Meet Kirby Adams: A Lifestlye Reporter with Her Own Story

Kirby Adams has been telling different folks’s tales for many years, however behind the bylines and red-carpet interviews is a girl who has an attention-grabbing story of her personal. Her award-winning profession has taken her from Texas tv studios and Seattle newsrooms to Louisville’s media scene, the place she is the approach to life and leisure reporter for The Courier-Journal/USA Today. Equally adventurous and approachable, she brings curiosity and authenticity to each dialog, whether or not she’s interviewing celebrities or chatting up buddies. We caught up with Kirby to speak about her profession path, memorable moments, and the recommendation that continues to form her life.

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Can you describe a typical day in your sneakers?

I all the time attempt to begin my day outdoors someway, whether or not that’s going for a stroll, heading to the fitness center, or assembly a pal for a run. I’ve to get out of my workspace earlier than diving into every part else. Then I’m going via emails to verify there’s nothing pressing or breaking within the leisure world. Finally, I begin engaged on no matter tales I’m assigned.

Lots of people don’t notice how a lot coordination goes into function reporting. I usually schedule interviews and coordinate pictures. I collect archival photos, assist with a photograph shoot, after which write the story rapidly for publication.

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What led you down this profession path?

I used to be truly a geology main in school as a result of I like nature and being outside. I used to be in Texas on the time as a result of that’s the place the oil and fuel trade was booming — till it abruptly wasn’t. A pal’s dad owned an oil firm, and he advised me he wouldn’t advise staying in that area, so I began contemplating different choices.

I took a communications class that I loved, and when my college provided Electronic News Gathering, it modified every part for me. After commencement, I satisfied my dad to pay for yet another class, and that launched my tv profession.

I began in San Antonio on a present referred to as PM Magazine, and we traveled always — throughout Texas, the US, and internationally. It was such an unbelievable approach to be taught storytelling. Eventually, I moved to Seattle to work on the same present referred to as Evening Magazine. I used to be touring to locations like Tanzania and having all types of untamed experiences.

One day, I noticed an inner posting for a brief reside tv job in Louisville. I deliberate to solely keep a 12 months to be taught reside TV. But 9 months in, I met my husband. And many years later, I’m nonetheless right here.

Can you inform us about a few of your most memorable interviews?

My very first superstar interview was with Willie Nelson after I was 20, and I used to be terrified. But he was extremely sort to me, and that basically mattered, as a result of a nasty first expertise might have scared me away from superstar interviews altogether.

One of my all-time favourite interviews was with Olympic velocity skater Apolo Ohno. He had simply received Dancing with the Stars, and I interviewed him on the Barnstable Brown Gala. I introduced alongside a Wheaties field with him on the quilt, and we ended up doing this hilarious interview collectively whereas consuming cereal straight out of the field. And he danced with me afterward!

If you weren’t working at The Courier Journal, what would you be doing?

Probably one thing in sports activities drugs. Health and health have all the time been an enormous ardour of mine. I’ve taught health lessons and labored in wellness, and I like that world.

I’ve realized, although, that when athletics turns into purely a job, it loses a few of the pleasure for me. That occurred after I was coaching for the Olympic trials in biking. I took a go away of absence from tv and spent months touring the nation, racing bikes, and dwelling out of a station wagon with two different cyclists.

I certified for the Olympic trials and completed eighth within the nation. I didn’t make the ultimate crew, however I’m nonetheless extremely happy with that have.

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What’s one factor folks could be shocked to find out about you?

I labored with Bill Nye the Science Guy earlier than he turned well-known — and that’s the solely factor my children suppose is cool about me. In Seattle, there was a comedy present referred to as Almost Live!, and Bill was a part of the ensemble forged. He had this recurring character referred to as “Speed Walker,” the place he’d battle crime by velocity strolling in a cape, and typically I’d play his little deputy.

Years later, my daughter bumped into him in Washington, D.C., and advised him she was Kirby Oliver’s daughter (that’s my maiden identify), and he remembered me. She was thrilled.

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What are you most happy with?

My household. One of my daughters works for the United Nations World Food Programme and lives in Laos, serving to communities there. She’s doing unbelievable work in a really difficult setting. My youthful daughter is a tv reporter in Asheville, and she or he traveled everywhere in the world on her personal earlier than settling there. She was additionally a part of a nationwide championship triathlon crew in school.

My husband is a live performance producer who has finished a lot for Louisville’s music scene. He’s helped create alternatives for folks to get pleasure from free reside music within the metropolis, which is one thing I actually admire.

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What are your favourite locations to eat and mess around city?

I like El Mundo within the Highlands, and I’m an enormous fan of Zanzabar as a result of it combines meals, reside music, and pinball. I additionally attempt to assist Twig and Leaf weekly. I reside inside strolling distance, and I feel the brand new house owners are doing a fantastic job and deserve neighborhood assist.

I completely love Waterfront Wednesday. My husband truly began it, so I’m biased, however I actually suppose it’s one of many coolest issues Louisville has to supply. Not many cities have a free reside music sequence like that proper on the waterfront.

Are there any hidden gems in Louisville you’d like to say?

I feel Jefferson Memorial Forest is one in all Louisville’s best hidden gems. People don’t all the time notice how extraordinary it’s to have such an expansive pure space so near town.

I additionally suppose Louisville’s Olmsted Parks are unbelievable. When you progress right here from someplace else, you notice how particular it’s to have these stunning Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks woven all through town.

And truthfully, the Ohio River is one thing I feel we typically take without any consideration. My husband races sailboats there each week, and I’m all the time reminding myself that we should always spend extra time appreciating it.

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What is the very best recommendation you’ve ever given or obtained?

The greatest recommendation I’ve ever obtained got here from Bob Richards, the Olympic gold medalist pole vaulter who was the primary athlete ever featured on a Wheaties field. I interviewed him years in the past, and he knew I used to be coaching competitively.

He dusted off one in all his gold medals, put it round my neck, and mentioned: “To be great, you must think it.”

That turned my mantra after I competed. Whenever races acquired laborious or mentally exhausting, I repeated these phrases to myself. It’s about believing in your self sufficient to try tough issues. That recommendation has stayed with me my whole life.

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