You may know her as one of the country's newest talk show hosts, but Trisha Goddard is more than just a fresh face. Goddard sat down with Fox 31 to talk about her life story.
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ALBANY --
You may know her as one of the country's newest talk show hosts, but Trisha Goddard is more than just a fresh face. The England native was the first black female anchor in Australia and has also hosted her own show in the UK -- and that was all after she traveled the world.
"I've done things like being a hovercraft hostess, an air stewardess based in Bahrain for 5 years, and while I was based in Bahrain that's when I started doing journalism courses,” said Goddard.
The self-named "late bloomer" began reporting on current events at age 27, but it wasn't until someone gave her the advice to specialize in something she's passionate about that Goddard began tackling the often avoided social welfare and mental health topics -- something she felt strongly about following her younger sister's struggle with schizophrenia that ended when she committed suicide.
"Mental health and mental illness, we ignore those things, we sweep them under our carpet. It's a peril to our society, not because those people are dangerous, but because there's so much suffering for them and their families.”
Goddard herself also struggled with issues stemming from depression that led to a breakdown in 1994. Goddard says the stigma against mental issues is what many suffer from, something she realized when the public found out she had breast cancer in 2008.
"My room looked like a florist's shop in the hospital with flowers from everyone. You do not see flowers much on the psychiatric ward. No one talks about bravery or battling and I'd say you're braver and you battle, it is tougher when it's against your own head."
Now in remission and living a happy life, it seems the tough times are over for the mother of two. Even the non-renewal of her UK-based show didn't hurt the woman who seems to bounce back. This time she landed in the United States, where her new show is in its first season.
What once would've seemed like a joke for a girl who grew up living paycheck to paycheck is now a reality, which she says is possible for anyone who chases their dreams.
"Write down your goals and then look for every opportunity, not money, chase the opportunity."
Although it seems she's already done it all, Goddard says she still plans to chase a few more opportunities in the future.
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