Candice Smith Balances Her Career and Motherhood
While most people are in deep sleep at 3 a.m., Candice Smith, 32, is at the television station scanning dozens of Virginia Department of Transportation cameras throughout Central Virginia, checking for updates every 10 minutes.
“We have all sorts of reports that come in, from a tree down to a serious crash. I also try to remind people of the construction projects, prioritizing what will impact people,” says Smith, 12 On Your Side’s 12 About Town and Traffic Anchor.
Smith, who has been with 12 On Your Side, Central Virginia’s NBC affiliate, since 2013, finds traffic reporting fulfilling. Her goal is to help viewers maneuver each weekday morning through what sometimes feels like a highway minefield.
“When I’m out and about, people will say ‘thank you for telling me about that construction. I went another way,’” she says. “It really makes my day.”
Later in the morning, Smith switches her focus to the midday 12 On Your Side segment, a potpourri of lifestyle happenings in the community, everything from restaurant openings to local events.
“It has taken our community involvement to another level,” says the always effervescent Smith. “It’s 30 minutes of lighter, refreshing news, and it’s pretty cool. I am happy to be part of it.”
And while viewers take her advice and listen to her suggestions each day, that’s only a small snippet of Smith’s life. There’s much more to Smith than just her television segments.
Sports, Oprah, and Television
A proud Roanoke native, Smith was very involved in her church and sports — think basketball and track — during her youth and high school years. Her family-oriented childhood, with her parents and younger sister, provided a strong foundation for her future.
Ever since she can remember, she has always enjoyed being happy and making others happy. “Life is too short to be stuck in anything else,” she says, noting she likes to provide friends and family a shoulder to lean on. “It’s okay to be sad, talk through those feelings, and get back to happy.”
As a child, Smith loved everything about school. She decided on her career pathway in the fourth grade when her teacher gave the class the assignment to interview another classmate. On the day of the interview, Smith showed up in one of her Sunday Easter outfits, a blazer and skirt. “I had index cards. I took it seriously,” she says. “It was so exciting to interview and talk to people. I thought I was Oprah.”
She was no stranger to the news or reporting. She would always watch the news with her dad, who had a degree in mass communications/media, and the two would talk all about what was covered.
She also came by her athleticism naturally. Both of her parents were basketball players at Radford University and are still very involved with the school. Her father was inducted into the Radford Hall of Fame in 1995.
As she approached college decision time, Smith decided she didn’t want to be in her parents’ shadow, so she decided to set out on her own path.
She was familiar with VCU and was impressed with the University’s mass communications curriculum. She also liked the fact that the school was located in a city a little larger than Roanoke. “That all excited me,” she says. “I thought VCU was so unique and different. Also, my dad’s siblings live in Richmond.”
When she came to the University in 2010, she thought about trying out for the track team “because it was so good,” she says. “But I didn’t think I could balance track and find the career I wanted. Sports is such a commitment.”
Smith instead took a job at a shoe store in Willow Lawn and began trying to figure out how to break into the world of local news. She eventually found her way into broadcast news through an entry level part-time job she landed with NBC12 as an editor while she was still in school. She started in 2013, the summer before her last year at VCU.
“I saw that Ryan Nobles (who now covers Congress for NBC News) and Sean Collins-Smith (a screenwriter and producer), who both worked at Channel 12 at the time, were teaching [at VCU], so I took their classes,” she says. “I was able to use them as recommendations.”
After about eight months of being behind the scenes at the station, Smith began shadowing reporters and anchors, often coming in to work on her days off. “I told them I wanted more. About six months later, I was recording weekend traffic and shadowing Tracy Lynn. My boss let me record a traffic alert, and that turned into filling in for Tracy. I started doing traffic full time in 2016 and then 12 About Town full time in 2018.”
Andrew Freiden, 12 On Your Side’s morning meteorologist, remembers when Smith began training on traffic reporting. “My first impression – she was great. She had all the tools she needed for success, and she was working really hard,” he says. “None of her success has been a surprise to me at all.”
Early Morning Calls and Family Matters
To be ready for her on-air appearance at 4:30 a.m., Smith arrives at the station between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m. She begins her day by doing her own makeup and hair. She readies the traffic report and begins on-air preparations. “I am looking at the traffic maps and the data. I’m on television until about 9 a.m. straight with no break,” she says.
She gets a short break to prepare for 12 About Town, then she’s back on air for another 30 minutes. “It’s a long but satisfying day,” she says. “I usually get off between 12:30 and 1 p.m. By the end of it, I am exhausted.”
Even more so now that she is a mom.
Smith met her husband during the last part of her time at VCU. “I had met him at a couple of events,” she says. “We were cordial for a while, nothing too serious because I had just started working at 12. I wasn’t focused on boys. They were not my priority.”
When her responsibilities at work grew, she shifted her focus to her overall career, but her now husband weathered her dedication to work and her odd hours, proving to Smith “he was a good guy,” she says. “Everything with him was easy. I started understanding he wasn’t intimidated by all of it. He was supportive and helpful.”
The two had fun together. They would often just go to an arcade and laugh or get a pizza and “sit in the park and watch the sunset,” she says. “He was very good to my family. They loved him immediately. He is a really good guy.”
The two married in 2022. Shortly after marrying, Smith became pregnant with their first child. Unfortunately for her, she was sick the entire time. “I had all day sickness,” she says. “It got to the point where I would have to get IV fluids. I was hoarse. I was violently throwing up so much. I had trashcans everywhere. It was a rough pregnancy. Being on camera pregnant and puffy is hard.”
The couple’s daughter, whom Smith lovingly calls “baby girl” on TV, was born in 2023. “Her birth was interesting. I went to a doctor’s appointment thinking I would go for lunch with friends afterward,” she says.
The doctor had a different idea, telling Smith she was having the baby that day. “She was a healthy seven pounds and nine ounces,” Smith says. “She is the happiest baby you will ever meet.”
Smith’s daughter, now a toddler, is always up for playing when Smith gets off work, precluding an afternoon nap for Mom after a long day. “There’s no sleep around here,” Smith says, adding that when her daughter goes to sleep around 7 p.m., Smith has to start doing her chores at home.
Smith and her husband knew they wanted to expand their family, and Smith became pregnant with their second child, a boy, in 2024. This pregnancy is much easier on her than the first. She’s only had to get IVs a couple of times.
Everybody has an Opinion
Being pregnant and on television is not for the weak, Smith says. “When you’re pregnant, it’s extra hard. You have to try to find something that fits.”
Viewers start calling into the station before 9 a.m. to say they don’t like what Smith is wearing that day. “We don’t have stylists, we do all of this ourselves,” she says. “Being pregnant adds an extra layer.”
During her first pregnancy, it was difficult for her to get out of bed to come to work because she was so sick. When she made it in, she often received email comments about her that were “brutal” she says. “It’s tough to keep going because people are so harsh.”
The comments were not only rude and hurtful, but some are too vile for print. One viewer told her she looked like an elephant; another said it looked like the seams in her dress were going to rip. “People are heartless,” Smith says, adding she doesn’t usually respond to comments. “There was one woman who would comment every day that she didn’t like my outfit, and I did respond to that by telling her I’m doing the best I can as a pregnant woman.”
Award-winning 12 On Your Side Morning Anchor Sarah Bloom has also received these types of comments from viewers. “We’ve all gotten them,” she says. “People expect perfection, but we are not perfect. Our job isn’t to be supermodels on television. Our job is to bring information to people. The critiques we get can be super unkind.”
What viewers need to know is that Smith is “balancing tough stuff,” Bloom says. “I hope other women see her and see it’s okay to pursue a career and be a mom. They need to do that instead of tearing people down.”
The bond that Smith has with coworkers helps her navigate the comments she receives. “My coworkers are my family. It’s good to have them,” she says.
From the beginning, she has found a common ground with Freiden when it comes to competition. “Both of us have an athletic background, and in general, we are competitive,” he says. “She is my buddy on the morning show. We think the same about a lot of things,” he adds. “It’s great to work with her.”
Freiden likes to spotlight the layup competition between them at the annual VCU women’s basketball SupportHER game. “She and I were in a layup competition against each other, and it didn’t go well for her,” he said. “For the rest of our lives she will be unhappy with me about that. She likes to win.”
Looking ahead, Smith hopes to see the 12 On Your Side segment expanded. “Once the kids get older, I would like to get out in the community more. I like putting smiles on people’s faces and helping people,” she says. “The part of my job that is the most fun for me is having conversations with guests.”
There are so many different sides to Smith, Bloom says. “There’s fashionable Candice, competitive, sporty Candice, really thoughtful Candice, and talented Candice. She can do any job they throw at her.”
The important thing to know, she adds, is Smith is a mom with young kids. “She’s working hard and doing an amazing job. She’s an incredible woman.”
