Broadcasting alumna charts journey from Liberty emcee to Atlanta lifestyle television host

Ava Braatz (’21) is using her bachelor’s in digital media performance from the School of Communication & the Arts to engage with audiences and share her passion for people.

Since October last year, Braatz has been a lifestyle host for “ATL Live” on Atlanta News First, talking with guests in studio or to people on the street about the food, culture, and experiences available in the iconic city.

Growing up in an extroverted family, Braatz said she always loved exploring her hometown of East Lansing, Mich. As a high school senior in 2016, she didn’t know what her future held, but she was drawn to the news given the ongoing presidential election.

“It was the first year I could vote in the presidential election, and I decided I was going to do my own research and come up with my own opinion, so I started watching news broadcasts all the time,” she said. “Watching the anchors and reporters, I started to see that they are truly the mouthpiece in society, and these women especially were so well spoken, they were so well dressed, and they were sharing important information.”

Deciding to pursue broadcast journalism for college, Braatz learned about Liberty from her sister’s friend. All it took was a campus visit before she felt the Lord calling her to Liberty Mountain.

“I thought, ‘Is there anywhere that’s on fire for God and wants (students) to succeed in higher education?’” Braatz said. “I visited, and it was the most blown-doors experience. I think it was the first time I really felt like the Holy Spirit was saying ‘This is for you. This place is for you.’ And then, in learning about the broadcasting department, how they allow even freshmen to jump in and (gain experience), it was amazing to see the opportunities I’d have. It was a no-brainer by then.”

During her four years on campus, Braatz seized every opportunity, including work with the department that is now called Liberty Broadcast Experience (formerly the Liberty Flames Sports Network), which produces much of the university’s athletic event coverage. She began behind the camera as a freshman, helping hold cords for the on-camera talent and covering sports. She befriended an LFSN reporter, Monika (McKenzie) Garland, who took her under her wing. Braatz mainly reported at Liberty hockey games, experiences she said still stick with her.

“I will never forget my first time reporting a Liberty hockey game,” she said. “I was so excited. You have to work your way up to that point, and you’re nervous and everything. The Midnight Mayhem games were my favorite to report at; those were the best.”

She also gained experience in front of an audience in other ways, including a year performing as Liberty’s mascot (Sparky), a stint on a student radio program, and three years emceeing at Liberty basketball and hockey games.

“Basically, any opportunity at Liberty that I could do to get in front of people, I was there,” she said.

She noted that these opportunities at Liberty taught her lessons about perseverance and saying “yes” to the unknowns of the industry, welcoming any door that opened.

“I think sometimes as humans we can see ourselves as unqualified or not good enough, and we may not be sometimes, but we need to get out there on the court and get the microphone and do it anyway,” she said. “I’d never done radio and I’d never held a camera before college, but there was only one way I was going to learn.”

Braatz said serving as a Community Group Leader on her dorm hall and attending Convocation and Campus Community helped strengthen her faith.

“Campus Community especially had an impact on me. It filled my cup every Wednesday,” she said. “Now, whenever I move to a new city, I know I need to find a church, I need to get plugged in. Liberty taught me how important it is to make my faith a constant in my daily rhythm.”

In the fall semester of her senior year in 2020, Braatz’s connection with Garland opened the door to a job as a lifestyle host for “Living in the Heart of Virginia” on WSET (ABC-13). Garland, who was leaving the position, encouraged Braatz to replace her.

“I thought, ‘It’s September of my senior year, no one’s going to hire me,’” she said. “The director who interviewed me basically said that he was only interviewing me because he really liked (Garland) and wanted to do her a favor, which was understandable. He got to know me, and by the end of the call, he said, ‘Ava, I’m going to eat my words right now — you’re a candidate for this position.’”

Braatz was hired soon after, and since it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was able to complete her degree online while working full-time at WSET.

“Without the flexibility that Liberty gave me, I never would have gotten the job,” she said. “Work in TV is so timing-oriented because with a contract, they’ve got to have an open spot for you and you have to be available for it. If I had waited a year, after I graduated, I wouldn’t have gotten that job because they would have had to hire someone else.”

She credits her two years at WSET as being a safe training ground while also a solid professional opportunity out of college, honing her on-air personality as a host and finding ways to engage a local audience every weekday afternoon.

Braatz moved to Greenville, S.C., and spent three years as a lifestyle reporter and cohost for FOX Carolina News (WHNS) doing live segments daily. For her work in the 2024-25 window for the Star Awards for South Carolina, voted on by the board of South Carolina broadcasters, Braatz was named Television Personality of the Year.

“They loved my energy, they loved my creativity, and my (manager) gave me the freedom to be me,” she said. “I grew more creatively in Greenville, and they welcomed me with such open arms. (The award) gave me an assurance that I was in the right field, and I was feeling that God definitely gave me this path.”

Her trust in God’s blessing on her career came into play in 2025, as she felt led to move to a different position but struggled to find an answer in the final months of her contract in Greenville.

“I was coming up on my contract, and I just didn’t feel a peace about staying. I loved Greenville, I could even see myself going back there one day, but there was kind of that same voice that helped me know I was supposed to go to Liberty, and it was saying that I wasn’t going to stay in Greenville right now.”

She applied to multiple stations and markets in the following months, followed by either rejection or silence. Three days before her final day at Greenville, Braatz heard back from Atlanta. She interviewed the next day. Just hours after saying her goodbyes at the Greenville station, sitting in her car, Braatz received the call that she was hired.

“Atlanta is the number seven market in the U.S., so with that comes more opportunities, and it’s been a blast,” she said. “The music, the art, the food, the sports — it’s nonstop here. I’d never been to Atlanta before this job, but being here since October, I’m seeing the small businesses, the entrepreneurial spirit, the diverse flavor and fashion, and a lot more. I’ve just been so blown away here.”

Audiences can watch Braatz on “ATL Live” on Atlanta News First, airing from Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Episodes are also available on the Atlanta News First app.