Zain Asher Shadowing

I had the pleasure of shadowing Zain Asher yesterday. She is currently an Atlanta-based anchor for CNN international. She anchors on CNN Newsroom and hosts Marketplace Africa. Asher was born and raised in London and she has lived in Mexico, France, and Nigeria. She speaks Ibo, French and Spanish fluently.

Although her resume is thoroughly impressive, it doesn’t do her personality any justice. She is such a sweetheart. I was a little nervous about meeting someone who appears on television. Being able to contact some who is on TV almost seems like an unattainable goal.Especially with someone who works at the number one news station.

I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet these kinds of people until later in my career. I am still just a regular college student. I was pleased to  find out that she wasn’t stuck up or rude. A lot of people get a little clout and let it go to their heads.

Just about every with a few thousand social media followers considers themselves a “public figure.” Although there are some people in Atlanta that are doing amazing things, a large amount of them are far from public figures.

Going to the concierge desk at the CNN center, telling them who I was, and having them tell me my name was in the system felt pretty cool. A lot of people would give anything to be able to get their foot in the door at CNN.

Zain greeted me with the warmest smile and she was dressed fabulously. She seemed so excited to meet me and I appreciated this. I was originally supposed to shadow her a few weeks ago, but some things came up. She took me around the the building and introduced me to everyone we encountered on our little tour.

I felt a little bit like a celebrity.

I love her accent. One of the radio personalities at the station I use to intern for faked a British accent while she was on air. I thought that was really weird and unethical. It was refreshing to here a genuine accent.

She showed me where she gets her hair and makeup done. I wish I had that setup in my room. There was big mirrors, bright lights, and rows of Mac makeup. Luckily, Zain gets all of her makeup for free. I wish.

I was able to sit in the control room and watch her anchor from there. I am a little upset that you have to buy a special cable package to get the CNN international channel, but I enjoyed being able to watch it for a little while.

So much goes into making a television show. I have said that before, but I saw even more job opportunities when i visited CNN. There is literally a job for everything in television. I learned so much in only two short hours at CNN international. I can not wait for the opportunity to go back.