Carlos Saucedo’s Los Angeles story begins in Montebello as the youngest of four kids.
“Growing up with three older brothers, I was the baby,” he explained. “As you can imagine. I was teased nonstop, but it was just the love of having that protective shield-having older brothers look after me, to learn from them- I love them.”
Carlos’ parents came to Montebello from Mexico and taught him and his brothers the value of hard work.
“My dad worked making plastic trashcans. My mom was a hustler, she worked three to four different jobs,” he said. “That instilled in me the definition of what hard work means and the sacrifices they had to make in order to survive.”
Carlos went to Fremont Elementary School, La Merced Intermediate School, and then Montebello High School. After graduation, he attended his dream school, UCLA.
“Growing up, I didn’t really know anything about higher education,” Carlos revealed. “It wasn’t until my oldest brother got into UCLA, and ended up going there. When my parents would drop him off, I would always walk around campus and I just fell in love with it.”
While at UCLA, Carlos was involved in student government. He was one of 13 student council members.
“Carlos is someone who cares a lot about people, that gives so much back to the community. He’s always been that way since he was a student,” explained Todd Sargent, Carlos’ UCLA alumni advisor. “He was one of my favorite student leaders at UCLA.”
As a council member, he created the school’s first gender-neutral bathroom, which remains to this day.
After graduating from UCLA, he took a year off and then pursued his master’s degree at USC in broadcast journalism.
Growing up, he was a self-described “news junkie,” and would watch KTLA with his dad.
“There were key events in my life where I realized journalism was significant in informing the public,” he said. “The first real event was 9/11. I was in high school at the time and people didn’t know what was going on. So, they turned to TV news to get the latest update.”
Carlos’ news career began in Waco, Texas. He returned to California and worked in Fresno, Sacramento, and San Francisco before returning home to L.A.
“It was always my goal to report for KTLA,” he gushed. “It has been a huge honor to be a part of the KTLA family.”
As for Carlos’ family, they proudly watch him on channel 5, and he’s been able to honor them in a huge way.
“Just last year, we won an Emmy for the 10 o’clock newscast and I gave my mom my Emmy,” he said proudly.
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