CNBC Producer Works Her Rolodex for Secrets of ‘Thriving In The New Economy’

“I’m a people person,” CNBC’s Senior Talent Producer Lori Ann LaRocco says about her job booking high-profile guests for the network. “It’s all about relationships and trust. I’ve just got a really good knack for it.”

And a Rolodex to match. LaRocco, who will mark ten years with CNBC in May, tapped into her deep well of contacts — which include captains of industry and investment gurus — to write her first book, Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today’s Top Business Minds, officially out this week.

The idea for the book emerged in the wake of the nation’s financial meltdown last year. LaRocco wondered how business and economic leaders are navigating through this make-or-break storm, and what individual investors can learn from them.

“There’s a story here,” LaRocco tells TVNewser. “What are they doing, and why?” She says her 23 interviewees — which include publisher Steve Forbes, Goldman Sachs’ Abby Joseph Cohen, and Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Steve Sadove — “were so candid.”

Their insights, LaRocco says, carry a common theme: “to recognize you have a problem, then fix it…Real leaders look ahead.”

It’s financial counsel that could well serve as general life advice. “If you believe in something, do it,” LaRocco continues. “Don’t have the naysayers make you question what you want to do.”

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