A career look back...

[Hitoomie]

Gang – Could be that I know some of you on this forum but I’m sure for many more of those who post or lurk here…we've not met. Regardless, we have one thing in common and that's a love of communicating. Radio is still a wonderful medium and after 50 years in it, I retired in 2018 - on my terms, no less.

My radio life began in south Florida, sweeping the floors and emptying the trash cans at a 1kw daytimer while in high school. Then, as now, you had to have experience to get a radio job and since I didn’t have any, I simply hung out at the station until someone got sick or needed a voice on a spot. Looking back, radio was an analog world of tubes, turntables and tape – all fascinating to a teenager who couldn’t get enough of it!

My biggest regret is that I didn’t get a formal education beyond high school. I couldn't wait to dive into a full-time job that was offered to me by the time I graduated and never looked back. Being an air personality was all I knew for most of those years and the job took me from Miami to NY's Capitol district, Hartford, Orlando and here in western WA.

The first time I was fired, I lost my house and eventually my marriage. I loved my job, but it was the only thing I was qualified to do. Looking back, I should have worked on getting a degree – any degree, after landing on my feet, to at least prepare me for a fall-back career. I didn't; thinking that next job would be the "keeper" but twice more in my radio life I felt the swing of the axe and after losing a plumb job here, moved to the midwest where I anchored morning news for five years.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! I loved each and every place I worked, always with wonderful people and great listeners. To sum it up, I had a fantastic career and my (second) wife and I took an opportunity to move back here, once I left the business. Work is still on my terms as I'm a part-time delivery driver for a few hours, a few days a week. Yeah, I still miss radio but sleeping in is nice, too!
My best (unasked for) advice is to get a good education beyond high school and cultivate another interest that might provide sustenance when the day comes the boss pulls you into his or her office. It will come.

 

[davideduardo]

Hitoomie,

It's interesting to note that both of us... and many others... got into radio "back in the day" when we could hang around a station and do chores until a chance for a part-time job came up.

Four years of that helped me get through the boredom of junior high and two years of high school. I went on an exchange program to Mexico, and ended up as an intern at a group of 5 stations instead of going to school... so I was a high school drop-out.

It was nearly 10 years later that I got a GED and got into college. But I never did my last semester as a headhunter somehow found me to go manage some really failed stations.

I'm glad I went back to school, as after more than 10 years in radio I knew I did not want to study communications. I majored in business and psychology with a minor in math / statistics and that helped me through the next 40 years in radio.

Thanks for posting your experiences. I relate to them... and I hope others will give us a "thumbnail" of how they got into radio and what they feel in retrospect.

 

[John Gallagher]

I became fascinated with radio around 1971 when I was 12. By 1972, I created a make-believe station and recorded myself talking over songs into a cassette recorder. In 1974, at the age of 15, I became a board operator/announcer volunteer for a radio reading service for the blind sub-carrier station. By 1977, after I graduated high school, I had my first commercial radio job. My full-time radio career lasted nearly 20 years. I jumped back into the business between 2012 and 2015 when I voicetracked on an oldies station owned by a former PD who I had worked for during my full-time radio career.

I never made it into the majors but in 1992, as PD of a Music Of Your Life affiliate, got some national exposure as the station was a Top 5 finalist that year for a Marconi. We didn't win but that experience was the highlight of my career.

 

[seatownmedia]

I am now retired from radio, too. The jobs that I am interested in today just don't exist. (Let me correct that...they may exist, but I am out of the profile, as in a multi-media expert, not a radio expert). But I digress, and I am not bitter. Things change, and I get that.

I was quite fortunate to learn my skill at a local high school radio station, then had a head start into a couple of small markets, then got hired by a major Seattle radio station at the age of 20. Worked in the market for 10 years, then moved into programming in a smaller market, and continued to program in various markets for the next 25 years. Now retired, but happy about my overall career. I am sorry that I don't really understand social media to the extent that is needed today to be a radio programmer. Probably a product of my time. But that's OK. If radio management today goes beyond "radio", then so be it. I'm sure there are many up and comers who understand the new media combinations. For me, I think I got out about the right time...

 

[TheBigA]

If radio management today goes beyond "radio", then so be it. I'm sure there are many up and comers who understand the new media combinations.

Management is going "beyond radio" because the audience is going there. That's how its being taught in college. It's taught in a way that combines traditional radio with podcasting, social media, and marketing. Some colleges have combined their communications schools with music schools. That makes sense to me. That's the world I live in every day. And it's all about multi-media and multi-platform. You know things are changing when recording artists have home studios and are as familiar with the needs of radio as the radio people are.

 

[semoochie]

In 1974, at the age of 15, I became a board operator/announcer volunteer for a radio reading service for the blind sub-carrier station.

Golden Hours?

 

[fordranger797]

Thank you for sharing your story. I am pleased to hear that your career worked out for you, even though it sounds like it was a bit of a difficult journey. I am on the younger side of the age spectrum myself, and for a quite some time wanted to make radio my life. I was lucky to have an excellent mentor who helped me learn the ropes of broadcasting, and also educated me on what this business is really like, and what I could expect my life to look like if I choose to pursue it for the long haul. I've been incredibly lucky to spend spend some of my younger years behind a mic as a part timer, but as my responsibilities continue to grow, I know that it will be time to move on for good.

I feel that stories like yours are very important to hear for any young person who may be considering broadcasting as their career. I'm thankful to have had honest mentors who were upfront with me, and I would do the same for anybody else.

 

[davideduardo]

Of course, one of my firm beliefs is popping up here: anyone who is successful in radio has been fired at least once from a job.

The corollary to this rule is that those who don't take risks and try new things will eventually fail; those who do take risks will learn from the failures and become better.

That's what makes radio different than being a doctor!

 

[TheBigA]

Of course, one of my firm beliefs is popping up here: anyone who is successful in radio has been fired at least once from a job.
The corollary to this rule is that those who don't take risks and try new things will eventually fail; those who do take risks will learn from the failures and become better.

Good advice. I was fired only once, and it was during a similar financial crisis to what we have now. At the time I was in the union, and they had a last-hired/first fired policy. I decided that I'd never leave my fate in the hands of such a policy. My next jobs were in roles where my abilities determined whether or not I'd get fired, not my seniority. It turned out to be the best decision I've ever made.

 

[davideduardo]

Good advice. I was fired only once, and it was during a similar financial crisis to what we have now. At the time I was in the union, and they had a last-hired/first fired policy. I decided that I'd never leave my fate in the hands of such a policy. My next jobs were in roles where my abilities determined whether or not I'd get fired, not my seniority. It turned out to be the best decision I've ever made.

Sidebar to the sidebar:

Fortunately, my biggest mistakes were made when I was in my late teens and early 20's. They were "pardoned" because I owned the stations where the mistakes were made.

I learned a lot of things ranging from not doing deep playlists to not doing formats where I was the only listener in the market. On the other hand, I learned that I should not ever let someone else go due to one mistake. If I wanted creative people in programming and sales and even engineering, I had to tolerate some failures.

I also learned that if I worked for someone who did not see things that way, I was working for the wrong person.

 

[TheBigA]

I also learned that if I worked for someone who did not see things that way, I was working for the wrong person.

That's another good bit of career advice that applies to all lines of work: Know who you're working for and be sure you're of like minds. Because if you're not, you'll be miserable and that's when mistakes happen.

 

[seatownmedia]

That's another good bit of career advice that applies to all lines of work: Know who you're working for and be sure you're of like minds. Because if you're not, you'll be miserable and that's when mistakes happen.

This is both true and false. A good manager will be open to a different view. Yes, "like minds" do well, but sometimes an opposing view might bring positive change. It all depends on how you present it. That is the secret sauce.

 

[everyoneisadj]

I left radio last year after 15 years in the industry, at the age of 34, and did so (kind of) on my terms. I had played the corporate game, and managed more stations in bigger markets than I ever dreamed when I started out. At the peak of my career, I was overseeing 8 stations across two large markets - but I was never the same after that job.

I realized I just wasn't happy any more going through the grind, and the industry would never return to the fun "glory days" that I had longed for. The stress had taken it's toll on my body, tanked a 6 year relationship, and I wanted to get out before I had a heart attack like many of my coworkers- all of which were under 50. I was fortunate enough to have another interest, and took a tech bootcamp upon my release, then got a job programming (computers) a month after my severance ran out. I've never been happier, more stress free than I am today, and I encourage anyone who wants out, but is unsure how, to please reach out to those that have left the industry.

It's daunting, but I wanted to make the choice before someone else did it for me. Looking at what's happened in the industry over the last year, I couldn't have made a better decision for ME at a better time.

Wish everyone the best