Danielle Leal is a television broadcaster at AgNet West in California, covering agriculture news in her community.
Leal grew up and continues to live in the agricultural community of Tulare, California. Her husband manages the family farm, where they live with their two sons.
“I didn’t grow up with a direct connection to agriculture other than living in a farming community,” Leal said. “I moved from private to public school when I was young, and I became involved in FFA and the ag program at my school.”
Leal studied broadcast journalism in college and had hopes of appearing on television someday.
“I wasn’t sure where or what I was going to be covering, but I knew that I wanted to be on the TV screens of everybody in my rural area,” Leal said. “I wanted to wake them up with good news and good stories, and I wanted to host a morning show.”
Leal married her husband soon after college and wanted to remain close to home so he could continue to manage the family farm. She started her first job working as a reporter for a local newspaper. After working in print journalism for a few years, Leal told her husband she wanted to take the next step in her career.
“One of the things you learn in the broadcasting industry is that networking is key,” Leal said.
Leal was reporting at the World Ag Expo in February 2018 when she was talking to industry leaders about what she wanted to do, which was host a morning show. A few days later, AgNet West, located in her hometown, reached out to her about hosting and producing a morning show focused on agriculture.
“It blended the two things I had a passion for – journalism and agriculture,” Leal said.
Leal started her dream job in 2018 and continues to work in the community she always wanted to serve.
“Don’t settle for one particular job and think that it’s the end-all-be-all,” Leal said. “It’s always a steppingstone to your next spot, unless you really love that job!”
