Moment With Mel: National Radio Day Fun
Today is National Radio Day! This day celebrates the invention of the radio, which dates back to the late 1800s. A number of inventors played a role in creating this important medium.
Lots of my radio friends say they always knew that radio was the profession for them. I didn’t. As a kid I listened to the radio, but I really got into music when I was around 12 or 13 years old. MTV was where I heard many 80’s songs for the first time.
Radio was never a profession I thought about. When I was in college at UNCC , I needed an internship for a communications class. A friend worked at WRFK, 99.7 The Fox here in Charlotte and I ended up interning there. My goal was to go into the marketing/promotions aspect of radio. After my internship, I got a job with the station in promotions. And that’s what I did for a few years.
Music has always been an important part of my life, and I’ve always been an 80’s music chick. My love of music is how I ended up on-air. Although rock is my true love, my first on-air radio job was at a Top 40 station. My first full-time on-air gig was doing middays at WNOK in Columbia, SC. After three months, I was moved to the morning show with Johnathan Rush. I was stunned! People worked for years to get on a morning show. I had no idea what I was doing. I figured I’d just get fired eventually. Oddly enough, that didn’t happen.
After three years at WNOK, I switched stations in Columbia. I went to a rock station. At Rock 93.5. Dave Stewart, my boss, and I created a morning show. We worked together for about three years. After that I came back to Charlotte.
In 2006 I started on-air at the Fox in Charlotte. It was a huge deal for me. That’s the station where I started in radio, but I wasn’t good enough to go on-air. Finally in 2006, Jeff Kent, the Program Director, hired me. I was elated to be on-air there! I stayed there for many years and also worked for a sister station in the building, WEND, 106.5 The End. I was the first female on The Woody & Wilcox Show on The End, and quit after a few years.
Throughout the years, I’ve done other things besides radio. I’ve taken breaks and waited tables, worked in advertising, and taught school. However, radio is what I always come back to. It’s definitely a love. In 2017, I sat in with Phil Harris on K 104.7. We were trying to see if we had chemistry for a morning show. We did, and I’ve been here since.
Even though I’m still a rock chick, I love my job! Working with Phil has been amazing and I laugh daily. The group of folks I work with at Beasley are awesome! I’ve been truly lucky in my radio career. I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many talented people, and I’ve met so many wonderful people.
