My Family
I'm the youngest of 7 and have the most amazing family in the world. I start out saying that because as I go through life I realize how rare that is. To have 6 siblings...to get along with all of them...to have no major dysfunction in a family of that size. Wow. I'm blessed.
I've read some of the birth order stuff. I know the youngest in the family has the rep for being spoiled, lazy and that everything is handed to them. Well it's true I got "taken care of" and was protected by my older siblings, but in a way, that's what formed me to be the opposite of the stereotype. I believe that because I was the youngest, I felt I was never taken seriously. As "the baby" I always felt I had to prove something. It caused me to be a little more driven career-wise.
I knew by my second year in college I wanted to work in radio. I always loved radio when I was young. It was my escape at night. I had a small transistor radio that was probably the size of an old cell phone; you know, the early ones that were bigger. It got AM and FM but I mostly listened to AM radio in the late 60's because that's where the best music was; the best "top 40" music. 1590 WAKR (ironically, one of the stations I work with now) carried a show at 11:10 pm, right after the news called "The Radio Mystery Theatre". It was today's version of books on tape but better...because it was literally "theatre of the mind". Thirty minute shows were acted out with different characters and sound effects. I'd get lost under the covers...seeing the show in my mind like it was on TV. It was awesome.
When I started at Kent State, I saw a sign that the campus radio station was looking for volunteers. I joined the team...and I was hooked. That small radio station ignited those memories of my late night listening, and I knew I wanted to be on the "other" side of the radio. The inside!
I'm a rather small, petite, unassuming kind of person...barely 5 foot 2. Maybe another reason (after my birth order) I thought people never took me seriously. Early in my career, radio was, and to some degree still is, a male dominated business. There was very little "political correctness". It was a challenge to find just the right mix of being a good sport...and being "one of the boys" without losing my femininity. Sometimes, it was a real balancing act. There were conventions I went to back then where I was only one of two or three women in a room of over 200 men. I worked to keep my mouth shut over the the stupid comments, the over-the-top sexist attitudes, the dirty jokes. And yet, there were times to speak up. But how to do so and not come off like a flaming feminist...THAT was the challenge! Still is sometimes.
All in all, short of a few bumps here and there, I've been fortunate to work for some amazing people who became my teachers, mentors and to whom I am forever grateful. Because I fell in love with the programming side of radio right off the bat--and there were very few women programmers, my teachers and mentors were men. And none of these men are the ones that I referred to earlier that had me biting my lip! Some of these amazing men include: KSU Professor Bob West, Programmers Nick Anthony, Dave Popovich, and Bob Bedi. Consultants E Karl and Mike McVay (who has to be one of the brightest programming/marketing minds ever.) And also, air personality Bill Randle. One of the best people-persons and managers I know is a man named Joe Restifo. And the smartest businessmen I'll ever encounter is Tom Embrescia. Tom has to be the most generous, down-to earth multi-millionaire (which seems like an oxy-moron) in the world. I am forever grateful to these men whose influence and mentorship has guided and inspired me over my 25-year career in radio. But what amazes me still, is that the older I get, the more I realize how much there still is to learn.
Thank God. Because when we stop learning...we stop growing.
My "team" at 95.5 WFHM
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