Simone Perez

Water, olive oil and homemade meals are Simone Perez’s secret to a healthy life.

When she’s not working as an associate producer at Al Jazeera America or twisting her body into awkward positions over a lime-green yoga mat in a hot room, Perez is either sipping from an aluminum water bottle or telling all her co-workers to drink more water.

{mosads}“Everybody at work makes fun of me because I constantly do water checks, and I make them hold up their Nalgenes,” Perez says.

She also makes sure she packs multiple Tupperware containers full of snacks and meals to eat throughout the day, and refuses to get a scale because she feels they make people obsessed with an ideal number.

The TV pro has a certain glow about her, which she attributes to olive oil. She uses it on her hair and scalp, as well as on her skin and as a makeup remover.

“It’s kind of right up there with coconut oil,” Perez says.

Perez was raised in what she calls a “one stop sign town,” shrouded in vineyards in Northern California. She credits her social worker parents with teaching her to give back to her community: on Tuesdays you’ll find Perez mentoring underprivileged kids as a volunteer with the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project.

After a study-abroad trip to Italy at 16, she was determined to move out east.

“I love my hometown, I love all the people I grew up with and am still very close with all my high school friends, but I just wanted a bigger pond,” says the George Washington University grad.

Eight years later, Perez is still swimming in the “bigger pond” — the nation’s capital.

Perez interned for the “CBS Evening News” and a local Washington news station before working for CNN. She then moved on to C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” as a production assistant.

She’s used to being behind the scenes at Al Jazeera America, but aspires to one day get a shot at being in front of the camera, and wants to dabble in documentary filmmaking.

While Perez loves D.C., she’s willing to move wherever her career takes her.

“Right now I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be learning those skills,” she says. “I feel really content.”

Perez enjoys covering all news from healthcare to international affairs, but says she’s most drawn to politics.

“I love the politics of politics — I’m highly entertained by that,” she adds.

— Ferdous Al-Faruque