Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Enríquez. She and her team shared her story with us below:
Leslie Enríquez is an enthusiastic journalist with twenty-five years of experience in the TV industry. Leslie is an eight-time Lone Star Emmy award winner who currently reports for the Univision Network Program “Primer Impacto”. Throughout her career, Leslie has covered stories with local, state, national, and international impact, which have allowed her to grow not only professionally but also personally. She loves to use her God-given talents for the greater good and tries to help people find a light in the midst of chaos.
Until the end of 2021, she was the Senior Producer at Univision Houston. While at the local station, Leslie produced daily newscasts and special coverages, such as the devastating Hurricane Harvey in 2017, reported on several special stories, many of them health-related, and was part of the Assignments Desk.
Prior to joining the Houston team in early 2012, Leslie was the Assignments Director/ Producer Supervisor for Univision 62 in Austin, Texas. She was also the producer and talent of the weekly segment “62 A Su Lado”, where she presented issues impacting the Hispanic community.
In 1999, Leslie began her journalistic career at the Univision affiliate station in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was hired as a reporter after finishing a one-semester internship at the small station. During her 10 years at KORO Univision, she earned the opportunity to anchor and produce. The experience acquired during this decade was invaluable.
Leslie loves to give a voice to the voiceless and is actively involved with Día de la Mujer Latina, a nonprofit organization which promotes healthy behaviors within the underserved Latin community by providing a culturally and linguistically proficient education, facilitating early detection screening, culturally preventative care interventions, promoting wellness with resource information, Promotores/Community Health Workers training and Patient Navigation for follow-up services.
Leslie is also the Co-Host of the virtual program “Hablando Entre Nos…Community Conversations.” A program created by Dia de la Mujer Latina during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
A native of Matamoros, Mexico, Leslie came to the United States after graduating from High School. She earned two Associate degrees, one in Journalism and the other one in Radio, Television, and Film, from Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas, and a Bachelor’s in Arts in Communications from the University of Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Leslie has also taken an interest in management and to further her knowledge, she has participated in numerous programs such as the leadership and development Executive Education program by Smith College in Massachusetts. She is also a Texas Certified Community Health Worker Instructor. Leslie has been married for 10 years to her wonderful husband Jesús Ernesto, a key component to her professional success for all the unconditional support to do what she is passionate about.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all. First, I can start with the struggles of a young immigrant student whose first language was Spanish.
Fortunately, I had wonderful people who helped me when I came to the United States to study, such as Richard Gonzales & the Almanzas, a wonderful family who welcomed me with open arms to their home and taught me so much. The amazing professors at the English as a Second Language Program at Del Mar College and my dear Communications Professors, Mac Aipperspach & Manuel Flores. I am forever grateful.
My mom Guillermina and three younger siblings Jocelyn, Julieta & Javier were my main motivation to thrive and succeed in life. My mom could not afford to send me much money for my personal expenses, so I started working while attending College. I had a few part time jobs, from tutoring to waitressing, I even delivered newspapers during a Christmas break, so I could complete the payment for my tuition. Things got better when I got my “big break” as a reporter. However, it still did not pay much, so I had another part-time job. I was a Full-time college student with a full-time job and a part-time job as well. The money still was not enough, it was challenging living not only paycheck to paycheck, but many times having to overdraft my bank account to make ends meet.
Also, the challenges of being a young woman starting a career, people can take advantage of that drive. Thank God nobody harassed me, but I sure was underpaid. I was even told: “You should be thankful for the opportunity because many people are in line and willing to do it for free.” That was a lesson learned. Know your value and fight for it because nobody else will.
Those are some of the challenges I had at the start of my career, and I can give so many more examples of obstacles and challenges I had, but I want to stress the importance of facing them and learning the lessons they bring along. At the end of the day, all those challenges made me stronger. I am thankful that I have received the mentorship of great people throughout the years. Mentors are crucial, especially in a career as demanding as journalism.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
For the last couple of years, I have been reporting for the Univision Network Magazine Program Primer Impacto. I have reported on a variety of topics, but the ones I am most proud of are the stories that make a positive impact in people’s lives even if they are going through some of the hardest trials of their lives. It can be a story of someone looking for a bone marrow transplant that finds a match through the call to action or stories of people who have lost their home/business in a fire, and they get the funds needed to rebuild, just to name a few.
Telling the human stories beyond the headlines is a passion of mine. I say I use my God-given talents for the greater good because I believe this is part of my mission, the purpose of my life.
Also, for many years, I have collaborated with the non-profit organization Dia de la Mujer Latina. It brings me so much joy knowing that people have access to free health screenings, screenings that save lives.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Definitely. When the Pandemic hit, I was still working full-time at Univision 45 Houston. Our lives were turned upside down. It was very challenging, to say the least, but also a very rewarding experience because despite all the obstacles and challenges, our news and production team was able to keep the community timely informed during these uncertain times. Never in my wildest dreams could I phantom with the idea of working from home, much less produce live newscasts reports, but we did it.
Lessons Learned:
We are Resilient.
A great reminder that Time is Priceless & life can end in an instant; therefore, I needed to be wiser of how to spend each day.
Learned a new way to grief while isolated. I lost relatives because of COVID and could not attend their funerals.
3 years later, and still there is a great deal of misinformation and disinformation related to COVID.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslieenriqueztv
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeslieEnriquezTV
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslieenriqueztv/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/leslieenriquez
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/leslieenriqueztv
