cont. “So you want a job in Entertainment?” on Medium.com
I come from an old-school philosophy where you work your way up to get to the top. My career success was solid by the end of my 20’s; Executive Producer with an office in London, LA, NY, with contracts that had me flying first class, car service accounts and a company Amex. All the good stuff. But, I started off fetching coffee (And whatever else) for women who shouted orders and could end your career in one phone call. (And they let us know that.) So I worked hard and kept my head on a swivel.
That is just how it was. Don’t get me wrong either. It was fun and amazing and I am so lucky I got to experience it all. I came up the ranks learning from the toughest, craziest, and best of all time. I’m so lucky that I got to be a student of The Underground, Def Jam, Quentin Tarantino, Priority Records, iconic artists and record label executives, and a list of the most influential taste-makers of our time. It’s was motivating and inspiring every day.
This Is How We Do It
When I got any assignment, I’d take it as a challenge to kill it- regardless of the size of the task. I took the opportunity to think outside the box and impress my bosses. I didn’t always succeed at my job, in fact I sucked at it so badly sometimes. But I was young enough not to know I should give up. I kept working and climbing up regardless of my fumbles. I even managed to be dumb enough to piss off Mack 10 pretty bad in Atlanta on a video shoot one time (I’ll never forget it). I’d slow down to learn my lesson but I never stopped moving toward my goals.
How I Changed Careers & Moved Up Fast
Hustling through the ranks made me a better smarter stronger Creative Executive and Talent Rep. I believe the best way to get to the top of your career is to work your way up from the bottom, & earn your seat at the table. When I applied that philosophy to RADIO it looked like this:
I had some talent & more drive than anyone else.
I learned the skills.
I took the classes & stayed late.
I learned to work the boards.
I produced a demo.
I printed my resume, and I sent it to EVERYBODY.
Drive The Van
KYXY 96.5fm responded. The Soft Rock Adult Contemporary station was hiring Street Teamers to drive the van. When I met with Charlie Quinn, the PD at KYXY “Kicksy” 96.5 , I was answering their ad for a van driver. And, I wanted that job bad.
When we met, he said that I was hired, but I wasn’t gonna drive the effing van. He noted that I was qualified and determined, so he would start me off board-opping a show that was piped in from somewhere else, and m a y b e fill-in pushing buttons on overnights. I was overjoyed to be paid crap to do stuff that didn’t involve talking on the air. I was just happy to be IN there.
The Juggle Is Real
The other job I got (Yes, 2 jobs. That’s how you do it.) was working an overnight shift on the weekends at a station across town. The second radio station was an AM News outfit that switched to a mandatory 2 hours of programing in Spanish at 3:00am every morning. That switch had to be done manually. Guess who was there at 3 o’clock making sure it happened? I switched those discs, initialed the official documents, & tried to stay awake for the other 6 hour and 55 minutes of my shift. Then at 6:00am I’d start answering the phones for the Sunday show like this: “Good morning. How may we pray for you today?”
Not. Even. Kidding. And I did an amazing job at it too.Now, I was dating my future husband, working in radio, auditioning for VO work, going to school, producing my college radio show called “In-flight Radio”.. And I’d finally found my footing in this new town.
PART 3 of this POST will be UP MONDAY
Until then, READ UP on me here.
READ PART 1 if you haven’t yet.
