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10 Questions with ... Jill Mikkelson
April 17, 2023
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1. How in the world did you even get into radio?
The short version is that I went from being in missions (and I thought I'd do that forever), to a manager in the paint department at a hardware store, to radio. After graduating a missions program I had done (Youth With A Mission), I took what I thought would be just a summer job at Menards. The summer turned into fall, then winter, etc. I began looking for something different and my pastor connected me to the manager of one of the local Christian radio stations. I was hired as the admin/events person. About a month or so later, my manager started training me for an on-air position and after that, I was hooked.
2. What's one thing you wish you had known about radio when you first started?
The comments from angry listeners will stick more than the kind ones. It's easy to become calloused and feel like every listener shares the same angry sentiment. Hold tightly to the kind words you receive and ask God to keep your heart tender towards the listeners that are harder to love.
3. How has God pulled you out of your comfort zone?
Just working in radio has pulled me out of my comfort zone. I'm the type of person that wants to be COMPLETELY prepared before doing something new. However, my experience thus far has been "just go for it and you'll be prepared eventually." Ha! Here's an example. The first time I ever trained to be on-air, my boss at the time had me record fake voice tracks for two days. He came in the third day and said, "okay, go ahead and track two hours of the midday show. I have a meeting so I'm going to leave and we'll see how you do when I get back." Talk about being out of my comfort zone! Yet I wouldn't change a thing. Without that push to just go for it, I wouldn't be where I am now.
4. Some great advice you recently received is…
From a Tim Keller sermon – "God calls us to take leaps of faith and they often feel like fear. If you're doing things that don't feel like fear, you're not stepping outside your comfort zone where HE is your comfort. A life of faith feels risky."
5. Tell us about someone who you really respect and why?
I recently had a conversation with Chris Hauser and thought, "man, I just love how authentic this guy is." He is genuine, kind, and without knowing it, has made me more passionate about the responsibility of choosing the music for our station.
6. What's one thing you try to do when life gets hard?
The more stressed I get, the more my mind races. My (healthy) outlet has been to listen to a sermon and do Sudoku.
7. What's something about you that would surprise most people?
In junior high I was on a puppet team. We had weekly practices and performances at our church and supermarkets.
8. What's your go to song when the windows are down and you're driving on the highway?
Colony House, Landlocked Surf Rock
9. In three words describe your ideal vacation.
PLANNED FOR ME.
10. Tell us one thing that you bought recently that WASN'T on your grocery list.
A birthday card that said, "You're like a ripe avocado. One in a million."
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