PROFILE: Jillian Barberie – small town to the business of rejection

Jillian Barberie grew up in a middle-class home in Burlington, Ontario, raised by an electrician and a nurse. As a child, she figure skated every day—before and after school. It was her passion and she pursued it with discipline. But little did she know: the life ahead of her would be worlds away from Burlington.

“I tweeted two days ago saying, ‘I would’ve loved to have moved to a quaint town’, and I’m thinking to myself ‘that’s where I came from… Really all I want is what I grew up with.’”

Barberie had quite the journey after she graduated high school at Assumption Catholic Secondary School in Burlington.

“I really thought about what I wanted to do and then I realized it was television. So, I tried to get into Ryerson and I couldn’t, so I went to Mohawk College… and I said ‘I’m going to make the best of what I got and either you have it or you don’t.’” Barberie surely “had it.”

After Barberie graduated from Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, she got her first job at The Weather Network in Montreal, Québec. Even though Barberie wasn’t passionate about the weather, she still made the best of what she got for the time being. She was getting, “tired of the snow in Montreal and wanted to work in the sunshine.” She called a producer in Hollywood to send her to Miami or L.A, but he mentioned she would need a good tape since she only did the weather.

“I decided to think outside the box. So instead of me doing perfect weather, I did all the f— up stuff; like when a light goes out, timer goes off, somebody walks in your shot drunk. I sent him all of those and he hired me. So, he sent me to Miami.”

For the duration that Barberie was in Miami, she was visualizing bigger and better. “I was thinking my next stop is L.A and then I’m going to New York and I want to be with Regis. That was my dream job.”

Barberie was transferred to KTTV in Los Angeles. She also did some gigs in New York, but it never worked out for her in the Big Apple. L.A is where she wanted to be, so she was quite satisfied.

“I’ve had good and bad jobs here. I’ve had shows that people don’t watch and shows that millions watch; like the NFL. If things are good, they’re good. If things are bad, they’re bad. They fire you. Whatever. I try and look at it that way. It’s a business of rejection.”

Barberie is great at looking on the positive side of things. Her attitude has brought her great success. While in Los Angeles, the Burlington-raised television personality, made a pretty big name for herself. Barberie got hired to do the weather on Fox Sports for the Fox NFL Sunday pre-game show. In addition, Barberie joined Good Day L.A, where most of her fans know her from.

“That was my family for almost twenty years. I woke up and helped people wake up in L.A… It was an honour. We got to fight on it. It wasn’t bulls—; it was real. Sometimes we would storm off, then we’d cool off. It was me, Steve and Dorothy and we became closer after everything broke up… We had an amazing run. Did we have fun? Yes, we did. Did we change television? Yes, we did.”

During Barberie’s time at Good Day L.A entertaining people every morning, she was also doing 17 other shows. Some of these shows included; 90210, Melrose Place, MADtv, and many more. She also hosted EX-treme Dating.

While being in that challenging industry, Barberie says that she’s been fortunate. She mentions that she has thick skin and doesn’t get offended easily. On the other hand, some of the women in the industry are hostile. She doesn’t let that stop her though.

“I compete with myself. That’s all I’ve ever done. Get the job. Don’t get the job. It’s all me at the end of the day… Everyone’s one-upping themselves in Hollywood and I’ve never been that way. If you want to be in front of a camera, you have to be ready to get picked apart… Do your best. That’s all you can do.”

Barberie has faced some testing times in her career, but has also had to deal with some bumps in the road regarding her health.

“Breast cancer came on me very quickly. I didn’t get a second opinion… My kids mean too much to me and the hardest part was telling the kids.”

Barberie is cancer-free today—but the reality of COVID-19 has been hard to shake. “Cancer was easy peasy. It’s been the past few months where I’ve been beyond exhausted. Some days I’ve been bedridden.”

Liz Roman, Barberie’s long-time friend, and on and off manager, expressed how she thought Barberie’s cancer affected her.

“It was definitely a surprise to her, as I think it is to anyone who gets diagnosed with cancer. It takes your life in a completely different direction. I think it also reprioritized where I think her energy needed to go; which was to her family first and foremost… as well as, her personal health and well-being.”

Roman explains it has made Barberie focus on her personal life; taking care of herself and her children.

Barberie shares with joy, how lucky she is to have two children, Ruby and Rocco; not to mention their overall support.

“When I had my cancer, they were very cognizant of what I was going through; especially when I lost, well, not necessarily when I lost my hair because I let my daughter shave my head. When I started to lose my eyebrows and my lashes, they were like ‘oh gosh mom, you’re sick’. I think it hit them then. I felt bad, but I always told them I was going to be okay… Over the past two years, I’ve been really focused on raising my two kids.”

Barberie continues sharing how kind, caring, loving, funny, and beautiful her children are. She mentions that her children feel like she is a safe place for them.

Barberie is currently working on her podcast AskJillian, which she co-hosts with her friend Liz Roman.

“It’s with all my buddies that come around and we shoot the shit. Sometimes we have wine. We just talk about the business or not, how they grew up and how they became who they are. It’s done right here in my house. It’s pretty amazing and fun.”

Besides her podcast, Barberie is trying to focus on her health. Overall, she explains that she’s been blessed. “I look back and think it was the perfect career, but if there was something else out there, of course I’d do it.”

Barberie has a pretty big following. It’s not just because of the jobs she’s got, but because she’s herself. Lisa Guerrero, a former co-worker as well as one of her current best friends, shares that Barberie is “brilliant, funny, brave and 100 per cent real. For those people that were her fans when she had her morning show, she’s exactly like that in life. She’s extremely authentic.”

Roman adds that, “she is genuine, kind, very personable, non-judgemental, has a great sense of humour, generous almost to a fault, always on time, very punctual and very professional.” Friends and colleagues agree that Barberie is extremely strong and real, honest self. Purely organic.