by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
This is another in a series on area executives and political and community leaders who have played prominent roles in the development of Downtown or Jacksonville as a whole over the years. Some are still in the area, working or retired or a bit of both. Some have moved away and are working in other areas of the state or country. The series continues with Joyce Morgan Danford.
What she did: Television news anchor at Ch. 4
What she’s doing now: Image and Spa Consultant, motivational speaker and television show co-host
“Life is about going with the flow.”
That’s how Joyce Morgan Danford sums up her career that began with a degree in education from Jacksonville State University in Alabama and has led to her latest avocation as an image consultant and motivational speaker. Between college and today, she worked for several major national corporations and as a professional model.
Danford eventually got into the television business and was in front of the camera at stations in Texas and Georgia and while in Atlanta in 1983, she got her big break. She was chosen out of a field of more than 4,000 applicants to host a new syndicated show called “PM Magazine.” That assignment eventually brought her to Jacksonville, where Danford was a regular guest in thousands of homes as part of the reporting and news anchor team at Ch. 4.
Nov. 30 marked the fourth anniversary of Danford’s departure from the station and the beginning of the next phase of her professional life as an entrepreneur.
“I haven’t really changed careers, I’ve just added to it continually,” she said looking back on her resume.
She also added a husband to her life, Jacksonville Urban League President Richard Danford. The couple has three children
While on air at Ch. 4, she also began her image consulting business and was involved in community projects and public service. Danford served on the boards of the First Tee of North Florida, the Children’s Home Society and the American Diabetes Association, to name a few. She’s currently vice-chair of the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life” at Edward Waters College.
Since she left her full-time television job four years ago, she has been developing and conducting customized professional and personal development programs for corporations, schools and individuals.
Danford was also offered a couple of opportunities to get back in front of the camera and took advantage of both in addition to her other endeavors. She co-hosts a monthly television journal for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and a program produced by Duval County Public Schools that airs on Public Television.
“I think I suffer from overachiever’s syndrome,” she said, “When the JTA show presented itself, I said ‘I’ve done that before’ and I love reporting and being in front of the camera.”
In addition to reporting and co-hosting, Danford also gets to write scripts and help edit the programs. She said her on-camera colleagues, JTA Executive Director Michael Blaylock and Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals, make the television part of her work particularly enjoyable.
“I have the greatest co-hosts and they’re both leaders in the community,” said Danford. “It also allows me to be creative. I always loved that about television and it’s what I love about what I’m doing now.”
Another similarity between her career in television and being an entrepreneur, she added, is having fun.
“It’s phenomenal to be able to use everything I have learned in my life and to be out in the community every day. Seeing people is still my life. I’m excited about what I’m doing because I’m still able to touch people’s lives and maybe be a part of making their lives better,” said Danford.
When asked what’s next for Joyce Morgan Danford, she thought for just a second then replied, “I’d like to get on the national speakers circuit or maybe write a book. Either or – well, both would be great.”
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