Griselda Flores on her wild journey covering entertainment in Hollywood

If you’ve read Variety Latino, you probably have come across the name Griselda Flores. The entertainment writer has produced hundreds of online articles for the publication, and in just her short amount of time in Hollywood, her dedication to her career lead her to be named one of the  Top 40 Latinos in U.S. Media by the Huffington Post.

For Griselda, work ethic is uncompromisable. The writer, reporter and producer says, “It’s okay to dream big, it’s okay to be ambitious and it’s okay to be successful. Aim high, you can have it all but having it all means sacrificing, prioritizing, working very very hard and staying humble along the way?”

She’s interviewed countless celebrities and covered major entertainment events like Latin Grammy, Oscars, Golden Globes. But her upbringing hasn’t been an easy one.

She was born in Illinois and shortly after, the family moved to Zacatecas Mexico, her mother’s home state. There the family of six, made a life for three years. Soon after, they returned to the States but had a difficult time re-adjusting. Her mother became the sole provider for the family.

Griselda, the youngest of four, aside from growing up in a home with little means, she recalls her childhood memories filled with happiness. Of these memories, she remembers her mother cooking meals everyday, the family strictly speaking Spanish at home and their love of listening to Mexican music, “we were very, very Mexican,”  she said.

After a summer internship in Los Angeles, the Chicagoan native moved to Hollywood following her graduation from Columbia College. “I knew I had to come back,” she said. So Griselda packed her bags and moved to the city of angels. “[I] came to L.A., with no job offers or anything,” She said.

She has interviewed an array of celebrities and despite working in the entertainment industry, says she’s a humble person, and doesn’t play into the stereotypical role of the “Latina reporter”.

“I’m not into the whole wearing tight mini dresses and being just a pretty face on television. “I want my name to be known because I’m a hardworking journalist and for people to remember my name because of something I wrote or created…” Griselda said.

When ask about the story she’s most proud of, Griselda said it was interviewing Gael Garcia Bernal, about his film, Rosewater.  Where she not only was able to speak to the actor about the film but also about the political state of Mexico, and the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, a topic significant to her.

She says she gets most inspire by hard working people, like the DREAMers, the undocumented individuals who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. She has high hopes for them to achieve every single dream they have.

One of Griselda’s passion is fútbol. Her love for the sport stems from her father, a soccer coach. “The memories I have from my childhood, is going to soccer matches every weekend,” Griselda said. She even participated on an ESPN Deportes contest to go to the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa, and was the only female finalist.