10 Questions with ... Stacey 'The Professor' Stone

NAME:Stacey 'The Professor' Stone TITLE:Morning Show Co-Host/Director of Promotions STATION:WAWZ STAR 99.1 MARKET:New York Metro COMPANY:Pillar of Fire, Intl BORN:Fort Worth, TX RAISED:Fort Worth, TX

Brief Career Synopsis:

My radio career began sixteen years ago when I accepted an internship at KYNG/Dallas. The internship became a paid position three days later and lasted for more than five years. I was then called to WZFS/Chicago to help create a new Contemporary Christian music station. Eventually guided to WAWZ, I have spent the last six years exploring and enjoying the lives of people listening in NYC, NY and PA.

1) What was your first job in the industry? Did you have any mentors early on?

I was blessed to start out in a major market (Dallas/Fort Worth) at Young Country 105.3 with a fantastic group of people. As Executive Producer and MD, I was mentored by PD Dan Pearman and the morning show host, you may know him, Johnny Stone.

2) You co-host mornings with Johnny and crew. What does your routine for morning prep include?

Prep for our show is 24/7. Each day we are required to come in with something we read, something we heard and something we saw. That makes you pay attention to everything going on around you and read everything you can get your hands on. I also write our syndicated show "Looking Up To #1 with Johnny Stone" so I have to keep up with everything that the artists are working on and what is going on in their lives. That makes me a better co-host and Director of Promotions!

3) What has been your favorite feature/spoof/promotion in the past year at your station?

We currently have a promotion going on where, if we get 500,000 followers on Twitter, Johnny is going to shave his head. That is my LEAST favorite promotion ever! Our "Meet Every Listener" promotion is still ongoing and right now we are collecting teddy bears for kids in crisis. That's the funny thing about being co-host and in promotions, whatever promotion is going on right now is my favorite!

4) Who is your favorite on-air personality NOT at your station?

You are just trying to get me in trouble. There are so many great Christian on-air personalities that I admire I could never list them all. I'll go outside our format and say that Kelly Raspberry who has been with Kidd Kraddick for years is one of my favorites. She has always been a role model, for me to be the real me on the air.

5) What could Christian radio do to break through to a mass audience on a more consistent basis?

There are a lot of Christian personalities that put on a performance and leave their real life or the real person they are off the radio. If we could show the mass audience that Christ followers are real people, with real friends and real lives with real problems, that would bring more people into our life of hope. I mean, Johnny says he loves every hair on my lip; how real can we be?

6) What does an office-day-in-the-life of Stacey Stone look like?

Amazing. Johnny and I ride together and try to arrive about 5:30 a.m. I write the news, get my positive thoughts and Twitter them, set up the studio and we start the show at 6:00 a.m. After that, I move to the opposite end of the hall to the Promotions Department and switch hats. Meetings, projects, your usual promotions fun are all included in this time. At some point I have to check in with my fellow Twilighters in my office. On a teaching day I will leave and go to Nyack College and teach my announcing course after that. Today I am actually leaving to go meet my girlfriend and her daughter (my honorary niece) at the Empire State Building.

7) What are the greatest challenges and/or rewards in your position/job?

The greatest challenge for me personally is getting out of bed at 3:15 a.m. When I was in college I never took a class before 11:00, so I would not say I am a morning person. That is how amazing God truly is. He took this woman with a Texas accent who didn't like to get up and put her on morning radio in NYC! The greatest challenge for me professionally is always budget. I have these huge God-given ideas that I have to adjust constantly to fit our fiscal responsibility. The best reward I receive is those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that I get to give STAR 99.1 listeners on a regular basis.

8) If you could have any other job outside radio, what would it be?

My first college degree is in psychology with a specialization in crisis management so I would probably be with the Red Cross or some other organization. My first job was as a rape crisis counselor in a hospital emergency room so I would have continued that if I did not get my masters in communication.

9) Any favorite or funny artist run-ins? Highlights from a promotion or interview?

Let's see. How about the time we wore diapers over our clothes at GMA because David Crowder had told us that he bit his little brother on the bottom when they were little. Or the Nerf gun battles we have had with Jeremy Camp and Mark Hall. Mark Schultz pretty much thinks we are nuts and Chris Tomlin is afraid to talk to us (his admission) so we have plenty of stories! We dressed MercyMe up in costumes one time. Yeah, we have a good time.

10) So you're a Savvy Auntie (www.savvyauntie.com). What's your favorite part about being an aunt?

Not only am I a Savvy Auntie, I am also a PANK (Professional Aunt with No Kids), which is a new marketing category! My favorite part of being an aunt and great aunt is being that one person that is not their mom or dad that they can always count on. I am an honorary aunt to lots of my friends' kids and they know that they are never without someone to turn to.

1) Do you read everything or nothing? Do you have any favorite magazines, books, newspapers?

I read everything I can get my hands on. My favorite books right now are Dawson McAllister's new book "A Walk With Christ to the Cross: The Last Fourteen Hours of His Earthly Mission" and the complete escapism of the "Twilight" series. Websites, magazines, but not so much newspapers anymore. I can get that info online.

2) Cat or dog person?

Dog person all the way. Two little rescue pups: Bogey (who is 17) and Mally (who was born with only one eye).

3) Describe your favorite meal.

Any meal I can have with my husband and family. It would probably include bar-b-que or spaghetti if I get to choose.