Before dawn, while the city sleeps and Lake Michigan lies still, Sylvia Perez’s ritual begins. She rises at 5 a.m., brews coffee, reads a few pages for inspiration and lies quietly for 10 minutes to let her mind settle. Only then does she reach for her phone.
That calm carries her into a day many people could hardly imagine.
Born the youngest of five to Puerto Rican parents, Perez spent her early years on the move. Her father’s military service sent the family across continents, forcing her to adapt, enter new schools and learn how to connect quickly. That ease in conversation, she says, sparked her love of storytelling.
Perez remembers, at age 10, watching the Olympics with her older brother and asking, “What do I have to do to do what he’s doing?” The commentator was journalist Howard Cosell. That was the moment she decided her path.
Her parents, who had moved from Puerto Rico to the mainland, kept the television on news channels to help improve their English. Those voices became guides that shaped how she understood the world.
Still, her father spoke only Spanish when he enlisted in the army, and growing up in a military family meant living amid constant contrasts: one year her bedroom window might overlook a quiet German village, the next a sprawling base in Texas. Each place came with its own rhythms, foods and ways of speaking.
Those early years taught her to read a room, watch body language and notice who felt comfortable and who did not. Those skills became the foundation of a reporting style of equal parts curiosity and care.
Today Perez anchors the midday and 4 p.m. newscasts on FOX 32 Chicago, reporting breaking news that comes in at all hours. She also hosts the “Supper with Sylvia Perez” podcast and leads a half-hour food-and-culture segment for the station called “Tasting Chicago.”
Still, she finds time to give back, lending her voice to causes close to her heart, including the PAWS Chicago gala, widely known after Oprah Winfrey’s support. Perez has co-hosted it every year since joining the station nine years ago. At this year’s gala, where dogs in bow ties moved through the crowd, the organization raised a record $2.1 million.
Her schedule is full, but she protects balance with ritual and boundaries: early mornings, writing, meditation and keeping her phone off until she feels centered.
Once she arrives at the station, the pace accelerates. After the midday show and before the 4 p.m. broadcast, she often steps outside for fresh air. Sometimes the walk lasts only a few minutes, but the quiet resets her. She returns ready for the next story.
One of the most intense chapters of her career came during the pandemic. She reported from an empty studio, delivering daily briefings, coverage of healthcare surges and the emotional weight carried by a city in isolation. She remembers the stillness of that studio and how she focused on keeping her voice steady.
Months later, a woman stopped her on the sidewalk and said, “You got me through the pandemic. You helped me feel like things were going to be okay.” Perez remembers the warmth of those words and what it meant to shoulder that trust.
She’s quick to admit there are moments when she needs to slow down. She watches for signals. When she begins to forget appointments or misplace things, that’s her cue: it’s time to pause. No guilt. No shame. Just a boundary.
That boundary means choosing, not trying to do everything at once. Whenever possible, she limits herself to saying yes no more than twice a week, prioritizing loved ones, self-care and charities while declining other invitations gracefully.
“Boundaries aren’t walls, they're guardrails,” Perez says. “Not limits, but a form of clarity.” She often advises young women that they can “have it all,” but perhaps not all at once. Priorities shift and intention matters.
Perez views her energy as a finite resource, not an endless supply. Confidence, she says, comes from choosing commitments with intention. Protecting that energy lets her show up fully for viewers, colleagues and the family waiting at home.
Family anchors her. She named her daughters Iliana and Magali for cherished relatives, a deliberate way to carry forward the stories that shaped her. Even amid countless breaking-news cycles, their names remain threads of legacy that keep her connected to the people who taught her resilience, love and purpose.
Her afternoons often belong to creative work, including her podcast that takes her beyond the newsroom. Conversations with guests have ranged from recipes to childhood trauma, fear and reinvention. One recent episode featured chef Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno, who welcomed her into his kitchen. There he spoke about craft while Perez tasted fresh pasta and absorbed stories of heritage, reinvention and community.
On “Tasting Chicago” she brings that same curiosity into kitchens across the city. In a recent conversation, she recalled an episode that stuck with her—one featuring Israel Idonije, the former Chicago Bear who turned a Packers‑friendly bar into The Staley, a gathering place where Bears fans can cheer on their team. For her, it’s a reminder that the richness of people’s paths often comes from the most surprising turns.
Perez explains, these moments are about the stories behind the food. Chicago’s restaurants, she says, “are among the world’s best because food is connection—culture served on a plate.”
She also loves how kitchens feel behind the scenes: the clang of pans, the hiss of steam, the quick choreography of cooks who seem to speak their own language. She notices how a chef grips a knife or pauses before tasting a sauce. Those details, she says, are their own form of biography. Food reveals who a person is, where they come from and what they hope to share. It is why she keeps returning to restaurant stories.
Balancing family, career and creative work requires discipline, and Perez has practiced it for years. She carves out quiet minutes each morning, pays attention to limits, takes walks and says no when needed. The goal is not perfection but presence. Calm, she believes, is cultivated through intentional choices and small moments that build steadiness.
When the city wakes and the newsroom buzzes, Perez is ready—centered, clear-eyed and present. Steadiness, she says, is not occasional. It's a practice.
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Watch past episodes and highlights of “Tasting Chicago” on FOX 32’s website and YouTube. Listen to “Supper with Sylvia Perez” on major podcast services, with highlights on YouTube. IG @supperwithsylvia.
“Boundaries aren’t walls, they're guardrails,” Perez says. “Not limits, but a form of clarity.”