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10 Questions with ... Taylor Hohulin
September 16, 2019
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1. How would you detail the career path that's brought you to your current gig at Life 107.1?
My first paying radio gig was at KLRC in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. The college it's attached to - John Brown University - had some workstudy positions available at the station, and one of those positions opened up just as I was starting my Broadcasting degree. I got my foot in the door doing simple production tasks under Jeremy Louis (who's now killing it at BOOST and JoyFM in St. Louis). From there, I said "yes" to every opportunity I got, and ended up getting experience at a lot of different things. Mark Michaels was great about giving me opportunities and giving me permission to learn through failure. I ended up hosting a live Christian Rock show on Saturday nights, and he let me turn it into my sandbox, trying out all kinds of ideas with production, music scheduling, and on-air frivolity. I learned a lot and also did a lot of stupid stuff, and what better time to do it than Saturday night at 11:30?
Once my time at John Brown was up, I moved back to my hometown of Dallas, Texas and had the opportunity to work at the Christian Rock station there, Power FM. It was a station I'd grown up listening to, and it was really special to be a co-worker with people I'd looked up to and listened to for so long. I started in afternoons, and eventually moved to mornings before listener support dried up and the station made the difficult decision to sell.
I spent a year out of radio after that. My wife was starting to apply to medical schools, so we didn't know if we were going to stay in Texas or go somewhere completely different. All I could do was wait and pray that she went to school in a city with a radio station that needed someone like me. In the meantime, I fell into a job as a long-term substitute teacher for Chemistry, Anatomy, and Life Science...which is when I learned I should never be allowed to teach science.
Eventually, a position showed up in Des Moines that caught my eye. My wife had applied to medical school there, but wasn't sure what her chances were of getting in. Lo and behold, the day I submitted my application at Life 107.1, Lindsey was notified that she'd been accepted to Des Moines University's DO program. My first paycheck from Life 107.1 came exactly two weeks after my last severance check from Power FM. It's incredible the way God showed up in that time. I've been here for three and a half years now, and it's been an incredible time. We have a great staff and passionate listeners.
2. Was radio an important part of life for you, growing up? If so, what (and who) did you listen to?
I mentioned listening to Power FM in Dallas when I was younger. It launched when I was in those formative music years around middle school, and I ate it up. I was mostly drawn to all the Tooth & Nail pop-punk bands that sprang up in the early 2000s, but I also got into Audio Adrenaline in a big way, as well as Five Iron Frenzy, Stavesacre, Bleach, and everything in between. That was when I really started geeking out about bands and collecting albums and tracking all the members that hopped from group to group.
3. When did you come to realize radio was the thing you wanted to pursue as a career? And why Christian radio?
The light went off about two weeks into my senior year of high school. I thought I wanted to go into sports medicine as a physical therapist/personal trainer, but then I took high school anatomy and realized there are far too many bones in the human body for me to memorize them all. Once I realized all those memory slots in my brain were occupied by Ghoti Hook and Ace Troubleshooter lyrics, I started thinking about going into radio. I'd fallen into some speech competitions and done fairly well, and the college I was looking at - John Brown University - had a Broadcasting program where you got to work at this Dove Award-winning radio station KLRC. The rest is history. The draw to Christian radio just felt natural. Music was such a big influence on my faith and on my life that I wanted to be part of giving these artists a platform to share a life-changing message in such a fun way.
4. What music (and artists) were you raised on? Does the soundtrack of your past pull any weight in your current tastes, both personally and professionally?
Outside of Christian music, my dad was always playing The Beatles, Jim Croce, Bread, or something in that vein. Inside of Christian music, he was into artists like Daniel Amos, The 77's, and Phil Keaggy. I think the big impact my dad's music taste had on my life mostly came in my relationship with him. We found a lot of common ground, musically. He was never banging on my door telling me to turn that noise down. More often than not, he was asking me what that noise was so he could go buy some of their albums for himself. We still swap music recommendations and listen to music together today. One of my favorite memories was going on a road trip with him and listening to Electric Light Orchestra's entire discography (which I had diligently collected over the years) from start to finish.
5. Who has served as your biggest and best mentors and influences pertaining to career and ministry over the course of your career?
I mentioned Jeremy Louis and Mark Michaels earlier, and I can't say enough good things about them as radio people and human beings. They really took the time to pour into this fresh college student who didn't know the first thing about radio. Working under Bruce Barrows at Life 107.1 has been an awesome experience - he has a real heart for people and for developing talent. He has a wealth of radio knowledge that I've had the privilege of tapping into repeatedly these past three years. Last, my morning co-host and I have begun working with Gary Moreland of Finney Media, and his understanding of on-air communication, as well as the unique psychology of creativity has been invaluable.
6. When you're not at the station, what are you doing with your time?
My wife finally talked me into getting a bicycle, so we've been taking every opportunity to enjoy the great bike trails through the Des Moines Metro. With her as a student and me sitting in front of computers and listening to music all day, it's a nice change of pace to get out, enjoy the weather, and be active. When it's just me, I'm either reading a weird science fiction book or writing one.
7. Tell me more about your writing-what prompted/fueled you to get into that world? Did you have all of these ideas you just had to get out, or was it more something that started developing as you started writing?
I had an awesome high school English teacher who saw something she liked in the essays I wrote for her, so she encouraged me to pursue more writing opportunities. I ended up joining the creative writing club, writing stories for the school newspaper, and goofing off with my friends by writing crazy stories about all of us getting into adventures. I always wanted to write a novel, and eventually I decided I was just going to do it. I wrote a book that exactly zero literary agents wanted to shop to publishers, but I had so much fun writing the book that I didn't care. Now, I've written and self-published six novels and a couple short stories. I make about enough money to go out to Arby's once a month if we don't get an appetizer, but it's not about the money. I just like telling the kinds of stories I want to read.
8. Is there anything you're working on now that's got you particularly excited? And that said, when do you find the time to work on this, on top of a pretty taxing full-time job and family?
I've always got something I'm working on. Some people spend 30 minutes or so crocheting when they wind down; I spend it hammering out words on my laptop. I just started this noir-ish mystery set in a sci-fi world like you see in Blade Runner. I find time by giving myself permission to take a while to write a book. Five hundred words isn't much for just one sitting, but if you do that every day for a year, you end up with two full novels' worth of words.
9. Back to music: What are the five most personally-impactful Christian Radio singles to in the past five years?
Colton Dixon "The Other Side": A year and a half ago, my cousin died in a car accident a couple blocks from his house. He was one of my best friends, and the news hit me hard. I got the news about an hour before going live for a morning show. I remember stumbling into work, still shocked from the news and a little tired from being up so early, but I hadn't been in the studio long before "The Other Side" started playing. I heard the line, "I bet you feel you're finally home, walking down those streets of gold," and something in those words gave me a peace and a hope to hold onto. Grief isn't something you just "get over," but the sharp edges are dulling, and every time I hear that song, I think about Josh feeling like he's finally home.
Elevation Worship "Do It Again": This has just been a message I repeat to myself over and over. God has shown up and provided for me and my wife so many times over the course of our marriage, and every time we come upon a new challenge, we look back at all the other times he's taken care of us. He's got a pretty strong track record.
Tenth Avenue North "Control": Hearing Mike talk about the pressure he and the rest of the band get tempted to put on their shoulders resonated with me hard. When you work in ministry, it gets tempting to think so much stuff depends on you being awesome. But then there's that reminder that serving God isn't about doing something he needs you for, but about being part of something awesome that he invites us to join him in. That's incredibly freeing.
I Am They "Scars": Authenticity is a real buzz word, but it seems like sometimes we have safe versions of authenticity, where we're authentic about struggles in our past, rather than struggles in our present. This has been a season of me opening up about scars that are still pretty raw, and I've found that, instead of scaring people away, it's done the opposite. Every time I've shared a scar, it's drawn people closer and forged stronger relationships.
TobyMac "Love Broke Thru": This is just a song that keeps me humble. We were the last reporting station to add it, because I was convinced it wouldn't work. Well, it did, and I was wrong, and it wasn't the last time, either.
10. What do you have coming up-either at home or at work--that you're most looking forward to?
I'm seriously excited to start playing Christmas music at Life 107.1. I know it's early, and I know it's a beast to schedule, and I know I'll get at least a handful of emails from listeners wanting to tell me why I'm doing it wrong...but it's always so rewarding and fun to hear the final product.
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