How Did I Get On The Radio?

People ask me how it is I came to be on the radio.  I don't have a journalism degree and I don't have "connections."  Here's how it happened.

One day I was listening to talk radio and it was abysmal.  I mean, it was complete drivel.  The guy was probably a nice guy, but he was talking on and on about something he obviously knew little about.  He hadn't thought about it in advance, nor was it apparent he'd read any books on the topic.  The topic didn't have anything to do with what talk radio listeners wish to hear.  And as a life-long talk radio addict, I know a thing or two about the product of good talk radio.  (My favorites:  Dennis Prager, Sandy Rios, Dennis Miller, Ravi Zacharias.  Why?  I actually learn something from them.  That's the key.)

I'd lived and breathed Chicago talk radio for years and years.  That's where talk got started, after all.  Good stuff with on-air talent that was rewarded for being prepared and if not humorous, at least informed.  But now I live in a smallish town of about 150,000.  Good people live here, but the way stations are run are of two kinds:  Get paid $10 an hour for on-air (not including preparation time, which explains the ignorance - why prepare?)  or find a sponsor and get them to buy time from the station.  That's right - you pay the station to let you on the air.

I got my start with option 1.  How that happened is after being terribly disappointed with talk in my new town, I sent an e-mail to the station saying I could do better, and certainly could do no worse than what I'd just heard.  Management called me in for an interview, asked a few questions, and offered me the morning drive-time slot.  The following week I was on the air with my own show.  Monday through Friday 6-9 AM.

The reason I was willing to work for $150/week (15 hours live) and get zero pay for my preparation time was that I was certain the boss would value my hard work and talent.  He did not, so after three months I quit.  Still, I got my foot in the radio door and for that I am grateful.  (He had paid the male host just prior to me much more - $50,000/year. But that's another story.)

Next, I looked for opportunities via option 2, finding a sponsor to buy the time for me.  I found one in my favorite organization and with a little finagling got a weekly, one-hour show of my own.  I work for free, but it is a pleasure to do because a) I don't have to get up at 4:30 AM  b) I pick my own topics and c)  If I work at it on the side, I can make some advertising money.  Truth be told, by the time I work my real job (I'm an attorney at a hospital) and prepare for the show in addition to family duties, I don't have a lot of energy left over to find advertisers.

So that's how I did it.  Unless you are in a big city, small town America isn't the place to get syndicated because it doesn't have the technical studio requirements, from what I've learned.  But it is a darn good place to get a start, get practice, and then go from there if you want.

--Mary 7/8/11