My Mentor: Emma Crosby On Maria Bartiromo

'She got into the stock exchange and reported live. It transformed business news'

I've always admired Maria Bartiromo because she encapsulates everything you would want in a broadcast journalist. She has managed to mix beauty and brains to an extent not seen before and she has done business news a whole world of good. She was labelled the "money honey", but it wasn't that which made her such an inspiration to me, but that she was such a hard worker and a tough cookie.

I spent a lot of time working in New York for CNBC. I was introduced to her as soon as I went over and we used to do live chats on the early morning breakfast show. She is incredibly polite and professional and she's got a huge following. Business news doesn't always have that wow factor but she makes it accessible, glamorous and interesting.

She was the first journalist to stand on the floor of the New York stock exchange, which transformed the way business news was broadcast. It's an old-fashioned institution that didn't want media intrusion, but she got herself in and reported live as the markets opened. She paved the way for all the journalists who go in and do that now.

She made the news recently with a comment about Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve chairman). People have criticised her and said they've lost billions as a result, but it shows she can move the markets. She's built that up through years of getting up at five and being on the phone: talking to traders, her sources and trying to work out what the news of the day is.

I'm a mainstream newscaster at Sky, but my getting into journalism all started with Martyn Hurd, who was the director of resources at ITN.

I managed to secure an internship there during university. If I hadn't had that experience, which was facilitated by Martyn, I probably wouldn't have gone into journalism. Every time I've had a job offer since I will always give Martyn a call and he'll help me decide what to do.

Emma Crosby presents Sky News' Weekend Sunrise. Maria Bartiromo is a CNBC anchor