A visionary, an entrepreneur, a latina in sports. Johanna-Rosalye Luna is a genuine talent, from sports journalist to broadcaster, she’s a growing influence in the Valley of the Sun.
Growing up as a young girl, with four older brothers, Johanna-Rosalye was constantly surrounded by sports
A Phoenix native, Johanna-Rosalye grew up in the heart of the city, Downtown Phoenix. Growing up as a young girl, with four older brothers, she was constantly surrounded by sports, whether it be basketball, soccer, boxing, or football. She remembers going to sporting events as a child, more specifically she recalls going to her first Phoenix Suns game at the young age of five where she fell in love with the team and sports, which would one day bring her full circle. However, it would not be until High School where she would truly realize her passion for writing and then decide to pursue journalism.
Once Johanna-Rosalye found sports journalism was her calling she hasn’t looked back.
She decided to follow her dream and seek every opportunity posible to step into the world of sports. Initially starting with a baseball blog, and gaining popularity, she later expanded her blog to write about the NFL, NBA and other sports. In 2011, her dream came true by being at the right place at the right time and given an opportunity to begin her journalistic career when she attended the 2011 MLB All-Star events. Johanna-Rosalye joined The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame as a correspondent assigned to cover the Arizona Diamondbacks. From thereon, she would be presented with opportunities to be on radio and podcasts locally and nationally, and contribute as a freelance writer and photographer for the The Sports Kave, which she continues to contribute to on occasion.
With the help and support of her mentors and peers her dream has flourished into more than she ever imagined. Johanna-Rosalye sought the competitive advantage by being bilingual and tapped into both the English and Spanish language markets in the valley. This allowed her to interview athletes in both languages and to deliver content to both markets.
She would then go on to build Insight Sports Network in 2017, along with multiple podcasts such as Insight Sports Talk (an English language sports podcast) and Punto Deportivo (a Spanish language sports podcast).
She has had the opportunity of covering MLB, NFL, NBA, WNBA, from MLB postseasons and All-Star games, CONCACAF Gold Cup, to the NBA and WNBA Finals. In 2020, Johanna-Rosalye launched the Insight Notion podcast, where she goes beyond the surface on topics related to society and culture such as lifestyle, politics, sports, world views, and more.
However, it doesn’t end there, Johanna-Rosalye is also one of the voices of the Phoenix Suns in Spanish-language radio on La Mejor Arizona 106.5FM/1400AM, working alongside the official and very talented voice of the Phoenix Suns, Arturo Ochoa.
In addition, this year she also joined the VIVIAPHOENIX.COM team as a feature writer, where she shares the stories of local influencers and celebrities around the valley.
She also joined Laura Madrid’s team on La Onda 1190AM, Spanish language radio broadcast, as a news and sports reporter. Here, she has a sports segment on Noticias Enlace every weekday morning where she reports on the latest sports news. Also, on occasion she will report on news around the valley for the 5pm news hour of Noticias Enlace. These are some of her recent accomplishments, however the road hasn’t been easy.
Although being a latina in sports has had its challenges, many doors have opened for her that has expanded beyond sports.
Sports journalism is male dominated and can be quite intimidating for many. She recalls being one of less than a handful of women in the press box and to add to that, a latina, when she began doing coverage for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Johanna-Rosalye used her personal and professional experiences to help guide her and make connections with others in the industry that led her to new opportunities. However, she does say that as a women and minority in sports there were times that others wouldn’t take her seriously about her career and/or sports knowledge. She also shared that at one point she didn’t know if she would make it in the industry. However, she didn’t let that stop her one bit, she used that fear as a motivator, she used the obstacles to fuel her to prove the opposite, to achieve new milestones in her career, and mentor others along their journalist journey.
Johanna-Rosalye has a vision beyond having a successful journalist career
She is looking to be a force not only in the latino community but also in empowering women by being an example that they too can do what she is doing and more. Her message to women, latinas, to those in journalism, in sports, to everyone, is to dream the impossible and to never give up on that dream, no matter how difficult or how loud the noise may get, because once you knock down the barriers on the road to making your dream a reality, no one can take that away from you.
