Before taking a new job at Essence Global, an advertising firm, 26-year-old Jon Caña was a television news reporter and producer at The Filipino Channel in Daly City. He worked there for about two and a half years, spending long hours and devoting himself to the craft of television news reporting.
“You can think of it as Univision but for Filipinos,” Caña said. “I got to know the community in the Bay Area.”
Caña is originally from the Philippines but moved to New Jersey with family when he was a kid. He came to the Bay Area for school, graduating from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Mass Communications. Soon after graduating, he began working as a news reporter 24/7 and sometimes leaning on family and friends to help him come up with stories.
“It’s not the easiest job, you meet people that are going through different things everyday. But it’s all about getting the story at the end of the day,” he said.
Caña eventually left the news industry in the summer of 2018. He now works in advertising at Essence Global, a job he’s held for a year. With holidays, he has been reflecting on the opportunities, the friends and the connections he’s made.
“I have a lot to be grateful for,” Caña said.