CNN news anchor, author and ISU alumnae Christine Romans spoke to students Wednesday in Howe Hall about the economy and how to find success. 

“It feels like yesterday I was sitting where you are, and in a hot second, I look back, and I’m decades into my job. And it will happen to you, too,” Romans said. 

One might think waking up for class at 8 a.m. is hard, but to Romans, 8 a.m. is practically a luxury. As an anchor for CNN’s show “Early Start,” Romans wakes up at 2:30 a.m. every morning. She is also the author of “Smart is the New Rich” and stresses the importance of being well-rounded and grabbing any opportunities that life might have to offer. 

Romans graduated from Iowa State in 1993, majoring in French and journalism and communication. She was inspired at Iowa State by many of her professors, especially Barbara Mack, who made Romans fall in love with the First Amendment and told her, “Ladies do, in fact, curse with brilliance sometimes.”

During college, Romans began working for the Iowa State Daily. She had no prior experience with writing for a newspaper and she recalled getting her first byline: a story about a new bathroom at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena. Romans reminisced about how she had slaved over the article.

 “I rewrote it and rewrote it and then finally presented it, and my editor completely rewrote it anyways,” Romans said.

After college, Romans did numerous internships and moved to Chicago, pursuing business journalism. 

All of the hard work paid off, and Romans’ career took off. Unlike many others, she did not start as a local news reporter or make drawn-out and lofty plans to make her way to her dream job. 

 “I fell into business journalism and I fell into television,” Romans said. 

Romans said her career has been fulfilling and talked about many of the interesting individuals she has interviewed. Ranging from Bill Gates to Brad Pitt, who is in fact, according to Romans, “pretty cute,” she has had the opportunity to share insights with many celebrities and politicians. 

The audience laughed at the tales Romans told about those experiences, especially when she shared that when she interviewed her childhood hero, Harrison Ford, he broke her heart a little bit, because to her surprise, he had actually been quite grumpy.  

“[Romans] put a personable spin on [the lecture], I really liked that,” said Jordyn Farver, freshman in business.

Being a well-rounded business journalist, Romans is passionate about the economy.

One of the main aspects of Romans’ lecture was about how today’s economy will affect current college students and their future careers. She shared a variety of charts and graphs showing that there are currently positive job gains. Romans mentioned that good job openings are coming back, and college students are the first in line. 

Romans advised students to read and be well-rounded, to invest in stocks and use time and money wisely and to beware of the millennial stereotype: millennials are spoiled, lazy and poorly informed.

“The most interesting thing about the lecture was how much Romans seemed to have faith in our generation and every person sitting in the audience tonight,” said Nikki Lombardo, freshman in business. “She told us that we were the most informed generation and to ignore the millennial stereotype. It was inspiring and motivating to hear that from such an established woman.” 

Romans’ lecture brought a positive light that the economy is doing well, and if one works hard, there are available jobs and opportunities students will enjoy. 

“Find the intersection of what you love, what you are good at and what someone will pay you for,” Romans said.