For more than 15 years, Michelle Linn has been a familiar face — and a very early morning one — in homes across Green Country.
On September 11, the longtime FOX23 morning anchor will sign off for the final time, closing a chapter that spans more than 15 years at the station and nearly 30 years in television news.
But this isn’t simply a goodbye. For Michelle, it’s the beginning of something completely new.
And thankfully for those of us in Owasso, she isn’t going anywhere.
Michelle is leaving television news altogether and joining EquipmentShare as a Territory Account Manager, working in outside sales and business development with contractors and construction companies throughout the Tulsa area.
It may sound like a dramatic career change, but Michelle says the skills that will take her into this next chapter are the same ones that have carried her through nearly three decades in news: building relationships, connecting with people, solving problems and earning trust.
“I’m genuinely excited about getting out into the community in this role and learning an entirely new business and seeing what I can do in a sales role where my success is really in my own hands,” Michelle said.
EquipmentShare is a fast-growing company that combines construction equipment with technology and other jobsite solutions. In an interesting twist, the company is headquartered in Columbia, Missouri — the same community Michelle and her family called home before moving to Oklahoma.
The decision to leave television didn’t happen overnight.
As the news industry changed over the years, Michelle realized she had changed, too. The demanding hours, constant changes within the industry and sacrifices that come with a career in television eventually took their toll.
And somewhere along the way, one thing became increasingly clear.
Time matters.
“The older I get, the more I realize time is the most precious gift,” she said.
Michelle spent more than two years searching for an opportunity outside of a newsroom, discovering along the way that many employers didn’t understand just how many skills a television journalist develops behind the scenes.
A news anchor’s job is about far more than sitting behind a desk and reading a teleprompter. It’s communicating, thinking quickly, meeting people from every walk of life, handling pressure, earning trust, telling stories, solving problems and building relationships day after day.
Eventually, someone saw it.
A hiring manager at EquipmentShare recognized how Michelle’s experience and abilities could translate into a sales and relationship-building role and saw an opportunity as the company continues to grow in the Tulsa area.
For Michelle, landing that opportunity close to home made it even sweeter.
“This is home,” she said. “I’m excited that this next chapter still lets me be out in the community and build relationships with people here, just without the 1 a.m. alarm clock.”
Those of us in Owasso know Michelle as more than the woman we see on television in the morning. She’s our neighbor. She’s been part of our community, shown up for our events, shared our stories and spent years helping Green Country start its day.
Walking away from a career you’ve spent nearly 30 years building takes courage — especially when you’re walking toward an industry you’ve never worked in before.
But sometimes the next chapter isn’t about starting over.
It’s about taking everything you’ve learned, everything you’re good at and everything you’ve become — and using it somewhere new.
Michelle’s last morning on FOX23 will be September 11.
After that, she’ll trade the anchor desk for a new adventure, the newsroom for jobsites and, apparently, her television hair for a hard hat.
And knowing Michelle, she’ll probably make that look good, too.
Congratulations, Michelle. Owasso is lucky that while you’re saying goodbye to television, we don’t have to say goodbye to you.
Here’s to sleeping past 1 a.m., taking back some of that precious time, and discovering just how great the next chapter can be.
