1. Lindsay Fitz only knew one thing when she
graduated from Oklahoma State University in the
spring of 2002 — she wanted to find something
that challenged her. She’s not only met her goal,
but also gone far above and beyond.
New York television career
blossoms from Oklahoma
roots
By Katie Parish
continues
Working for NBC Sports Communications,
Lindsay Fitz checks the announcer booth
before Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.
45

2. N
ow the senior director of partnership market-
ing and innovation for A+E Networks, Fitz has
thrived in the evolving and challenging New
York City workforce. The Emmy Award-winner
has worked on some of the largest sporting events,
television shows and political stages in the world,
and she says she owes it all to her Oklahoma roots.
Becoming Lindsay
Fitz grew up in Lawton with her
parents and two brothers. Active and hard
working, she was involved in community
theater, tennis, dancing, basketball and
more. At Lawton High School, she was
class president for several years.
“I was very social growing up,” Fitz
says. “Our family was always running
from one thing to another, and I
liked that.”
When it came time to select a college,
her relatives were a big influence. Both
of her parents, brothers and extended
family attended Indiana University in
Bloomington. Fitz applied to her parents’
alma mater.
“It was always an obvious choice that
I would go to Indiana,” Fitz says. “But
my dad asked me to look around at
some of the Big 12 schools before I made
a decision.”
Fitz agreed and visited all 12 schools
in the conference at the time, including
Oklahoma State. After visiting Stillwater,
she knew she would break with family
tradition and become a Cowgirl.
It took no time for Fitz to make
herself at home at OSU, and she dove into
college life. As a member of President’s
Leadership Council, Fitz made some of her
best friends before she attended her first
class. Throughout her time on campus,
she was involved in Student Government
Association, Fellowship of Christian
Athletes and the journalism school. She
also directed Orange Peel, led the SGA
Speaker’s Board and served for two years
as president of OSU’s Tau Beta chapter of
Chi Omega national women’s fraternity.
PHOTO / GARY LAWSON
“Igotaphonecall,andtheysaid ‘Congratula-
tions you’re hired. You start Monday morning
at 9 a.m.’ When I hung up the phone, I told my
parentswehadtopackimmediately,andIwas
onaplanethenextday.”
46 S P R I N G 2 0 1 5

3. “I loved every minute of my time on
campus,” Fitz says. “From my sorority
to Speaker’s Board to attending football
games, I made lifelong memories there.”
One of Fitz’s favorite memories at
OSU was being able to meet one of her
most-admired heroes. Former British
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher came
to campus through Fitz’s efforts on
the SGA Speaker’s Board. In front of a
continues
Lindsay Fitz tours the OSU School of
Media and Strategic Communications
new broadcasting facility during a trip
in March.
crowd of 5,000, Thatcher spoke against
communism and the encroachment upon
individual liberties.
“Margaret Thatcher is one of my
personal heroes,” Fitz says. “It was a
highlight of my time at OSU to meet her
and to have dinner with her.”
A whole new world
Fitz wanted to spend her college
summers exploring different cities and
countries. She completed internships
in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and
London — each offering a unique oppor-
tunity to explore the cities, culture, food
and people.
During her D.C. internship, Fitz
frequently took the train to New
York. She loved everything about
the city and knew she wanted to be there
after graduation.
“New York felt like a melting pot for
me,” she says. “L.A. and D.C. are both
focused on one specific career, and New
York City is open to all things, ideas and
ways of life.”
It was her determination to live in the
Big Apple that led Fitz to apply to the pres-
tigious NBC Page Program. The highly
selective program accepts only 1.5 percent
of applicants. Fitz was invited to join the
program and is the only applicant from
Oklahoma to ever be accepted.
“Being a page set the stage for my time
in New York and my career in general,”
Fitz says.
Since she had never spent a summer
during college in her hometown of
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4. Lawton, Fitz decided to stay with her
parents after her May 2002 graduation.
Her plan was to move to New York over
Labor Day weekend even if she hadn’t
received a job offer. In the middle of June,
she received an email saying she had been
accepted into the page program, but they
wouldn’t have a start date for several
weeks or months. All of that changed
two weeks before Labor Day when Fitz
received a phone call from NBC at 5 p.m.
on a Friday.
“I got a phone call, and they said,
‘Congratulations you’re hired. You start
Monday morning at 9 a.m.’” Fitz says.
“When I hung up the phone, I told my
parents we had to pack immediately, and I
was on a plane the next day.”
With nothing more than a suitcase,
Fitz lived out of a hotel room until she
could find an apartment.
New York, New York
“It was traumatic because I felt like a
fish out of water,” Fitz says. “But when
I got to New York, everything worked
out fine.”
Fitz started in the page program with
50 other high-achieving, goal-oriented
individuals from all over the country —
each with different plans and ambitions.
Her first assignment as a page was on
Last Call with Carson Daly. She then
went to work with the Today Show, the
NBC News communications depart-
ment and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade broadcast.
Because of the positive reputation she
had built as a page, Fitz was contacted
nine months later with a job offer. She left
the page program to start as a produc-
tion coordinator at The Daily Show with
Jon Stewart. Three months later, NBC
called again.
“In my first three jobs after the page
program, someone called me and asked
me to come work for them,” Fitz says.
“That’s the power of the program.”
Back with NBC, Fitz became a coordi-
nator for the NBC News communications
department. She worked closely with
NBC News during the 2004 presidential
election year and the evening prime time
network newscasts.
“I was with NBC when a lot of big
things happened, including the start of the
Iraq war,” Fitz says. “What you learn in
this industry is amazing.”
From there, Fitz worked as a publi-
cist and project manager in communi-
cations and marketing for NBC Sports
Communications, which included events
such as NBC’s coverage the NFL’s Sunday
Night Football, the Kentucky Derby, the
U.S. Open, PGA Tour Ryder Cup and
the National Hockey League. Fitz also
managed talent and media relations for
NBC’s coverage of the 2010 Vancouver
Winter Games, 2008 Beijing Summer
Olympics and the 2006 Torino Winter
Olympic Games.
In 2011, she was promoted to manager
of strategic initiatives and integration at
NBC, where she won an Emmy Award
and multiple Promax Sports Marketing
PHOTO / GARY LAWSON
Sheleft...tostartasaproductioncoordinator
at “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Three
months later, NBC called again.
48 S P R I N G 2 0 1 5

5. Awards. She was influential in developing
and executing NBC Sports’ “Big Event
Strategy,” which aims to attract larger
audiences for sporting events.
Fitz left NBC in 2012 to become the
senior director of on-air talent manage-
ment and strategy at Discovery and TLC
networks before assuming her current
position as senior director of part-
nership marketing and innovation at
A+E Networks.
Lessons learned
Living in New York and elsewhere
across the country has exposed Fitz to
countless lessons and experiences. She
describes working at the Olympics as the
highlight of a lifetime and cherishes those
three experiences.
“When it comes to the Olympics, you
live it, breathe it and sweat it,” Fitz says.
“But you also learn so much about limits
and how much you can stretch yourself.”
Round-the-clock breaking news and
tight deadlines were only the start of
living in the Olympic village. The best
journalists and networks in the world
were all working within a five-mile radius,
and the news never stopped.
Oklahoma roots
Fitz says she owes her successful career
to her Oklahoma roots.
“In New York, if you don’t take
chances and jump into something, some-
one will do it for you,” she says. “You
have to take initiative and learn to
compete in a thriving environment.”
That’s a trait Fitz says she learned
at OSU, crediting her helpful professors
and the “open door” policy throughout
the campus.
S
o, what advice would
she give students
who think she has a
dream job?
Have a great attitude,
be true to yourself and
work harder than anyone
else, she says.
“Being from Oklahoma
made me original,” Fitz
says. “I took advantage
of the fact I was different
and made the most of it.
Oklahoma made me who
I am.”
Lower far left: Former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol greets Lindsay Fitz at
the XLIII Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Lower left: Lindsay Fitz answers questions
during a mentoring day for the OSU’s School of Media and Strategic Communications.
Below: Lindsay Fitz, center, prepares to broadcast “Sunday Night Football” with Al
Michaels, left and Cris Collinsworth, right, and other members of the team when she
worked for NBC Sports.
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