When We Was Fab

I think you know you're getting old when your bosses are younger than you. That's the situation I'm in now and it's a little disconcerting. I tell myself that it's because technically, my current career is the second career in my lifetime. Before selling my soul to become a Brand Manufacturer for a toy and game manufacturer, I spent 17 years in commercial Radio at a station in Central Ohio. Without a doubt, those were the BEST years of my life and not a day goes by that I don't smile thinking about it.

I finally added a picture to my profile. It's my publicity photo that was plastered over billboards in my station's listening area. (Be honest, even though it's a few years old, if YOU had a "publicity photo", you'd use it too!)

I spent 15 years at my last station, with 14 of those being the morning host. I woke up dreadfully early, NEVER drank a drop of coffee and did my best to make people laugh. My listeners loved me, hated me, stalked me, fell in love with me, fell out of love with me, were there for me when my Dad died, heard me get married, have children and just basically grow up. I comforted them through storms, assured them that the world was a better place than it seemed, and sold them more used cars than I could count. One morning, on the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, a mother called me and said her child was afraid to go to school. I must have rambled for 10 minutes about "the good in people" before playing "Here Comes The Sun". A week later, an entire classroom sent me pictures that they drew for me at the behest of their teacher, who heard what I said and appreciated it. I still have those pictures.

The woman in the photo is one of the many co-hosts that I had. Her name was Katie and she was my first dedicated co-hosts. (The previous News Director co-hosts don't count as they were double duty.) Mark and Katie picked up a nice amount of listeners and we enjoyed a certain amount of fame. Katie was the better looking of the duo (obviously) and we mostly had fun. Things got funny at the end and she ended up leaving for another career. Early mornings and, I suppose, working with me can wear on you. Katie was followed by another woman who was so unbelievably arrogant, hateful and just plain awful I won't even mention her name. She didn't last long after she (unbelievably) got pregnant. Deb followed her and we picked up where Mark and Katie left off and went way past that mark. Deb and I had a great time, broke rules, ate lots of free doughnuts, and had more than a few breaks laughing so hard we could barely talk. And for the record, I never swore on the air. Deb however, did say "bullshit". Thank you Phil for stopping the show and pointing it out after I tried to be the pro and smooth it over. :)

Maybe I'm just being melancholy but I do so miss those days. Upon leaving, one of my former news directors came back for my "party" and said something I'll never forget. He had been out of Radio for several years and said "...I laughed harder here than I ever have in my life". I can honestly say the same. I've considered doing Radio on weekends here in the Northwest but I doubt it could ever be that way again. It's a wonderful memory that I hope never dulls with age.