Tara Hitchcock knew she wanted to be on television in the sixth grade. Thanks to a teacher who saw early on this girl could TALK, Hitchcock enrolled in a speech and debate class and never looked back.
Tara has always moved at a fast clip! She graduated cum laude with a BA in Communications and Political Science from Boston College and went on to get her Master's Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the prestigious Medill School at Northwestern. It only took one phone call to get her first job in TV at KBMT in Beaumont, Texas. She quickly proved her deftness in covering crawfish festivals and holiday tree lightings, and within three months, Tara made main co-anchor. That's where she earned the right to use her favorite saying:
Two years later she signed her first talent agent and within six days, she was hired as morning host of "Good Morning Arizona" in Phoenix at KTVK. That's where she first learned nobody cares how you do it in Beaumont. Surrounded by a group of talented on air personalities (whose names escape her right now) Tara took "Good Morning Arizona" to the number one morning show in the market for ten years running.
Honored with accolades from "Best Morning Host" to her recent "Polish Heritage Award" (Polish as in Poland, not Polish as in Sausage,) Tara has truly made her mark on Arizona television. She has interviewed everyone from John McCain to Justin Bieber and her love of sports has brought her to host shows from the Masters, Super Bowl and World Series. Following in the footsteps of her tv idol Oprah, Tara decided it's also time for a 'Next Chapter'. She is currently helping script that new chapter!
With her 2015 Emmy Award in hand (okay, so she has it displayed in her make-up area at home), you can see Tara every Thursday on CBS 5 as well as "Good Morning Arizona" with her "Tara's REEL Travels' segments. Tara's travel column, "Tara's BIG Travels" can be seen in Phoenix Magazine. Obviously, if it involves travel, she's in! She also helmed the pilot of "Ultimate Hostess" for Sheknows.com, combining her love of travel with food and drink. Tara's recent Fox Sports AZ special on Kurt Warner's UFE event earned her an Emmy nomination in 2014.
Off camera, Tara has used her high profile to help countless charities. She's been honored with numerous awards for her tireless work in the community, recently named as one of Arizona's Top Ten 2012 "Trendsetters". She serves on the board of Best Buddies Arizona, is a National Celebrity Ambassador for Childhelp USA and is active in charities including the Foundation for Blind Children, Celebrity Fight Night, Boys Team Charity, For Those without a Voice, Women Against MS, The Arizona Kidney Foundation, and more. She and her three sisters participate in the AVON 2-day breast cancer walk every other year in honor of their grandmother Babci.
In her spare time, Tara loves to travel with her husband and three stepkids, kiteboard, take lots of pictures of her family, ski, wakeboard, scuba dive, eat at Diamondbacks games, eat at Cardinals games and eat at Suns games. Actually, she'll eat at ANY sporting event.
PS: I have to give a big thanks to my former co-worker whose name is right on the tip of my tongue. I can see his face, and I always loved his "Dan's Segment" on the morning show. Anyway, he used Wikipedia and wiretaps to ensure everything written here is true and really happened. When I get his name, I'll pass it along, I'm sure you'll remember him.
