Disrupters
Lauren Sanchez
Her big breakthrough came in 1997 as a special correspondent on Extra, where she interviewed some of the biggest names in Hollywood
Lauren Sanchez has been making headlines recently as the girlfriend of Jeff Bezos, but the Latina has been a Powerhouse in her own right for years. Born December 19th, 1969, to a second-generation Mexican-American family in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Sagittarius has had an impressive career. She went attended college at the University of Southern California, where she had a scholarship.
While attending USC, she interned as a desk assistant at the television station KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. The motivated journalist landed a job as an anchor at KTVK television in Phoenix. Her big breakthrough came in 1997 as a special correspondent on Extra, where she interviewed some of the biggest names in Hollywood, as well as presidents. In 1999, Sánchez returned to KCOP-TV to anchor UPN 13 News, where she won an Emmy Award.
She then became an anchor for Fox Sports Net, where she earned another Emmy nomination. When it comes to her work as a host, anchor, and contributor, the list goes on, with programs like The View, Fox 11’s Good Day LA, Larry King Live, The Joy Behar Show, and Showbiz Tonight.
After making a name for herself, Sanchez made cameos in dozens of films and television shows, like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, ‘Fight Club,’ ‘Batman Begins,’ ‘Fantastic Four’, and ‘The Longest Yard’, to name a few. The Emmy Award-winning journalist is also a mother of three children from past relationships: Nikko, Evan, and Eleanor.
With a successful career on camera, Sanchez looked to the sky for her next venture, becoming a certified pilot. In 2016, she founded Black Ops Aviation, which is the first female-owned aerial film and production company. She has since focused on film and television projects which allow her to use her skills as a licensed airplane and helicopter pilot.
“When I first became a reporter I did it because there was no one else I thought that looked like me. There is only six percent of pilots that are women and then there’s even less in the film industry, so I was like I want to film movies.”
Since her relationship with the Amazon billionaire went public in 2019, Sanchez has been working closely with Bezos as the Vice-Chair of the Earth Bezos Fund. The organization started with a 10 billion dollar commitment from Bezos to be disbursed as grants throughout the coming decade to aid Earth from climate change. She regularly shared updates on her social media about the work they are doing in places like the Amazon.
