We had the good fortune of connecting with Ariana Tejero and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ariana, what do you want people to remember about you?
Hello! Ah, legacy, the ultimate question, kind of like asking how one defines success or what his/her self-image is … It is something with which I have struggled since childhood. To be candid, when I was graduating high school, I missed valedictorian by something crazy like 0.02 GPA points per our system. To this day, it bothers me. I remember telling my parents, “If I am not number one, then who am I?” … not the healthiest statement. What I am personally working on and will always be is being happy just by being, not with any titles attached (i.e., Kate the princess, Tom the athlete, Gisele the supermodel). In theory, being made in God’s image (or what have you) should be enough, but what I find, especially living in LA, is pressure on titles, whether those be of fashion, professional development, financial status/salary, even down to where one lives. It can be intense here. I say this in hope readers resonate. What I would like people to remember about me someday will hopefully be how I treated them or how I reflected goodness in how I acted. I would say how I gave back, but I am more about charity in private, as sometimes when broadcasted, in my experience, the action loses purpose. That got pretty deep for a first question!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Thanks for asking this! I currently work in cable news, represent the networks at which I work for careers and recruiting, and run our internship program.

You had asked about how I got where I am. Still growing and got to this point by the help of mentors who gave me chances at a very young age (some of whom to be mentioned below).

You had also asked about difficulty. Never easy, but easy is also relative … One of my toughest moments was working a national cable morning show while in college, with nighttime film classes. Thankfully, professors worked with me at the time. Lots of tears, though, and I will never forget spending the Christmas holiday completely alone in the dorms, and the heat broke, and there was a giant spider in the apartment: major drama!

We had also talked about life lessons. One lesson I am still learning along the way is not to get too attached, to the job, building, people, boss, promotion, as everything is constantly changing. Not to sound “too LA”, but sometimes I think as a Pisces, I get too emotionally attached to things and the idea of how things are and always should be, instead of adapting. Of course, another lesson would be thick skin, cannot stress this enough, and also, finding those mentors. Always, I say, too, you can never over-communicate or show gratitude enough. If someone refers you for a role, make sure to diligently thank and follow up; I definitely made a mistake there when I was younger. And then, too, next step would be to pay it forward.

This question was a tough one. What sets me apart from others, I hope, would be the quality of always seeing things through and following up. Very proud to say I have never left a text message, email, phone call, etc., unreturned. I have definitely met people in the industry, though, who see this differently. To me, responding and in a timely fashion is respectful. I pay close attention to detail, but then there is the part where when your expectations are too high, you get disappointed, so that is always a work in progress.

Loyola Lions are all about The Pride. From last time we talked, I am most proud of being a Loyola Law School (LLS) fellow for this year (photo); go Lions! Could be the biggest honor of my life so far, from the content, to the people I have met, to the change in perspective. Highly recommend LLS for any person out there who has a passion for law but cannot commit to law school full time and who likes giving back to the community, as the school is quite active in that department.

Something about which I am excited is having been a guest on Mindie Barnett’s show, ‘The Race for the Ring’. She is a major PR player in New York City and also the author of ‘You Don’t Need to Be a B*tch to Be a Boss’. The podcast is about “the ring”, which holds different meaning for each listener. We planned out an episode with wisdom for young girls on how to be a lady and attract prince charming/the perfect gentleman (the approach, not for everyone!). I have taught classes on this, and hope to resonate with young girls out there. Also excited to guest lecture three classes at LMU in the next two months and to serve on the advisory board for its new media center, as well as teach a course in the (next) fall semester.

Finally, brand. Brand is such a big deal. For me, brand is tricky since I am not on social media, by my own choice, nothing against it. I do not necessarily want to be known for “me”, but by the brand/story, itself. Mine is still evolving, but the main themes would be kindness, attention to detail, mentorship, and empathy. Thanks for asking all this! I hope to come across in a humble way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love The Riv and Sherwood, the farmers’ markets at Palisades Village and Runway Playa Vista, the Huntington Library in San Marino, Pelican Hill, Lido Marina Village (Newport Beach), Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito … I actually have a couple itineraries that include these spots. I always recommend, too, comedy shows, escape rooms, popup stores, sample sales, TENNFIT (to be explained below), and the new Topgolf in El Segundo. SoCal really does have so much to offer!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

First off, love the idea of this series, and still a big fan of what you guys are doing through your work. Whenever I read through your entries, I see people who may not be featured on social media who definitely deserve shoutouts. Good work!

I always list the same person as far as mentors go, the one who brought me to this current role, who is akin to a second dad. That is Father Scott, as we call him. Despite being tremendously busy, he cares that much to drop everything to brainstorm on the phone for a whole two hours. I admire how he can balance family, work (a whole TV station), and mentees, and still have the most energy out there and make it to the gym daily. He also still takes me seriously despite having turned down a few significant opportunities (at least, I hope so!).

I could go on and on with the many mentors who lift me up daily (and others, too), but I would like to try something different with this entry by giving detailed shoutouts to some of the people in the photos in this article, who inspire me and who may inspire readers, as well.

There is the entire team at Kollab Youth: Marry Hewitt and Sari Chaparro and all the students you see on that Zoom panel from this past summer. Up-and-coming journalists Kellie Miller and Sophia King also participated in mentoring kids on careers for an incredible discussion. Kollab Youth referred high school student Tyler Ohaya from Lancaster (pictured in studio) who has a bright future as a camera operator.

Then there is the TGR Foundation based in Orange County, a Tiger Woods charity. That photo from February 2022 at The Riv with the kids in red was from a partnership with First Tee OC. The reason why I always cite and come back to golf is because I have found outstanding people through the sport who give back on their own accord, not out of obligation. I am a big fan of what TGR is doing with its learning lab and facilities in Anaheim and Irvine and look forward to working with its new media center on some projects.

There is also the Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) based in Torrance. You see there a photo from the Steve McQueen auto show at the Boys Republic campus in Chino Hills in June 2022. Mario Sibrian (from HTA) and I were judges on Team Porsche, led by philanthropist, Michael Dolphin. If you are unfamiliar with HTA and/or Boys Republic, please research both! Lots of resources for veterans, young people, and so on.

There is also a photo here from LA TV Week’s Top 40 under 40 for 2022, quite the honor. This was the inaugural class for LA. The program, similar to yours, highlights a lot of impressive people on both coasts. Humbled to be part of both!

Another shoutout to the brand, Wilson. Have gotten to work with the team on some fun things. Below is a photo from a TENNFIT class, which combines cardio, circuit training, and tennis drills for an action-packed hour. Definitely look up TENNFIT and Wkwesi Williams who invented it. His ultimate goal is to go global with the class. He has already hosted some epic tennis retreats. Another reason why I love collaborating with Wilson is because it is really changing the landscape for attire, bringing back French Open preppy seventies style, just one example.

Finally, would like to recognize Nancy Yoon, as pictured with Samir Zakir (4WARDSTEPS), Miranda Kwok (‘The Cleaning Lady’), and me at UCLA for a panel featuring trailblazing women in the industry. Nancy submitted a tape for a QVC casting call that she originally discovered on Facebook. QVC chose her out of tens of thousands of people to be its first Asian American host. She picked up her entire life here in LA and moved across the country to give it a shot and is absolutely crushing it.

Other: E: arianatejeropress@gmail.com

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.