Natalie Tejeda

Natalie Tejeda is a ball of energy who's always bounding into the newsroom with a cheery “Good Morning!” at 4:30 a.m. Any given day of the week you can count on her to guide you around car crashes, construction delays, traffic congestions and any other slow-downs so that you and your kids get to work and school safely and maybe, just maybe, you’ll even have time to hit up Starbucks before walking through the office door.

But traffic reporter isn’t the only hat Natalie wears at KENS 5. She’s also a co-host and correspondent for "Great Day SA," the station's daily lifestyle show.

You also can find her filling in for any number of anchors on the morning, noon and evening newscasts. And with her extensive hard news, investigative and live reporting experience, Natalie’s bosses never hesitate to send her out to cover breaking news stories.

Natalie is also extremely active in the community, often spending her afternoons, evenings and weekends emceeing events, judging contests and speaking to children at schools to encourage them to pursue higher learning and follow their dreams.

One cause that is near and dear to her heart is health and physical fitness. Many of her stories focus on health, nutrition and working out. Her "Great Day SA" series -- “Getting Fit with Nat” -- often features high-profile community figures, such as world champion boxer Jesse James Leija, Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner Kevin Wolff and even San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, to name a few.

The goal is to encourage everyone to adopt a healthy lifestyle and move our city from being one of the fattest to being one of the fittest!

As a former board member and chair of the public relations committee for the San Antonio affiliate of the Susan G. Komen foundation, finding a cure for breast cancer and cancer in general hits close to home for Natalie.

“I lost my grandmother to lung cancer in 2006, and I am a cancer survivor myself,” Tejeda said. “It was an absolute honor to be of service to the Komen Organization.”

A former smoker herself, Natalie now advocates abstinence from nicotine and has taken up running. In 2012, she participated in the inaugural Susan G. Komen 10K race –- raising more than $800 -- and recently completed two half-marathons: the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Disneyland half-marathon. Her next races include the Rock and Roll San Antonio Half-Marathon in November and the Las Vegas Strip at night half-marathon on Dec. 2.

Another cause that Natalie is extremely passionate about is protecting our children from abuse. The daughter of two social workers, Natalie has taken her love of Harley Davidson motorcycles and joined the Guardians of the Children motorcycle club. The mission of the GOC is to recognize and react to child abuse and educate the public to do the same. Group members also serve as advocates for the children when they face their accusers in court and provide strength and stability to families in crisis.

“Natalie has been an amazing asset to our organization,” said Harry “Jewels” Lindgren, president of Guardians of the Children. “We knew she was a motorcycle rider and asked her to emcee an event. After seeing our group in action, she applied to be a patched member. She has worked so hard to get our message out and be an advocate for our adopted families. She truly demonstrates our principals of Valor, Truth and Integrity.”

A self-professed gadget geek and social media nerd, Natalie was one of the first at KENS to really adopt social media with gusto. From her first day on air, she was the personality with the graphic of a Twitter bird driving a car showing viewers her Twitter handle so they could follow her. She inherently knew how important social media was as a channel for getting information out to viewers in a timely manner. Now she’s helping her other colleagues get on the Twitter bandwagon.

You’ll routinely see traffic and news tweets from her all day –- every day -– even on the weekends and when she’s on vacation, because news and traffic doesn’t stop when her workday is done.

Before coming to KENS 5, Natalie worked in public relations for Dublin and Associates and in the communications department for San Antonio Water System. She also was a reporter for WOAI in San Antonio and KMSB in Tucson, Ariz. She was a bureau chief for KYMA in Yuma/El Centro, Ariz., and a freelance helicopter reporter at KABC in Los Angeles.

Natalie received her bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism from California State University, Fullerton. She was an award-winning member of the speech and debate team all through high school and college. And here's something you probably didn’t know: Before switching to communications, she was studying to be a professional dancer.

One of the things Natalie loves about her job is always getting to meet new people and share in their lives and experiences. “I am so grateful people invite me into their homes every morning and let me be part of their families. If you see me when you’re out and about, come up and say hi. I’d love to meet you in person.”

If you’d like to send Natalie an email, you can do so at ntejeda@kens5.com. You also can follow her on Twitter @natalietejeda or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/natalienewz.