From the get-go, Class of ‘89 Palmetto graduate Cynthia Demos knew she was destined to enter the field of journalism.

“I knew right away I was going to go into television, and I was the first anchor at WPAW. I knew then I was going to go to the University of Florida to be a journalism major in telecommunication and news, and that’s exactly what I did,” Demos said. “I decided very early on that I was going to end up in television and be a news anchor, and I did that.” 

Demos anchored and reported for CBS4 Ft. Lauderdale and Miami from 2007 to 2015, and previously, for WFTV in Orlando (2002-2007) and WPTV in West Palm Beach (1999-2002), just to name a few. 

“I was a news anchor for 23 years. I love news and I miss it, but now that I have children, I need a better schedule and working for myself allows me to make my own hours,” Demos said.

Despite her decision to focus on her family and leave the newscasting limelight, Demos continues to employ her extensive experience through her own company, Cynthia Demos Communications. 

“Three years ago I started my own video production and media training company so I still do the same thing I used to do, I just do it for private companies,” Demos said. “I create a lot of social media videos, I do a lot of branding and marketing videos, and everything’s online so it couldn’t be better timing to make that transition.”

Demos credits her time as a student at Palmetto for encouraging a sense of confidence within her, and for fostering an atmosphere that allowed her to achieve success. She won two Emmy Awards for Feature Reporting in 2012 and Day of News Event in 2007, and was nominated for another two in 2013 as well. 

“It all has to do with building confidence. Once you build your confidence you can do anything you want,” Demos said. “When you build an atmosphere where it’s cool to be smart, then you work harder, you study harder and you build your confidence that way. And once you have that foundation, you go on thinking I can do whatever I want to do — which is also what I instill in my own kids now.”  

Demos also looks forward to the completion of the $50 million renovation rapidly underway on campus, allowing Palmetto to preserve the platform for success it has maintained over the past 60 years. 

“I’m excited to see Palmetto get the money to rebuild and to continue the legacy that they’ve built,” Demos said.