Making it in the media: Yvette King's global entertainment career

Yvette King is a storyteller.

"Having access to some of the most intriguing, successful and charismatic people from all walks of life is incredible," says the University of Sydney alumna, and former long-time host of E! News Asia. "Understanding their stories and what motivates them, and then being able to share these stories is such a privilege."

King, who is based in Singapore, studied media and communications at the University, and always hoped to become a broadcast journalist.

"I watched the news every night with my parents and those extremely poised, intelligent and beautiful women behind the desk really fascinated me," says King. "Instinctively, I knew that this is what I wanted to do when I grew up."

Fast forward many years later, King became the host of the entertainment channel E! News Asia, where she has interviewed celebrities including Tom Cruise, Mariah Carey, Matt Damon, Chris Hemsworth and more.

"The thing about showbiz," she says of landing the role at E!, "is that the odds are never usually in your favour. In many ways, I feel it was finally my time." It made the "hundreds" of no's she received that were seemingly "amounting to nothing" and the rejection tears "all worth it."

"Rarely does your imagination exceed reality," says King. "But work was so much better than I could have imagined – I was lucky enough to call this my job for many years." The job included travelling the world, walking red carpets from Seoul to Sydney and of course, interviewing some of the biggest names in the business like Charlize Theron, Kevin Hart and The Rock.

King credits her success with doses of luck and timing, but there’s also hard graft involved. Her boss and mentor at NBCU (E!'s parent company), encouraged King to believe in her abilities. "Because she empowered me by trusting me to take on roles outside my job scope, I wrote my own interview questions, and scripts for our long- and shortform programs," says King. "That’s unusual in our world." As a fashion lover, King also styled herself for on-camera duties.

It was this attention to individuality, says King, that helped her stand out from the crowd and make her mark. "My boss took away all those feelings of imposter syndrome and enabled me to truly shine," she says. "She always had an incredible knack of getting the best out of me. Her work ethic and vision continue to inspire me to this day."

While many believe King's job is all glamour, all the time, she says there’s in fact a tremendous amount of grunt work involved. "The whole cast and crew are working behind the scenes to make people on camera look good," she says. "There is a famous saying in TV: 'hurry up and wait'. There’s a lot of idle time, but when things are ready, everything happens all at once and you are often under pressure to deliver quickly." And while presenting might look like a laugh, King says the perils of live television are no joke.

"The teleprompter can shut off, guests don’t show up, your earpiece can fall out … the list goes on," she says. Experience helps, and so does perspective. "At the end of the day, it’s just television!"

King’s time at the University, she says, was made all the more special by the fact that it was here that she met her now-husband, Ben King. "Funnily enough, I had romanticised the idea of studying on these stunning grounds, walking through the quadrangle and other historic buildings," she says. "I didn’t realise I’d actually be having a romance, though." The Kings have been together for twenty years, and have twin daughters. "Before we met, I had considered that this might be a great place to meet a boyfriend – they’d probably have similar interests, and hopefully be somewhat intelligent!" Hers, she adds, "just so happened to be charming and handsome as well."

King's career path, like many, has been varied and zigzag-patterned, rather than ladder-like. After a gap year travelling the world, and then a few months of "listless unemployment," King took a job in advertising, believing television to be "an almost mythical place" – impossible to find a way in.

"I had no idea how to even get my foot in the door, let alone navigate this type of space," she says. "But I quickly realised that every day I was spending working in my corporate job was taking away precious time that I could be using to edge towards my dream." While she was working in advertising, King took a role as a video journalist at Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph, working from 8am-6pm at her substantive role, and then heading to an assignment with the newspaper, often until 3am. "We had to download all of the footage we took in real time back then and then it was edited, exported and uploaded on the same day," she says. "But I loved what I was doing so much that the lack of sleep didn't faze me."

The biggest challenge of working in media, says King, is the fickle nature of the industry. "Your favourite shows get cancelled, TV hosts get replaced, promising pilots get shelved and the network decides to move in a different direction," she says. "These are all things outside of your control, which can be difficult to cope with." One way of mitigating this was upskilling in other areas. "I knew I couldn’t afford to be a one-trick pony," says King,  "so I jumped at being able to write, produce, style and even understand basic editing."

These days, King has taken a step back from television and is working with Vogue Singapore as a contributor and host. She’s also hosted galas for the magazine and interviewed guests for red carpet events. "To me, Vogue is the pinnacle of publishing and I’m so thrilled to be part of it."

For those wanting their own career in front of the camera, King has simple and direct advice: "Be tenacious."

"It’s an incredibly competitive game, but believe in your own ability and persist," she says. "Unless you’re extremely lucky, you’ll likely be met with resistance, but use that rejection to motivate you." More pragmatically, she suggests getting those Malcolm Gladwell-approved 10,000 hours of practice. "Looking natural on camera is rarely a skill people are born with. I certainly wasn't! Try filming yourself and playing it back to understand what you could improve on. I was horrendous when I started out and those early rejections were very warranted. But giving up on this dream was not something I was willing to compromise on." Embarrassment, she says, is "an entry fee to this type of job."

"Don’t be afraid to try," she says. "People are going to judge, no matter what. You may as well pursue your passion with no regrets."

Yvette King recently shared her insights with the Sydney Alumni Community on LinkedIn as part of the 'Ask Me Anything' alumni series. Join today to connect with fellow alumni.