Meet Jannelle So-Perkins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jannelle So-Perkins.

Jannelle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my career in the Philippines as a sportscaster. I covered the Philippine Basketball Association games (similar to the US’ NBA league); as well as local and international sporting events. Most notable of which were the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Malaysia and the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea; and 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, Texas. I also had my own weekly sports TV show; and I was also regularly called on to cover important national events for the station’s news and public affairs department – 1998 Philippine Presidential Elections, 2000 Centennial Celebrations in the Philippines.

In addition to TV, I maintained a weekly lifestyle column and a separate weekly sports column in The Philippine Star, a national paper in the Philippines.

I moved to the U.S. in 2003, upon the prodding of my family. My parents first sent my siblings in 1999, to continue their University education at University of Southern CA; and then my parents followed in 2001, after buying a house here. I opted to stay in the Philippines to pursue my broadcasting career. But after a few years without my family, I decided to give America a try.

Here in the States, I converted my tourist visa into a student visa while I took a Certificate course in Print and Broadcast Journalism at the University of California, Los Angeles. It was nine of the toughest months of my life as I questioned my decision to move here, wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing – turning my back on what I thought was a promising career in the Philippines and exchanging that for uncertainty here in the U.S.

After I finished my course, I was given a year of OPT (Optional Practical Training) as a foreign student. I took advantage of that, to gain work experience here in America. After that expired, I applied to be a writer/reporter at a Filipino-American newspaper; but they told me that they would only sponsor my work visa if I worked in their advertising sales department. I had no choice. I turned my back on journalism, so I could get my visa in order and continue to stay legally here in the U.S.

It was around 2004 when I answered a call for auditions at KSCITV-LA18, a local Asian-language network. They were looking to start a daily Filipino talk show, to add to their Asian in-language programming. But they did not call me back until three months after my audition. By then, I had already forgotten about it and was already preparing to go back to the Philippines, where I planned to revive and continue my print and broadcast journalism career.

I ended up accepting their offer, which included applying for my concurrent work visa. And in April 2006, we launched America’s first and only locally-reduced daily talk show for Filipinos in the U.S. It was called “Kababayan LA” (Countryman) I hosted, produced and ran the production for the station, for a little over eight years, before I left, two weeks before my wedding, to start a family.

Once again, I turned my back on my career, to choose family. I got married in 2014 and gave birth to my first child, a daughter, in 2015. But I got bored with being a stay-at-home mom, so I started my own production company, Jannelle So Productions, LLC. In 2017, I launched the new weekly magazine/lifestyle show, “SO Jannelle” which currently airs on Sundays, 3:55p Pacific / 6:55 p Eastern on The Filipino Channel, the premier Global Filipino Channel, with replays on Lifestyle Network. It is also now currently syndicated on my old station, KSCITV-LA18.

I am now a mom of three – my daughter (now 3-years old); my show (turning two this July 2019); and my 5-month old son – balancing motherhood, my business and my commitment to sharing inspiring stories with my community, my viewers.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been smooth, of course. In the beginning, my biggest challenge was immigration status. I never wanted to be out of status because I respected American laws so much. I spent a lot on lawyer’s fees, visa conversions, etc., to make sure I was always in status.

I received my green card through my parent’s family petition in 2010. And while the immigration status got settled, I struggled fighting for my voice. The station gave me full authority in running my show. But I still had to justify budgets story selection and other decisions. I had to manage station expectations versus the expectations from my community/my viewers.

Now that I run my own show which is also my own venture, I struggle with making sure that the business is making economic sense. While a lot of it is passion for telling stories, I have to make sure that the production bills are paid and my staff are fairly, if not generously compensated for their work. I know what it was like to be an employee and what I didn’t like in my situation before, I try to change now for the people working with me.

And finally, like with all working moms, I struggle with balancing motherhood and my business. I want to be as hands-on as possible with both of them. I did not work during my daughter’s first 18 months and it’s very important for me to be always present for their milestones and needs, especially during these formative years. These days, I arrange my schedule around theirs and when something goes wrong – call from school, emergency trips to the doctor, I drop everything so could take my own kids.

Please tell us about Jannelle So Productions.
Jannelle So Productions produces “So Jannelle” – a weekly talk/magazine show for Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, addressing community issues; covering events; sharing stories of a variety of aspects pertinent to the Filipino and Filipino-American lifestyle in the U.S. – from fashion, to politics, to human interest stories, sports, Hollywood, etc.

The objective is to entertain, inform, engage and inspire, to bring Filipino communities across North America, together.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I did not take the part that I took.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sojannelle.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sojannelle
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sojannelle
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/jannelleso

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