By Reynaldo Mena
Returning to the place where Argelia Atilano had endured so much suffering and questioned her life, she, along with her mother and sisters, arrived at the home of a family friend. This kind-hearted individual offered them the opportunity to rest on a sofa bed and also allowed her to attend school.
“We were very lucky. She opened up a space for us in Bell Gardens that we wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise,” says Argelia Atilano.
It could have been easy to take a wrong turn, join gangs, go astray, and neglect her studies, but her interest and dream of going to college were stronger than any adventurous path. She also had the support of her mother, who was always there for them.
“People always ask my mom, Mariana is her name, the same question. ‘How did you manage to raise these women?’ Well, it was through sacrifice. When she came here for the second time, she worked at night while we slept so she could take care of us during the day. She was always looking out for us.”
The constant moving around didn’t stop, and the friend of her mother managed to secure a house in Pomona, and thanks to her generosity, she invited them to live with her and her children. The house had four rooms, and one of them would be given to them.
“It was a small room in which we all slept in but it meant we had more independence. I felt like I was living a dream. The owner of the house also drove us to school; I felt like we were making progress. Deep down, that feeling of anger towards my father still lingered; I couldn’t help it,” adds Argelia Atilano.
Her mother was very grateful to her friend for the opportunity to have a small space to live in. However, she was ready to face the enormous challenge of providing and caring for her daughters.
One day, she made an announcement that she intended to rent an apartment exclusively for them. It was a decision they needed to take – to venture into independence and not depend on others’ assistance. This step, she believed, would facilitate their growth.
Later on, a friend told her mother that she had found a small apartment in East L.A., on Mariana Street.
“My mom got so excited,” Argelia says, reflecting on the moment her mom found out the the street was named after her, “so we decided to move there.” However, Argelia wasn’t as enthusiastic about the idea. “How are we going to move to East L.A.?” she said to her mother. Attending Garfield High School, which didn’t have a good reputation, seemed daunting to her.
“It was quite ironic,” recalls Argelia Atilano. “While we were in San Juan de los Lagos, my sisters and I used to watch movies in English to keep the language fresh in our minds. Then, one of those days, they showed the movie ‘Stand and Deliver,’ starring Edward James Olmos. To our surprise, the film was set at Garfield High School and told the story of the legendary teacher Jaime Escalante. However, the movie depicted a narrative full of gangs and violence. So, when I heard the name East L.A. and Garfield, it scared me.”
That memory is memorable; now, as a professional journalist, she has interviewed Edward James Olmos several times, but she hasn’t been able to tell him about that experience. However, she remembers it and intends to share it with him some time soon.
They moved to Mariana Street, fearful but confident that it would exceed their expectations.
“Garfield wasn’t like they portrayed it in the movie, and our neighborhood wasn’t full of gangs either. There were former gang members, but they were peaceful. We lived in a tiny apartment in the back, on the other side of a fence, there was a bar nearby, so you can imagine the noise they made, the shouts, the music at full volume. I had no choice but to lock myself in the closet again. It was the only option if I wanted to concentrate on my studies. If I couldn’t do it there, I would go in the bathroom, close the lid, and sit there for a while,” Argelia recalls. All those experiences were part of her life, and she accepted them without resentment.
“Many times I felt like a kind of Cinderella. Flying cockroaches would pass over us, and we would see rats and mice running around us. I wasn’t scared; I reacted with a playful voice, ‘Look, there goes one flying! My little friends have arrived,'” she says.
She was always an A student, so in high school, she took advanced classes. She also chose to make friends with other students who had the same expectations as her, and the gangs around her didn’t affect her, she felt safe.
“Even now, whenever I can, I tell parents to pay attention to their children’s friends; it’s very important who they associate with,” she says.
When the time came to attend college, she was more than ready. She was very skilled in evaluating her options and the opportunities to obtain scholarships and financial aid. Her family’s economic situation would not be a limiting factor in her goals.
She decided on Loyola Marymount University, as it offered her the greatest opportunities and the most financial aid. So there she went, climbing another step toward her goals.
“It wasn’t easy. While my classmates went home on weekends, I stayed on campus, doing my laundry. Yes, I received weekly money, and I felt rich with my weekly $100 check, but I had to manage it. I remember that at that time, iced coffees were in fashion, like Frappuccinos, everyone on campus bought them. But I could only afford to buy one per week; they were very expensive,” she adds.
She also faced another reality. The dream she had since she was a child was crumbling. The desire to become a lawyer no longer satisfied her.
“I took the first classes and realized it wasn’t for me. My intuition told me it wasn’t the right path. And then, I saw a flyer offering a scholarship to study journalism. A friend had already told me about it. I took Journalism 101, and I was fascinated. That’s what I wanted to study. I remember my first project was precisely about iced coffees. I grabbed my camera, put it on me, and went to interview those who bought iced coffees, ‘why do you like it? What flavors do you prefer? Are they too expensive?’ and so on. I was hooked,” she recalls.
Her profession was now on track for television. She admired Jorge Ramos and MarÃa Elena Salinas as icons and aspired to one day be on air and be in a position similar to theirs.
“One day, people will see me on TV,” she told her mother, met with a doubtful look.
Perhaps she would have considered working in English-language television, but she insisted on focusing on Spanish-language media companies. She wanted to show her family what she had achieved.
“I mainly wanted my mom to see me and understand what I was saying,” she adds.
Her time in college was full of enthusiasm for studying. She had very good grades and soon landed an internship at Telemundo 52.
“I went there twice a week, observing what they did. I was fascinated by that energy, going back and forth, and… well, I was basically the errand runner!” she bursts into laughter. “But I confirmed that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was fascinated; I fell in love with television. I entered the world of news with a different perspective. I noticed they only covered negative things about the youth, and they challenged me to propose a list of topics to cover my generation differently. So that’s what I did.”
And then she was assigned a story about pregnant teenagers, a very inspiring topic considering the high percentage of young Latinas who end up pregnant.
“I got excited; there I was with my camera, going downtown to interview the young girls. When I got back, they showed it to the producer of the 11 pm newscast. He turned to me and said, ‘very good, we’ll air it tonight.’ I almost fainted. I wasn’t expecting it. I went straight home and told my mom, ‘turn on the TV.’ She asked why? When the newscast started, she saw me on the screen, and we both burst into tears, hugging each other,” says Argelia.
She wanted to do more, get involved in production, and go out on the field, but fortunately, the News Director Sandra Thomas had better advice for me.
“She told me to finish my degree first. Argelia Atilano knew many cases of students who dropped out when they started working. She wanted me to finish, and that’s what I did. As soon as I graduated, I was there in front of her, saying, ‘I’ve graduated, I’m ready,'” she said.
The next day, she started working. She was assigned to cover Generation X, the teenagers.
“Everyone saw something in me; they called me ‘my little star,'” she recalls.
Telemundo offered her a contract, which allowed her to start helping her family financially. In a short time, they moved to a new apartment, and the path to fulfill her promise of buying a house for her mother had begun.
Argelia Atilano’s career was on the rise; in addition to covering Generation X, she was also assigned to cover the early days of Internet expansion. However, when 9/11 happened, this topic was put on hold, and they prioritized terrorism and politics.
Then came the opportunity to start her career in radio. K-Love 107.5 FM had a position for a reporter to deliver entertainment and traffic news. She applied.
Her experience in radio was great, and she learned a lot from the show’s host, Pepe Barreto.
But her work schedule was very intense. She woke up at 4 am to be ready for the radio show, finished at 10 am, and went to Telemundo for the rest of the day. It was exhausting but fulfilling. Her goal was to continue climbing the ladder, and that required hard work.
Destiny played another card for her. K-Love was acquired by Univision, and if she wanted to stay there, she had to leave Telemundo.
“I couldn’t leave television, it was my dream, so I told them that if they wanted me to stay and leave Telemundo, they had to help me get a position at Univision. They said yes,” Argelia Atilano adds.
She became an entertainment reporter in Los Angeles.
That’s when the reward for all her efforts began. Argelia Atilano started to travel, saved money, bought a car, and enjoying life. Then an opportunity for love presented itself.
“Suitors came along, I got to know them, and I was fortunate that they were polite, generous, and kind. Still, I had the fear of that girl and teenager who lived that bad experience with my father. I wondered, why do they want to meet me? Because of my job? Because I’m on TV? Or because of me?” she questioned herself constantly.
However, none of her suitors lasted long; she was very busy during the week and covering entertainment on weekends.
“They gave up, they weren’t compatible with my life,” she says.
Just before her second trip to Spain, she received a phone call before boarding the plane. It was the producer of “Primer Impacto.” She was formally offered the position of the show’s correspondent, covering the film industry.
“I was surprised; the job I had dreamed of my whole life was right there. Of course, I accepted, I asked about the start date, and I heard something I didn’t expect, ‘tomorrow.’ When I said I couldn’t do it that day, not the next day, nor the following week, she asked for a date. It would be after my return from Madrid. I was afraid they might change their minds, but when I came back, there was my job waiting for me,” Argelia Atilano says.
Argelia Atilano first interview was with actor Ben Affleck. She was nervous but managed to do it. That’s when her fast-paced career began, including covering every event and ceremony imaginable. She had achieved her goal. Argelia Atilano was an important and successful journalist.
Still, there was another stage that God and life had in store for her. To find love, her life partner, get married, become a mother, and eventually leave television.
Barreto disappeared from the K-Love morning show. The station was looking for someone to replace him, and in the meantime, they placed Omar Velasco as the temporary host.
The chemistry between Omar and Argelia was evident from the first shows. The ratings went up, and the executives decided to make him a permanent host.
“It was a different experience from what I had with Pepe Barreto. From day one, Omar handed me the microphone, and we started interacting in a way that the audience liked. That was part of our success, our spontaneity,” says Argelia Atilano.
Just like in the fairy tales, both of them began a romantic relationship.
“I fell in love, I liked him so much for who he was, how he behaved with people, his family, with me. Besides, we had the same schedules, we were dedicated to the same thing, so we gave each other a chance, in secret. The company didn’t allow relationships between employees. We kept it a secret until just before we got married. Against all odds, the news was well received by the company and the audience,” says an excited Argelia.
“Our show is so well-received because of the natural way we host it. We are a couple, but we are also professionals. I think the women who listen to us are in love with our love story, and men believe in the right to defend love,” she adds.
Working together as a married couple hasn’t been an obstacle for her. Many say that married couples shouldn’t share the same workplace, but she thinks differently.
“I respect those who don’t want to get married or work with their partners or anything else. In my case, I like to shout it to the world. I’m in love with Omar. I believe that God blessed our marriage and planned it. First, God led me to Loyola when I had many universities to choose from. Then, He brought me to journalism, to radio, where I met him,” she says.
After getting married and having two daughters, she faced a difficult decision. She couldn’t and didn’t want to continue that hectic work pace. She had to choose, and she chose her family.
“I went full-time with the radio; I felt that it gave me more freedom and time to be with my family. It was a good decision,” she comments.
Argelia Atilano hasn’t given up the fight. From her platform, she seeks to help the community. As the daughter of a single mother, she knows the number of women in Los Angeles who are on their own. She shares advice, courage, and the struggle to face it.
“I open up a lot about my life, I’m not ashamed, and I share my experiences without a problem. I share the story of a daughter whose heart was broken, the girl who hid, who didn’t speak, who walked angrily through life, dreaming of her Vans or Reebok sneakers, the student who watched her classmates with their Frappuccinos in hand, dragging the metal cart with clothes to wash… but also the one who is satisfied with her life and thanks God every day. Before sending an email asking for help, I bless it first, before I even open my eyes in the morning, I say a prayer and cross myself. Blessings are paid with blessings, we shouldn’t let others put us down. My job is to be a role model,” she says confidently.
Argelia Atilano has a mantra that she frequently shares with her family: “Give your Best, God Will give you the rest.”
“It has been an intense life. I pinch myself to see that everything is real. I feel like crying talking about this and remembering it. I love what I have, what I do, having a home. I’m not a millionaire, but I can have the comfort I never had. Yes, I’m a millionaire in the affection of people. There are days when everything surprises me, seeing more rooms when I slept on a sofa, studied in closets or bathrooms, wanting an iced coffee. For all that, I pinch myself. And I didn’t miss out. Many years later, I bought my Reeboks. I went into a store and went to the clearance section, it’s always the first section I visit in a store. And I couldn’t believe it. There they were, the same model I had dreamt of. They were my size, white, and I started running like a little girl, took a photo, and sent it to my mom. They cost only $7.50, with the taxes they cost me about $10,” she recalls.
And like that Cinderella in a fairy tale, Argelia Atilano concludes by saying, “I wore them one day when we went to Disneyland.”
It was not an easy path, faith and hard work led her to the place where she is.
