Photo: Cătălin Scarlat
I love stories. I feel the stories of the people I interview up to my bones. I turn them on all sides, until I surface a memorable essence.
At 7 years old, I used to dream with my eyes open that I would work in the TV industry. The construction of the ‘professional building’ imagined in my childhood materialised at 18 years old when I started an internship at Realitatea TV, a news television in Romania. I made my first steps as a reporter in the newsroom, where I was surrounded by experienced journalists who were positively open towards the shy newcomers – that was really something to be appreciated! It was then that I first felt the adrenaline of a news report, as well as the terrible emotions of a road accident.
The summer spent in the newsroom convinced me that the job I had been thinking about since childhood was what I wanted, indeed. During faculty years, I enjoyed my time at ‘UBB Radio’, radio station of the university, where I had been presenting news for more than 2 years and stroke up some of the most beautiful and true friendships. My former colleagues are extraordinary journalists today for Vice, Casa Jurnalistului, Digi24 or advertising and PR professionals.
The university years also came with projects at TVR3 (I was a moderator for the ‘U Campus’ show) and Transilvania L!VE. My 1-year experience as a reporter at Transilvania L!VE has set the milestones necessary to boost self-confidence, so that on July 7, 2013, I took the train to Bucharest. I was 23 years old and carried a luggage with my clothes and my dreams, packed in quite a lot of bravery.
After three months of promoting chocolate in a shopping mall in Bucharest, I got a phone call that was going to change my trajectory. It was a HR representative from Pro TV, who asked if I was planning to stay in Bucharest. So, I started to work at Pro 2 as a reporter for almost one year, followed by the 4 years spent in the casting team of international TV shows, Romania’s Got Talent, The Voice of Romania, Voice Kids, Masterchef. They were 4 intense years during which I worked enormously, I traveled just as much, I loved and I grew.
I was happy to work with talented people from all social and artistic environments. I was happy to cross the country in search of artistic potential for the shows, being extremely enthusiastic to leave the continent for the first time and get to South Africa with the show I am Celebrity, Get me Out of Here! Then I understood it wouldn’t take long until I was to become a legit traveler. In Africa, I rediscovered my passion for sociological and anthropological studies that I attended during faculty years.
While I was in Africa I already knew that in a few years I would leave the country. Today, after three years, I quit Pro TV. Although I still love my profession, I felt the need for a major change and new challenges. So I packed my memories of the 5 years in Bucharest and changed location. I live in London.
The blog had a special place in my mind for some time. However, it is only now that it became real, after me being brave enough to get down in the Freedom Station of my life and change everything. I wish Freedom Station will become an ‘online station’ for people to stop and get inspired from the stories of other people living with passion, regardless that such passion may be seen as being trivial or extraordinary from outside.