It is often true that some of our biggest passions come from the most unlikely of places. For this month's N_Ovator of the Month, Jovan Alford, his past disdain for writing eventually shifted, leading him to become a journalist and founder of his own sports website, Total Sports Live (Totalsportslive.com).
Alford grew up in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia with his mother and younger brother. He admits that writing was never his strong suit during his earlier years of schooling. "I hated writing when I was growing up," he said. "It was always a struggle for me, especially when I was in middle school.
Although Alford tended to shy away from writing as much as he could, things began to turn around for him during his eighth grade year. "I wanted to do extra –credit because I had messed up on something really bad," he said.
Coincidentally, this transpired around the time of Superbowl 40, and Alford's teacher presented him with a unique opportunity that would not only save his grade, but also open his eyes to a brand new career choice. "She asked me if I wanted to write about the Superbowl and I said, 'Yeah, I'll give it a try'," he said.
After getting an A on his story, his teacher supplied him one important realization: "When you write about something you like, you are a good writer." After developing his writing skills throughout high school, Alford entered LaSalle University as a communications major, and dove right in to the journalism world.
Alford's journalism path started during his college years when he would host sports-related radio shows at LaSalle. After successful runs, he was encouraged by some of his peers to start a website of his own. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it because I was not even sure where to start," he said in regards to the thought of starting Total Sports Live.
Alford's initial motivation to eventually start Total Sports Live was simply that he wanted an outlet to talk about and keep people updated on the world of sports.
His motivation eventually shifted as he began to think about the complex route of getting into journalism as a career. "In college, I just wanted something that made me stand out," he said. "It's always hard to land internships with just a journalism background, so I just went and created something for myself."
Total Sports Live eventually grew from a small site on Blogger to a site that now has over 20 writers and an audience in the thousands. Once aspect Alford takes to heart the most is his ability to help newer writers have a platform to showcase their work.
"I had an interview for an internship and they weren't listening to me because I didn't have any prior experience," he said. "I didn’t get it and it fueled the fire in me to build something to get experience and help other people get experience."
One of the highlights of his early years of Total Sports Live was being able to cover the NCAA Lacrosse Championships for the site. While many people who were chosen to do press for the event had a long resume of internships and experience, Alford was able to get himself in the door on the strength of his own brand.
Alford describes his writing style as conversational and logical. Instead of being a writer who aggressively argues points to audiences, he chooses to use his knowledge and ability to break concepts down in his writing to get his point across.
To date Alford's favorite story came from his coverage of his former high school's first National Signing Day ceremony. While the article itself proudly details the event, the impact of the event itself is what helps it stand out.
"My old track coach told me that they invited a lot of newspapers to come about, but many decided they did not want to because the school isn’t that big," Alford said. He added that while the event may not have seemed to be that big of a deal to them, it meant the world to the student athletes, many of which were headed to Division 1 programs, and it filled him with pride to cover the event.
Alford hopes to continue his path of one day writing for a major sports outlet while continuing to grow Total Sports Live. He also hopes to continue to share his story of perseverance to people coming up in the journalism the way he is. For more on Alford and his story, check out his upcoming episode of N_Ov8TV.
