My Radio Journal

While standing in the shower of one of the biggest rock stations in the country (getting ready to go my other job at one of the biggest radio corporations across town), I realized that if the right people knew how I was intimately involved with so many radio stations at this one point in time, they would probably crap their pants. So, standing butt naked, in the middle of a well known radio station in Detroit (that I don't even work at) is the exact moment that I decided to tell my story. I figure, hell, I've never really seen someone in the radio industry be completely shocked, (because we have seen it all), so why not give it a shot.

It's funny how I never realize the significance of what I'm doing until long after I have done it... Isn't that how every life lesson is learned? And whoever said that 'Everything happens for a reason' was well beyond their time. This statement keeps proving itself to me over and over again. Hell, even five years after my first internship at a station, proved that I was at that particular station for one single reason: Its direct connection to the station that I am at now. And if there isn't some higher power constantly throwing signs at me, or putting me in the right place at the right time, then the world isn't round.

I keep falling in love over and over again with the industry and with the people that I keep finding in it. I continuously push through the 'pimps and thieves' running free in the industry, to find that there are real people out there who are passionate about the cause, and know that what happens off the air is just as important as what happens on the air. And on top of everything radio... I have learned more lessons about life and how to grow up and be true to myself and my heart all in the midst of radio. And aside from all this sentimental crap that I'm writing, I get to work for and socialize with some of the best and well known people in the industry, and even turn a few down along the way (which may prove to be dumb decisions in the future, who knows!).

The point is; there is so much more to radio than just coming in, turning on the microphone, talking, and partying afterwards. There is romance. There is drama. There are struggles. There are tough choices to make. There is passion. There are people pouring their heart and soul into this job, just because they love it so much. And people don't understand why we do so much for what seems to be so little. They don't understand the feeling of listening to a DJ on the station that was you and your grandfather's favorite station growing up as a kid, and then later getting to work along side that person you listened to for so many years after your grandfather has passed away. Or the feeling of a young adult calling in and saying that you put them to sleep in an abusive house growing up, and they still listen to you for comfort even after they have moved out years later. And they definitely don't understand what it is like force yourself to stop trembling with a gut wrenching fear fifteen seconds before turning on the microphone for the very first time to do a simple ten second break. Radio is not a job. It is Life. Here is mine.

* 'pimps and theives' refers to the famous quote, "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side," by Hunter S. Thompson