For Julia Morales Clark, pursuing a career in journalism was something she became interested in at the age of just nine years old. After her father ran for U.S. Senator in Texas, Julia remembers getting an inside look into the world of television and journalism as reporters and feature writers interviewed her father throughout his campaign. A world she was completely unfamiliar with as a child, but one she quickly fostered a deep curiosity for. There was something about the red light going on and the "3...2...1...you're live" countdown that ignited a passion within Julia to one day embark on a journey of her own on television. Sure enough, she did just that. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in broadcast journalism, Julia dove head first into the television world and hasn't looked back since. From starting her journey as a weekend sports anchor and reporter for KYTX-TV to joining Time Warner Cable as a sports reporter to now entering her eleventh season with the Houston Astros as the team's field reporter and a member of its broadcast team on AT&T SportsNet Southwest, Julia has continued to make an impact in the world of sports journalism. Along with her work on the field, she has also built her personal brand beyond the game through her "Baseball, y'all" apparel, community endeavors, and speaking engagements focused on celebrating the beauty of baseball and mentoring the next generation of sports journalists and broadcasters. Amazing!
Let’s dive into your journey early on! You majored in broadcast journalism during your time in college. How was that transition from college into the world of sports broadcasting and media like for you?
I knew that it was important at that time to make sure that I went to a program that was helping students prepare for television, helping them with their reels, (etc). I knew Texas had kind of a news show they would put together, so it was real supportive. Not a lot of colleges back then had the resources to put together resume reels for their students, so for me, I knew that was important with all the questions I had asked over the years. I had actually shadowed some reporters in high school and I thought all of that was really important in me being ready to make that jump from college to the professional level. I will tell you that now, all these years later, it's definitely changed. You know, the world is so different (in the sense) that we all have access to our cell phones that can record video—that wasn't the case back then. Now, anyone who has the dream to be on television or put together a resume reel can do it with their own computers, their laptops, their iPhones. For me, that was huge. I studied broadcast journalism and kind of got that good base foundation of learning how to write and how to edit stories together. We worked with a program there to learn how to edit—which would turn out very important when you have to be a one-man band in your first two jobs in the small market; so I found that to all be very, very helpful as I made that first jump. I had some experience. Obviously, it gets so much bigger once you get that first job and that first television market. You're on live in front of an audience, you know? It's very real. People are at home watching the news and wanting to get their news. It's a huge jump anywhere that you make it, but I think that my foundation was very, very good given that I (had) studied it. I knew a lot about the media ethics world, media law. You know, taking all those classes helped me in my knowledge—not just in the first job, but all these years later (as well).
As you look back on those experiences early on in smaller markets—as a reporter and an anchor in sports—and reflect on your journey now in the MLB world as a sports broadcaster, what were some key takeaways that you took from those experiences early on in your career that you have carried with you now in your work as a broadcaster with the Houston Astros?
Yeah! It's a great question. You know, I try to give back and talk to journalism students now and tell people that are just now starting out their ventures: 1) You gotta leave your fear at home when you head to work. If you're a little more of an introvert and you struggle in groups, you kind of have to leave it all at home because you need to meet as many people as you possibly can. You need to shake hands. You need to introduce yourself. All of that is so important in not only moving forward, but then once you get to the big levels of broadcasting for regional sports networks or national networks, you are a face of that network and people expect to hear from you. They expect to see you and have conversations with you. It's part of the gig. The other is: the fear of messing up. I almost cripled at times with my fear of just saying a name wrong, or getting something incorrect, or asking a dumb question. That’s another thing you kind of have to get over very quickly because the competition around you is moving very quickly. It's just going to slow you down. You're not going to learn anything if you don't ask questions, so just keep moving forward and ask the question. No question is dumb if you’ve prepared. If you've done the work when you get there, of course everyone's not really gonna expect you to know 100% of everything. I’ve learned that. Even though I felt that way—I felt that I needed to know every single rule of every single game I was covering—, once I got to a level where I was speaking to coaches and having these conversations I (realized) they didn't expect me to know everything.
Once you can get past that, I think it helps a lot as well. Being versatile though is what I tell everyone. You know, be open-minded and be versatile. When I started, it was a one-man band. You had to mic your player up, mic your interview up, set up the camera, make sure it's a nice shot, you're producing this as well—so are you going to talk to someone else? What's that gonna look like? You're obviously the reporter in all of this, so asking your own questions, then shooting the B-roll, shooting the highlights of the game. You also need to probably get in front of the camera and shoot a stand-up. Then coming back, do you edit it? Do you produce it? Do you write it? Do you put it all on the teleprompter? What I would tell you is…moving into bigger jobs, bigger markets—especially with the Astros—, I am so appreciative of everyone that does those jobs for me now. I have one job now, (and) that is to be the field reporter for the Astros. I ask the questions, I gather information, I am on camera; but there is someone that's putting the microphone on me, someone that's setting up my shot, setting up my live, making sure that the microphone works. There's a producer in the truck that's helping me. The videographers. There's so many people that are doing what I used to do that I'm so thankful for, grateful for, and willing to help if I need to do. Things like that have gone a long way and they've built this reputation for me that people know that I can handle myself if things go wrong. They can trust me. They're receiving the gratitude that I have. All that goes a long way in any industry too. Also, the industry is changing constantly—nothing is figured out, ever. It's moving so fast underneath our feet right now with the streaming, (for instance). So like I said, be versatile and be open-minded as well of where this is all going and what you might be asked to do in the future.
This will be your eleventh season with the Houston Astros. Could you share more with us about your journey there?