STAN Mentoring Success

The latest STAN mentoring scheme has been one of our best yet.

Starting back in January 2025, we paired NaSTA alumni with current students. One participant was Erin Price of XTV Exeter, who has ambitions of working in the world of TV News. We matched her up with Nick Stylianou, a BAFTA-winning journalist at Sky News, and once of Rhubarb TV Royal Holloway.

We spoke to Erin to find out exactly what the STAN mentoring scheme can offer...

My name is Erin Price, and I am studying Politics at the University of Exeter. I joined XTV, our university’s student TV station, and my dream is to work my way up to becoming a news presenter, so student television is the perfect place to gain experience and develop skills that I will need in the future.

I am always actively looking for opportunities to gain industry experience and career guidance, and the STAN mentoring scheme stood out as a way to learn directly through professionals.

My initial meeting with my mentor, Nick Stylianou, was great. We talked about what Nick does in Sky News being a specialist producer, and what to expect day-to-day working in a busy newsroom. He was genuinely interested in my career aspirations, and he offered me interesting advice. One piece that I particularly remember, is to present your news as if you were talking to people down the pub, so everyone can understand it. That really stuck with me, as keeping news accessible and engaging to everyone is super important.

Since the scheme started in January, I have been catching up with Nick once a month over Zoom. Regular conversations have been extremely useful for my personal development- not only have they provided me the chance to ask direct questions regarding the industry and build my confidence, but also, they have challenged me with completing ‘homework’ tasks to be professionally critiqued on. It has truly helped me understand what a career within news would involve.

In August, I was lucky enough to visit the Sky Central campus in Osterley with Nick. He introduced me to various people in the newsroom, from those working on podcasts to his boss. I was particularly excited to meet the Sky Sports correspondent, Rob Harris- I have seen many of his interviews, and as a big football fan, it was great to chat with him.

I was able to experience a proper workday. I attended meetings and worked on a piece with Home Editor Jason Farrell and my mentor, Nick Stylianou. I even had the chance to contribute some opinions that Jason took on board, which was a great experience. It was fascinating to see how a piece comes together live, and both Jason and Nick were extremely friendly and supportive throughout.

I also noticed that the Sky campus has a strong sense of community- people genuinely enjoy their work, and the facilities show that the company really cares about its employees.

The mentoring scheme has been hugely helpful with shaping my career ambitions. Through regular communication with Nick, I have gained understanding of the day-to-day workings of a busy newsroom, learned what skills are needed, and gained advice on how to develop them. Visiting Sky and seeing professionals at work provided me a real sense of what a career in news involves. The scheme has truly motivated me to follow my goals and pursue opportunities within journalism and broadcasting.

I would absolutely recommend the mentoring scheme to other students looking to get into TV. The scheme provides huge insight into the industry with personalised guidance- it is truly a great stepping stone for a career within TV.

If you want to sign up for our next instalment, you can do so here before October 31^st:

STAN Mentoring Signup