Source: This Day Live
CNN's famous International news anchor and correspondent Isha Sesay, possesses a rare blend of beauty and brains.

The British Journalist of Sierra Leonean parentage chats up with Style Correspondent Moji Allen on her Life, her Career and Women in Business at the Women Inspiration and Enterprise Award night.

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1. Away from the light and camera, who is Isha Sesay?

Away from the cameras, I am a homebody who likes to spend time with her husband, watching movies, catching up on her sleep and wearing sneakers and baseball caps.

2. As an African woman, what are your thoughts on how women development and enhancement can be promoted in Nigeria?

I think the keys to the enhancement of women in Nigeria and more broadly speaking women on the continent is education and empowerment. All women need to receive a quality education and acquire a sense of empowerment to fully realize their inherent potential.

3. Tell us a bit about your participation with WIE Symposium women conference holding in Lagos.

WIE is a wonderful organization with a great mission of bringing women together as means for inspiration and networking. I had the pleasure of being a speaker at an event they had in NYC last Summer about women in the news. And following on from that  they invited me to Nigeria to be the spotlight speaker at their Lagos event. I feel very honoured to be part of their first event in Nigeria.

4. Tell us a bit more about your 'W.E. Can Lead' initiative?

I'm building a nonprofit organization called "Women Everywhere Can Lead" (W.E. Can Lead) The mission is to educate and empower girls across Africa. We are starting our operations in Sierra Leone because that is where I am from.

Our Young Leaders development program is a key part of our work. We will provide educational assistance and mentoring to exceptional girls. That mentoring will be supplemented with classroom tuition at a facility in Freetown. We want to nurture the next generation of female leaders across the continent. Female decision makers across every level of society is key to Africa's sustainable growth and development.

Our program implementation will begin in 2015.

Check out our website for more details: www.we-canlead.org

5. At what point did you come to a realisation that journalism was your calling and even then, and perhaps now do you have any doubt about your chosen career?

I realized when I was in university that I wanted to explore issues and shine a light on often ignored stories. I worked on the University newspaper and launched my own college magazine. When I got into tv, I hosted a variety of different types of shows before I made my way back to journalism. It was like coming home. The right fit. I love my job and I have no career regrets.

6. As a seasoned journalist, is it always practicality over sentiments, or are you allowed to be in touch with your emotions while covering your stories and what of the many stories you've covered will you consider as the most inspiring.

While they teach you in journalism school to always remain in dispassionate that is not always possible. Take for example the sinking of the ferry off South Korea, how could you not be moved by all those children losing their lives as they went on a school trip. That was a very difficult story for many to cover, myself included. The key is not to let the emotion cloud your judgment and adversely affect the way you do your job.

7. As a TV personality, how will you define your style, does your personal style reflect in the outfits picked out for you onset?

My TV style is relaxed elegance. I like to look feminine. I don't wear short skirts, I like my dresses, skirts to the knee. One of my closest friends, Stacey Brice, is also my stylist. She does an amazing job of sourcing outfits, having things tailored and putting together great looks. She is amazing!

8. What are your thoughts on the 236 girls kidnapped from their school in North East Nigeria recently and why do you think foreign media attention has not been as intense as the South Korea ferry sinking or the missing Malaysian Airlines airplanes?

Like most Nigerians I am outraged at the kidnapping of these girls. It is so shocking to me that these girls who were simply trying to better themselves, by going to school could be snatched from the beds in the middle of the night and disappeared. I cannot even begin to imagine the grief that the affected families are enduring.

I think the reason the story hasn't dominated foreign news cycles is simply because of the information blackout, there have been no press briefings with updates on the search and also the fact that unlike all the stories of recent times like the ferry sinking in South Korea and the missing Malaysian plane there hasn't been wholesale access to the families affected. All that means there has been a shortage of images and individual stories for international audiences to really connect to.

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