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10 Questions with ... Jeremy Sweat
May 17, 2021
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1. Please tell us about your career journey?
My radio career started right out of High School in Missouri, and I grew where I was planted for over ten years. My young family moved to Nashville to get closer to family and I intended to get out of radio and go in to corporate marketing. I’m glad I didn’t. I’ve been on the FISH Nashville team for 16 years now and worked with some incredible people along the way and still today.
2. Share the most challenging part of your career.
Anytime you are laid off it hurts, and that happened early in my radio days. Being away from radio reminded me how hard it can be to earn a living doing something you’re not passionate about. It also gave me a healthy appreciation for how to deal with challenges. Working through problems in radio is far better to me than working at something I don’t love.
3. The best coaching advice you've ever received was…
Among other fundamentals, the audience does not experience the radio like we do. They only catch slivers of our daily programming based on their life schedule. You can’t assume they’ve heard much of anything before that moment. Start with that perspective when crafting your break.
4. How do you continue learning and growing?
I have strong leadership in Salem. Mike Blakemore, our VP of programming, and I work through most major decisions for the station. There is learning through that process. I also have skilled and helpful colleagues in the industry willing to share ideas and offer input. I read various consultants inside and outside our format. I listen to a variety of formats beyond CCM. I try to pay attention to the demo.
5. What’s one thing you wish you’d known about radio when you first started?
Like many things in life, finances, parenting, and marriage, there are solid principles that can guide you that you need to learn beyond your own instinct. Instinct is not enough.
6. Tell us about someone in our industry who you really respect and why?
I’ll pick one, but there are many! I’m a long distance fan of Sandi Brown, GM in St. Louis. She’s able to do a morning show, run a station, and curate a daily minute in the word. The team she’s assembled there and the work they are doing is impressive. I share concepts I’ve learned from her with our teams, and she doesn’t even know she taught me.
7. What would surprise people most about you?
I am a trained massage therapist. I worked as a massage therapist for two years in between radio gigs.
8. What’s on your nightstand?
Chargers, Bible, and when the morning begins, a hungry cat annoyingly pawing at my face.
9. What are you most excited about this year?
An opportunity to connect in person with our artists and listeners again is what I am most excited about. I also don’t mind traffic picking up again. Being in a traffic jam in the station van is a good problem.
10. What do you do for fun?
I like to work in the yard. Lawns, gardens, trees and shrubs are fun for me. I’m also a fan of action movies, grabbing dinner with friends, and spying on other radio stations.
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