Immediately following Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as California governor, NBC News reported that Shriver was planning to return to the network after a temporary leave of absence. As time went on, however, it became clear to Shriver that she couldn't pursue her journalism career at the same time as serving as first lady of California.
In February 2004, she announced that she was leaving NBC News. This came after Shriver spoke with NBC executives, but also when accusations of conflicts of interest came to light. "I am proud of the work I have done at NBC News, and I look forward to going back there sometime in the future," CBS News quoted Shriver as saying at the time.
Shriver initially had difficulty accepting her new role. "At the time, I thought it was an absolute disaster," she wrote in an essay for Lean In. "I was losing my paycheck and my identity as a working woman." However, she went on to reveal that she started to embrace her title of first lady. "I let the unknown challenge me as I worked through the uncertainty and the discomfort." Maria remained the first lady of California for seven years. During this time, she founded The Women's Conference and tackled on a series of other social causes, including poverty.
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