Jessica Larché is an Emmy Award-winning television news journalist, motivational speaker, wellness advocate and creator of the Decide to Live with Jessica Larché online talk show and podcast.
She is on a journey to use the power of vulnerable storytelling to inspire us all to rise above our greatest obstacles – and decide to live.
“I don’t know what the mountain you face is made of,” Jessica writes. “But I do know what’s inside of you. A champion!”
As Jessica’s career in television news was taking off, her lifelong struggle with weight – brought on by using unhealthy amounts of food to soothe anxiety – came to a head. At 27 years old back in 2012, doctors diagnosed her with dangerously high blood pressure. Jessica feared she was on the same path as her father who died a year earlier due to his own struggles with food addiction and morbid obesity. As she left the doctor’s office after her diagnosis, Jessica was faced with two options—continue to use food as a coping mechanism for anxiety, or make a change. She decided to live!
"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!"
Deuteronomy 30:19
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Jessica’s journey over the next several years to lose 100 pounds — and do the mental, physical and spiritual work to keep it off — saved her life.
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Her inspiring story was even celebrated on the cover of Woman’s Day Magazine in 2016.
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Her passion to help others facing their own obstacles inspired her to create this platform in 2014. It’s an open diary detailing how love, faith, and therapy paved the way for her journey, and how you can apply the same tools to scale your mountains. The inspiring life lessons will leave you determined to harness the power of your choices—big and small—to weather any storm.
“Do not despair in the middle of the storm. It’s there to clear your path,” Jessica writes. “When the clouds clear, your rainbow will appear, and the treasure that comes with it will bring peace, purpose, and joy.”
Jessica later expanded her mission with Decide to Live ® – a podcast and online talk show series – where she shares wisdom and tools from other overcomers through candid conversations. You’ll open your heart to the messages of hope and healing as you’ll discover, like Jessica, the power to save your life starts with you—because you have the power to decide to live.
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Jessica spends her mornings waking up thousands of families in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and Eastern North Carolina as a main anchor on WTKR-TV’s News 3 This Morning. She’s also an award- winning investigative reporter at WTKR, most recently exposing wrongful convictions, excessive sentencing for people of color, and disproportionate resources used to find missing people of color. Before she joined WTKR in 2010, she served the Jackson, Mississippi community for three years as an investigative reporter at WDBD FOX
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Jessica is a 2007 summa cum laude graduate of Florida A&M University’s prestigious School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. A New Orleans-area native, Jessica used her resources at FAMU to produce an award-winning documentary about the struggles displaced students faced after Hurricane Katrina.
During her time at FAMU, Jessica dedicated her life to serving all mankind as a Spring 2005 initiate of the Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She currently serves the community as a member of the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Jessica is married to the love of her life, Sean M. Washington. Sean is a fellow HBCU graduate from Hampton University. He serves the City of Norfolk in the Economic Development Division, with a focus on helping small businesses thrive.
Together, Sean and Jessica support several philanthropic missions in their community, especially the nonprofit organization Parents Against Bullying, based in Hampton, Virginia.