About Me

Some people may have ice water running through their veins, thumbnailbut I’m pretty sure ink runs through mine. Journalism is essentially the family business — my Poppy, dad and uncle have spent more than 50 years combined at the Wall Street Journal — and I’ve known since I was five years old that journalism was the career path I wanted to take. I grew up hearing my dad’s stories — sailing across the Atlantic in a small boat, becoming a professional wrestler, having a Mexican cabinet member sneak over to our house under cover of darkness to spill secrets (Dad was a Pulitzer finalist for that one) — and journalism captivated me.

Over time, I’ve gotten a few fun stories of my own.

In typical Carroll fashion, my dad and I have turned our journalism into a competition. I’ll mention to him that, among others, I’ve interviewed Olympians, World Cup champions, Super Bowl winners, World Series winners and top draft picks, and he’ll remind me that he’s interviewed people with a combined net worth of billions of dollars — and that’s just Bill Gates and Carlos Slim.

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I found my way into sports journalism because it allowed me to write features at the UC Berkeley student newspaper, The Daily Californian, and features are what I love to do more than just about anything.  I’ve always loved words, and journalism fits that love perfectly. I eagerly devour whatever articles, features, and books I can get my hands on that have to do with sports (and, actually, just about anything else, too).  I’ve subscribed to “Sports Illustrated” for as long as I can remember, so I was over-the-moon that I got to intern there the summer before my senior year. (I’m still pinching myself about that one.) And being on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” was an incredible experience; Bob Ley is one of my idols. thumbnail-2

Basically, I’m so lucky that I’ve found a career path that lets me combine my love of sports with my passion for writing.

Want to know EVEN MORE about me?

  • I was a competitive horseback rider for 12 years, ultimately jumping 4-foot-6 fences with my horse, Tango. (And freaking my parents out along the way.)
  • I was a Latin American studies major at Cal. Random? Yep! I was actually born in Mexico City (my dad ran the WSJ bureau there), and my first language was Spanish. My first sentence was “dámelo” (“give me that”).
  • I can make the best chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had. And if you ever need a pie baked, I’m your girl. People call me the “Pie Goddess.” (Well, maybe I’m the only one who calls myself that, but, still…)
  • When moving to my first apartment, I had to get a moving truck almost solely because of my books. (I had 15 boxes!) thumbnail-3
  • A friend’s wedding took place at the same time of Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and Thunder, so I was that person who had the game up on my phone during dinner. (Sorry, Courtney!)
  • I’ve backpacked the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail.
  • I have a more-than-slightly-neurotic dog who is the cutest and cuddliest thing in the whole wide world. So I’m almost always covered in dog hair.
  • It’s my goal to see every movie on AFI’s list of “100 Movies… 100 Classics.” So far, I’m up to 83.
  • Top four items on my bucket list: Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef, see the Northern Lights in Iceland, attend the Chiang Mai Lantern Festival and frolic among the lupines of Lake Tekapo.

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