JET-SETTING PRODUCER STAYS ROOTED WITH FAMILY
Come Monday, when many people are fighting traffic to get to work, Kim Gagne is boarding a 6 a.m. flight to Chicago with just a handbag, no luggage.
She catches the train into the city, grabs a cup of coffee and settles in for a 10 a.m. meeting.
That’s the jet-setting life of the supervising producer of the “Steve Harvey” show. She works weekdays in Chicago and returns to her family in Houston on weekends. She has an apartment in the Windy City, so she rarely packs luggage, going or coming
The talk show, which is taped at the NBC building in Chicago, airs on Fox 26.
“I’ve gotten it down to a science,” says Gagne, 51, who has been with the show for three years. “Going to Chicago is like driving to The Woodlands for me. I can’t keep this up forever. Right now, it’s working.”
Gagne has been on a career high, winning an Emmy Award for the show in April. She also won one last year. A red-carpet celebration with friends and family was held last month in her honor at the Gite Gallery.
“People spend their entire career chasing this award,” she said. “You have to be connected to the right show. There are so many people who are more talented but never get this. I feel blessed.”
Gagne supervises a staff of seven in shaping the show’s episodes, booking guests and managing the production with various departments.
“We have celebrities on the show, but we’re not a celebrity show,” she said. “We have real people. People who may have never flown on an airplane before coming to Chicago. We get everyday people doing extraordinary things.”
Gagne, who was born in the Fifth Ward and graduated from St. Thomas University, always dreamed of working in television. She imagined herself on the “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” when she was just 7 years old.
For 22 years, she’s been married to Emilian White, whom she met during her backstage interview with MC Hammer. He was working for Majic 102 FM at the time. They have three children: Kameron, 19, a sophomore studying illustration at Minneapolis College of Art and Design; Emaya, 15, a high school sophomore; and Max- emilian, 10, a fifth-grader.
“I was a little girl from the Fifth Ward. I didn’t know anything about TV, but I never wavered,” Gagne said. “You skip a lot of stuff trying to find yourself when you know what you’re called to do.”
After interning at Fox 26 and later serving as managing editor, she worked as a producer for KHOU, Channel 11, for 13 years. She eventually went to work with “Judge Alex,” which also was taped at Fox 26. When the show moved to Los Angeles, Gagne moved, too. She was initially reluctant.
“I was not going to go. I had three kids, but my husband said going to Los Angeles would be a game changer for me. And it was,” she said. “He literally pushed me out the door and said, ‘You need to go to L.A.’”
Longtime friend and Houstonian Rushion McDonald, who also is Harvey’s business partner, offered Gagne the chance to work on Harvey’s TV show. It meant another move, and again Gagne was hesitant to leave her family.
“The mommy guilt is real, but I couldn’t do this if I was worried about home. Emilian takes care of that.”
In August, Gagne will be the co-executive producer of Harvey’s Neighborhood Awards in Atlanta. The event will feature performances by singers Babyface, Tyrese and Usher. Her dream is to produce mega award shows, such as the BET Awards and the Grammys.
Standing in her east Houston home wearing a Milly dress and Donald J Pliner sandals, Gagne talks spiritedly about her career journey, which also has involved a style evolution.
“In the newsroom, no one cared about fashion,” she says. “I used to wear jeans and a T-shirt. But now, since I’m meeting with celebrities and people from different walks of life, I have to look presentable. You have to step up.”
For the Emmys ceremony, Gagne went searching for the perfect shoe and found it at a Stuart Weitzman store.
“The sales lady told me these were the same shoes Solange wore when she kicked Jay-Z in the elevator, so I had to get them,” she said.
“I told her she gave me the best story to go with these shoes.”
joy.sewing@chron.com