The Secret Of My Success: Lisa l'Anson

LISA L'ANSON is a former MTV presenter and the voice behind Radio 1's weekend lunchtime shows. She is currently organising a three-day concert in Ghana on behalf of Luciano Pavarotti's charity, War Child.

"After completing a radio journalism course at Westminster University I thought that I really hated radio and didn't want to do it at all. So I took a year out travelling and then, when I came back, a friend offered me a job at KISS FM.

"The station was still in its pirate days and I really liked the music, so I accepted. I was presenting a magazine programme called Word which went out at the weekends, so I continued my day job in a fashion PR company to pay my bills.

"Everything was very casual at KISS FM. After three years, when the station became legal, Word was broadcast five days a week and I was finally offered a full-time job. Although I loved my fashion job, I was very pleased because I loved the music and the uncomplicated way that they worked. I stayed there for another two years.

"From Kiss FM I moved to BBC1. I was really lucky because the head of youth entertainment heard me on the radio and was impressed with my work. In fact most of my career moves have resulted from friends who recommended me or purely from the fact that, like many in media, I was in the right place at the right time.

"From the BBC I moved to MTV, and I also did some shows for Channel 4 before I made it onto Radio 1.

"Even though I do not have a role model, there is one woman in the media industry whom I really admire and look up to and that's Oprah Winfrey. She has a strong personality and does exactly what she wants. I try to do the same.

"The best advice I can give to anybody is to be yourself. Be true to yourself and believe that you can get anything you want. And surely I'm living proof of that."