Laurie Cantillo WABC Radio NY's Program Director

Laurie Cantillo never saw anything strange about her being a woman, feeding from the same troughs in as male-dominated a format as talk radio. To hear her tell it, this realization was something of a novelty.

"I have female role models," she told me, "so I didn't know you [I wasn't] supposed to be running a 50K Watt radio station. I didn't realize that it was that out of the ordinary."

Cantillo may be the poster child for the extraordinary/ordinary life. Currently sitting as the program director for America's most listened to news/talk radio station, WABC AM in New York, every ordinary day seems extraordinary.

WABC is home and in some cases birthing place to some of Americas most familiar radio names: Hannity, Rush, and Imus, to name but a few. But even with her pure gratitude, things didn't just appear for her in the city that never sleeps. Boasting a career which stretches back some 30 years, Cantillo has done much to earn her stripes. A former on-air personality herself, Cantillo is also a published author, writer, mom, and more recently Talkers Magazine 2010 Woman of the Year. She marches, as she always has, to the distinct beat of her own drum.

I recently got to sit down and pick her brain about all things WABC radio, about her own personal story and about events which continue to help shape the direction of her career and the station in New York City.

One of my first questions for this radio power player was about the syndicated voices during the day at WABC. Virtually all of the weekday programming from 6am until 9pm is syndicated. How is she able to justify that for the local audiences who want local programming?

"In a way we are a victim of our own success. Our shows started out local and then they become increasingly popular and people say 'I want that.' And our locally produced shows go into national syndication. We had Rush Limbaugh here at WABC. Sean Hannity got his start in syndication here at WABC. Same with Mark Levin."

WABC also hosts names like John Batchelor and Doug McIntyre, as well as established properties in other mediums like Larry Kudlow who've all gone on to achieve syndicated success.

When I questioned her about why WABC has been able to make the case so strongly to radio audiences, she said "The secret is to take whatever's happening in the news and make it relatable." That may seem a little redundant in the modern day of perpetual talking heads and moving mouthpieces all saying the same thing, but WABC radio is full of trailblazers.

Contrary to what some casual listeners of WABC radio may think, there is no one pointed ideology being spun by the programming department. Cantillo also doesn't believe that talk radio panders to one side any more than the other.

"There are some prominent ones who do but there are many prominent voices in talk radio who are more centrist and others on the left -- There's no political litmus test," she said. Cantillo went on later to punctuate her thought saying, "Good talent is a good talent. [They] develop a bond and relationship with audience."

Cantillo got her start in radio in college. Having worked for the school newspaper, she was greatly moved by the events in Watergate. "I was young and idealistic," she said. Seeing a platform where corruption could be exposed and the good of the people could be done; she wanted in. It was such fun, she said, "Besides, I couldn't believe that anyone would actually get paid to do this."

She bounced around stations in Colorado and Arizona, finally landing in New York City, after a few years with the Oprah Winfrey radio network on XM, OWN. Cantillo remembers getting the call to be "program director of Oprah & Friends on XM 2006." However when Cantillo joined up, she was thrust into the action. It wasn't the expected deliberate prudence with such an established brand as Oprah. "I was hired then had one month to get [the station] up and running." She worked with a great staff and came into contact with the likes of Oprah, Maya Angelo, and Dr Oz, among others.

When I asked about her involvement with shaping the direction of what her hosts talk about, Cantillo was frank. "I make suggestions. My philosophy is hire great people and get out of their way. If I see a trend or I feel like they're missing a big story I'll point that out. It's rare that we arm-wrestle over what to cover. Ultimately it's their show and they have to make it work."

Laurie Cantillo also empathizes, having worked on the air and relating: "I know how hard their job is."

She also is able to relate back to the actions of irate bosses. "I've been hot-lined by hotheaded program directors and I know that's not the way to manage people. I manage how I'd want to be managed."

The photograph on her profile page on WABC.com, has the same wide smile on that she's shown me every time we've met. "I laugh a lot," she said. "If we're not having fun, supporting one another, it's not going to carry over."

At the end of the day Laurie Cantillo is The Big Boss who has to ultimately deal with the on-air talent at WABC New York; even most syndicated voices. "I call myself the den mother of WABC," she says, "and I say that only half kidding because a lot of running a radio station is a lot like handling kids." One of her biggest replies to question of disputes: "Work it out."

Laurie Cantillo is also the brand manager for WABC radio and has tried to make as indelible and lasting an impression as possible. I listen to quite a bit of radio. But when I came up blank on particulars for some of her weekend personalities, she began filling me in with a far more detailed way than I could ever lap up at that time. From her accounts there are 24 hours in a day and all of that is time worth listening to.

She's also big on new technology. Cantillo is doing some awesome things with the streaming at WABC.com, on mobile apps, and on a separate stream altogether from what you hear on the air.

"My philosophy is: put your product out there as many ways as you can for people to consume because if you don't [give them content] they will find other ways. In their car, on internet radio; you've got to be where the ears are."

At the same time that she is sensitive to being everywhere, all the time, she is also sensitive to the alienation many people feel, in their own skin, in their own world, in their own heads and in as abrasive a city as New York can be.

"Radio is caught up in all of this," she said. "The void that radio fills as we all become more isolated, radio is a connector. It brings people together."