Lou Dobbs wasn’t having much fun working in commercial banking. He thought TV news would be more exciting. So he packed his bags for Yuma, Arizona and got a job covering local politics and crime for KBLU radio and TV — making $75 a week. “There was a certain downside to commercial television that I hadn’t anticipated!”

But now, almost 40 years later, Dobbs credits his days in Yuma for giving him his First Big Break.

In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” daytime talk show star Wendy Williams talks about working at D.C.’s WOL-AM and abstaining from sex while she struggled early on in her career.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” Fox News anchor Shepard Smith recalls how he got noticed working as a local reporter in Orlando. The story involves puppies, explosions, and Mel Gibson.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” New York Times columnist, and former editor of the Washington City Paper, David Carr remembers the first big story of his career.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” we hear from radio personality, author, former Fox News host and GBTV founder Glenn Beck. While he has found tremendous success across many different forms of media, did you know that he almost left the business to go to cooking school? If it wasn’t for a heart-to-heart conversation with his father, he may never have found his professional voice.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” we hear from HollywoodLife.com editor Bonnie Fuller. Fuller gained international acclaim as the editor of magazines such as Marie Claire, US Weekly and Cosmopolitan, but did you know that she started out as a beat reporter writing about sports clothes? Or that a friendship with an upcoming fashion designer named Tommy Hilfiger led to a meeting that would change her professional career? Watch below, as Fuller explains how she went from a young cub reporter, to one of the most powerful women in publishing.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” we talk to “Inside Edition” anchor Deborah Norville. Now everyone knows her as the face of the syndicated CBS news program, but before she got her shot nationally, she started in Georgia, working at CBS affiliate WAGA. As for her break, it came before she even graduated from college, and involved a little bit of luck, and former President Jimmy Carter.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s series “My First Big Break,” we speak to HDNet “Dan Rather Reports” anchor and former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather. Did you know that if it weren’t for a hurricane that struck near Galveston, Texas, he might never have had his shot at working in network news? That among other things, he had to deal with thousands of snakes in order to report on the story? That he helped create a weather-reporting graphic that has become ubiquitous on TV news? Below, Rather talks about the event that brought him to the attention of CBS in New York, and changed his professional life.

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MediabistroTV debuts a new series today, “My First Big Break” where we talk to media heavyweights about that break that got them to where they are today. Our first episode features Brian Williams, the anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News.” You know what he’s doing now, and you may know a bit about his past. But did you know he went bankrupt, that he maxed out his credit cards, and that he became a chyron operator at WTTG Channel 5 after failing in small market TV? Well, Williams finally got his First Big Break, and it was here in Washington, D.C. He tells us who gave it to him, and how it changed the course of his career.

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