Just 22 months into a job at her dream station, WCCO-TV, Lindsey Seavert has taken her enormous skills as a writer and storyteller to KARE11.
The hiring of Seavert was a coup for KARE11. It's also a leap of faith for her. On Wednesday -- her third day on the new job -- she told me the switch goes against her tendency to play it safe.
I recently studied Seavert at work when she and photographer Dave Wertheimer were reporting a story about rock 'n' roll photographer Rob Shanahan's book signing. She's good. Some who've watched her on TV think Seavert has the kind of talent that could one day land her a job on "CBS Sunday Morning."
What Seavert didn't have at WCCO was a noncompete. As she understands it, she was hired at a time when the station was not willing to pay an extra $3,000 for the right to restrict a former employee's move to another station in this market.
"WCCO-TV has always been my dream station, a career destination," Seavert said. "I grew up in the Plymouth area. I started out at KCCO, the [now-closed WCCO] bureau in Alexandria. For me 'CCO was my journalistic mecca. I honestly thought I was always going to be there and never really thought about looking elsewhere.
"When my [WCCO] contract was up for renegotiation, KARE was interested. At first I just thought I should probably listen to what they have to say. ... It was just one of those things: When I sat down with new news director Jane [Helmke], I connected with her. We shared similar philosophies of journalism and growth and potential and storytelling. She's trying to drive KARE in a different direction."
And, there was the award-winning Boyd Huppert factor.
Huppert is too classy and confident to behave the way Brett Favre did when Aaron Rodgers joined the sandbox in Green Bay. At storytelling workshops in Florida and Kentucky, Huppert has mentored and encouraged Seavert.