Everyone has their favorite TV network, right? The one the TV’s guaranteed to be set to when you turn it on? My husband loves ESPN and the Food Network. Sure, the Food Network’s great, but I start experiencing feelings of culinary ineptitude after watching for a few hours. For me, my go-to station is QVC (one of the world’s largest multimedia retailers).

    I even watch QVC when I’m alone at the gym at 5am. I kid you not. Some might find motivation in music videos and old re-runs of The Cosby Show. I happen to find mine in the form of sterling silver, 14 karat gold, and fabulous handbags.

    That being said, you can understand my delight when I discovered that my favorite QVC program host, Mary Beth Roe, has connections that aren’t just of the “born in the Midwest” variety. She actually lived and worked right here in Eau Claire back in 1981. Once I discovered this, I decided I needed to interview her. I sent the network an email, and not only did I hear back from QVC, but they agreed to let me interview Mary Beth via telephone.

    Mary Beth told me she was hired as a television anchor by WQOW right after her graduation from Bethel University; the first female television anchor in Eau Claire. How cool is that? WQOW was a new station at the time, and though she did have her own billboard, she was never promoted as being the first female to anchor the news in Eau Claire.

    During our chat, I reassured Mary Beth that as cool as Eau Claire was back in 1981, it’s at least 10 times cooler now. She loved living here, and only moved to Minnesota (where she first started working as a television shopping host for a network called CVN in Plymouth) to be with her husband. After QVC purchased CVN, she was asked to make the move across country to host for the new network. Today, she remains one of two hosts currently working for QVC with beginnings at CVN.