Alicia Menendez, who co-hosts MSNBC’s The Weekend with Symone Sanders Townsend and Michael Steele, is taking on a big new role at the network. Beginning May 5, after six years of sacrificing weekends with her 5- and 8-year-old daughters, she will transition alongside her co-hosts to the network’s primetime lineup with The Weeknight, airing on Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m. ET and on Tuesday through Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. ET. The move places her among MSNBC’s roster of evening heavyweights like Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace. It also opens up precious weekend time with her husband and daughters at their home outside of New York City.
For Menendez, who also hosts the Latina to Latina podcast and wrote The Likability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed as You Are, the shift is part of a career journey that began with a Craigslist job posting. From hosting her own show on Fusion to corresponding for PBS’s Amanpour & Company, Menendez says she’s weathered the “explosion and contraction” of the media industry. Now, as she prepares to navigate the rapidly changing weekday news cycle, she’s balancing her onscreen presence with her off-camera roles as a co-producer of Broadway’s Real Women Have Curves and a mom who wants to show up “for everything.” Here’s how she gets it done.
On her morning routine:
I’m up at six most mornings. I have a cup of coffee, quickly scan my phone for news that broke overnight, throw in a load of laundry, and lift weights for 30 minutes. I’ll put on NPR’s Up First in the background. The girls are up an hour later. My husband and I get them fed and dressed for school and make their lunches. I sit with Carlos while he makes and eats breakfast, because it’s the most time we’ll have together that day. After I tidy up, I put on sunscreen and the weighted vest that the 40-plus Instagram influencer crowd convinced me to buy, go for a long walk, and listen to music or a newsy podcast like Deadline, or call a friend. Sometimes, I’ll listen to and edit an upcoming episode of Latina to Latina, but if I have to send more than two notes, it ruins the walk.
On a typical workday:
I try to shower before the morning call, where we go over the rundown — the topics we’ll cover, the guests we’ll book. If we want to book someone whose contact I have, I’ll text them myself to expedite the process. Sometimes I’ll squeeze in one final errand — fold the laundry, run to the grocery store. I try to pack lunch, which is usually leftovers, like a salad with protein. Then I take the bus or the ferry into the city. It’s very Working Girl. Once I’m in the office, I start making calls, reading in, and watching the TV on mute to see how my colleagues are positioning a story. I eat lunch and try desperately not to get anything on my outfit. We do a second call to go over the rundown. I read scripts and go over elements and head downstairs to hair and makeup.
Once the show is over, I dash home to catch the last few minutes of bedtime, which often becomes my de facto bedtime, until Carlos wakes me up to eat dinner. We talk about the day and scan the girls’ folders for notes from school. He always generously asks, “How was the show?” But by 9 p.m., that feels like a lifetime ago.
On balancing work with motherhood:
I tried to see my schedule as a gift and maximize it. I mommed really hard. I did drop-off, pickup, volunteered at PTO events, went to Board of Education meetings. I want to be there for everything. I want to be at every recital. I want to be at every school celebration. I also throw myself into projects outside of work. I am co-producing a Broadway musical. I wrote a screenplay. I wrote a television pilot.
On the challenges of her job:
Right now, following the news feels like drinking from a fire hose. The challenge is figuring out what to cover, what to prioritize, and how to make sure you are putting it in the proper context.
On her winding road to MSNBC:
I graduated college thinking I was going to go to law school and run for office. I worked on Jon Corzine’s 2005 gubernatorial campaign straight out of college. We put out a message every day, but the media decided what they thought the story was. That flipped a switch for me, and I applied to become a TV guest booker. I found the job on Craigslist. I learned so much about journalism.
Then I took a job at Rock the Vote in 2008. There was an exciting Senate race in Nebraska, so I moved to Nebraska for six months. When I came back, I worked at Democracia USA, where we registered and engaged Latino voters. Then I left and worked at NDN, a think tank. While I was there, I did television hits as an analyst and expert, and a woman named Josanne Lopez at CNN brought me in for a talent meeting and put me in pilots. When she left and went to HuffPost Live, she brought me in. I covered breaking news for the first time, and I learned how to interview newsmakers and be part of an ensemble. Then I was offered my own show at Fusion. I moved to Miami and learned about how daunting it is to have a show with your name on it. I got to do things like a presidential primary forum and international reporting in El Salvador and Rwanda.
But when Fusion transitioned from cable to digital, I had my first baby and wrapped up my time there. I pieced together employment. I worked as a correspondent for Amanpour and Company. I started writing and editing for Bustle; I did some work for Vice. I was a freelancer when I was pregnant with my second child, and I did not have codified maternity leave, so I was at the borders at seven and a half months pregnant. I took a flight home on the last day my doctor would sign off on me being on an airplane. In that final stretch, I was offered to come to MSNBC as a weekend anchor.
On winding down:
I don’t get to read for pleasure very much. I aspire to watch TV, but I usually fall asleep on the couch during the first 15 minutes. My 5-year-old just started reading, so I love being read to by her. I am still in the habit of being lured into laying down with her as she falls asleep then groggily waking up an hour later, brushing my teeth, washing my face, and getting into bed. I know this period of time is not forever.
On dealing with criticism:
I am a highly sensitive person. I care deeply about what other people think of me, and I am still a work in progress. It’s helpful to have a universe of women who both see me at my best and highest potential and are also able to be honest with me about where I fall short. I can bring them feedback or criticism that I’ve been given and say, “Is this true?”
On filtering out advice …
Not all advice needs to be taken. We should constantly be soliciting feedback, but feedback tends to be highly subjective, especially for women. Building a strong filter is important. When I was in my 20s, I would go into a meeting with one executive who would say, “I really think you need to cut your hair.” So I’d cut my hair, and then I’d come back for a meeting with another executive, and they’d say, “What did you do to your hair?” It’s a silly example, but you need to have a North Star.
… And the best advice she’s ever gotten:
Josanne Lopez knew I wanted to be a mom. She really encouraged me to go for it, even at a time when it seemed professionally perilous. Her point was that there’s never a good time. If you try to gamify this major life choice, you have to be okay with the possibility that you’re going to miss out.
On her relationship with money:
My parents grew up working class and worked their way into the middle class. My mom always talked to us about what we could afford and what the value of money was, so that seeped into my life. I am interested in money as a form of power and the choices that it allows an individual to make as a statement of values. How we choose to spend our money says a lot of who we are. At my first job, I was making about $28,000 a year. And then the most money I’ve ever been paid — well, the limit does not exist.
On the people who help her get it done:
On a lot of days, my husband is parent A. It’s going to be even more true when I’m traveling back and forth to D.C. with a nightly show. My mom pitches in, and I have a caretaker with my girls Monday through Friday when they get home from school. And I’m not sure how I’d get it done without my neighbors — splitting drop-offs and pickups, and sending “I’m at the grocery store, need anything?” texts. Pre-kids, the thought of “mom friends” was a hard pass. Now I’m not sure how I’d work and parent without them.
On how politics shows up in everyday life:
We ask women to create individual solutions to system-wide problems. The feminist victory should not be me surviving a Tuesday. It should be a society where we have a great enough social safety net and a community of care such that a woman who is much less resourced than me can thrive and provide for her family. My husband is able to help because he works at a place that allows flexibility for parents. My caretaker, like the majority of the care economy, is an immigrant. My mother was able to retire with dignity because she was a public school teacher and had the ability to retire and be with her grandchildren. All of these systems collide in ways that show up in our day-to-day lives. It drives me absolutely nuts when people say, “Well, I’m not political.” Every decision you make in life is influenced by systems that are formed on the basis of politics.