Today, I met Jan Yanehiro and I geeked out like a little girl.  It was awesome.

Growing up, I saw almost no Asian-Americans on television, except for the newscasters.  I was raised on Jan Yanehiro and Wendy Tokuda, two long-standing Bay Area journalists who came into my living room every evening.  Looking back, it was seeing successful Japanese-American women on the news, that allowed me to think that a career in media was even in the realm of possibility for me.  There they were, front and center, no apologies, no accents, going toe to toe with the best of 'em.  Jan hosted Evening Magazine, where she interviewed major celebrities and covered Bay Area lifestyle.  I secretly dreamed of having a job like that one day, but never thought it could actually be my reality.

I was working for Pivot TV, shooting a mock news segment outside the Academy of Art college in San Francisco, when my producer introduced me to Jan Yanehiro, head of their video production program.  Immediately, I gushed in one breath:

"Hi Jan I'm Diane, oh my god I grew up watching you my parents are going to be so excited that I'm meeting you, um, can we take a picture together?"

She was gracious and kind and we immediately started talking shop, about L.A., entertainment, Asian Americans in the media.

"So what do you think about Fresh Off the Boat?" she asked.

"I love it," I answered.

"I'm not into it.  I think it's offensive.  That's not my experience, y'know I'm third generation, I'm not 'fresh off the boat'."

"Me either.  But I love it.  To be honest, it could have been a total piece of crap, and I still would have supported it, but I think it's good. It's a very exciting time."   I kept my cool, not letting onto my inner monologue, which was more along the lines of, "I can't believe we are just shooting the breeze about Fresh Off the Boat, this is so cool, she's so cool, OMG!" #geekout

We could have talked for hours, but we had to get back to our shoot.  I left there thinking about visibility.  How sometimes just being seen, gives hope to others out there, sometimes just being seen is enough.  I grew up watching Jan on television, and just realized today, the impact that that has had on me, I may not have followed her exact career path, but my own was undoubtedly paved by her and women like her.  I never dreamed of becoming an actor or being famous, but I was always fascinated by television.  I feel so much gratitude to follow in the footsteps of the women like Jan who came before me, and continue their presence in media to a new generation.

Sidenote: got to work with the lovely Bob Sarlotte today, he was the voice of the 49ers for 30 years!!!

I never mentioned to her that I've joked with my parents for years that the only way I would move back to the Bay Area was if I could host Evening Magazine, the show that Jan hosted...but for now, I am having an awfully good time faking it.