract came up and I applied and got the job at the National Weather Channel,” said Nneka.

Described as ‘The weather babe’ by someone on YouTube in 2007, in 2008, Nneka moved from the Weather Network when she got a job as anchor, reporter and traffic specialist at CP24.

“All my life I really wanted to be a TV reporter. A lot of the times you have to create opportunities for yourself,” stressed Nneka, who revealed that at times, she would call heads of news departments and ask for meetings, at which she asked questions related to working in the TV industry or about the availability of jobs.

It was during one of these meetings with the head of CTV News, a sister company of CP24, that Nneka learnt about a job opening at CP24.

“The fact that I was a finalist in Canadian Idol Season 2 piqued his interest and led to further discussions about my career goals.

“He said that at that point, they were not looking for a reporter, but they were doing a rebranding and they needed a weather and traffic person. I had done traffic while on radio, so I got the job in 2008.”

After working at CP24 for three years, Nneka left for a year and a half to start her own media company, ‘Media Huddle,’ which is a media consultancy firm that does media training.

After establishing her company, Nneka went back to CP24 where she is now a reporter and anchor.

“For anyone who wants to succeed in what they do, you have to almost be obsessed with what you are doing. You have to sacrifice your social life. I had to work over the weekend, but it was a stepping stone and even now I still work on weekends,” said Nneka.

“If you want to be successful in this industry, you can’t expect to have a normal life. You might have to work … generally long hours… But it is extremely rewarding knowing that I am following my dreams and doing what I truly love.”

She added that during her struggle to gain a TV job, she was often told that there were no job positions and that she would not be able to break into TV in Toronto, but must seek work outside of Toronto.

“Even if people say you can’t do it don’t give up. I started in Toronto and worked at CP24 before I was 30,” said Nneka, who is one of two black persons employed there.

Nneka also co-hosts a weekend morning show at CP24 and stresses that her all-time goal is to do more, “on a platform that addresses my personality.”

The dedicated young lady said that in her opinion, a journalist’s job is never boring as, “the stories you do change every day, there is always something different and no predictability of what is going to happen.”

Even though Nneka has interviewed high profile entertainers like Drake, Nicole Kidman and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, she cites one of her favourite interviews as being with Soca sensation Machel Montano, while one of her more memorable work days was when she reported on the death of Nelson Mandela.

A haunting moment for her came a few weeks ago when a five-year-old child was struck by van and killed in an area where there was an issue with the speed limit. Nneka noted that reporting on tragic stories is always hard, particularly involving small children. She also loves reporting on Caribana.

Meanwhile, in 2010, Nneka was featured on the city of Toronto’s Black History Month poster for her work in the community. In that same year, she was also named one of Ryerson University’s top 30 under 30. She continues to do work with the university as a board member of the Ryerson University Alumni Association.

Nneka is the sister of award winning graffiti artist Jabari ‘Elicser’ Elliott, who is extremely popular in Canada.

She is the daughter of Jacinta Elliot and Walter Elliot.