Ten Years Later

I was brought on as an intern at The Wild Hare when I was 17. My final invitation to turn in my keys came along a couple months before my 22nd birthday. If we’re being GENEROUS we could call it four years. I was at KJFX from April of 2007 to January of 2010. A little under three years.

If I add up all my time at the other stations I did shows at – consecutive and concurrent – I still have a little less than a decade under my belt as a Rock Radio jock.

So, today’s weird. Today I figured out the 10th Anniversary of my being hired at KMJ was actually last week. I was originally brought on part-time. Skip Essick wasn’t sure I’d work out. I don’t blame him. I wasn’t sure it was the right fit, either.

But Chris Daniel wanted to give me a shot. Truthfully, my last shot in radio. I’ve always been excellent at the technical elements of the job. Manage a schedule, fill out logs, run the board, and keep weepy drunks off the air. But I am TERRIBLE at the social/political part of the business.

I am not a “Shake Hands & Kiss Babies” kind of person. I do not enjoy small talk. Making friends does not come naturally.

KMJ needed a technician. Someone who could facilitate and not trip over their ego or ambition. And I was ready to do that job. It turned out to be a good fit, after all: I understood the job being done by Chris (and Ray and Inga), but I didn’t feel a need to do it myself.

But, as a wise man once said, Shit Happens.

March 9th will be the six-month anniversary of my officially taking over Afternoon Drive. The current iteration of the show, with Skip, is just over the 60-day mark.

I’d love to tell you this a phase of some master plan, but I’d be lying. I’m glad to be here, I feel very fortunate, and I know a little good luck helped, too. But it is NOT where I saw myself at 40. Looking forward, I see a lot of potential. I have an audience I respect and a job I find interesting and challenging.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I’m certainly looking forward to whatever comes next.

Thanks for making the first ten years interesting. Stay Weird.