Kit Roberts
A TV reporter has shared a message for her younger self after losing her job on her 40th birthday.
Ellina Abovian, who has been nominated for an Emmy, was among many staff laid off by KTLA, where she had worked for around 10 years, on February 25.
Midday anchors Glen Walker and Lu Parker, weather anchor Mark Kriski, and meteorologist Kacey Montoya also lost their jobs in the round of layoffs.
But as if losing your job wasn't bad enough it also transpired that Ellina had been laid off on her birthday, and not even just any birthday but her 40th birthday.
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Many people might have a few ideas for how they would want to celebrate this milestone, but being laid off is unlikely to be among them.
However, it seems that despite the difficult news Ellina remains buoyant, as she appeared on podcast Breaking Through with Ellina Abovian.
There, she shared some advice she would give to herself when she was 21-years-old.
“Stop hiding. Stop shrinking. There’s a big world out there and you can be a part of it," she said. "You don’t have to only exist within your Armenian community."
She added: “Stop hiding your body, stop thinking you’re not good enough. You are so perfect in all your imperfections. If I could say that to my 21-year-old self and just say go for it. What are you waiting for."
But that wasn't all that she had to say to her younger self, as Ellina shared that she would encourage her younger self to be getting out into the world and being more adventurous.
“I wish my 21-year-old self could have followed all her dreams," she said. "I wish she could have gone out there into the world … and experienced more things instead of looking for safety."
Ellina also reflected on her age now, and how she now feels a lot more confident at 40, and doesn't actually want to think about going back to being 30 or 20.
“But it’s easier said than done now being 40,"she shared. "So I’m going to tell myself that now as if you know it’s the 20-year-old in me and do the best with what I have in front of me today.
“We don’t get do-overs in life but we do get to be who we are right now and to be 40, to feel great in my own skin, to have come this far … great, let’s move through the world now with that certainty and stop trying to go back to 20 or 30."
She added: “Those chapters are finished and I’m happy that they’re finished because it led me here.”