🎙️ Rewriting the Script: Michaela Pereira on News, Grief, and Growth

📝 Show Notes

Episode Summary
In this deeply personal episode, Michaela Pereira joins Jason to reflect on her transformative journey through the world of broadcast journalism. From a serendipitous start in media to major roles at KTLA, CNN, HLN and Good Day LA, Michaela’s path has been defined by curiosity, connection, and reinvention.

She opens up about the emotional toll of covering difficult stories, and the leap to national television with CNN’s New Day and later her own show on HLN. Michaela shares why she eventually stepped away from traditional news, and how she found healing and.

Together, Michaela and Jason explore mental health, grief, and the urgent need for emotional support in newsrooms and reflect on the enduring power of storytelling, community, and saying yes to life’s next chapter.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Michaela’s career began with an unexpected opportunity—but it clicked.
• Transitioning from Canada to the U.S. came with cultural and professional adjustments.
• At KTLA, she found her footing and a loyal audience.
• Her move to CNN’s New Day and later HLN marked a major step into national media.
• HLN allowed her to anchor her own show, shaping a more personal, conversational format.
• National news brought new challenges: pressure, pace, and public scrutiny.
• The emotional toll of tragedy-focused coverage led her to reimagine her role.
• Her shift to Good Day LA was a return to joy and meaningful connection with viewers.
• Michaela emphasizes the need for mental health support in journalism—grief counseling included.
• She believes in the quiet power of nurturing creativity and embracing reinvention.
• Personal relationships are central to her growth and her compass for decisions.
• The media landscape is changing—flexibility and intention are essential.
• Every conversation, every interaction matters. Nothing is too small to celebrate.

🧭 Chapters

1. Intro & Groundwork
2. Michaela's Accidental Entry Into Broadcasting
3. Tech TV and the KTLA Years
4. Cultural Shift: From San Francisco to L.A.
5. Jumping to CNN’s New Day & HLN’s Personal Format
6. The Toll of National News and High-Stakes Coverage
7. Reconnecting with Joy: Good Day LA
8. Mental Health, Grief, and the Weight of the News
9. Reinvention and the Creative Muscle
10. The Importance of Saying Yes and Staying Connected
11. Final Reflections: Presence, Purpose, and Possibility

📱 You can connect with Michaela on Instagram: @michaelapereira

🔜 Next on Life After News
Up next, Jason sits down with Tamsen Fadal, Emmy-winning journalist turned women's health advocate. In a candid and powerful conversation, Tamsen opens up about her personal journey through menopause and why she’s using her voice to break taboos and educate others. From hormone therapy challenges to the importance of community and storytelling, this is an episode every woman—and the people who love them—needs to hear. 🌿💬

🎧 Don’t miss it—subscribe now so you’re the first to listen.

🔗 Stay Connected to Life After News

· 🎧 Subscribe: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows

· 📺 Watch: YouTube.com/@LifeAfterNews

· 📱 Follow: @MrJasonBall &

Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.

🎙️ When Breaking News Hits Home: Ellen Leyva on Surviving the Eaton Fire

Veteran news anchor Ellen Leyva spent nearly 30 years reporting breaking stories — but nothing prepared her for when breaking news struck her own home. In this conversation, just weeks after her retirement from KABC, Ellen opens up about surviving the Eaton Fire, the emotional toll of seeing her community threatened, and how it redefined her understanding of the news she once reported.

Ellen also reflects on:

· Covering the OJ Simpson trial, 9/11, and decades of history

· Her enduring on-air partnership with David Ono

· Balancing career and motherhood while anchoring the morning show

· Early encounters with Justin Timberlake and Donald Trump

· Why she walked away from the anchor desk

· How painting, travel, and love are shaping her life after news

This is Ellen’s most personal story yet — raw, real, and revealing.

📌 Chapters
00:00 Ellen Leyva's Journey in News Broadcasting
08:58 Memorable Moments in Journalism
11:59 The Dynamics of Anchoring
15:00 Personal Life and Balancing Career
17:59 Life After Retirement and New Beginnings
21:30 A Serendipitous Reunion
23:07 Navigating Life Changes
23:46 The Eaton Fire Experience
28:01 Reflections on Retirement
32:10 Finding Peace and Purpose
35:03 The Art of Transition
38:07 Advice for Aspiring Journalists

👉 Follow Ellen on Instagram: @abc7ellen

🔗 Stay Connected to Life After News

• 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & more
• 📺 Watch full episodes: YouTube.com/@LifeAfterNews
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• 💼 LinkedIn: Jason Ball
• 🏨 Visit: Old Ranch Inn – A boutique retreat in Palm Springs
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#EllenLeyva #BreakingNews #EatonFire #LifeAfterNews #NewsAnchor #WildfireSurvivor #WomenInMedia #RetirementJourney #DavidOno #TVJournalism #OJSimpsonTrial #911Coverage #JustinTimberlake #DonaldTrump #CareerTransition #AnchorLife #StorytellingMatters #LifeAfterTV #PersonalGrowth #Reinvention

Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.

🎙️ Breaking News: Why Jackie Johnson Left TV & Started The Weather Chef

What happens when a lifelong dream collides with a life-altering reality? In this episode, Jason Ball talks with Jackie Johnson McBride, a former broadcast meteorologist whose journey took her from high-intensity newsrooms to the peaceful rhythms of small-town life and seasonal cooking.

From her childhood goal of becoming a meteorologist to navigating the high-pressure world of Los Angeles television, Jackie shares what it was like to step off the news set and into the world of motherhood. She opens up about the tough decision to leave her career, the unexpected joys of Santa Barbara life, and how a love of weather and food gave birth to The Weather Chef.

🌤️ Highlights:

• Jackie’s childhood dream: chasing clouds and careers
• The leap from meteorology to television broadcasting
• The grind of fast-paced news in Miami and L.A.
• Why she walked away from the camera to become a present mom
• The emotional pull of the newsroom—and why she still misses it
• How motherhood shaped her resilience and sense of identity
• The birth of The Weather Chef: where recipes meet weather patterns
• Seasonal eating and slowing down during the pandemic
• Staying authentic through life’s transitions
• Advice for young professionals: put in the work, and love what you do

🍴 Featured Links:

• The Weather Chef Website
• @theweatherchef on Instagram
• @jackiejohnsonla on Instagram

🔗 Stay Connected to Life After News

• 🎧 Subscribe: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows
• 📺 Watch: YouTube.com/@LifeAfterNews
• 📱 Follow: @MrJasonBall & @LifeAfterNewsPod
• 💼 LinkedIn: Jason Ball
• 🗞️ Read: Desert Dispatch — the newsletter on storytelling & reinvention
• 🏨 Stay: Old Ranch Inn
• 📅 New Episodes: Every Tuesday
• 💌 Love the show? Share it with a friend!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.