TV Reporter Nora J.S. Reichardt Comes Out As Transgender, Says "There's More To Us Than Just The Headlines"

TV Reporter Nora J.S. Reichardt is one of the only transgender TV reporters in the nation. She’s also a GLAAD Media Award nominee.

Nora is originally from Minnesota and now tells stories for Local 5 News in Iowa. Her first appearance on TV came when she was six years old. When asked about her favorite part of the Minnesota State Fair, Nora happily informed a reporter that she loved the "megaly-huge Bomb Pops" and ended up on the evening news.

Nora made headlines when she came out as transgender in 2022 on air.

When she isn't chasing the news of the day, Nora can usually be found reading at a coffee shop, playing video games, or spending too much time on Twitter.

In this episode, Nora shares how coming out brought her closer to her parents, how she manages decision paralysis and work-life balance, and how you can best be an ally.

Sh*t I Wish I Knew In My Twenties (SIWIKIMT) is a podcast dedicated to helping 20-somethings thrive in their twenties, not just survive.

Host Debra Alfarone knows how tough being in your twenties can be. As a high-school dropout turned-network-TV-correspondent, she learned most of life’s lessons the hard way. She overcame the odds and is now a national anchor and correspondent for Gray Television, after covering the White House for CBS News nationally. She’s also a confidence coach for young women in the TV news industry.

Connect with Nora on IG or Twitter at @nora_jsr.

Transcript:

Debra Alfarone:

Thank you so much for listening to BEEP I wish I knew my 20s. As you know, this podcast is hosted by me, a former high school dropout turn national TV correspondent. I had no mentors. No big sister. I had nothing. Okay. So nobody showed me the way. I want to pour into you to help you not just survive, but thrive in your 20s. And that brings us to today's guest. Nora Reichardt. Nora Reichardt is a reporter in Des Moines, Iowa. You tell stories every day, sometimes several in a day. But it's your story that is really making headlines, not just here, not just in Iowa, but across the country. Ever since you came out as a transgender woman. You're one of the only transgender TV reporters in the nation, and a GLAAD Media Award nominee. I'm so happy to talk to you.

Nora Reichardt:

Thank you so much for having me. It's absolutely my pleasure to be here.

Debra Alfarone:

I just think there's so much to be learned from your story, no matter whether you're transgender, LGBTQ, no matter what community you are part of, if you're part of the human race, we can learn a lot from your story, from your bravery, from your vulnerability from so many things that you've been through in life, I can imagine that it is nerve-racking, difficult to come out as transgender, but then to be a known person on TV - that has to add another layer of complexity, no?

Nora Reichardt:

Oh, absolutely. It was a long process of figuring out exactly how to start bridging that gap. But I functionally reached a point where I had started seeking therapy. I was in the process of figuring out that I was trans while I was pretty early in my career. I started at my current employer, Local Five News. I started there in July 2021. So just a few months after I graduated from college, and it was a few months after that where being on TV kind of put me in a position of realizing that I didn't totally like the person that was suiting up and going into the studio every night, I just felt a real disconnect from the image that I was showing up myself as on air. And that was part of what led me to pursue finding out who I really am. And in the process of doing so eventually, I just realized how much happier I was and how much I wanted to get to be me all the time. And I wanted to be me to the viewers as well because eventually I reached a point where everyone in my life knew Nora and was happy to see Nora and everything was great there. Except when I was going into the newsroom and introducing myself on TV. And I didn't want to have to keep using both of the names. I didn't want to have to keep living both of those lives. And I am very grateful that I don't have to do that anymore. And that I get to go to work as myself and tell the stories that I get to tell and meet the amazing people that I do.

Debra Alfarone:

It's an incredible job. And there is the element of seeing yourself on TV.

Nora Reichardt:

Anyone can attest, you’re never quite used to how you look or sound, how you might be a little more fidgety than you're used to. Looking back at some of my old stand-ups. It’s, ‘oh wow, I wish a producer had said something, to be honest.’ But in any case, I don't quite look like the person that's doing this interview, my hair was a lot shorter aside from the fact I also hadn’t undergone any hormone replacement therapy at the time, was sporting like a full beard and just go into work each day wearing like the Polos and button ups and whatnot, pairs of slacks and some nicer shoes that you know, in the process of trudging across the state get less nice as you go.

But overall, that's just who I was showing up as and who I was presenting to the world every day. And I was telling everybody this is me. And you know one of the fundamental tenants of journalism is you always want to be honest, right is just held tell the truth as you know it. And that didn't feel like the truth that I was telling people it felt like I was lying to them when I was giving them that day when I was telling them that this is the person giving you the news that really wasn't me  -this is-and getting to lift that veil I think has made me a better reporter. I think that's one of the reasons why is I feel like there's less of a wall so to speak between me and the people that I'm meeting in the field or, or even just presenting myself to on-air. It feels a lot more authentic and natural and less like I'm trying to build up to being that person that I felt I'm supposed to.

Debra Alfarone: 

There's a lot in your story that can lift up so many people, no matter what their background, no matter how they identify, a lot of people don't feel, I mean, maybe I'm speaking for myself, I don't know, I but I feel like because I coach a lot of reporters, many people aren't comfortable with who they are, whether you know, it be that they are trans, they feel as if they're in the wrong body, or it's just a very visual medium in TV, or they just don't like themselves for a variety of reasons. I feel like there's a lot to be learned in your story. And so was there ever a moment that you thought, I don't know, if I can start to transition? I mean, I gotta imagine that on the precipice of that, that may have been a scary decision to make?

Nora Reichardt:

Oh, absolutely, it is, I think, I think any trans person, for the most part will tell you the same thing that almost all of us will say, for the rest of our lives, it's the best thing we ever did for ourselves. And like, that's still true. But that doesn't make it not scary, a lot of really good things in life happen that way. And dealing with that fear, what took a lot of time, and especially early on, I was a lot more cautious about who I was slowly starting to invite into the circle, like, who was the first person I told, and then it was, I want to say, I went to therapy, I started pursuing therapy about two weeks after I first told someone I think I might be trans. From there, I didn't tell another person in like my social life, still, for I would say, several months after that.

And just each time it was that same conversation of ‘hey, this is something that's going on in my life, I trust you. I want you to know about it.’ And it's still scary every time because you're going to people who obviously know you pretty well, in one sense, and asking them to look at you a very different way than they have previously. But I'm very fortunate that the people in my life, my friends, and my family, all or at least for the most part have been really, really supportive of me, and have wanted to see what this process could be like, wanted to know what they could do to support me through it. And I know that's not something that every transgender person gets. And I consider myself really lucky that I have it. And it's also one of the reasons that I wanted to be a little more forthright and public about this whole process was - I’m getting this amount of support from people. And I want to share the fact that I think my life is good, and that I want people to feel like that is what their life can be as well.

Debra Alfarone:

What's the best part about being you?

Nora Reichardt: 

Oh, I touched on it a little bit, honestly, earlier, but it really is that I feel like it's the best. The best decision I've made for improving my personal relationships and just my emotional intimacy with other people. Because I get to finally just talk as myself, I don't have to deflect, I don't have to hide what I'm really feeling. And it makes me aside from just getting to be more open and honest, it also just makes me more empathetic to others, I'm more present. And by being more in the moment, and when I’m happy with myself, I'm able to be a better friend and family member for the people around me too. So it's very much a two-way street there. And I'm very cognizant of that. And I always try to reciprocate that effort with people, I really do appreciate, just getting to continue that. That honesty, for lack of a better term, I just, I get to know others and myself so much better than I ever did before. And I love the connections that I've been able to build since coming out.

Debra Alfarone:

And you can be present for them. You know, when you're in your head thinking about what if they think this or what if they think that or I need to be this way, you're not really present in your relationships. And I think this is a really important point for people. Empathy. Man, do we need more of that in this world? Like, we need some more empathy? You know, we're all just like, I mean, I'm sitting here in Washington, DC. So you know, this is a place where people are kind of fighting each other all the time, Congress is down the block, like, you know, two sides going at it. And we just need to know that we're all more similar than we are different.

Nora Reichardt:

Oh, absolutely. And I've been really grateful that that's honestly what the experience has been for the most part. For me, like I really have not had as many publicly negative experiences as I really feared that I was going to at first. Like yeah, there's been some awkward encounters. And there's been some situations that I've had to distance myself from, but my day-to-day life, people see me and treat me as Nora and I'm not getting named called or anything like that. And I, again, I'm so lucky to have that, that I don't have to have that fear in my life and I get to focus on just being me and not, am I safe being me?

And so, honestly, I appreciate the amount of support that I've gotten just from the Metro community in central Iowa beyond, I've been to almost…well, honestly, just Iowa as a whole. Our market is Central Iowa, but I've been to almost all four of the state's sides at one point or another. And everywhere I've gone, people have been understanding and accommodating. And I think there's something to be said for just visibility. And so often people don't know if they've met a trans person, so it feels very distant to them. Like, how do I engage with this person? What am I supposed to say? What am I not supposed to say? And I think when the nature of the reporting gig is I'm the one going up to people and saying, ‘Hey, I'm Nora with so and so, here's what I'm doing here, here's why I'm knocking on your door bothering you.’ And I'm always taking that first step. And I think that because of that, that's one of the reasons people have been a little more receptive is it feels like that extended hand so to speak of, I want to show you what this is, like I understand you might not have seen before, but getting to have that visualization, I think it's helped make it feel less distant for a lot of folks. And because of that, they're a little more able to take that first step of okay, I want to understand what this is all about, what your life is all about.

Debra Alfarone:

You said there was so much, in one of the pieces that I watched, you said there's so much misinformation floating around about transgender people. And then you said this, I love this, I promise we're more interesting than bathroom and sports. Right now, a slew of bills are here and there in different places, and even in Iowa, that are not supportive. Why do you think people are not? They don't get it? And what do you want them to get?

Nora Reichardt:

I don't understand that for you know, the vast majority of the population, it's you wake up getting told you're a boy and you're like, oh, yeah, I'm a boy, that's just the life I have, I'm happy with this, this is the path I'm going through. And that's not a problem. And because of that, that sense of disconnect from yourself that a trans person can experience that gender dysphoria, it can be hard to explain to a cis person a lot of the time. And just how do I explain that I didn't look at my own body like it was mine. Like, that I didn't feel like the person I thought I was, if putting that into perspective can really take some time for folks. And I think that's one of the reasons that it's difficult to, to look beyond the headlines sometimes and forget that, like, you said, we are just going through this experience. And so often it feels like that were only talked about in the context of a bill that's going to impact us in one way or another. And that's just kind of, I feel like a reductive way to look at the experience. So many trans people in my life that I get to personally know and seen throughout their journeys on various stages, like it's such a common thing to talk about, just like the joy in watching your life truly take shape in the direction you want it to, it's just I always tell people the ultimate act of self-actualization. And that's the side of it that people don't get to see, they only hear about the big stuff going through Congress, not in just how happy I was the first time I got to look in the mirror and felt like I was seeing myself. And that's what I've tried to be more open and showing people in this whole process is way more interesting than just some gotcha headline.

Debra Alfarone:

You get to create your life, you get to create yourself. I believe that and so many people don't get that, they let things stop them. And really, the most interesting thing I find in your story is your vulnerability and your sharing and really also just your belief in who you are. You are just so who you are. And that when you do that, you allow others to be themselves. What is the best advice you’ve got as a person in your 20s that you were like, oh, yeah, that was good.

Nora Reichardt:

I think I've had a lot of people in my life that have really helped me just put into perspective like, what it means to maintain a healthy work-life balance, because when I was in college, I wasn't good at it. There was a point during my college career where I had three separate part-time jobs I was working. I was a double major. I was involved in just about every campus extracurricular you could imagine under the sun and it would feel like from sunup to sundown, I was throwing myself at something, and didn't just get to sit back and be a college student, even during COVID, I was probably busier than I should have been. And I felt like I was doing it to build towards something, right? Like, pad the resume, get that first, get that degree and then use that as a jumping-off point for success.

And, you know, I'm not saying go ditch your classes or anything like that, I'm happy with how my GPA turned out. But I will be the first to say I went too far in that direction of I need to be doing something all the time. And I didn't get to take that time and experience that just productive rest and feel like I was taking time to like really develop my personal relationships, that was always like a very secondary thing for me of like, oh, I can go maybe see some friends if I have the time to in between the other stuff. But now, as I've gotten into this line of work, and professionally, that can be very, very time-consuming. And there's always going to be longer days. And it's not just election nights. Like sometimes there's just breaking news that happens in the evening, and you're there late, and that happens. And I'm okay with having that in my life. But I've also tried to do a much better job of using my time away for me and using that to hone my relationships and find just ways to spend time with the people I care about who care about me. And, really investing in those and myself and those relationships has just made me a happier, more fulfilled person across the board. I feel like I'm still meeting my professional goals, I haven't thrown those aside by any measure, I'm still getting everything done that I feel like I need to, but my life gets to be more than that. I'm not just a journalist, I get to do some amazing other things. And I'm glad that I can finally actually walk that line that I wasn't able to.

Debra Alfarone:

I need this lesson right now. And I needed it in my 20s Let me tell you, I'm still doing this. But yeah, I don't believe that in my 20s, I valued balance. Because I wouldn't say I saw my parents a lot, because I was always working every Christmas, New Year’s, saying yes to this and yes to that, because then I could fill-in anchor, and striving and climbing. And you know what, if you don't give to yourself, you ain't gonna have anything left to give to anybody.

Nora Reichardt:

I'm sure you know, just as well as me that there's stories that take a lot out of you. Whether it's something you saw, something someone told you, or just the context of some court docs, you read whatever it is, there's, there are things that stick, and I'm able to get through those harder days, those harder stories, because I have folks that I know I can lean on during them. And I have things that can help me get my mind off it. I have friends that I go out for drinks with at a local bar, but that we really like, like every Monday, we just grab a drink or two. And that's our little weekly tradition to decompress about whatever's going on, catch up, see each other and just little stuff like that helps so much like it's not it's not revolutionary, I'm not inventing the concept of hanging out. But it has really helped me to find ways to get myself through those harder times. Because when you have that more, you use the old metaphor, the more you fill your bucket once, when I'm more taken care of, I've got more to give to others. And it's in the hardest stretches I had, both in college and on this job, are when I'm doing a worse job of that of making sure that I'm doing things for me too.

Debra Alfarone:

You know, another thing that my therapist told me is that if you do not fill up your own, you know, bucket or cup or wherever you want to call it, you're going to be a little bit cranky. And you're not going to be fully resourced. And then that you're going to bring that to work. And then when someone says something, you're like, ah, you know, or in my relationship with my husband, if he's like, whoa, would you like to do this? I'm like, wow, you know, I might, I might end up not being my best self. And that would lead to issues. You gotta be kind to your co workers, you have to be appreciative towards your spouse, like, you know, there's things that really your life will be much better if you do, but if you don't do that, you really don't have that extra anything to not snap at people sometimes. Yeah, so I say that to everyone out there. That's the best thing you can do for your career. You think it's working harder, but it really is - just take the time for you. What would you say to someone who's struggling with just fully being themselves? What would you say to someone who's got fear of like being fully seen?

Nora Reichardt:

I think that so often we get  - maybe I'm saying we for myself here - but I know that I certainly experience that I feel like that fear can be the kind of paralyzing of like showing people, this side of me like, it's going to change something one way or another. And I get that that decision paralysis of like, well, this could be a good thing. But I fixate so much more on ‘well, what if it goes badly,’ and then I just will stay locked in wherever I'm at basically, for a while, and that decision paralysis is one of those things that I've tried to work on and I'm getting better at but I'll freely admit, I still struggle sometimes. And more often than not, one of the ways that I've been able to help myself make progress in this is that when I'm going through, and I'm checking my little list of, okay, what little, you know, accomplishments do I have today, what decisions have I been making, so often, so much more often than not making those decisions to be more vulnerable and more authentic, have done nothing but benefit me, and have led me to improving my relationships.  Case in point, my parents, my relationship with my parents has improved so so so much, since I came out to them, and getting to show them the real me and it's been great. And my current girlfriend, in the same vein, was a huge step for me, for my first long-term relationship, as an out trans person. And I've been relearning a lot about how to approach that sort of relationship but being open to it and choosing that I want to experience this, I want to take this risk has been great for me. And I keep trying to remind myself to make those decisions more and more, because those are the results I'm getting. And I'm surrounded by people who want, who only want my authentic self and not whomever I'm pretending to be any other time.

Debra Alfarone: 

What would you say is the best thing we could do, people can do, to be an ally,

Nora Reichardt:

Not just listening. But whatever you can do to affirm just what a person is experiencing and just feeling like you're seeing them on the way they want to be seen, like, when I first started telling people that I think I want to go by Nora. Now, I'll freely admit, you wouldn't look at me on the street and think that's, you know, what you want to call me. And it can be, it can be hard to do that learning for people, but it's just the effort of using that name and saying she instead of he, in my case, or vice versa, or something else entirely, depending on who you are. That sort of thing. It goes such a long way towards showing people that you see them as who they really are, who they're working so hard to be, and just giving space for that person and showing that you want to learn, people will respect that effort you're putting in like, I think that so often people are so scared of doing something wrong, that they don't know how to engage with me one way or the other. That's something I've experienced where people will dance around any reason to use a pronoun about me one way or the other, just because they're not totally sure. And, I can speak for myself and most of the trans people I know - you can ask, it's okay. Like, that's okay. And if you're not sure, I would prefer you ask them to just, you know, throw a dart at the dartboard, like it shows me that you want to get it right. And, just those little sorts of gestures and letting people set that, that boundary and who they want to be. It helps a lot.

Debra Alfarone:

So how when someone asks you - would they say ‘what pronouns do you want me to use?’ Or they say ‘How should I refer to you?’ What are - sometimes we need the actual language.

Nora Reichardt:

Yeah, no, there's plenty of decent ways to do it. But honestly, literally just the simple like, ‘hey, what are your pronouns’ is totally fine, like as bluntly, as simply as that completely works. And just letting people answer from there, because that also means that like, whether they're transitioning or a non-binary person or something else entirely, it's all under that umbrella somewhere. And it means that if you at least know how to ask that question, then the person will immediately feel a little bit safer with you and knowing how to answer.

Debra Alfarone:

What was your worst job, haircut, outfit in your 20s?

Nora Reichardt:

I worked at a grocery store during college as one of my part-time jobs to bring in a little bit of extra money. And that was the job that I had during COVID. And very early on COVID, to be clear, and so I was making a lot less than I care to admit, as we were all figuring out how to exist in the pandemic, and I basically, I was hired to be like the online delivery person for the store, or at least I would go around the store, packing up all the online orders and have them ready. And when folks got there, they could just call and I'd bring them right up front, on their merry way. And that's what I was hired to do. And I ended up doing pretty much every job in that store short of manager, cleaning up everything, stocking every shelf, checking people out, doing customer service, doing like or clerking just, I was asked to do every single thing in that store while I was working there. And during all of this, people are on their worst pandemic behavior - everyone's a little on edge. And people even in Iowa, people are a little ruder than usual, and was just a lot being thrown at me all the time. And I would just work these long days on my feet the entire time, and I would go home and just fall flat on my bed.

Debra Alfarone:

What is something about you that's unique that I might not know about you that I can't find out by googling? And I would not know and I'd be like, ‘oh, really?’

Nora Reichardt:

I'm not going to show this on camera. I apologize. I think the answer is that I have a clubfoot. So when I was born, my right foot was basically at like a 90-degree angle. And it took like three surgeries and 14 years of wearing a brace for me to be able to just walk consistently with that right foot straight. And all’s good. Now, it's totally normal, aside from just having like a slightly more sensitive ankle. But there's two fun little visual things that it's left me with. One is that my left foot is two shoe sizes bigger than my right, the left is a 10 and the right is an eight. So it's yeah, there's like there's a bit of a gap there. And then the other fun one that is probably related, but even my orthopedic surgeon doesn't quite know how I can turn that right foot inward a full 180 degrees. And I can like take steps with it pointed backwards. Yeah, it's a really, it's a party trick that gives us some very strong reactions from folks.

Debra Alfarone:

Nora, it has been amazing. And everyone that is some BEEP that you wish you knew in your 20s Now, don't go to the bar and ask Nora to move her foot, you know, in a certain way, like leave the woman alone, okay. She's allowed to have that time on Monday with our friends having a drink or two. I appreciate you. Thank you. Have a great day. Thank you so much.