She's
Not All Talk
Lexington attorney Gina M. Ghioldi knew that when
she scored Sherman Hemsley of "The Jeffersons" for an interview,
she was movin' on up to bigger things.
See, she didn't just want to feature Hemsley on her year-old radio
show, "The Brass Ring." So Ghioldi joined forces with Barbara
Brilliant, who was hosting a local cable access show in Newton,
and the pair co-produced "Brilliant People." Coupled with an interview
of Pat Morita of "Karate Kid" fame, the Hemsley episode earned
the media mavericks first prize for best talk show from the Northeast
Region of the Alliance for Community Media.
"I couldn't love it more," the attorney says of her second career
in media. "It really spins my wheels." A Suffolk University Law
School graduate, Ghioldi says her interest in the media dates
back to her Waltham High School days, where she had her own show
on closed circuit television. "I thought I was Natalie Jacobson,"
the attorney laughs. "She was my idol."
Putting her media interests on the back burner for a bit, Ghioldi
took her law degree and started her own general civil practice.
However, she soon discovered that "a woman cannot live on divorce
law alone." In November 2002, the attorney started her talk radio
show, "The Brass Ring," which airs every Saturday at noon on WBNW
1120 AM in Boston and WPLM 1390 AM in Plymouth. Devoted to "ordinary
people who go out and do extraordinary things," the show has featured
local entrepreneurs, authors, spiritual leaders, sports figures,
artists and even a few lawyers.
For the "doldrums of winter," Ghioldi is heading off to St. Lucia,
where she'll be doing a show about the island and its people.
But she's also in the process of producing one- to two-minute
informational legal segments that she plans to shop around to
local and national media markets. Likening herself to a Susan
Wornick for the legal consumer, Ghioldi says her segments will
give the legal "lowdown" on subjects ranging from identity theft
to divorce to the risks associated with downloading music from
the Internet. "I think it's a good way of merging a career in
law with a career in media," notes Ghioldi. "Sometimes it takes
20 years to get around to doing what you were meant to be doing."
So if Ghioldi's media career takes off, does that mean she'll
be closing up shop? Nope, says the lawyer, adding that she's never
felt restricted to have just one vocation. "I'm meant to do both,"
the talk show host insists. "My calling in life was to be an attorney
and to help people through difficult situations ... But I know
that I also have to be true to myself, and media has always excited
me."
Ghioldi and Brilliant are in fact gearing up for new show ideas
to submit to a national competition, and the attorney notes that
suggestions for interview subjects are always welcome. So if any
of you "Brilliant" attorneys out there think you've got the stuff,
e-mail Ghioldi at gghioldi@ghioldilaw.com,
or visit her website at www.thebrassring.net.
And who knows, perhaps that voice some of you have been hearing
on the radio every week will soon become a familiar face on television.
© 2004 Lawyers Weekly Inc., All Rights Reserved.
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Appearances
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Attorney
Ghioldi has conducted numerous presentations on many topics including
Practical Legal Advice for the Small Business Owner and Cover Your
Assets - a Guide to Basic Estate Planning. Gina has spoken to many
organizations a few of which are listed below:
- Boston College / Small Business Development Center
- Cambridge Savings Bank
- New England Woman Business Owners
- Business Networking International, Inc.
- Womankind Educational and Resource Center Inc.
- New England Professional Organizers
- New England Safe Deposit Association Center for Women and Enterprise |
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