This HBCU graduate went from intern to owner!
According to Black Business, April Ross is an Alabama State University graduate and the new owner of WJCN TV-33, a local television station based in LaGrange, Georgia.
While attending the Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Ross worked as an intern at WJCN before ultimately taking a position as a production assistant and later a reporter.
Ross would later go on to work as a reporter for a CBS affiliate, WRBL News-3, where she says one incident led her to the vision of owning her own television station.
In 2017, Ross encountered a situation where a deputy sheriff had been shot and quickly realized that there were no reporters around to cover the story.
“My news reporter instincts took over and in the absence of any TV news outlets here to report on it, I covered it on Facebook Live, which helped my social media presence to grow in excess of 15,000 followers,” said Ross in an interview with ASU News. “This was the catalyst for Bee-TV and ultimately contributed to my purchase of WJCN TV-33.”
This moment led Ross to the idea of pursuing a business venture and she began to execute a plan to deliver breaking news stories on her own television station instead of social media.
The entrepreneur thanks both God and her HBCU for her success. Ross also says CBS-3 anchor, Teresa Whitaker, played a role in her success as her mentor.
She also offered advice for those headed down a similar path.
“My advice to present students is that you must first work hard, learn well and work through hard times if you wish to obtain your dream,” she said.
Her station WJCN broadcasts 24/7 on Spectrum Cable to over 600,000 households in 11 counties in West Georgia and Alabama.
