Day Twenty Eight - Karen K (The Todd and Karen Show on 99.3 The Fox)

     What a crazy day for me. I went into marketing mode. Marketing myself and the blog… I think I spent most of the day cross-eyed. It doesn’t help that my Mum is currently going through “reno-pause” meaning another Hawes family renovation… this time the main bathroom. Anyways that’s a conversation for another day. In the next couple weeks there should be all sorts of advice coming from all over the country and why not continue it today! Yesterday, Brian Bailey from 107.3 Kool Fm in Victoria contributed, today, we have the one and only Karen K from 99.3 The Fox in Vancouver! 

As I have said before, it is awesome to hear from actual radio professionals. I actually met Karen while I was going to BCIT and that just goes to show you the whole networking thing I’ve been telling you about. Keep those contacts and use them (I did). Anyways, Karen has a lot of great things to share with you so let’s get to them!

 

“Hey Mitch! 

Thanks for the e-mail - I would be honoured to be a part of “The Industry”

First off, I have to say, I love what you are doing.  You are well on your way to do whatever you want in the world of broadcasting! OK so I guess I should get to it! 

I grew up listening to Dean Hill and the LG Morning Zoo -I used to actually tape the show as a kid and play it back to practice mimicking them!! I loved the energy they captured in the morning and thought it was amazing at how much could be conveyed through the medium of radio. I was hooked! But I didn’t think that I could ever get a paying job in Vancouver on the airwaves. It wasn’t until YEARS later that my sister approached me about a radio contest on CFRO CO-OP radio…they were looking for a co-host for a morning show.No pay, early mornings, offices in the middle of Pigeon Park. Sign me up:) So that was my official start: The Morning Drive By on CFRO. From there:

  • 99.3 The Fox promotions team 
  • Sent out 1000’s of demo tapes, got 1000’s of NO’S!!! 
  • A LUCKY break into The Larry and Willy Morning show!
  • The FOX morning traffic position opened up and then Promotions Goddesses May Lam and current, Marcy Mailloux handed my demo tape to then program director, Bob Mills. Talk about an intro to Radio!! I was working my first *PAID* radio job on the air with the biggest legends in radio. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank everything that Larry and Willy and Kerry Marshall did for me. Not only are they the realest, nicest, most humble, down to earth guys you will ever meet, they are AMAZING at what they do!! I tried to drink in as much knowledge as I possibly could around them! 
  • From there I went to City TV Breakfast Television, back to the Fox while at City doing morning and afternoons!! DAYS = Loooonnnnggg 
  • CTV weather on the weekend 
  • CBC weekend weather 
  • Currently, I am at still at the Fox hosting the Todd and Karen Show - weekday afternoons 3pm - 7pm And I love it!
Todd and I have have a blast every afternoon, playing songs and finding out what is on Vancouver’s mind. What I have learned: 
  • Never, ever give up if this is what you want. You can do whatever you put your mind to. 
  • Do one thing towards achieving your goal everyday. Whether it is making a phone call, e-mail someone, reading/studying up. One thing makes a difference. 
  • Be Humble - there should be no room in this industry for a-holes…no joke. 
  • Never forget how lucky you are to have a job on the air. It is an honour. 
  • Every phone call that comes into your studio matters. 
  • LOVE what you do - Radio is AWESOME!!

Karen K
The Todd and Karen Show
Weekday afternoons 3 pm - 7pm 
cfox.com”

Karen you’re so right, radio is awesome! Karen has a lot of great points. One of my favorites is the point she made about trying to do one thing a day to get to your goal. I personally am living by this philosophy right now. I’ve told you all about “the funk” and I’m finding that the only way to combat this is to actually work towards my goal.

Sending my demo out, applying for a job, marketing the blog, all of this makes me feel connected to the industry, even though I’m currently unemployed! Haha
The other one that has appeared a couple times is “being humble”. I can’t tell you how important this is. Nobody likes a know-it-all, or a cocky/egotistical… you get the picture. So drill this into your mind! BE HUMBLE. BZZZZZ (that is my attempt to make a drill sound with letters… I apologize).

 
Great story and even better advice. So thanks so much Karen. I have also talked to the other half of The Todd and Karen Show… yes Todd. He recently had a baby… well, you know what I mean. So he has his hands full but he said he will try and write something up in the next couple weeks so keep checking back for that. In the meantime if you want to hear more of Karen K make sure to tune into 99.3 The Fox in Vancouver or online at Cfox.com, 3-7pm weekdays.


Here is where I would say “let’s have another round of applause for Karen” if this was a live show… but it’s not, so I’ll just do a trademark:

WOOT!

See you tomorrow.

-Mitch