10 Questions with ... Lisa Williams

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Over the past two decades, Lisa Williams has established herself as one of Christian radio's most ubiquitous and prolific on-air personalities. She's not shy about any of its highs and lows, as she shares below; and its that kind of openness that's allowed her a place in countless radio listeners' (and industry peers') hearts all these years.

1. You have had quite the career path with radio. Would you please share how it got started and what's happened in between to get you where you are today?

When I was 21, I found KCVO by listening until I heard "Camdenton" and then by using a big old atlas to find my way from Ft. Leonard Wood to the Lake of the Ozarks... because... I had heard God say "Christian Radio" while I was praying my guts out, begging to know why I'm on this planet. So on a Monday in July 1990, I drove the 75 minutes to the studios, went back on Tuesday for an interview, got a call Wednesday that I was hired, and was on the air Thursday. I did afternoons for five years.

Labor Day 1995, we moved to Pella, Iowa, and I was hurting because I thought I'd never get to do Christian radio again. I prayed in the hotel room that Tuesday morning, dried my tears, and went to the Christian bookstore to find new friends. I found out KCWN was trying to launch, talked to the GM that day, and I was the PD by the next Monday. I can't make this stuff up. I've tried to mess up my life 10K times, but He's producing this show.

It was cold in Iowa. But that's not why we left. In the Spring of 1996, we meandered around for a few months and landed for a year in NC where I did swing work and fundraising for WRTP. Then we moved to Lakeland, FL, and I thought I heard the angels singing. God undoubtedly was going to let me work at the iconic WCIE.

But alas, WCIE had signed off the air the month before we arrived. "Jesus Freak," jingle out, insert sad crowd noises here. So I began to stalk Steve Swanson who was the PD of TheJoyFM. I obsessively called Bill and Dave. There may have been a restraining order.

Then in 1998, a friend told me about Z88.3. I thankfully landed mornings and began the early morning trek from Lakeland to Orlando. It was almost five years and it was a magical and intense time in my radio life. We learned about focus. We learned how to love a city and how to serve.

After a very public failed adoption attempt, I absconded to NJ to help launch Star 99.1 on February 3, 2003. But I was really there to heal. And to find VoxPro. And to try Broccoli Rabe. And to understand how much I love radio by meeting extraordinary radio people like none I'd ever known. (yes, Beth, I'm talking about you and Bill.)

After 3 months, Orlando's sunshine and love were wooing me. So afternoons with Dean O'Neal was where I spent nearly five years of amazing radio happiness. I cultivated a deeper love of programming and serving. Someday I'll write a book about this section of my life. Stand by.

I would have stayed in Orlando until the end of my life, but God had been show prepping. So off we went to Northern California and that's where I bumped into David Pierce, Mike Novak, and Dick Jenkins because of the wonderful Alan Mason. Much to my surprise, I landed afternoons on K-LOVE. I had a blast. After two years, the morning show needed me to fill-in and I ended up being offered mornings, which included a move to Indianapolis. I was scared to say yes but was asked, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" Thus, I became a Hoosier.

A decade's worth of stress, moves, marriage issues, sin, repentance, trauma, intensity, big stages, long hours, IVF, two babies, sleep deprivation, and a deep, deep need for healing all led to panic attacks that led me to realize: someone else could run the K-LOVE Morning Show. I wanted to be a mom and to let my heart, soul, mind, and body rest and heal. So we moved to Colorado in September 2011.

Within a few months, I had created an LLC and had started fundraising, voice tracking, and coaching. You can take the girl out of the radio station...

Paul Goldsmith and I had become friends at EMF. He would call episodically and say, "You should be podcasting." And I would say, "Whatever, Paul." In January 2015, I spent a week with Paul and Maryanne in Pennsylvania and we created Life with Lisa Williams. A group of friends surprised and encouraged me deeply by funding it. And so I started a daily podcast in May 2015 with a focus on what's better than life, which is His love.

Fast forward to today. Every morning from Denver, I make radio for incredible Christian music stations across America. The radio show allows me to partner with CURE International to heal and champion marginalized children. Coaching incredible air talent through Goldsmith Media Group fills me with energy and life. And although I stopped podcasting regularly after my momma died, I have plans for a show relaunch at the beginning of 2019.

Working with Vance Dillard, a great programmer and mentor, encourages my soul. Vance serves stations who air my show or who want to add me to their lineup. And working alongside Paul Goldsmith forces me to grow so I can keep up with him.

2. While surely all of those jobs along the way brought growth in their own ways, looking back, which of those seasons in your career would you say was the most instrumental of your journey, both professionally and personally?

I'm trying really hard to pick a moment, but they all seem equally powerful. Hunger for growth never relents and God has been so faithful to put the right people in my life over and over and over again. Countless radio friends are a part of my soul's fabric. The big watershed growth moments in my radio life have to be when Jim McDermott hired me, when Dean O'Neal hired me, and when David Pierce hired me.

3. Speaking of "Life With Lisa Williams," with the countless number of new podcasts launching by the month, who have you specifically tried to target with yours and what are you doing from episode to episode to set yourself apart from everyone else?

Podcasting was challenging for me because I have trouble believing that I matter, so why would anyone care about what I say? I've worked and still work with a therapist and spiritual director to understand and to heal from my savage insecurities. Because spiritual growth rings my bell, I leaned the podcast into growth topics. All in all, the podcast has had over 100K spins with almost no promotion other than my Facebook page and a presence on iTunes.

As I re-conceive and relaunch the show in January 2019, it will target anyone with a smart speaker, a phone, or a computer who needs laughter, encouragement, or something to think about.

4. It's been several years now since you worked in an actual radio station building and done daily life with on-air co-staffers in person. How have you handled that transition? What have you seen as the pros and cons of working in your current setting?

Throwing yourself into a team dripping with creative community is intoxicating for an extraverted creative like me. I've missed it. In the end, God has had me on a growth climb and He's given me extensive community through colleagues, coaching, social media, wonderful friends, my sons, and my church. There's something good about being able to spend hours alone working and creating while being at home.

A couple years ago, I felt strongly that God wanted me to create a secret Facebook page for women on-air in Christian Radio. That page allowed me to broaden GodsRadioGirl from just me to all of us, and that was a very great moment in my life. The page allows us to encourage and inspire each other, to pray for each other, and to be goofballs. In May, we had a retreat in Estes Park with 30 GRGs and it was so life giving. We're making plans for the next retreat in June 2019. These women are my tribe; they make my life so much richer.

5. What have you learned the most about yourself, particularly over the past few years? And how has what you've learned translated to your on-air brand?

I've learned:

• God's strength is mine every day.
• In the past, I would obsessively say: "I've got this." But now I say: "He's got this."
• There is a lot of pain in life. But there is grace and beauty right beside it.
• I am co-dependent and I am in recovery to become a healthy person.
• Addictions destroy.

The more I embrace my humanity, the more vibrantly I see Christ. He gives me a way to speak into people's lives that is authentic and anointed. People are so thirsty for Him. I ache to stay saturated in the river of God so that the fruit of my life creates an ache in listeners for Jesus Christ.

6. Impactful on-air personalities require an element of transparency and vulnerability. How have you managed to find an effective balance between reticent and TMI toward your audience? Has it been a difficult learning curve for you? Do you find yourself erring on one side more than the other?

I think I've finally found the balance, but it took time and I've made a lot of messy mistakes. When I was told that radio should be open heart surgery, I scrubbed in. But looking back, I know I was often in a ditch of "too much". It took time and a lot of thought to find the pocket of being transparent without bleeding all over everyone. Now, I practice "brushing up against the pain" instead of lassoing my listener and dragging them down with me. I'm thankful to be a coach and to help people figure things out sooner than I did.

7. What is the on-air content you've discovered to be the most compelling to your audience and generates the biggest reaction?

Stories.

8. Do you ever struggle to find compelling content on-air? Or fear that what you're bringing to the table isn't actually interesting or what your audience wants?

Wait, how did you come up with this question? Were you listening to my show? Is this like an aircheck? Snap.

I hear compelling quickly because I've been doing this a long time. When I feel something, I lean in and examine it. If I perceive a break is not going to be compelling, then I think for a minute. If I can't massage or edit it to unearth the compelling, I move on.

If the compelling heart of the story (which can be funny, deep, sad, shocking, spiritual, etc.) is through the mic at the very beginning of the break, then she might stay for the compelling content created just for her, because I love her.

Captivating, intimate, unmuddled-all important. But compelling is the magic.

9. What would you say are the three most important songs to come through Christian radio over the past five years?

Cory Asbury's "Reckless Love," Hillsong United's "Oceans," and Crowder's "Come As You Are."

10. When you're not speaking into a microphone, what have you been doing with what's left of your time?

Math homework. Making dinner. Laundry. Walking Westies. Listening to my boys talk about video games or YouTube. Laughing with my friends. Sleeping. That's about it.