Everyone always asks me...
...Brittany, Why did you choose a career in radio broadcasting? I love telling this story because it truly speaks to the idea of who you know and being in the right place at the right time. In late summer of 2010, I received a phone call from my bestfriend Byron, who at the time had a radio show on Sunday evenings called SUNDAY EVENING GOSPEL. He had called to ask me if I could help him answer the phones at the station for a couple of hours that day because things were so crazy. Well of course I said sure, you know anything to help out my bestfriend you know! I was super nervous, like I had never answered an office phone before lol, but I was able to get through it and listen to some great gospel tracks so I was happy.
A few weeks of answering phones and you would have thought I had been screening calls and taking requests my entire life. Yes people, I had already crowned myself a pro. One day I walked in and Byron asked me to come and sit in the control room with him and basically do what I had been doing. As I stared around in amazement at everything going on, I thought to myself man...it has to take some serious education to operate all of these systems. Well, I sat down and listened and watched and laughed and asked questions, Yes I'm nosey but I just needed to understand how all this worked. Then something I never thought would happen...did just that. Byron looked at me and said, "Do you want to say an announcement on the air?" I looked at him in pure shock and quickly said...Ummmmm NO! However he made me do it anyway and I totally bombed. You would think I didn't have a college degree the way I stumbled through those few little words on that paper.
A couple more weeks passed and I continued to do an announcement here and there. I was getting better but not an ounce more comfortable. One Sunday I came in and Byron looked at me and said, "Hey I left something in the car, now when the breaks are over, hit this button, pull up this knob and press this, I'll be right back." Now I had never touched anything like this in my life and this "right back" seemed like an eternity. My palms were sweating and my heart was beating so fast, but once again I was able to get through it and not have a broadcasting meltdown.
In October 2010, my life and my career changed. I came into the station, like I had done so many times before. I sat in with Byron and did my usual thing. He looked at me and shyly asked...So how would you feel about being my Co-host? In my mind I just knew he was joking. I didn't go to school for this and I had no experience besides the little he taught me. From October 2010 to August 2015, I Co-hosted a Gospel radio show and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED EVERY MINUTE. After we ended the show I became more involved at the station Monday to Friday as the Promotions Director and Host back up to our morning show MORNING BREAK, until my separation from the station in December of 2015.
It only took a two hour drive...
...to learn more about what this radio business was all about. During my unknowingly last months with Magic, I started a mentorship with a Radio Night Jock out of Louisville KY, B96.5's own BIG HOMIE. We were introduced by one of my co-workers months prior and our friendship just blossomed from there. He has so much insight and didn't mind offering up the knowledge he had obtained and to this day continues to be an amazing mentor for when and if I decided to slide back on the headphones and turn the mic back up. You just may hear me again on your airways, so stay tuned!