San Antonio Anchor is Leaving Journalism for Java
/A San Antonio is about to experience life after TV news and he will do it caffeinated.
KSAT Anchor Charles Gonzalez is leaving the station after the November book and will focus full time on his growing coffee shop business.
It’s not Gonzalez’s first career transition. He started in broadcasting as a sports reporter. For nine years he covered sports in several Texas TV markets and in Minneapolis. In May 2007, he started at KSAT where he transitioned to the role of general assignments reporter. He’s been anchoring the weekend newscasts at KSAT since 2008.
Three years ago, Gonzalez decided to pursue another passion -- coffee. He went part-time at KSAT and opened his coffee shop “Rosella” on East Jones Avenue. It was a good thing he had his own supply of caffeine because since then, he’s been burning the candle at both ends, working seven days a week either at Rosella or at KSAT and many days at both jobs.
His hard work is paying off. The tables at Rosella (that he crafted himself) are filled from morning to night with people not only enjoying the food and beverages, but using the coffee shop as a place to meet up with friends, colleagues or as a place to work on their laptops.
And just this week, Gonzalez opened a second full-service location at the Rand Building with business partner Tom Schleuning. In addition to serving coffee, breakfast and lunch, Rosella at the Rand will also feature dinner service, a weekend brunch and a selection of craft cocktails.
Gonzalez posted an emotional message on his Facebook page this week expressing how grateful he is for the success he’s had. Here is a section of that Facebook post:
"Generous" does little to describe how KSAT and my bosses have treated me since that day about 4 years ago when I walked into my former news director Jim Boyle's office and told him I wanted to go part-time to brew coffee. A few days later, Jim and our general manager Phil Lane signed off on my dream to follow a second passion. But now it's time to make a choice. I'll anchor my last newscast on November 26. The decision became official two weeks ago but in reality it was made years ago. I'm "retiring" after nearly 20 years in broadcast journalism. I mean, c'mon I just buried the lead! It's very bittersweet but it's time for me to get some sleep.
H/T KSAT
