Alton honed his writing skills while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English, with a creative writing emphasis, from UW-Madison. While on campus, Alton wrote for the two campus newspapers before graduating to work as a copywriter for the John Ellsworth Company. He later worked as a freelance journalist for Brafton before becoming a staff writer at Built In, and later joining the company's marketing org. Alton has published 500 articles and counting for Built In and continues to hone his creative skills by taking classes at the University of Chicago Graham School and MarketingProfs.