For Paula Sands, retirement from an influential career in broadcasting wasn’t an ending. It was a new beginning; a graduation of sorts after 40 years of trailblazing at KWQC.
“That’s what you do when you graduate from school, right?” she asked a QCBJ reporter shortly before her last sign off from her signature “Paula Sands Live” program on Dec. 29, 2023. “You might be kind of sad about what you’re leaving behind but you know that there is something new and fresh. Not that I really know what that is, but I’m looking forward to the time and freedom to figure that out.”
Retirement also gives this regional Emmy Award winning KWQC newswoman and pioneering television lifestyle program host the time to figure out how to continue mentoring young journalists. Her long history of doing just that is among the reasons Ms. Sands was nominated for inclusion in the Women of Influence awards. She was both surprised and inspired by the honor.
“My first reaction was laughter!” Ms. Sands said. “I love the irony of being honored for influence when I no longer have my platform for influence. But retirement from a career is a brand new starting point for influence. I’m excited to explore that now.”
She added, “I’m thrilled by the notion of guiding and mentoring the next generation of broadcast journalists. Experience is a gift I earned – and a precious gift to pass on,” she said.
“We can all do this in our professional and personal lives by encouraging every younger person we encounter. Listen to their stories. Share the wisdom of your experience. There’s no better teacher on Earth!”
Sue Ramsett, regional vice president of local media for Gray Television, saw the impact of that experience firsthand at Davenport’s KWQC. “The name, Paula Sands, is synonymous with television in the Quad Cities. Paula is a trailblazer, not only for women in broadcasting, but also for pioneering ‘Paula Sands Live’, one of the first local magazine shows in the country,” she said.
Throughout the course of that career, Ms. Sands told the QCBJ shortly before her PSL signoff, “I’ve had every kind of guest and interviewed more than 50,000 people.” That amounts to, the Moline native said, “the population of the city where I grew up.”
Television wasn’t where a young Paula Gillette got her broadcasting start. Her career began at Moline radio station WQUA while she was a student at the former Academy of Radio & Television in Bettendorf. That’s where she met her husband David Sands. The couple has two daughters and four granddaughters.
That first job “didn’t pay a darn thing, but it was just fun,” Ms. Sands told the QCBJ last December. So much so, she said, “I would have kept that radio job forever.”
Then she saw an ad that read “Would you like to have the job of your life? Come to WOC Saturday morning for an audition.” She got the job and began making Quad Cities television history as the youngest host of PM Magazine in the nation and later for her PSL program that ran for 30 years. In addition to her 2015 Emmy, her career also earned her a spot among the industry’s best in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle.
Along the way, she’s done more than collect awards. “Paula’s gift for making others feel comfortable on live TV has helped thousands of local businesses and organizations grow,” Ms. Ramsett said. “That Midas touch will always be part of Paula’s legacy.”
PSL fans span a four decade career as do the legion of young journalists she inspired.
“Many of our staff grew up watching Paula Sands on TV6, so they tend to be a little star-struck at first,” Ms. Ramsett said. “They quickly realize her sunny personality is genuine and her work ethic is solid. That combination makes her a great colleague – and an even better mentor.”
She added: “Paula has been an inspiration to generations of journalists working here in the Quad Cities and beyond. She recognizes the unique power local broadcasters have to make a difference – and what a tremendous responsibility that is. That’s why she has long been an outstanding ambassador for our industry and the communities we serve.”
This profile was originally published in the QCBJ’s 2024 Women of Influence publication. The QCBJ is excited to introduce this new awards program to the Quad Cities. Our inaugural class of Women of Influence are an inspiring group of trailblazers, role models and leaders in their workplaces and in their communities. They have overcome adversity, taken chances and committed themselves to making the Quad Cities community a better place for all of us to live, work and play.
The QCBJ will present the 2024 Women of Influence awards on Thursday, May 23, from 5:30-8 p.m., at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf. Tickets are still available to the event, which includes networking, dinner and remarks from the winners, by visiting quadcitiesbusiness.com.
