I think the key to being a journalist is getting your subject to feel comfortable enough to talk about stuff they want to talk about and the stuff they like and don't like, and still feel comfortable about it.
My background was computer science and business school, so eventually I worked my way up where I was running product groups - development, testing, marketing, user education.
It's taken me a long time to get back into the industry. People were not really open to me working, or being a part of the industry.