Former Univision Tampa anchorwoman turned life coach believes everyone is a genius with a story

TAMPA, Fla. - Every morning Pilar Ortiz and her husband Bruce Carter enjoy the sandy shores of Indian Rocks Beach. 

"We come here, we just enjoy," she said. "I'm living my lifestyle. I love it. We just moved to the beach. I love doing meditation all my routine with gratitude." 

The beautiful beaches remind her of her birthplace of Bogota, Colombia. Her mother was a writer there and Ortiz became a journalist. 

"I love writing. I love connecting. I love telling stories. I believe that everyone is a genius with a story. And if you don't know how to tell, it is going to be the best-kept secret, but nobody's going to know it," Ortiz explained. 

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Ortiz worked as a journalist in Colombia for 10 years. 

"When you do it with passion, you develop this sense of being there and adrenaline and adventure and you do the right thing," she shared. "You are the voice for the people that you are interviewing, the stories that you are covering, and you just put it together for people to see what it looks like."  

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She said the job was challenging at times. 

"It was very difficult because I started in 1989, which was one of the most violent times in Colombian history. So I was covering everything from drugs to violent venues, but also finding those positive stories among our community," she commented. 

At age 30, Ortiz came to the U. S. and helped start the Spanish-speaking television station Univision Tampa. 

"It was only two people. I was the news director of myself and I was the anchor, but we started growing as the community grew…When I left Univision, we were 15 people. We were doing news in the morning and the evening at 11 p.m. live. The community has grown immensely here, the Hispanic community," she said.  

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Ortiz retired from television in 1999 and started her own business as a life coach.  

"Positive attitude changes everything. I thought everyone had the quality of thinking positively. I understood that I learned very, very early with my parents back in Colombia and not everyone has it," she shared. 

Ortiz has also written three books. 

"I believe every single person is a genius because we have our own talent," she said. "But if we focus on what we are missing, we are not going to shine." 

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