From Sabado Gigante to Emmy award winning Journalist, Jackie Nespral has certainly

made her mark on Miami and more specifically on the Cuban American community.

Jackie Nespral was the first Hispanic to anchor an English speaking news network

when she became the weekend anchor for the Today Show. This position came with a lot of

hard work, however.

“Being pretty and a woman is hard. And being a pretty, Hispanic woman is even

harder”, says Nespral. She continued, stating that when you have beauty, people begin to

question your intelligence and capabilities. “I proved them wrong”, she said.

Her dream was not always to be on television. Originally, Nespral sought a profession

as a psychologist and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami,

although she did minor in broadcasting.

During her College years, Nespral worked as one of the spokes models for Sabado

Gigante, and this is where she realized that she wanted to become a journalist. Although the

experience helped jump start her broadcasting career, she knew she did not want to work with

features.

“I knew I wanted to work with news”, said Nespral. With the help and support of

her family, this is what she set out to do. “As a young person in college, the support of your

family is very important”, she said.

Before starting her career, Nespral was subject to criticism about her Spanish accent

when she applied for a job on Noticias 23. “You have to be willing to take criticism in

this business”, she said. With that in mind, she hired a Spanish tutor for a year and re-applied

for a job. “Noticias y Mas” now known as “Primer Impacto”, became her first position as a

broadcast journalist.

Jackie Nespral worked on other Spanish networks such as Television Marti, a Cuban

oriented channel. However, eventually she made her transition from Spanish to English

speaking networks like the Today show and her most current anchoring position on NBC6.

“It’s my first language,” says Nespral in response to the change, “I was born here.”

Nespral takes on both ends of the broadcasting world; reporting and anchoring.

Both jobs are great, she says, but anchoring gives a wider view of what is going on in the

news instead of focusing on a specific topic.

While she loves to deal with news and politics, Nespral also likes to report on the

positive aspects of the community, such as a World Series. On the other hand, reporting on

the negative is not something she enjoys doing.

“I do not like to report on hurricanes. I do it because obviously I have to, but I love

this community too much, so it is not something I enjoy doing”, said Nespral.

Her most memorable reporting experience was during the Pope’s visit to Cuba for

the first time. Being both religious and Cuban, it was a great opportunity for her to visit her

country.

In addition to being a wife, a mother of four, and a working woman, Nespral is also

involved in the University of Miami and many life changing causes. She is a member on the

Board of Trustees at the University of Miami and President-elect of the University of Miami

Alumni Association.

“I always dreamed of going to the University of Miami and of getting my bachelor’s

degree from the University of Miami, but never to be the President –elect of the University

of Miami Alumni Association”, she said with pride.

Jackie Nespral loves to support causes surrounding a child’s well being. She is

involved with organizations such as Amigos for Kids, March of Dimes, South Miami Hospital

Child Development and Columbia Women’s Center.

So how does she juggle this 24 hour a day schedule?

“I don’t think I do it very well, but my husband says I do and my kids say I do”,

said Nespral.

Her advice for success in the broadcasting business is to work as hard as possible.

A willingness to move to other states is very important.

“It is a lot that you have to go through in this business, but if you believe you are

good enough and you work hard, you can make it”, she said.