Lisa Robertson’s mother used to tell her teenage daughter that she’d never get a job shopping and talking on the phone. “It was the only thing she was ever wrong about,” says Robertson.
But even Robertson is surprised that she’s been able to parlay two of her favorite pastimes into a 17-year career as a host on QVC, working with a long list of celebrity guests, including Joan Rivers and Vanessa Williams. “When I was growing up, home-shopping television didn’t exist,” says Robertson. “I had no idea this could be a career for me.”
Earlier this year, QVC veered from its traditional programming format for the first time with The Lisa Robertson Show, which offers a more relaxed, personalized approach to selling. Robertson selects all the products featured, interviewing many of the top names in fashion and beauty.
The onetime Miss Tennessee started at a small shopping channel in her home state. “I was on air live up to 30 hours a week,” she recalls.
Robertson was working at another home-shopping channel in Knoxville, Tenn., when she interviewed at QVC. “I thought there was no way I’d move up here,” she says. She was wrong. “I have such a great job,” Robertson says. “QVC shoppers are like having a lot of friends that you run into all the time.”
