Steve Carlson is the president and general manager of NBC4 Southern California and has more than 30 years of television experience. He is well known for his seasoned marketing expertise, open leadership style and as the force behind strengthening the NBC4 Southern California brand.  In addition to his professional life, Steve is a passionate philanthropist a dedicated husband and father to 5 adult children. An overall wonderful human being, he is the first of many features we will be doing on Inspiring Men Of Los Angeles.

Finding inspiration in a congested city like Los Angeles can seem like a daunting task but it was pretty easy. After a few weeks of outreach, we were introduced to Steve by his daughter’s publicist and after doing a little bit of digital digging, it was clear that he was the absolute best person to kick this series off with.  When we think of inspiring people, we all have a few characteristics that come to mind when describe such a person. When you meet and get to know Steve, you will not only find those characteristics but many many more and be genuinely inspired by his being.  Steve has been in the entertainment business for 30 years so he has had countless experiences that have developed his character and made him the man that he is today. One thing he is not, is arrogant, intimidating or any other negative description that many come to mind when referring to entertainment executives.  Steve is a genuine human who loves his work, values his friends, family and those who are lucky to be in his life and is a tireless and passionate philanthropist. He has started a few great organizations and is on the board of many others. In our interview, we cover a lot of his philanthropic work. One of the organizations that caught our ear was his work with CASA.  He is a board member to the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Los Angeles which is an outstanding organization that we recently did a feature on for the series JB Challenge. What was most surprising is that he is also on the board or involved in one way or another with many organizations that are focused on African American men’s causes. Such as being on the board of and a special advisor to the president and the board of the Concerned Black Men of Los Angeles. He says himself that people are shocked to find a white guy so involved in black men’s causes but to him, it really doesn’t matter.  He follows his heart and dedicates himself to whatever he feels is most needed.

We started to get to know Steve before he even came in for his interview.  I contacted him to get things organized and he turned the tables on me and started doing a mini-interview of me which was funny.  He genuinely wanted to get to know me, where I am from and what prompted our mission to highlight Inspiring Men in Los Angeles. I felt immediately that I was speaking with a true gentleman, someone who really cares about people, listens, shows interest and retains the information which is not something you find every day.  This got me more excited about featuring such an honorable man in IMOLA. These assumptions I had and shared with the team were validated as soon as he walked through the JB Clothiers doors for his interview. He walked in with a big smile on his face and shared his appreciation for what we are doing. We learned later that he will participate in any activities that help him spread the word about the organizations he is involved with.  A man who has 5 kids, 4 grandkids is running a major network, an avid athlete who still plays basketball regularly with actual pro basketball players will make time to help the causes he is passionate about. Without being too much of a fangirl I can honestly say that not only was I truly inspired by Steve but our entire team and our production partners were as well. We were all talking about what an amazing character he is once we completed the shoot.  As the saying goes, you know you are in the company of someone inspiring when they leave and you still are buzzing with positive energy.  

The sit-down interview that was done at the JB Clothiers store in the heart of the fashion district and covered a lot of questions from fun to serious.  We asked Steve about his career and the difficulties he has experienced in the entertainment world. We got deep at some points which was enlightening and then ended with some light fun questions such as, what advice would you give the 18-year-old you.  It was a great day of filming and we were all left inspired by Mr Steve Carlston. Especially hearing about the lessons he has learned throughout his life and how he has overcome some of the challenging times. Talk about an amazing mentor! 

“What I found in life is that when you are serving other people, that is the happiest you will ever be.”  Steve Carlston

There is no way around it, we all need inspiration in our lives for one reason or another and finding inspiration can be difficult in big, fast cities.  However, you can find it as we have in the wonderful Steve Carlston. A generous giver, a smart businessman, a dedicated father and a personable and caring individual dedicated to others.  We are honored that he gave his time to us and allowed us to feature him as our very first Inspiring Man of Los Angeles and to honor him back we will continue to highlight the organizations that he is passionate about.  Check them out and find something that you can align with and dedicate some time to others. This is about creating a movement, not just creating a series and we hope that these inspiring leaders will inspire you to greatness. Because when you keep it positive, anything is possible.

I Am a Volunteer

Life Connected

Court Appointed Special Advocates

Concerned Black Men of Los Angeles

Providence Saint Joseph Foundation