Abbey Smith: “Sometimes I pinch myself about how lucky I am”

Never mind dancing to The Wiggles – when Abbey Smith was a child, she used to dance to the Channel Nine news theme.

She’d also stand up in front of her family, pretending to be a TV reporter.

Now, as the Breakfast newsreader for Jodie and Hayesy on Adelaide’s Nova 91.9, Abbey tells Radio Today “I think a media career may have been inevitable!”

Even the 3am alarm doesn’t faze her.

“There are not too many jobs out there where you can wake up so early, love the people you work with and leave at 9:30am with a smile on your face because you’ve just spent 3 hours laughing and having so much fun,” she says.

“I am very thankful to not just be the journalist and newsreader, but also a part of the Jodie and Hayesy show.”

“Both have such huge media careers and Jodie has always been someone I looked up to when starting my career.”

Abbey says Jodie Oddy and Andrew Hayes are always making sure the team is happy and that everyone is included.

“For the first time, who I am and what I bring to the table is enough.”

“For a girl who has struggled with self-worth and confidence her whole life – that’s special to know your team love you for you … resting bitch face and being grumpy some mornings included!”

While she always loved to write, it wasn’t until Abbey was in her 20s that she gave serious thought to media as a career.

Growing up in Adelaide, Abbey and her two sisters spent cherished childhood summer nights down on the beach.

“We lived one street back from the Esplanade. Mum and Dad owned a cafe in our local shopping centre for more than 20 years.”

“We grew up in hospitality and had a close family, something I still treasure to this day.”

After finishing school, Abbey embarked on a media degree at the University of South Australia.

She continued working in hospitality and would eventually use her credits to swap to a journalism degree at the age of 25.

Having also studied at the Australian Radio School, Abbey was offered a casual contract with SCA in its Adelaide office.

News roles at at SCA stations in Townsville, Cairns and on the Gold Coast as well as ARN in Brisbane followed.

“I’m very thankful to have had support from both James Royce and James Lake from Southern Cross Austereo, who gave me guidance and their time and allowed me to read national bulletins or metro news so early into my career.”

“Deborah Clay, who was the National News Director for Australian Radio Network, also took a chance on me and hired me for the Brisbane Drive Newsreader role. It was my first big full time metro gig and a great learning ground with Vanessa Gibson and Monique Dews with me.”

“My biggest mentor though has been Mike Groves, who was a journalist and newsreader for many years.”

“He has put hours of work into my writing and sound to help me continue to grow as a newsreader. Mike has listened to countless airchecks and talked me through promotions, problems and self-doubt so many times, I don’t know how I’d ever repay him!”

“We work such crazy hours in radio so I’m thankful to have worked with so many people who I’ve now stayed friends with over the past six years.”

“I have friends and mentors from all three networks and pinch myself sometimes about how lucky I am to have worked with so many of some of the top newsreaders this country has produced.”

Abbey says she’s proud in the knowledge that she’s given a voice to those who may not have had the chance to be heard at times.

“Living in Queensland for so long, we had several natural disasters and while there were hours of information overload, being able to understand and get that information out to the community is something I will always be grateful to be able to do in this job.”

“I told Ben Latimer when he hired me for the Nova Breakfast role that I may not be the best newsreader in the country, but you won’t find someone who works harder than I do.”

“I lived through the pandemic, and moved countless times – all on my own with no family – and in just four years made it back to Adelaide to now be reading news to my hometown.”

“It’s an absolute honour to be the one who’s there for the city, my friends and family when something breaks and be the voice of reason who’s cool, calm and collected for them when they need to know the facts.”

Abbey recently launched a new venture called Time for Chats, interviewing clients and guests at different events.

She says it’s been a true labour of love.

“It’s a live video guestbook so the idea is to have me interview your nearest and dearest about all the funny, heartfelt, rude, silly and amazing memories they have of you and then give that as an edited video.”

“Everything in this age is digital and many people who book don’t want to spend the cash on a videographer but would rather use the money to have a video they can pull out anytime of their guests and look back for some good memories – the happy, sad and downright hilarious.”

“The idea could be for any event, corporate day or even concerts. The sky’s the limit.”

“If you’re not in Adelaide though, I do travel!” she says.

“We also cut reels of anything we think might be a hit on social media too and it’s really taken off.”

As to what the future might hold, Abbey says “We can never be certain what’s ahead, but I would love to be in a News Director role at some point in the future where I can train and work with the younger generation.”

“So many people took the time to help me, so I always want to give back where I can.”

“I hope the current Jodie and Hayesy team are still waking up Adelaide with all the laughs in years to come and the 3am alarms are still as enjoyable as they are now.”

For more info on Time for Chats, head to the website or the Instagram page.