Meet Cody Thomas | News Producer & Correspondent

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cody Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cody, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Well, I don’t know if I’d necessarily refer to myself as “successful” just yet, given I still have a running list of achievements I want to accomplish. Maybe that’s just it…I’m rarely satisfied and continuously chasing the notion of “what’s next?” It’s not that I don’t enjoy the present and the coveted journey that many successful people speak about, but it’s a matter of never wanting to feel stagnant. I like to go about my life in as strategic and calculated a way as possible. The best way I can describe it is like playing a game of pool — you don’t line up and put a ball in a corner pocket just for the elation of sinking that ONE ball; you line up that shot to position the cue ball in the best place possible for the NEXT shot, and the process continuously repeats. That’s the way I go about my life, especially my career…lining up an opportunity placed in front of me in a way that allows for the next opportunity that comes to reap the most benefit to my future success. I know that’s long-winded, but as I think about it, this continuous process is what has brought me to where I am today in these short five years of my television career so far. That, and the other two most important things: discipline and sacrifice.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I feel like after five years, my career has only really just begun. I work in television news, so no one day is the same as the next by any means. I’ll try to keep the story as brief as possible. Once I graduated from Kennesaw State University with my degree in journalism, it took me about a year post-grad to land my first TV job as a general assignment reporter in Savannah, GA. I moved there from Atlanta in July of 2019, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my life thus far…not only due to the fact I was leaving all my friends and loved ones to move four hours away (which yes, I know is not THAT far in retrospect), but also the workload that came with being a TV reporter during COVID, the civil uprising surrounding Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, the 2020 election season, and everything else in between was rough, to say the least. But, that job gave me a professional TV reel that opened plenty of doors after my two-year contract ended. I moved back to Atlanta and took an associate producer job with CNN. It was such a great experience during my time there, and because my higher-ups knew about my on-air background, they decided to make me the face of a national news special we did on the water crisis in Jackson, MS. That was my first taste of being on national TV, which was nothing short of awesome for me at that time. Things were going well until I was affected by massive layoffs at the company, which in turn, landed me where I am now at the true crime network, Court TV. I came into Court TV a little disappointed, because I saw CNN as my dream job that was ripped away from me, but now looking back, Court TV has given me WAY more than I could have imagined a little more than a year ago. In less than a year, I was promoted and put back on national television as a producer and correspondent for the network, and I credit that to my executive and senior producer really believing in me and thinking I could positively contribute to the network’s brand (thanks Kerry and Robynn!). These last five years haven’t necessarily been easy, but they sure have proven themselves rewarding, and I’m mostly proud of myself for staying true to my ideals and my strategic approach to my career, because the exciting part about it all is that, ultimately, the decisions I made for myself are what put me here. That leaves open a huge window of excitement about what the future may bring and what MORE I can do for myself as the years go on. I really feel like I’m just now warming up.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I grew up in Stone Mountain, and anyone who knows me knows that at some point, we WILL be hiking up that mountain if you come visit me, regardless of who you are. After that, I’d say we’d get lunch at maybe…Restaurant 356 that overlooks the track at the Porsche Experience near the airport. I took my dad there for his birthday for the first time last year, and it was one of the coolest spots I’d been to in the city. I’d probably take them to Nine Mile Station on top of Ponce City Market because what’s more Atlanta-tourist friendly than dinner at Ponce? Then, we’d probably end the night at Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room in Edgewood. It’s my favorite casual bar in the city, and it’s…eccentric, to say the least. I mean, that’s just one full day. The next day, I’d probably take them to brunch at Lady Bird on the Belt Line, then walk down to Piedmont Park to chill until we got hungry again and then go to eat at Park Tavern right there on the park. I don’t know, Atlanta’s a vast city, but I feel like I’d want to hit all the recognizable spots while they were here. Little Five Points, the Coca-Cola Museum, the Georgia Aquarium…We’d hit all those and then I’d figure something else out for all the in-between time.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I don’t want to sound too cliche, but I owe the majority of my success to my immediate family: my mom, dad, and younger brother. They’ve all played incredibly specific roles into the blueprint of how I tackle my day-to-day life, and more importantly, how I deal and cope with adversity. To break it down one-by-one, I’ll start with my mom, who I without a doubt feel is the most nurturing and caring mom who exists today. I know maintaining a house of three men must not have been as easy a task as she made it look growing up, especially being the girly-girl that she is, but the strength that emanated from her and her work ethic was always something I admired. And, she never failed to remind me to not let anyone “steal my joy,” as she’d say. Then there’s my dad, who truly radiated that traditional “head of the household” energy. Being the military man he is, he fervently raised my brother and I to believe in discipline and sacrifice. Those were his two primary ideals that he preached to us, telling us that there was a “lot of **** that you ain’t going to want to do, but a man has to do them anyway.” Any time, and I mean ANY and EVERY time I catch myself feeling overwhelmed, or feeling as if I just really do NOT want to be doing something, that phrase plays in the back of my head like a broken record. It’s carried me through some tough stuff career-wise in the past couple of years, like moving away from my friends for two years, or taking a job where the hours were 2am to 10am, but those sacrifices have brought me to the position I’m in now with my career and I’m more than thankful he instilled that into me. Lastly, there’s my younger brother, who is five years younger than me, but is probably years wiser. It’s not often that an older brother looks up to their younger brother, but with a little brother like mine, it’s nearly impossible not to. His care-free attitude through all facets of life and not taking himself too seriously has always been admirable. And of course, there’s a catch phrase that comes with him, too. Any time things get stressful and I vent it out to him, his response is simple: “Ain’t nothing to it.” That’s it, that’s literally all. I could be on my hands and knees, but that one simple phrase never fails to pick me back up. So, not to take up too much time, but my immediate family is solely the reason I’m where I am today.

Instagram: codythomas_

Other: News Reel – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COdtiR37QnA&t=1s