Is radio where you’ve always wanted to be?
Basically it’s all I’ve ever done. [laughs] I started at 19 in radio – I’m 41 now – so it’s pretty much the only job I’ve ever known.
Describe a typical workday – what time do you get up, what time are you at the station…?
I wake up about 3:30 in the morning –
Yikes!
Yeah. [laughs] Radio has changed a lot in the time I’ve been in it. It’s gone from just radio to video, pictures, TV commercials… It’s so much more than it was. So I have to get up and do full hair and makeup. Back in the day if you were in radio you could just roll up to the station in your pajamas – [laughs] – you can’t get away with that anymore! I get to work about 4:45 and immediately start going through all the news and gossip and entertainment stuff, all the Dirt stories, which is so much fun! After that I put together some hard news stories, like Ebola and ISIS. Look, we’re never gonna be CNN, but we do put out the basic headlines because people still want to know what’s going on in the world. We’re a comedy-based show so we keep it light, keep it fun. We want to be a release for people, so it’s not all doom and gloom. We start the show at 6, go from 6-10, and then around 10:30 we do a 30-minute uncensored podcast after the show. The best way for people to access those is with the WRMF app. People can download those and listen to them at their leisure. After the podcast we usually have interviews, meetings, sales appointments… We wrap up around 1 or 1:30, then I head home for a nap. [laughs] Gotta get that nap! I pick up my daughter, Magnolia, from school around 4, then I answer emails and phone calls from 5-6. Then I head to bed around 10 or 10:30 and do it all over again. And again and again and again! [laughs]
Whoa. How do you keep yourself centered?
There’s not a lot of chill time. I do always try to do a date night each and every week with my husband, even if it’s just a few hours, so we stay connected on that level. And my daughter and I get that great time after school together. Those are the things that keep me centered – spending that time with them. When I know they’re taken care of, I’m good.
You’re originally from Louisiana?
Yes, I grew up in New Orleans and went to LSU. Going through the whole college experience, that’s where I started in radio.
How many years have you lived in South Florida?
I moved here 15 years ago for KVJ at Wild. I had been working in Mississippi on a morning show with a couple of guys and the station got sold, so everybody lost their jobs. I’d been trying to figure out what I’d do next and talking to people all around the country, but I knew that I loved morning shows and wanted to stick with that. There’s a whole network of morning show people, you know, message boards, a whole community, so when you do get fired – which happens a lot in radio! [laughs] – everybody helps each other out. One of the guys I worked with in Mississippi was friends with Kevin, and Kevin reached out to him and said, “Hey, I’m putting together a new show in Florida and I’m looking for a girl,” and it was such perfect timing because my friend said, “As a matter of fact, I do know someone.” Two weeks to the day that we had all been let go I was on the phone with Kevin.
When did Jason come on board?
About 4 or 5 years into our time at Wild.
You all have such great chemistry.
Great chemistry! We’re so lucky, because we got to pick each other. A lot of morning shows are put together by some guy in a suit and it just doesn’t work out, because it is about chemistry and about people who can support each other and just click. Chemistry is the most important thing. Kevin and I had it from the moment we started talking on the phone, and from the moment Jason came to the studio, he was head and shoulders above the rest with his personality and wackiness.
How old is Magnolia?
She’s nine. God, I can’t believe I have a nine-year-old!
It’s a beautiful name.
Thank you! I named her after the tree I had in my backyard growing up. That tree was a real peaceful place for me. I’d climb that tree and just sit and think.
How did you first hear about Habitat?
From my mom, actually, when my sister and I were kids. She used to volunteer to build homes in New Orleans – and you know, when you’re a kid you have to go wherever your mom goes [laughs] – and my sister and I would go with her and help out by carrying nails, bringing paint over… She really got us involved and made us feel that this is just what you do; you help people. If you’re raised right and your parents show you by example, that’s what you learn.
How did you become involved with Habitat Broward’s Women Build?
When we were at 97.3, our station I believe was partnered with… Is it WSVN?
Yes, WSVN Channel 7.
Our station had that partnership with Channel 7, and we truly believe in marrying charities. So if our company had a relationship with Channel 7 and Habitat, we wanted to have that relationship, too. KVJ supports its own charity, Little Smiles, but when I found out that the station’s partner charity was Habitat I was like, “Oh, I’ve done this before!” It was an easy, easy thing to sign up for, and the fact that it was a Women Build made it even better. It’s so empowering – women teaching women, everyone up on the roof working – I love that!
What did you do at the build site?
I was on the roof! I loved it. [laughs] I was doing shingles. Now I know how to shingle a roof! It was a blast. That’s another great thing about Women Build – you’re doing something for others but you’re also walking away with a new skill.
Is there a moment from that day that particularly resonates with you?
I remember that the mother who was going to be living in the house we were working on was walking around with two of her children, two of the kids who’d be living in the house with her, and just to be able to see their little faces and know that they understood that all of us were there to build them a home. They were only around 10 or 11, but they still got it. They realized the magnitude of all these people coming together to help them. The hope is that they’ll be a part of the next generation to give back. By the look in their eyes, the appreciation I saw there – they will definitely pay it forward.
You’ve made volunteering a priority despite your dizzying schedule. Why?
My family is so blessed with this wonderful career I have. We have our health, we have each other. It’s important to give back to people who maybe haven’t been given those blessings. Building a house for someone, that is life changing. A place to raise their kids and feel safe and loved – it’s the best gift that you can give a family. And it doesn’t just impact a mom and a dad, it impacts their kids. They’re given stability and security.
Have you involved Magnolia in your commitment to giving?
Yeah. I really think it’s important, just like my mom did with my sister and me. Magnolia goes to all the Little Smiles events. We recently did a pumpkin patch fundraiser. Abacoa Town Center mall in Jupiter donated all the pumpkins – like, a thousand pumpkins! – and every single one was taken. Magnolia was walking around collecting donations, she had the money can, she worked the tent and tables and explained the mission and the charity, she was great. We have our big annual fundraiser in February and I told her that because of all her hard work, I’m gonna buy her a ticket so she can come with me. It’s her first gala, she’s so excited! She’s never been old enough to go but this year she’s ready. She’s very excited. She couldn’t believe it when I told her.
Okay, I’m going to start some sentences; you can finish them.
I’m most inspired by… Right now, my mom. She’s battling breast cancer, and even though she’s going through a real tough time and having her faith tested, she’s remaining positive and she’s doing things in her community to raise awareness and promote early testing. She caught it early, thank goodness, but so many women don’t get that mammogram every year, and when they do finally do it, it’s too late. She’s really, really lucky.
Volunteering with Habitat Broward has shown me… What a group of people that comes together can do together as a team. It’s so powerful to see a group of volunteers actually build a house for a family! It’s an amazing testament to the wonderful people that Habitat has been able to attract. I hope that Little Smiles can get to the point where we have as many people dedicated to our mission. Our little charity is growing, and we can look at Habitat to see how much can be accomplished when you get all of these people on the same page.
My greatest mistake was… [laughs] Oh, lord! Moving down to 97.3. The gig didn’t last very long, but it put us in a position at the end of that contract to get back on the air on an amazing station, with a staff and a signal and a team that is unmatched in the Palm Beaches. They have such a great family atmosphere there, and when you combine that with employees that are so hardworking and dedicated and positive – and that signal! That signal covers all of Wild’s signal and 97.3’s signal. When we were at Wild we always were so jealous, so jealous! For years, we were like, “How is the signal so great? Why is the signal so great?” [laughs] And now we get to be here and we’re very grateful to have that signal. We never could have made that switch if we hadn’t first gone to 97.3. But you know, I don’t think that anything is ever really a mistake, though that sure felt like one when we were in it!
Most people don’t know that… Oh, gosh, I’m such a blabbermouth. [laughs] There’s not much that people don’t know about me! I mean, it’s to the point that it’s a detriment. Someone is always mad at me. Always!
I never leave home without… My iPhone. I can’t believe how much I rely on this thing. It’s got everything on it, everything. My husband and I were canoeing – and we found out we didn’t know how to canoe as the canoe flipped over – and I lost my iPhone in the Loxahatchee River and I freaked out. You would have thought someone had removed one of my eyeballs!!
Habitat Broward is… An amazing group of people I am so lucky to be able to call my friends.
Photo by Joy Lynn Groover.
Written and produced by Elisa Chemayne Agostinho, © 2014.
