NETWORKWOMEN.COM: COVER STORY, MARCH, 2003

PHYLLIS GEORGE

A Trailblazer Living It All

STORY BY CHRISTINE DIANA GIORDANO

From the last great bastion of traditional womanhood to the very pinnacle of modern professional life, Phyllis George, former Miss America, former First Lady of Kentucky, entrepreneur, national sportscaster, and author has lived it all.

"I'm not an advice expert, but I'm becoming a life expert," said the 53-year-old Ms. George during an interview, adding later, "I've been around for so long doing so many things in the public eye, somebody said 'if I read your resume I'd think you were a 90 year old woman with all that you've done.'"

Some of those experiences fill the pages of her newly released book, Never Say Never: Ten Lessons to Turn You Can't into Yes I Can, (McGraw-Hill 2003) in which Phyllis describes events and experiences in her life through which she has forged her strong can-do attitude.

If one can't remember exactly which Miss America she was, Phyllis detailed the day by various hints. She reigned from 1970 to 1971 and she was the 50th, the first with the golden crown, and, she recalled painfully, perhaps the first to have the crown fall off her head. Can you imagine being crowned the most beautiful, elegant woman in America, navigating a runway with what seems like a mile-long robe on your shoulders - and having that new golden crown fall from your head on national television? The young twenty-one-year-old Phyllis was mortified, but somehow found the courage to dive for it and walk the rest of the runway, robe drooping, arms full of scepter and crown with her crown-tossed hair. That composure stayed with her throughout her life, establishing her as a role model for not only millions of young women, but also for those seeking to break glass ceilings in their fields.

The year that followed fine-tuned her ability to look like a Miss America 24 hours a day. She wrote in Never Say Never, "When I stepped off the plane each day, I had to look like a million bucks, smiling all the way... when you're Miss America, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Everyone wanted to see up close what Miss America would look like: what I was wearing, which color nail polish I used, whether I wore false eyelashes..." She landed in a different city and state every day, shaking hundreds of hands, constantly on duty. By the end of some days, she barely had the energy to wipe off her makeup.

After her reign was over, the small town girl from Denton, Texas, who had gotten a taste of New York decided to pound the Broadway pavement, but the world wasn't the oyster one would think it to be for a woman with Miss America on her resume.

"Everyone says that a lot of Miss Americas try to make it in New York, some have lasted, some haven't. I didn't think I would last..." confessed Phyllis during an interview. Sometimes, the pedigree of Miss America played against her. She recounted having been told by many a casting director, "You're just another pretty face in a sea of pretty faces."

A Playtex commercial finally landed Phyllis a job co-hosting Candid Camera, where she built momentum with television audiences and got noticed by Bob Wussler, then vice president of CBS Sports. He offered her a thirteen week option, yet unsure of what exact role she would play.

In her book, Ms. George describes the experience. In considering the offer, she knew that although she had always been a sports fan, she was neither an athlete nor an expert. "There were no role models for me to emulate," wrote the woman who was about to break a glass ceiling. "The only female sportscasters at that time were either at local television stations or in temporary slots at the national level. Even my friends were skeptical about whether I could pull it off." But she took the opportunity, thinking, "If you don't play, you can't win."

One of her first assignments, Ms. George remembers, was to interview Dave Cowens, a tall and reserved superstar of the Boston Celtics basketball team. He was rumored to hate interviews, but reluctantly agreed to one. When the day arrived, the team saw that CBS had sent a "girl" to do the job and "rolled their eyes," but Phyllis remained strong, calling questions from courtside that Dave Cowens didn't answer. When his practice ended, the basketball star jetted to his jeep, leaving Phyllis trailing behind.

Her career was on the line and she had no intention of going back to New York without talking with him, so she summoned up her courage and took a seat in his jeep. As Cowens drove to his log cabin on the outskirts of Boston, Phyllis made small talk to fill the awkward silence, while her camera crew and producer followed.

Back at the cabin, Phyllis instinctually tossed aside her formal questions and gradually got the superstar to let his guard down, showing a face to the camera that no one had ever seen.

"I knew no male interviewer had asked an athlete things like this, at least not on camera... I had gotten a sports star to remove his armor..." she wrote. Fans and producers raved and CBS signed Ms. George to a three-year deal. Before she knew it, she was the first national female sportscaster in America, co-hosting The NFL Today pregame show on CBS with Brent Musberger and Irv Cross.

What was her secret? Phyllis believes that people responded both to her southern friendly openness and her unobtrusive style. " You're not putting them on the spot, attacking them, you're just talking to them - earning their trust," she said.

But her life still had its challenges. At the NFL Show, she had to keep her cool while working with a harassing cohost. In 1977 she had an 11-month whirlwind marriage to the famous film producer Robert Evans (The Godfather, Love Story, Chinatown) who pursued her after noticing her on the cover of People magazine.

In 1979 she married John Y. Brown, Jr., cofounder and Chairman of the Board of the international Kentucky Fried Chicken. While honeymooning, they decided to begin his campaign for governor of Kentucky with the slogan "Kentucky and Company - the state that's run like a business."

When the newlyweds called for support, they were advised, "You don't have enough time! It just can't be done!" Support had already been promised to candidates who had been running long beforehand. But Brown had something in his favor. He was one of the first businessmen to run for office, and had the originality to make dramatic spot appearances - sometimes even dropping from the sky by helicopter like a big bird to greet astonished voters. The campaign also established phone chains, and used Brown's beautiful new bride to gather a crowd. Two months later, they had won the primary, and six months after that, Phyllis became the First Lady of Kentucky.

But the Ms. George's handsome appearance didn't always work to her advantage. In 1985, because she had done so well in the sports division at CBS, she expected open arms when she took a job at the Morning News. Phyllis' lively personality had drawn executives to offer her a co-anchor position for close to a million dollars. But she soon realized that the corporation known for hard news was not completely ready to flip formats in order fulfill its vision of competing with shows like Good Morning America, and her smiling Miss America personality was working against her, at least internally.

She said "They were transitioning from the old to the new and I kind of got caught in the crossfire...I heard [coworkers say], 'Oh, she's Miss America, she can't possibly handle this." They called me 'Gorgeous George' - I hated it ... I [was] working 14, 16-hour days, really applying myself and calling everybody I knew to get them on the show but there were preconceived images and notions."

After 11 months of days that began at 3 a.m. and weekend commutes to and from her new family in Kentucky, Phyllis and CBS mutually agreed to part ways. In her book, Ms. George remembers receiving a heartwarming note from Charles Kuralt that helped her to recover her pride. It read: "Welcome to the company of ex-morning news people. We are a very large but distinguished crowd who know the joy of not getting up at 3 a.m. A pleasure most people never get the chance to experience. But isn't it wonderful? I may give a party for us all one day - Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace, Lesley Stahl, Diane Sawyer, and now you get to come!"

In talking with her, one can see how Phyllis' decidedly positive attitude has been forged. At one time in her life, everything seemed to fold. The mansion was condemned, her former husband (whom she did not write about in the book) had a triple bypass and his lung collapsed, almost killing him. In addition, she still carried the responsibilities of Kentucky's First Lady, was six months pregnant with her second child Pamela, while Lincoln, her firstborn, was three. Somehow, while still under contract with CBS, she was able to find the strength to commute to and from New York, while also raising money to restore the governor's mansion and promoting various other projects as Kentucky's First Lady.

"The way I've been able to do what I've done in my life is by focusing on the positive, not the negative," said Phyllis who is about to be honored with her mentor Norman Vincent Peale with the "Power of Positive Thinking" award in New York on June 12. She added, "Particularly with what's going on right now in the world there's not time for negativity. We have got to remain together and bond and stay as positive as we can to support each other."

Ms. George describes herself as a Cancerian who retreats into her shell for a time and comes out ready to face any obstacle. Upon returning home to Kentucky after her time with CBS, the First Lady began her own company in the kitchen of her historic home, Cave Hill Place. Her company Phyllis By George met a market need for boneless, marinated chicken breasts. After Phyllis launched it into several supermarket chains, the company was later sold to Hormel Foods, a 3.5 billion dollar company.

In her life, among other things, Phyllis George has written four other books, Living with Quilts (GT Publishing 1998), Kentucky Crafts: Handmade & Heartfelt: (Crown 1988), Craft In America: Celebrating the Creative Work of the Hand" (Summit 1993) and the I Love America Diet Book (Morrow 1984). She has also co-hosted Spotlight With Phyllis George where she interviewed high profile people in all walks of life, sports, news, politics, business, entertainment. Her own show called "Woman's Day TV with Phyllis George" on TNN was based upon the editorial content of Woman's Day magazine.

Phyllis was named one of the "50 Greatest Women in Radio & Television" by American Women in Radio & TV. Among other awards, she was also named one of the "Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World" and received the honor in Madrid, Spain with 40 other international women.

What's next on her agenda? After her second divorce, Phyllis is back in New York and, as usual, has a few plans lined up.

"I've always got projects going and I've never been one to let grass grow under my feet. Mainly because I'm happier when I'm doing something," she said.

For her first project, she has partnered with Richard Kirshenbaum of one of the top national advertising agencies, Kirshenbaum, Bond & Partners, to establish a botanical skin and body care line called "Southern Secrets" that is slated for a possible May release.

It is not difficult to see why the Southern born beauty queen will be the spokesperson for the tagline: "Southern Secrets makes you feel feminine and look fabulous." An executive formerly of Revlon and L'Oreal has been helping to develop the product while the team works on concept.

In addition, Phyllis adds, "We're talking about putting the book Never Say Never on television." One of the "huge" cable channels seems to have taken an interest in the idea. For now the plan is to test the waters with a one-hour special, and if it works, create it into a series. Another venture may be a radio talk show, "The Phyllis George Radio Show" which hopefully will then be simulcast on television.

Ms. George would also like to write a sequel entitled, Never Say Never With Teenagers, with her teenage daughter Pamela, now a freshman and broadcasting major at the University at North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her son Lincoln, 22, having just graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University at Penn, is on his way to starting two or three businesses of his own.

It seems that Phyllis George, already in the public eye for 32 years, is still one to watch. Whatever she does, we can rest assured, she will be turning the "You can'ts" into "Yes I cans" with talent and determination - all the while continuing to prove that she's much more than a pretty face.