-
10 Questions with ... Caryn and Jeremy Sweat
June 13, 2022
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
1. Share a moment in your career that you’ll always remember.
Caryn: When I worked at Spirit FM in Missouri, after 9-11, a soldier called the station from Iraq. He wanted to thank our GM for sending him some CDs. I was able to record the call and asked him several questions and we recorded a message for his wife and three kids that I later aired. About 20 minutes after airing his audio, his wife called in tears. She had just picked up the kids from school and they were all in the van when they heard him on the radio talking to THEM! That’s a moment I’m so grateful to have been a part of and will never forget.
Jeremy: It was one of many humbling moments. We did a station promotional event at a fair, and planned to play a newlywed-type of game. I crafted questions and we had two great couples come up to play. In the audience…4 people. We played the game, had some laughs and awarded a prize with basically no audience. The show must go on.
2. If you weren’t working in radio what else do you think you’d do?
Caryn: I’d be working with Jeremy at the nursery… running the cash register, in the air conditioning!
Jeremy: I would love to own a garden nursery! I love the instant change plants can make in a landscape.
3. Some great advice you've received is…
Caryn: When Vance Dillard was my PD he gave me a mandate to tell every story in 40 seconds OR LESS! I HATED it at first. I thought, ‘what’s the point of even being on-air?’ But, it was one of the best things anyone has ever done for me. It made me really work on honing my skills of telling a story concisely and getting rid of the details that don’t matter…and it didn’t last forever. I can talk for more time now, but it’s hard to go past 40!
Jeremy: Start with the listener and why they care.
4. How do you continue learning and growing?
Caryn: We have a subscription to DAR and record shows and talents we respect from around the country. And not just Christian radio. Almost daily we’re listening to what others are doing.
Jeremy: Trade organizations like CMB offer continuing education. I follow various talent coaches. I listen to other radio personalities. Read on leadership topics.
5. What’s one thing you wish you’d known about radio when you first started?
Caryn: That I don’t have to talk for 3 minutes, just because the music bed is 3 minutes long. Sounds silly, but I really did! I would also say that you don’t have to be extroverted. I thought I was never going to last because I wasn’t as outgoing as my co-workers, but I’ve since learned SOO many DJs are introverted. We are not alone! …we just choose to be.
Jeremy: How important it is to have personal guides for growth.
6. Tell us about someone who you really respect and why?
Caryn: He didn’t pay me to say this (I swear!), but Jeremy is at the top of my list. Not just as a husband, but as a boss, co-worker and cohost. He has taught me so much not just about radio, but about patience and how to work with people. He’s one of the most diplomatic people you’ll ever meet! And he loves God and people in a way that has always been an example to me.
Jeremy: I know many worthy of that designation for different reasons. Someone I respect unrelated to radio is a friend from my former TN church small group. Jerry helped us load a U-Haul on a Friday night to move to TX at 4 am the next day. He took time off work, burned frequent flier miles and hotel points, and hopped in one of our cars and drove 650 miles and 11 hours straight through to help us get all our vehicles to our new gig at our new station. He then helped us unload the same U-haul he had helped load the day before.
7. What’s something about you that would surprise most people?
Caryn: I hate massages. LOL! Jeremy’s talent is sooo wasted on me.
Jeremy: I have professional massage therapy training and have worked as a licensed massage therapist between radio gigs.
8. What’s your favorite room at home and why?
Caryn: At the moment we’re in an apartment and it feels very temporary and not really like home. I would rather be outside so I look forward to finding a home with a beautiful backyard and walking trails in the neighborhood.
Jeremy: Living room. TV - Football - Relaxing
9. Finish this sentence: My day doesn’t start properly until I...
Caryn: …until I feed the cats. They won’t let me do anything else until they get their “smoosh”
Jeremy: Get a shower - Make a coffee and have a hot breakfast. No pastries, donuts or cereal for me.
10. What do you do to unwind and chill?
Caryn: Ditto to what Jeremy said below…and going for a walk.
Jeremy: Being at home with nothing to do and time to kill is a huge blessing. I do enjoy time with friends when you have time to hang out with no schedule.
-
-