Pilar Ortiz started her career in television and communications at the very young age of 21 in Bogota, Colombia. She worked her way up from intern to lead reporter in just a few short years. In fact, she was one of the journalists to report for 4 days – the murder and funeral of Pablo Escobar (major drug king in Colombia). Her time in Colombia was very challenging – as a woman reporting and surviving all the violence and turbulence while covering the stories.
In 1998, Pilar came to America speaking only her native language where she landed a job at Univision TV Tampa. She launched the first local newscast in Spanish and was the first woman anchor. Pilar had to quickly learn to speak English while working at Univision. There was so much more she had to learn and adapt to in USA but she was determined to succeed. Her passion was to help people in the Spanish community stay informed about what was going on in the world and the community.
In 2009 – she lost her job but she did not lose her identity. A good friend gave her a chance by giving her job selling ads for a Spanish newspaper. After 6 months she knew that this was not her passion. A friend reminded her at that time how helpful she had been through all these years in television – to help coach and mentor other young women getting started in the field. So she started her own business helping to coach others. She started writing a column in the Spanish newspaper that was a positive uplifting message that anyone can do whatever they set their mind to do.
She loved to inspire others to follow their dream. After 4 years of writing that column as well as helping Spanish speaking professionals to speak in public or in front of the video camera, another good friend suggested that she put all those great messages from her column into a book. That book was called “Reinventing Yourself: Creating Your Own Path to Success.”
For the last 22 years, Pilar has been a champion for the Spanish speaking people in the Tampa Bay community. She has worked with non-profits to create important medical, healthcare literature, such as care giving booklets for families dealing with Alzheimers.
Pilar overcame all of her challenges in life by believing in herself and never giving up. She reinvented herself many times to survive and to utilize the skills that she was blessed with. She wants to encourage others to live with that same belief of optimism and courage and will soon be awarded the highest honor of Tampa Hispanic Woman of the Year 2014.
Her best advice she gives others:
“Everything you can do is directed and leading towards your purpose. You don’t always know what the end is going to be. You must always pay attention to your heart and face your fears. “
Pilar Ortiz now has a very successful coaching practice and is helping others through her inspirational presentations all over the world.