Happy Hour is one of the most unique shows on financial television. Co-host Rebecca Diamond used her persistence and hard work to earn the opportunity to launch the show. Rebecca is another great example that if you are willing to do the work, there are many ways to be successful in your chosen career.

I caught up with Rebecca to learn more about how Happy Hour started and what she recommends to others aspiring to follow in her footsteps …

Damien Hoffman: Rebecca, how did you get into financial journalism?

Rebecca: I started at FOX in 1996, but I was just a general news reporter.  I got interested in finance during the Internet boom.  I was very intrigued by all the Internet companies and how they were changing the way business was being done.  So, I started watching the financial news on CNBC and reading the Wall Street Journal.

Eventually I went back to school at NYU and took a lot of business courses at night.  I studied accounting, economics, financial statement analysis, and everything else I needed to prepare for financial journalism.

A few years ago there was speculation FOX was going to start a financial news station.  Once I knew it was definitely going to happen, I aggressively pitched business stories to Neil Cavuto’s producer.  Little by little they started letting me do some stories for his show.  Then I started meeting with everybody and saying, “I want a show if we launch this business channel.”

Damien: So how did you know the show would be Happy Hour?

Rebecca: Brian Jones came up with the idea for Happy Hour.  What does everyone do once Wall Street closes down at four o’clock?  Where do all these traders go?  Here in New York they go to Happy Hour.  Then, one day the producers told me to go for promotional pictures.  I showed up and Cody was there too.  I said, “What are you doing here?”  He said, “What are you doing here?”  I said, “I guess we’re doing this show together.”  We were very excited!

Later Eric Bolling came over from CNBC.  He was regularly appearing as a guest on our show, so it seemed like a really natural fit.

Damien: How do you keep everything organized since the three of you have different perspectives to offer the viewers?

Rebecca: We have what we call our “traffic lanes.”  We are all driving in our lanes and occasionally we veer off into the other person’s lane, but then we make a point to get back into our lane because the show flows best when we stay in our lanes.

I want to add that I’m proud of our show because the producers do not put a muzzle on us.  We can say anything we want.  I think that’s part of what makes our show fun to watch.

Damien: What else makes Happy Hour unique?

Rebecca: Like all the other FOX Business shows, our goal is to reach beyond Wall Street to Main Street.  The average person must be aware of business news.  People need to know what’s happening with their 401(k), their job, taxes, college costs, energy prices, etc.  All that stuff is business news, and people are realizing they have to care about it more.

Damien: Rebecca, what advice do you have to someone who admires your career in journalism and is inspired to follow in your footsteps?

Rebecca: You have to work your butt off!  It’s not easy.  This newer generation has it a little bit easier because when I started I had to go small market, then medium size market, then big market.

Now there are people here on our staff who get the shot to be a booker, a producer, and do some on air stuff.

Be aggressive.  Don’t take “no” for answer.  Be persistent.  Don’t think of it as bugging someone — think of it as ambition.

There so many more opportunities now with online media in the mix.  We have twenty five-year olds who are working online.  It’s a great place to start.

Lastly, network and make friends.

Damien: Rebecca, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Best of luck with the continued success of Happy Hour. We look forward to grabbing a beer with you at the bar.

Rebecca:  Thanks, Damien.  We will definitely look forward to seeing you at Happy Hour.

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