Ilyo was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and lived there until he was 2 years old, and moved to Tashkent, Uzbeskistan. At 16 years old he moved to Boise where he would attend Boise State University in the future. His bachelors degree is in communications with an emphasis in media production. During and after college he created independent commercials, filmed weddings and acted in short films. He speaks dari/farsi with his family, and also speaks 4 additional languages. In his spare time he enjoys reading books about personal development and Napoleonic history. He has always been interested in learning new things about systems, organizations and businesses. He loves working for Sinclair Broadcast Group because he believes they have high standards for news and he enjoys editing videos for the public broadcast.