Daily Inspiration: Meet Sarah Pilla

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Pilla.

Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Sarah Pilla and I’m an Emmy award winning environmental reporter covering climate, weather, and how it impacts our everyday lives. My Emmy was awarded in 2021 for Best Environment News Story “Oceana Trash” – a compelling story on the impact of plastic pollution on marine animals.
I wasn’t always passionate about covering climate and weather, nor did I grow up wanting to be a journalist – so I guess you could say my path has been anything but linear.

I grew up in New Britain, CT and knew I wanted to be on TV at an early age. As a young child i was obsessed with the Disney Channel and especially the shows “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” and “Kids Incorporated”. I started out in dance at 4 years old – and would continue down that path until college, while also becoming interested in acting around age 10.

I performed in community theater and attended many acting workshops throughout childhood. In addition to attending high school at New Britain High School, I also attended the prestigious Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts as an acting major.

After graduation of both schools, I ventured west at 18, knowing full well I wanted to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles.
I attended Santa Monica College (where I was first introduced to yoga – this will make more sense later) and spent my time trying to break into the industry.
However, after about four years of living in Los Angeles, I started to doubt the path I was on. During this time, I was increasingly becoming an avid consumer of sports – especially the NFL – and news.

I decided to pivot into a broadcasting career. I was one of the many who took the Sportscasting class at SMC with the late Lou Riggs, and decided to transfer to Cal State Northridge as a broadcast journalism major.

Throughout my time at CSUN, I knew – or thought I knew – I wanted to be a sportscaster. I had many internships – from the days of FOX Sports Net (now FS1), to FOX Sports Radio, to the NFL Network, to Torrance CitiCable 3, covering local Torrance high school sports.

Upon graduation, I really rejected the idea of moving to a small market to start my broadcasting career as I really wanted to stay in LA. I had luck with some gigs here and there – the pinnacle being a video journalist on the “Race Across America” in 2012. This is an annual ultra-cycling race, where I followed cyclists cross-country in less than two weeks through the countryside from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD. My passion for travel, adventure, and storytelling was fueled during this time!

While I was also freelancing as an on-camera journalist, I also spent time working freelance in live award show production. I got the chance to work on some of the biggest shows like the Academy Awards – sitting in the truck while director Hamish Hamilton directed the 86th Oscars – to the Billboard Music Awards, Kids Choice Awards, and more.

Ultimately, I finally bit the bullet and got my first full-time sportscasting job in 2013 in San Angelo, Texas for KSAN-TV at the local NBC affiliate. I was the weekend sports anchor and sports reporter during the week. This was a major period of growth for me, both personally and professionally. This job also made me realize, that I didn’t want to work full-time in sports. In fact, working in sports was ironically killing my own personal fandom.

So I came back to LA in 2014 and jumped back into the production world. After working freelance on multiple award shows, I ended up at E! on the show “Untold with Maria Menounos”. Maria was an idol of mine as a host and actress, and while I felt like I was settling working in production, I ultimately took the gig to learn as much as I could from working on her show.

The show was cancelled at the end of 2014, but I ended up landing a news anchor job in San Diego at One America News.

I loved living in San Diego, and it was at this period of my life that I decided to deepen my yoga practice and take a yoga teacher training course at CorePower Yoga and become a yoga instructor on the side.

I had been practicing yoga for a long time, and was a dedicated student at Bryan Kest’s power yoga studio in Santa Monica.
After becoming certified, I began to teach yoga throughout San Diego while also working as a news anchor at OAN.
After covering the 2016 election, I left OAN in 2017 to teach yoga, pursue hosting, and started a digital yoga lifestyle series called “After The Mat”.
Still living in San Diego, I worked with Ignite Now Media as a lifestyle host on two very fun shows in 2017-2018 called “Lifestyles of San Diego”, and “The American Dream”.

However, in 2018, I saw that a new network was launching in LA called Spectrum News 1 and I felt called to move back to LA if I could land a job at the network.
I got in on the ground floor as an MMJ (multi-media journalist) in this new startup. The job was probably the hardest I’ve ever had because you do literally everything from pitch to final product of every story by yourself, but it was probably the most rewarding job I ever held.
I covered politics and elections, natural disasters, even award shows like the Golden Globes – now on the other side, and the Dodgers (ironically back to my sports roots)!

It was during my time at SN1 where I started to dive into environmental and climate reporting -randomly. But something magical was happening. One story kept leading to the next and snowballed, and I was starting to become passionate about the topics I was learning about as well as what it means to live a sustainable lifestyle. This led to my Emmy in 2021 and I knew I was being led on the right track.

In 2022, my contract was ending at Spectrum, and our-then VP Cater Lee, asked if I’d be interested in moving into the weather department to do my climate storytelling, while also becoming a certified meteorologist.

This was certainly something I had never thought about, but decided to go for it! I enrolled in Mississippi State’s Broadcast & Operational Meteorology Program and as I’m writing this, I’ve just finished the 3-year course and am now studying for my cumulative exit exam to get my certification.

Throughout this latest 3-year journey, my education bolstered my understanding of the climate topics I’ve been covering, and I’ve had some incredible opportunities to dive deeper into my climate reporting and become a leading voice in this space.

In 2023, I was the only television reporter in the country to join the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on an exclusive Colorado River trip. I provided an in-depth report on the historic first-ever federal declaration of a water shortage on the river and the widespread impact of its declining levels—affecting farmers, tribal communities, hydroelectric power generation, and urban populations.
My commitment to covering this crisis extended back to 2021, when I traveled to Mexico to document the river’s disappearance at its delta, while also highlighting the efforts of NGOs working to restore vital ecosystems.

I’ve also covered California’s increasing weather extremes.
In the winter of 2023, I traveled to Northern California to document the rapid shift from drought to destructive storms.
I reported on the Sierra-At-Tahoe ski resort’s struggle to reopen after being devastated by the Caldor Fire, using its story to illustrate the growing threat climate change poses to the outdoor recreation industry.
That same year, I produced a five-part series, “Farm Refresh”, on regenerative agriculture at TomKat Ranch in Pescadero, California. The series explored the importance of soil health, sustainable land management, Indigenous agricultural practices, and integrating regenerative beef into institutional food systems like schools and hospitals.

My expertise and storytelling ability have led to producing and hosting multiple climate-focused specials.
In 2024, I helmed “Innovations for a Sustainable Climate”, a 30-minute special highlighting breakthroughs in energy, transportation, food, and water technology.
In previous years, I hosted “The Trickle Down Effect”, an Earth Day special on water and drought, and “Saving Our Oceans, A Deep Dive”, a Spectrum News Network-wide special for National Oceans Month.

Most recently, I was first on the scene for SN1 reporting on the devastating Palisades Fire that I would continue to cover for multiple weeks – and ultimately the subsequent months after the initial crisis waned.

Beyond my on-air reporting, I’m a sought-after speaker and moderator.
This year I recently emceed the “Green Sports Alliance Summit” in Miami, and lead the “How to Rebuild LA” panel in the aftermath of the region’s megafires.

I’ve also emceed the NetZero Conference, the PRSLA Awards, and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator’s event on electrifying transportation for the 2028 LA Olympics.

My dedication has earned me a spot in the inaugural class of LA TV Week’s 40 Under 40 (which I returned to host in 2024) and recognition from the Television Academy, where I was the featured speaker on climate storytelling for the Television Academy Foundation.
I’m a member of the Television Academy and the SoCal Chapter of WICT and was a mentee in their mentorship program in 2024.

In addition to my Emmy, I’ve received LA Press Club Awards and was a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award nominee for my story on the “Hollywood Climate Summit”.

On a more personal note, I’m getting married to my love Roj Grobes on August 23rd in Palos Verdes. Roj has a long career in sports, and together, we’ve teamed up to host and produce our own digital show called the “4th Down Forecast” that you can subscribe to on YouTube.
The entertaining show highlights various outdoor games weekly during the NFL season where I give the weather forecast, while he gives the stats and fun facts.

As someone who is passionate about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, wellness, and speaking, I hope to continue combining all of these passions together to share inspiring stories and tips to the masses.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, never smooth haha. I outlined some of the obstacles and challenges in my story but I’ll reiterate here.

Pivoting from acting to broadcasting has always been a challenge. I sometimes wonder if I gave up my childhood dream too soon.

Certainly pivoting into broadcasting and moving to small town Texas was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.

Upon getting the job at Spectrum News 1, I had never worked in a start-up environment before and that inherently has challenges – from setting up systems, pivoting to create better systems – changing company visions – and of course being an MMJ and working to balance life and work when you’re doing everything by yourself.

Covering the Palisades Fire was also a major challenge. Witnessing the devastation was unconscionable and it was the first time I dealt with my own mental health issues from covering such a devastating disaster.

Finally, going to school for 3 years while working full time – and planning a wedding – is beyond stressful. I don’t know how I did it, other than refusing to quit and putting one foot in front of the other every day. I said yes to many opportunities during this time, but also had to learn to say ‘no’ at times to protect my health and sanity.
I also miss teaching yoga regularly and really hope to one day have the space to balance that in.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a broadcast journalist, and an almost certified meteorologist. My Emmy is certainly my proudest moment, but I’m also proud of the amount of speaking engagements I’ve been tapped to do – and it’s all because of my dedication to climate and environmental storytelling.

I’m also incredibly proud of going through meteorology school while working full-time.

One of the things that sets me apart from others is my versatility. I can do everything on-air at Spectrum. I’m often tapped to fill-in for both our anchors and meteorologists and have the chops to excel in live environments. I love speaking and engaging with people and an audience, and I think that passion certainly shines through.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Determination, resilience, flexibility, balance, boundaries, communication, connection.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahpilla.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesarahpilla/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahpilla/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thesarahpilla
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/@4thDownForecast