Irving Mejia-hilario

About

Since I was young, I've always had a passion for writing. Whether short or long stories, I always found such a unique escape through words that I could never find anywhere else. Perhaps that has led me to where I am today as the Sports Business Journal's agencies, labor and GA reporter. A love of writing and an even bigger love to explore the unknown stories of people is what drives me to continue my journey as a journalist. I got my start in journalism when I was 15 and ranting on Twitter about what was yet another bad season from my beloved Detroit Lions. Shortly after, Top Sports Report noticed me and approached me with an opportunity to join their writing staff. Without hesitation, I agreed. After a year of writing nonstop at Top Sports Report, I moved to a much bigger website in Spark Sports. With a reach of over 50,000 followers on Twitter, my responsibilities grew, and my writing had to match those new expectations. Ultimately, everything worked out better than I could have ever expected within that period. I was fortunate enough to have been featured on FOX Sports' front page for the Detroit Lions on three occasions from my affiliation with Spark Sports. Later, in 2018, I was invited to be a part of the Detroit Pistons' media at 18 when I reported on their media day. That same year, I was invited to The Washington Journalism and Media Conference to represent Michigan. I took a break from journalism between 2018 and 2019 due to health and personal issues. At that time, I attended the University of Detroit Mercy and worked at Royal Diner simultaneously. However, I transferred to Wayne State University in the winter of 2020 and immediately became involved with their student newspaper, the South End. I worked my way up from being a sports correspondent to the sports editor between the winter and fall of 2020. After a year of working as the sports editor, I became the managing editor of the South End. In my time there, we led the newspaper to win awards from the College Media Association. Following that, I became a member of the class of 2022 for the Dow Jones News Fund and earned an internship with Automotive News. At AN, I had the chance to write about issues and news facing the automotive industry during the summer of 2022. Following the end of a successful stint with AN, I joined Bridge Michigan to become an environmental reporter. At BM, I was given the opportunity to focus on longer-term stories on issues relating to Michigan's environmental issues like monarch butterflies. Today, I'm a writer for the Sports Business Journal.