No Place Like Home

The 2003 grad was recruited to play basketball at Concordia, but before the first game of the season, Hepola decided to put all of his time into journalism. He soon became a sports anchor and eventually the sports director with Concordia On-Air, the weekly student-run newscast.

Even as a young child, Hepola always knew he wanted to be a news anchor.

“When I was 8 years old, the dentist told me I needed to brush better. I was so upset because I thought that if I got a cavity, then I couldn’t be an anchor on TV,” Hepola recalls.

While still a student at Concordia, Hepola was hired as a weekend sports anchor at KXJB-TV in Fargo. After graduation, his career as a sports anchor and reporter took him across the country – from Washington, D.C., to Montana, New York and Texas. In 2014, he earned two Emmy nominations for his work in Houston, including Best On-Camera Talent: Sports Anchor and Best Discussion/Interview.

Now a morning anchor in his home market, Hepola is all smiles.

“It was a very challenging journey, but one that I’m very thankful for. I’m thankful for where I’ve been and I’m thankful for where I’m at now,” Hepola says.

There’s no place like Minnesota. There’s no place like this place. – Cory Hepola

Hepola and his wife, Camille Williams, are both anchors at KARE 11, an NBC-affiliated television station in Minneapolis. With a toddler and newborn twins at home, the Perham native couldn’t be more thrilled to be back in Minnesota.

“I feel so blessed to be home, and to be here at KARE 11. I couldn’t have planned it better,” he says.

Video by Evan Balko

Editor’s note: story updated in November 2016

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