Judy Woodruff, CNN, took questions about how to take the lead in crafting a media career in an IWMF Live chat on Wednesday, September 25, 2002.

What was your first job in the media?

I was the news department secretary at the ABC affiliate in Atlanta (then WQKI). When I interviewed with the news directors for the three network affiliates in Atlanta (on my spring break, senior year in college), two of them told me they had no openings.

Fortunately, one of them said he had an opening for a newsroom secretary -- someone to answer the phone, clean the film (that's what we used back in the late '60's and early '70's) -- and write letters for him. He also said, as I was leaving this interview, "How could I not hire someone with legs like yours?" That was my introduction to the post-college world.

Did you have a career plan?

My interest came about, because after two summers working as an intern in Washington, DC, for my congressman from Georgia, I was discouraged by other women working on Capitol Hill. They argued opportunities were limited. I began looking at other options, and through a course I took my senior year at Duke in mass communications and politics, I began to think about journalism, and especially television journalism. It was happenstance; I rather "fell" into broadcasting. It also happened that I was comfortable in front of a camera, perhaps because of high school drama work.

Who was your most important mentor? What did you learn from her/him? How did you apply that in your career?

There are many: Bob Brennan, the former news director of WAGA-TV in Atlanta, gave me my first job as a reporter, and he immediately assigned me to cover the State Capitol, even though I had no experience as a reporter. Also the late John Chancellor at NBC. Les Crystal, former President of NBC News, now Executive Producer of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. He, along with Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, hired me as the NewsHour's first Washington correspondent, giving me a huge break in my professional life. The three of them made an enormous difference to me. And Tom Johnson, former Chairman of the CNN News Group.

They were all my mentors because they either hired me or supported me, and continue to support me.

I learned that there's no substitute for hard work. I learned, among other things, that it's important in journalism to be the first and the last one to make a phone call on a story, and to be relentless in trying to cover a story. I learned to never stop asking questions and that the most important values of journalism are accuracy, fairness and being thorough.

What was the biggest roadblock that you faced, as a woman, in your career? How did you overcome it?

It was the belief that women are not as capable as men, the typical discrimination that women have faced over the years, that they aren't capable of doing serious journalism. I overcame it by working hard and proving that I could do it.

In one simple sentence, what one piece of advice would you give women who want to succeed in the media?

Be persistent and don't take no for an answer. Think of every angle. And remember: Don't burn your bridges.