She couldn’t speak English, was terrified to read aloud; now she co-hosts two morning shows

SHREVEPORT, La. ( KTAL/KMSS ) – It’s easy to watch Fernanda Hernandez live her best life as the morning co-anchor for NBC 6 News and FOX 33 Good Day. But Fernanda has overcome a lot of obstacles to stand securely in her high heels on the set of two televised morning shows in Shreveport, Louisiana.

And one of the first major obstacles that she had to overcome was learning to speak the English language.

On learning English as a young immigrant

“It’s crazy to see what I do every day now and think about younger me,” Fernanda told www.ktalnews.com’s Jaclyn Tripp. “When I was nine years old, we moved to the United States and I didn’t speak English. I was the odd girl out.”

Fernanda was afraid to go to school every day when she was a kid.

“I didn’t speak English, and reading out loud in front of the class sent me into fits of anxiety. I’d be sweating, counting the words to see what I was going to read.”

When Fernanda mispronounced words, the whole class would laugh.

But a handful of years later, Fernanda gets paid to read to her classmates (and the rest of the ArkLaTex) on KTAL’s morning show.

“When I started learning English, I was like I’m gonna learn, and I’m gonna be a good speaker, and a good writer, and I’m gonna learn it 100%.”

She did, too. She even majored in English Literature in college. But she still strongly remembers how terrified she was of being in a country where she couldn’t understand anyone and they couldn’t understand her.

“I haven’t always been who I am now. Younger Fernanda was a mess. I’ve been lost, gotten into trouble, I’ve been rowdy, and I’ve been a completely different version of who I am today.”

And she said that’s good news for anyone who wants to change their life.

“You can absolutely change. Your life is in your hands, and you have full control of your life. I wish I had known when I was younger.”

On her career as a reporter

Fernanda said every single career opportunity she’s had has felt wild.

“When I was in college at Texarkana at A&M, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I was a writer and loved writing, but I had no real plan. My mentor at school told me to consider journalism, so I did an internship and was offered a full-time reporter position in Texarkana.”

In her first job after finishing college, Fernanda reported on everything .

“Crime, wrecks, events—I did it all. I turned stories on just anything. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just doing it,” said Fernanda.

Then a local television news station noticed her. KTAL reached out and asked Fernanda to take a sales position.

“I took the job. I was not good at selling, but I had people like Jacque Jovic being supportive of me. Jacque asked me why I wasn’t in news. She handed me a stack of scripts and said to go home and practice because I’d be on the news one day.”

Fernanda didn’t believe Jacque.

“She told me she felt I was made for this, and I was like no, I wasn’t made for this,” said Fernanda with a massive laugh.

Fernanda said she didn’t believe she could be a television reporter and wound up being jobless for 6 months. She spent some of her time writing for publications, and every day she called her dad crying.

“I had my degree and nothing was working. So my dad gave me some great advice. He said stop crying, stop being a victim. He said stop the victim mentality and go out there and chase my dreams. So I stopped feeling sorry for myself and decided I was going to find a way.”

Fernanda’s father encouraged her to read The Alchemist, and she said the book changed her life for the better.

Less than a month later, KTAL called Fernanda and said they were launching Loving Living Local .

“They wanted me to host the show,” Fernanda gushed. “I did Loving Living Local for two years. Then the news director said the morning spot is open if you want it.”

Fernanda said she shows up every day with the best that she has, and opportunities happen because she gives her best.

But an unexpected series of events rocked Fernanda’s world after she landed the job on the morning news. Within a nine month time period she found out she was pregnant, got married, and bought a house.

That’s when postpartum depression hit her out of nowhere.

Fernanda on postpartum depression

After her daughter was born, Fernanda found herself feeling very depressed. Suddenly the advice that had kept her confident in her career didn’t work anymore. But it took a while for her to realize that she was experiencing postpartum depression. Now she advocates for mothers who have already or will experience(d) postpartum depression.

“My whole life changed. I had our daughter, and I was really depressed. It felt like I was in a cave in my house. I felt like I had no control of my body. I was hurting,” Fernanda recalled. “Had it not been for my  husband, I probably wouldn’t have made it out.”

Fernanda said she read about postpartum depression when she was pregnant, but she didn’t think it would happen to her. And after her experience with postpartum, she has plenty to say about how much help we should give to new mothers.

“Show up with a meal and let them shower,” said Fernanda.

She said that when she first became a new mom, her husband went back to work full time after just a week with their newborn. She was so exhausted from taking care of their daughter that Fernanda felt like her basic needs weren’t being met. She wasn’t showering. She wasn’t eating regularly. She felt completely isolated from all of her friends because she was at home all the time.

“How could you not be depressed?” she asked.

Fernanda believes our society accidentally sets new mothers up to fail. She hopes that in the future there will be more education about postpartum depression for spouses and for families.

“(New mothers) need people to say hey, can I come over? Have you showered today? Do you need a nap? How much have you slept in the past 24 hours? Are you hungry?”

And Fernanda wishes that more people were aware of postpartum depression.

“It got scary, so I went to the doctor and got medicine but didn’t take it because I was scared of the side effects,” she said. “My husband helped me get out of it.”

Signs of postpartum depression

The Mayo Clinic lists postpartum depression symptoms as:

• having a depressed mood or severe mood swings
• crying too much
• having difficulty bonding with your baby
• withdrawing from family and friends
• a loss of appetite or eating much more than usual
• having an inability to sleep, called insomnia, or sleeping too much
• experiencing overwhelming tiredness or loss of energy
• having less interest and pleasure in activities you once enjoyed
• having intense irritability and anger
• fearing that you’re not a good mother
• feeling hopeless
• having feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt or inadequacy
• having a reduced ability to think clearly, concentrate or make decisions
• being restless
• experiencing severe anxiety and panic attacks
• having thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
• having recurring thoughts of death or suicide

If you are a new mother and experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression, tell your doctor. And be aware that new fathers can experience depression, too.

Fernanda the bodybuilder

After Fernanda adjusted to motherhood and left postpartum depression behind her, she kept working out and eventually decided to do something that had always frightened her before.

“I got into working out when I was in college after not being able to put on any weight. I was stick-thin when I was a teenager. My family had a running joke of, ‘you need to eat a burger.’ I couldn’t gain weight and hated it.”

A lot of Fernanda’s friends were curvy when she was younger, and she said it was awful to be stick-thin.

“I couldn’t find clothes that fit. I felt horrible about myself.”

That’s when Fernanda decided to make a change.

“I joined the gym. I started lifting, eating a little different, and I was able to start looking a little different.”

That was 11 years ago and she hasn’t stopped going to the gym. Fernanda said she was fueled by feeling out of place, and that’s why she decided to bodybuild.

“I felt small and wanted to be bigger,” Fernanda admitted.

As the years passed, people who watched her working out started to suggest that she compete in bodybuilding competitions. But Fernanda never wanted to compete because she didn’t think she could ever do it.

Then 2024 came, and Fernanda walked into Robert Supermann Blount ’s office and said she wanted to compete. She had finally tapped into the confidence she needed to enter a bodybuilding competition.

She won 1 ^st Place, Novice A and first place in the True Novice category at the National Physique Committee’s Optimum Classic Championships . She also came in 2nd in the Shreveport Bossier category, but her coworker Ya’Lisha Gatewood came in 1st place so it was a win-win situation.

And all the while, even as she was shaking while walking onstage for the competition, Fernanda’s thorough understanding of life lessons are part of the reason she did so well.

“When I was just out of college, lost and calling my dad, he said every day is the sum of what you make of it. Are you going to sit in your room and cry every day? Are you going to let life pass you by? Or are you going to go chase it?”

Fernanda says that you can be whatever you want in this life, and she tells herself the same thing. And she wants to be a mom, a wife, a news anchor, and a bodybuilder.

“Everyday I come here, anchor the news, then I go home and I’m a mom, then I work out and I’m a bodybuilder, and I’m a wife and a friend. And everyone has the same 24 hours.”

She also said don’t let your own screwups hold you down.

“I have fallen off the ladder in every area of my life—from jobs to fitness to family. I’ve felt like a failure. But none of that matters. I still have the choice every day to get up and pursue my dreams.”

Fernanda said the phrase “do it scared” really translates for her.

“I was shaking during Loving, Living, Local. I was shaking during my first newscast. I was shaking when I was giving birth. I was shaking when I was in the bodybuilding competition. But I can either let fear get in the way or I can let it fuel me.”

And the same is true for everyone.

What will you do with your fear?

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