At 4am every work day, Isha Sesay is awake and ready for the day. At 5am, she’s at the office reading and prepping for her first show at 10am. Two hours for hair and makeup, and she’s ready to go on air. After taping her first show, Ms. Sesay gets ready for Inside Africa, an award-winning programme that documents the continent’s cultural, political and economic happenings.
In 2009, she became the host of this programme that is one of the longest running shows on CNN. “Working for Inside Africa has been really great and lovely. It seeks to entertain as well as educate. It is a great time for CNN and its relationship with Africa, and the programme shows CNN’s dedication and investment to Africa.” With a face that is internationally recognised, Ms. Sesay’s life now is a dramatic contrast from what it was four years ago when she made the crucial decision to leave the shores of England to follow her dreams.
The Beauty from Sierra Leone
Ms. Sesay’s passion for journalism comes from her compassion for people and an innate quest for knowledge that was instilled in her as a child. “Growing up, there was a lot of discipline and structure. School was the focus. But it was also fun, lots of love, lots of conversation...they (parents) both gave us the freedom to explore all our passions.” Born in the United Kingdom to parents of Sierra Leonean descent, her mother, a Sierra Leonean politician and lecturer, taught her the importance of caring for others. “My mother is at the centre of my being, of how I see myself and interact with people. My father died when I was young, so she raised three children on her own. She’s a formidable force; she showed me the benefit of grace, humility, discipline.” For Ms. Sesay, one of those early passions included acting, but she soon realised that she cared too much about the world around her. “I went to the university thinking about acting, but when I got to the university, there were a lot of issues I was interested in regarding women’s rights and their academic underachievement. Eventually, I just saw myself going down that issue-led existence, and the acting just kind of fell away.”
Journey to CNN
Ms. Sesay first got her television break while working as an intern for a British talk show. In 1998, she moved to Scotland to work for BBC Scotland and got her first television presenting job on BBC Choice. She finally joined Sky News in 2002, where she presented Good Morning Sports Fans for Sky Sports News, for three years. Between sporadic periods of work, Ms. Sesay decided it was time for a change. “I never thought I would get that opportunity,” she says of her job with CNN.
The idea to work for the news giant came while watching a programme on the network. “I was actually sitting at my dinner in the UK one day and had this Aha! moment, thought to myself I should go work at CNN. I called my mom up and told her, ‘I think I am going to move to America and work for CNN’.” Determined, Ms. Sesay sent her applications and tapes, and eight months later, got the job, “I am very driven. People who know me very well will say I’m headstrong. I knew it was going to be challenging but when there is a wall, I just carry on, believing that hard work, and discipline would shine through, and it does.”
Dining with Presidents
“The journey has been amazing; I was welcomed with open arms. CNN has been a real family.” In her career, Ms. Sesay has met with celebrities, world leaders and politicians, as well as been at the forefront of many breaking stories and events. One of her most memorable interviews includes that with the Liberian president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, whom Ms. Sesay describes as warm and forthright. “Meeting heads of states is very interesting because of all the protocols and security searches involved. Eileen is an incredible individual; she’s honest and straight forward, and as an interviewer that it was what you are looking for.” Even with the extensive research and preparation involved in such important interviews, Ms. Sesay still admits to occasionally feeling the nerves. “I still get nervous, but never to the point where my nerves shut me down.”
Difficulties on the Job
The nature of her job as a journalist means that Ms. Sesay is often placed in complex situations. “My job is to tell stories and get information out whether it is good or bad but it’s difficult to ask questions to people who are going through a really difficult time. I remember interviewing this family whose son had been murdered by their next door neighbours and they were weeping the whole time. Their son had been dead in less than two months and there I was asking questions, and that was really hard. I was being intrusive, but for the right reasons, but nonetheless, I was intrusive.” Rather than cause her to disconnect from the world, Ms. Sesay says her work has made her more aware and appreciative of life. “You are conscious of the amount of suffering there is in the world. I certainly have become spiritual because sometimes there is no explanation for why the (bad) things that happen do.”
When she’s not asking difficult questions, she is often placed in difficult environments, “Other challenges include operating in a climate where it is a hostile environment. It might not really be a case of civil unrest, but just places with health risks. These are the things that make the job challenging, but also rewarding in the sense that you are shedding light on an important matter. “I don’t do this job for the glory because if you do, you will be waiting a long time. I do it because it is an important job, somebody needs to tell the people, somebody needs to get the information out and I am but one of the many people that are doing that, and I’m proud to be doing that.”
Off the Clock
So what does Ms. Sesay do when she’s not working? “Sleeping. I love and enjoy my sleep. I work so hard that I feel like I deserve it. When I am at work I am ruled by the clock, so during my downtime I vegetate; I move as slowly as possible.” She admits to not having much of a personal life, especially as holidays are a rarity in her profession. “My personal life suffers.
That’s actually one of my resolutions this year — to have a better work life balance. It’s harder for me, because I am not married, I don’t have kids, I don’t have that constant reminder in my life reminding me to balance it. Maybe when I’m married and have kids I’ll adjust it.” Ms. Sesay is looking forward to many years and opportunities with CNN, and if her accomplishments these past years are anything to go by, there is no denying that we’ve only seen the beginning for this hardworking woman. “I feel very blessed to be where I am now, and I know that there is someone more powerful than me that brought this about.”