O'Dell began her broadcasting career as a reporter and anchor at WPDE-TV in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

She later worked as morning news anchor and crime reporter at WCBD-TV in Charleston, South Carolina.

[citation needed] She was honored by the Associated Press with the Best Report of the Year Award (all media, South Carolina).

On January 13, 2008, after the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards were canceled as a result of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, she co-hosted NBC's 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Winners Special with Access Hollywood co-anchor Billy Bush.

In 2009, O'Dell hosted NBC's pre-show for the 66th Annual Golden Globes with Tiki Barber and Brooke Burke.

She also appeared on the Fox sitcom Brothers, and in the same year she and Maria Menounos guest co-hosted WWE Raw on October 12.

O'Dell gave birth to their daughter, Ashby Grace, in June 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

[11] She said unexpected and surprising changes happened to her body during the pregnancy that prompted her to write a parenting book, Full of Life.

At the ceremony, she spoke to the graduates, encouraging them to never give up in pursuing their dreams: "I decided that I would rather fail doing something I enjoyed than be successful doing something that would just be a grind [....] my wish for all of you is that you will do the same.