BHS Alum Strikes It Big With Jet Magazine Gig

Not many people can say, “I love my job!" with a straight face.

For those that do, it's a realization that they get to spend their life doing what they love and getting paid for it.  

For Melody Hoffman—a Jet Magazine senior writer and Bolingbrook native—love comes naturally for her profession.

A consummate planner, Hoffman began charting her career as a student at .

She is a tried and true local success story, an example to every young girl that hard work and perseverance can pay off.

“What I love most is telling people’s stories," she said. "Yes, I get to interview a lot of celebrities but to a point that would be redundant. Everybody has a story and conveying it effectively when you’re limited to 400 words is a huge responsibility.”

Hoffman’s flair for penning descriptive tales stems from a lifelong affair with words that came early and naturally.

“When we’d go to the grocery store, she’d always want some kind of a little book,” her mother, Mary Hoffman, said. "Melody really has a way with words." 

Mary Hoffman said while in college, there was a course Melody Hoffman wanted to take but had a personality conflict with the professor.

"Melody is outgoing with this bubbly personality and for some reason she rubbed him the wrong way," Mary Hoffman said. “Melody was an excellent student but she told me, 'Mom, I think I’m going to get a bad grade.'

"Well, they had to write something as part of an assignment and Melody wrote about [her family] and this man did a total turnaround and gave her an A in the class.”

Focused on broadcast journalism after high school, Hoffman set her sights on one the best private training grounds for media and arts: Chicago’s Columbia College.

As an undergraduate in 1999, Hoffman landed a freelance position with cable provider Media One and assumed various on-air personas to enable her to build an impressive portfolio of clips.

The experience also allowed Hoffman to work with Bolingbrook Deputy Mayor Leroy Brown, who had been toying with an idea to produce a show called Bridging the Gap for (BCT).

Because Melody Hoffman was a Bolingbrook resident, Roger Conner, the station manager for BCT’s cable operator Media One, felt she could help Brown get the show off the ground.

Lately, BCT has been playing archived videos as part of its From the Vault series.  Many of the early Bridging the Gap shows feature Hoffman’s raw talent in a co-hosting role.

“Melody is one of those young ladies that you knew she was going to do something big with her life some day,” Brown said. “I have seen many examples of her in the community and school and been long impressed by her diligence, work and community ethic.

“In my opinion, Melody’s unwavering devotion to her community exemplifies her strong moral fiber and character. She is a dedicated individual to whatever she puts her heart into. I am not surprised she is where she is today with Jet.”

Serendipity surprised Hoffman. As her own toughest critic, the aforementioned journalism professor turned out to be her greatest ally.

“My senior year, Johnson Publishing Company called Columbia looking for a writer,” she said. “This is the crazy part. I’d only taken one writing class at Columbia and that was only because another professor told me if I took it I could graduate with honors. [Jet] told me to make sure you have your clips. So, I took a paper I wrote about television sports.”

Hoffman was offered a job in 2000 at the conclusion of the interview. A well-respected employee, Hoffman remains at Jet today garnering praise and accolades from her superiors and co-workers alike.

“I have worked with Melody for 10 years. She is a remarkable journalist, always coming up with cutting edge stories. She can do it all from sports to entertainment to human interest feature stories,” said co-worker and senior Jet writer Clarence Waldron. 

“Besides her work, Melody is simply a warm person who greets us each day with an open smile. We call her ‘Angel' in the office. She’s so well grounded and what I admire most about her is her love for her family.”