Steve Kowch looks and acts the complete opposite of what one would expect from someone who was fired less than four months ago. He looks quite jovial as he enters the classroom to deliver a speech based on his new book, “99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Making it Big in Media.” The former Operations Manager at CFRB radio looks right at home with the Centennial College journalism students as he takes a seat at the front of the class in his blue and white sneakers and plaid shirt.
The hungry students with hopes and dreams of making it big in the media world hang onto every word that the 59 year-old print and radio veteran has to offer. Kowch comes from a distant, mythical era where 17 year-old kids could walk into a city newspaper and with positivity could find themselves covering the police desk in six months. He did it based on belief in himself and a dream to succeed, and he’s here now to pass on these fundamentals that still work in the 21st century.
“You need to chase it. This is your dream, nobody, not me, not a program director at any radio station or television station, not a professor, not your mother, not your boyfriend, not your girlfriend has the right to tell you not to chase that dream, it’s yours, you own it, you chase it.” said Kowch, with the enthusiasm of a parent who is trying to get their kid excited about the opportunities that are out there waiting for them.
This is what he is known for. Kowch has a nose for raw, unpolished talent and turning it into professional journalists. He’s been a print and broadcast reporter for forty years, and has held high profile positions in direction and management at such broadcast companies as CJAD Radio in Montreal and Astral Media in Toronto. Kowch enjoys honing and polishing new talent so much he pulls double duty by teaching broadcast classes at Humber and Seneca College.
As if that wasn’t enough, he now has published author to add to his long list of life achievements. “99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Before Making it Big in Media,” is a bare bones hybrid between an autobiography and a how-to guide to making it in the media field. His insight is so valuable to journalism students since he has gone full circle and has found himself being one of the many casualties to face the chopping block in a supposed dying industry .
“It’s not if your going to be fired, it’s when your going to be fired. It’s going to happen and it doesn’t mean your not good,” said Kowch, who almost carries the firing as a badge of honor since he knows so many talented people who have gone down the same road before him, and sometimes by him. He can relate once again at a core level with the kids that sit in front of him since they’re both asking themselves,
“my goal and dream now is to get another job.” This is what Kowch answered, when he was asked by a student what his future holds.
The core messages in his book are direct and simple, have a dream, be positive, and stand above the crowd. Kowch is able to embed these core values easily by giving on the job life lessons learned to his readers. These include being known as one of the only journalists to successfully scrum the Pope, and be able to get the Prime Minister to open up hesitantly on an airport runway. You can tell that these are milestone events that have been swapped back and forth in press galleries and watering holes for years, but Kowch can deliver them with genuine enthusiasm and raw love of the trade that comes shining through. These are the kinds of assignments that make him say,
“I can’t believe I’m here, I can’t believe they’re paying me to be here, what a job, what a job.” And you can still see a glimpse of the 17 year-old copy boy in his eyes when he says it.
