“When I was growing up, my mom always instilled in me that you can do whatever you want to do as long as you don’t give up on it. You can literally do anything in this world. I just don’t take no for an answer. And I took that and I ran with it,” Chief White House Correspondent for OAN, Monica Paige [Luisi], told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.
Born and raised in New Jersey Paige says she was raised in a traditional household. “Both my parents are always present. They’re still together. You know, they raised me in a very Catholic, traditional Italian household.”
The encouraging household allowed Paige to figure out early on in life what she wanted to be. “I was maybe about five years old, we would always put ABC7 Eyewitness News on just to watch the traffic, to see what my dad would going to be coming home from work. I remember seeing Liz Cho and being like, ‘I want to be that woman one day.’ I love her. I thought she was so pretty. And I was like this little five-year-old kid. That’s when I knew in my heart this is what I wanted to pursue for the rest of my life.”
Her path from Monmouth County to the White House was fraught with friction.
“When I was going through school, I did not get along with many kids. I was always kind of like the odd one out of the group. I never fit in. Girls never really want to be friends with me. I always felt different than everybody else, and I don’t know what that was like that.”
Bullying was a trend that followed Paige through college. However, it never deterred her from her goal of becoming a reporter. “I just learned that maybe I just wasn’t born to fit in, and that was just my purpose on this Earth. So eventually, going through school and stuff, and trying to find my place in this world, I just focused on what I wanted to be when I got older.”
Influenced by Bill O’Riley, Paige attended Marist College. She interned at Entertainment Tonight before getting her first job in the industry.
“Daily Mail was my first job out of college in New York City. I was a video producer for about two and a half years and that was tough. It was just the commuting between Jersey and New York because I was living at home. It was just really tough.”
The round trip three-hour commute was taxing but it became alleviated during the pandemic while Paige was working from home. “Then I was like, ‘This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I think I need to start taking action and taking control of my life.’”
Paige added, “I eventually started my own podcast, The MonFather Podcast, and I was doing that from home for a little bit because I needed a creative outlet.”
Paige said of her podcast, “So I was interviewing people who owned local businesses and small businesses and just ‘Tell me your life story.’ And I was sharing a lot of different stories and I really enjoyed that. Then I started going on rants, which was a lot of fun. I loved being able to just express myself and just kind of share with the world my thoughts. Just knowing that there would be other people that feel the same way, even though it’s not a popular opinion.”
She moved on to Newsmax, having personally witnessed her passion for being on air. “It was just not my goal and they were not doing what I wanted to do. I tried to show them what I could do and they weren’t doing it.”
One night during post-show drinks a colleague suggested Paige reach out to One America News Network. “She was like, ‘They gave me a shot. You should do it, too. They would pick you up in a heartbeat. Just send an email. I’ll even follow up and send an email as well.’
“So I sent my resume, I sent a whole email and they got back to me and they were like, you got to fly to San Diego.”
Monica Paige continued on to say, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what I don’t know about this’, but I was like, ‘Honestly, I have to do this. I think I owe it to myself. I’ve worked this hard.’”
After a short stint in OAN’s San Diego headquarters, Paige was promoted to Chief White House Correspondent.
In less than 7 years since graduating college, Paige has accomplished what most reporters with decades of experience dream of, but she said it’s all thanks to The Herring Family.
“I’m extremely grateful to The Herrings, completely for giving me this opportunity to pull me out of thin air and take a chance on me because Newsmax didn’t take the chance on me. And that’s okay, I understand it. I do not burn bridges with them. I love them very much. But the Herrings really took that chance on me that I have always wanted and I still cannot believe to this day that I get to do what I do because of them.”
For those looking to follow in her footsteps Paige said this, “If you want something badly enough, you will do it. You will make it happen any way you can if you really, truly want it badly enough. Sometimes, you got to try and open a door for yourself and that’s okay. But, you know, you just can’t take no for an answer.”
She later added, “If you when you if you don’t stop and you keep going. Consistency is key because, eventually, something will click. Something will hit and if you’re passionate about something to the extent that you really are, you’ll make it happen any way you can.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
