You Haven't Worked In Radio If You Haven't Signed An NDA

Some people in the industry say, if you haven't been fired, you've never really worked in radio. My opinion after fifteen years is, if you haven't signed an NDA, you've never really worked in radio. Life of a radio girl. What can I say? Another Taylor Swift album has come out, and I'm feeling inspired.

And for the sake of this podcast, just call me Radio Girl. Nobody needs to be trolling through my resume and my LinkedIn page. And hot tip, this certainly won't be going on there. This is not going to be a podcast about

this is what you need to do to get in radio, and this

is how you get ahead and follow, for more tips in my 12 step course. That's not what this is. This is literally a diary, a diary of my life as a woman in radio for the last fifteen years. The industry is a viper den. It's full of shit c***ts.

Not to be so forward with it, but it's not an industry that rewards good behavior. Quite the opposite. The snakier you are, the more you get ahead. Now I am not a snake. I know that about myself.

I'm not one to sell myself out. If I were, I'd be whipping titties out on on OnlyFans and making a matzah. Well, back in the day anyways. But I love the industry because I think it is so unreal to have this real time communication with an audience and this ability to connect and shape thought. That's why I'm here.

I do believe that there are good people in the industry. I do believe that there are good people who wanna do good things. I just do believe there's a lot of assholes, and they greatly outnumber the good. With all that being said, I am still constantly applying to jobs because I gave up my life overseas to come back and be close to family, and here I am applying to every job I can find. And it's hard.

It's hard. The calls aren't flying in. But I figure what a better way to fill my time than just tell y'all what it's like. And it was just love at first cross, I'll say. Cross is what it's called when you literally are out on the road and you cross back to the station.

I even showed up for that initial interview telling the boss in charge saying, you know, I wanna be a midwife. I'm here to be a midwife, but this suits my schedule at the moment. I'm not in any school at the time, so this would be great, a great casual career. And it was just I never went back. I cannot even imagine doing something other than radio, to be honest.

And as you listen to this episode and the few to come, you might wonder what the appeal is because let me tell you, the the sunshiny parts aren't the ones that make the good stories. But I just love it. And even though it is a viper den, I am one of those cornballs that think I actually would love to be the change I wanna see. So that's why I keep persevering, and I keep doing my thing, and I'll back myself. I'm gonna end up back there and and do great things.

But in the meantime, I feel like talking some shit. You know, radio is like a toxic relationship sometimes. You know, the the boy or girl in high school, you know you shouldn't like them, but they're good looking. They're charismatic. They make you feel a certain way.

They give you the butterflies, but they also make you question yourself. Am I good enough? Am I rambling? Am I am I hot enough? Am I saying the right things?

And that's why it's a real game of confidence. But what you'll find is a lot of people in radio don't have a lot of self confidence. It's beaming. They have a big ego. It is the most wild juxtaposition, especially with talent.

I'm a put it out there. It's the most wild juxtaposition of people with a big ego and low self esteem, and that equals volatility. It is a volatile industry. The people that you work with, the people that you work for, especially around ratings time, especially around when people are going through difficult parts in their own lives. I mean, it just peels down to the most raw iteration of one's self.

And let's be honest, it is, as aforementioned, an industry that rewards bad behavior. The guy that slapped your ass in the middle of a station one day in front of everybody may become your boss. It just is what it is. And especially for women in this male dominated industry, we paint that smile on our face, and we keep on moving forward. Because let's be honest, a lot of industries, I'm sure, are like that in their own way, but radio seems to be the most outward with rewarding it.

The majority of my career was spent producing. I've been on air. I've done the operational side of things, but the majority is producing and producing a morning drive show, which is a soul crushing shift. I mean, that alarm goes off at 03:00 in the morning, and it never gets easier. You feel like you're living with jet lag.

Now it's difficult, but like I said, it's not for the faint of heart. It's not something you do because somebody made you. You do it because you have an endgame in radio in mind. And so you're getting up at stupid o'clock, and you're piecing yourself together, trying to absorb content from the moment your eyes open because how else are you gonna tell the world what they should be looking at, what they should be thinking about if you don't know. Right?

And then you rock up to your job, and some some of the hosts are great mates. Some of them are happy to see you, and some of them are a vibe, and some of them are so appreciative, but some of them are real assholes. And, again, it's that juxtaposition of low self esteem and a big ego. So they need to feel power by belittling their producers, whether it's your content producer, your talent producer, your audio producer. They some of them just thrive off of that.

There's a lot of biting my tongue, a lot of biting my tongue, and a lot of, oh, if you had said this to me in the street, I will beat the hell out of you. But we're not out in the street. We're in a studio. And in the role of hierarchy, you're ahead of me. So I gotta put my head down and work, and that was tough, especially for me who I like to think that I have a decent sized ego and a lot of self esteem.

So after you've dealt with your talent for the morning, you're putting together a show, now the on air side comes. And as a producer anyways, you are the gatekeeper. You're getting the listeners calling, and, you know, some of them are, funny and a pleasure. And and I still have numbers in my phone of listeners, and I still think when I scroll past them, I go, I wonder how they are. But, man, are you also a buffer?

A buffer for the loonies, a buffer for the dumbass questions, a buffer for the, competition prize pigs? Yes. That's what the radio people call the listeners that are coming out over and over for prizes. They call you prize pigs. Just wanna lift that lid for you.

Just know that. There's a name for you. You're a prize pig, and your producer is the gatekeeper of that. As a producer, you're also constantly listening to everything on air, and then the show ends, and guess what? You're the first person the content director wants to talk to.

You are the person that has to answer why the show sounded that way that day. What is the mood that the talent are in? What are you going to do for tomorrow? What's your plan for next week? What's your plan for next month?

It is just a constant barrage of what, when, why, and how are you going to do it, and another constant barrage of content constantly coming in. But like I said, being that thought shaper, being that maiden of information, being able to control the narrative is power in itself. And if you need to be seen for your power, producing is probably not the role for you. But if you just need to know you have that power, oof, producing certainly fills that cup. And I guess that's why I've just done it for so long.

I think it's unreal. And, you know, I'm someone who comes from a family of engineers, lawyers, hospital individuals, so they're real math and science y. And when I try and explain what I do, it's like I can see the eyes glaze over. I think they think I'm some sort of carny that works in a studio. I I'm not sure.

And, honestly, I got tired of explaining myself. But I know what I do, and I value what I do. And I love this industry, and sometimes I don't even know why. So let these next episodes let this series be all about my journey. And, again, this is not a learning tool.

I'm not saying do what I've done. I'm just saying this is what I did. But this is gonna be my journey, my stories from behind the scenes, the most feral people that I've worked with, the most humiliated I've been. And let me tell you, getting my ass slapped in front of everybody, pulled in comparison to some moments. But, again, that's for another episode.

So enjoy this. Enjoy this series. This is life of a radio gal.