The Rise & Grind Blog, From Pure Grind Coffee
Sonni Abatta : Turning Passion Into Reality.
Sonni Abatta, the reporter-turned-blogger, is a picture-perfect example of what Pure Grind is all about. She’s a supermom and content creator who is fueling up, taking action, and kicking ass. For 15 years, she worked in TV but decided to move away from the news cameras. Still, she is powerful at telling stories — through her blog, where she shares honest content about motherhood, beauty, and lifestyle. No matter if it’s to the world or to her children, she’s always sharing stories.
Young, Budding Journalist
Curiosity, she says, is what fuels a good journalist. And that’s what Sonni has always had. Since a young age, she possessed a natural love for writing and when she attended Carnegie Mellon University in her hometown of Pittsburgh, she decided to combine her passion for writing with her love for performing. Because they didn’t have a journalism program, she had to design her own major within the Bachelors in Humanities program. Despite not having a traditional journalism degree, Sonni graduated at 21 and was ready to take on the world. She was offered a life-changing internship at Dateline in New York City in 2001 when she got a first-hand look at what it was to be a member of the media. Not long into her internship, 9/11 happened — a tragedy that inspired her to want to be like the superhero journalists standing on the streets of Manhattan, covered in debris. Sonni wanted to be a person that the public trusted to provide them with what they needed to know. Unfortunately, because of her age, she wasn’t able to get on the air. So she worked her ass off. She trained for six months and finally got her chance. She worked hard, going from news reporter to high-profile anchor on FOX 35.
Mommy to Three
After so many years in front of the camera, Sonni decided it was time to sign off and spend more time with her three children. Spending nights at work meant missing out on family time, even just kissing her kids goodnight. This longing to spend more time at home wore on her heart. It was time to say goodnight to the news and start tucking her kids in. Like the words of Legendary Broadcast Journalist Walter Cronkite in his signature sign-off, “And that’s the way it is.” But that wasn’t the last we would see of Sonni’s smile.
Still Sharing Stories
Sonni may have left the news world, but she is still creating killer content. She moved her work from in front of the camera to the digital world. As a stay-at-home mom, she has a lot of inspiration to write content that displays the realness of motherhood. Honest and raw, Sonni puts her own life in front of the world, to provide her audience with real, relatable content. Sharing stories, after all, is in her nature.
“I loved — and I still love — giving people good stories and good information,” she said in a podcast with On Target Digital Marketing. “It’s about stories. It’s about sharing information. It’s about connecting people. It’s about being the trusted resource to point people in the right direction. And that’s thrilling in its own way.”