10 Questions with ... Allen Hunt

NAME:Allen Hunt TITLE:Host STATION:The Allen Hunt Show MARKET:National -- Syndicated in 17 Markets -- Flagship WSB/Atlanta BORN:Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital RAISED:Brevard, NC (childhood) and Lakeland, FL (high school)

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

1. Your path led from business to the ministry to radio. What led you to each stage -- why business, why the ministry, why radio?

I love business. I really do. Forbes is my favorite magazine, which is kind of odd for someone who was a pastor for 20 years. So it just came naturally to me to major in Finance and go into business. It was fun.

But then, I had an experience on Wall Street where I was working on a project for Kurt Salmon Associates. Getting out of a taxi in the cold, February rain one morning, I was entering a luxury office tower to work on a takeover deal. Moving into the building, I had to step over a homeless man, huddled on the subway grating for warmth. As I stepped over him, I distinctly heard God's voice speaking to me in my spirit, saying, "Allen, when are you going to stop serving yourself and start serving me?" That evening, I flew home and told my then-fiancee that it was time to enter full-time ordained ministry.

About twenty years later, I realized how much time I spent each day with church people. I really enjoy lots of time with people who do not go to church. Frankly, they are often a lot more interesting for some reason. A close friend suggested that a fun way for me to have lots of conversations with lots of kinds of people would be on talk radio because no one talked about the kinds of real life and faith situations that I am passionate about. That friend and I met with Pete Spriggs at WSB in Atlanta and shared our idea. Pete politely tolerated us, but at the end of the conversation said, "You know, I think this idea may have some legs to it." We did a pilot trial, started on WOKV in Jacksonville, and eventually housed the show at WSB as our flagship station. We've never looked back and I am having the time of my life.

2. About what are you most passionate these days?

For the first time in my life, I set 6 resolutions on New Year's Day. I've never done that before, but this year it hit me: I am middle aged! So it seemed good to get a little focus on what I am going to be passionate about in 2008.

Here you go:
1) Celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in a really meaningful way. I married really well.
2) Helping my second daughter find a college match that fits her as well as her older sister's choice has fit her.
3) Write a book with my wife about how to cultivate faith in your kids.
4) Lose twenty pounds - I'm halfway there and actually loving the workout routine for the first time in my life!
5) Help my in-laws celebrate their 50th anniversary well because they are remarkable people.
6) Grow the Allen Hunt Show to 75 markets and affiliates. That's why we hired Phil Tower, the former PD at WOOD in Grand Rapids. We are well on our way!

3. Some people might recoil when they hear the word "faith" in conjunction with a show that is designed to air on secular stations. How does faith play into the show, and with that in mind, what's the show all about?

84% of Americans say faith is an important part of their lives, but no one on talk radio deals with it unless it spills into Presidential politics. Our show is not about right and left but about right and wrong. The kinds of things real people deal with in real life. Hence, our phrase: "Where real life and faith come together."

Faith plays a central role on the show because it plays a central role in my life. Faith affects how I raise my kids, how I interact with my neighbors and co-workers, how I vote, and how I read the news and see the world around me. Remarkably, that is true for most people in this country. So we talk about it on the Allen Hunt Show.

The show is not a sermon or a Bible study. It is real conversation about life from my viewpoint and from the callers' viewpoints. At times, it is a debate over whether a convict should be released from prison or whether faith has a role in politics; at other times, it is heartfelt caller stories that feel like you are sitting outside a confessional overhearing the intricacies of someone's life. All in all, it makes for compelling radio in the spoken word format. There is nothing else like it in the marketplace.

4. How did delivering sermons from the pulpit prepare you for talk radio, or did you have to "unlearn" your public speaking experience for the different medium?

Boy, did I underestimate this transition! Great question!

Preaching is a monologue in a 1 on 2000 setting. Talk radio is thousands of intimate one-on-one conversations occurring simultaneously. A true dialogue. Very different indeed.

Thus, I have re-learned and re-tooled in a lot of ways. Some things are similar, like the fact that compelling stories work in both contexts of preaching and radio. On the other hand, I have needed to discover that talk radio is more like sitting in a bar talking to the person next to me about something I am passionate about. It is less teaching and more conversation. It is more raw and emotional to be on talk radio. I get to say things about topics that never would have floated in church. I love it!

5. Faith is one of the issues that comes up in a presidential campaign, more so with some candidates than others. How important should a candidate's faith be in choosing a candidate to support? Is it of critical importance, some importance, or not at all? What can we tell about a candidate by how he or she expresses his or her faith?

Faith is crucial in a Presidential campaign, not as a litmus test, but as a provider of insight into the governing center of a candidate. For most people, faith generates their moral center. I would want to know the moral center or compass of any candidate for whom I was planning to vote. Their moral center reveals their priorities, their basis for decision-making and governing, and what makes them get up in the morning.

When I vote, I am not looking for a candidate who is a Christian although it does not hurt. Sadly, Christian candidates often are labeled as persons who focus only on abortion and gay marriage. Christians should also be passionate about caring for the poor and about letting citizens make their own moral decisions rather than having the government do that for them. So faith does not reside in one political party. For example, this year, Obama seems the most comfortable expressing and discussing his faith, McCain holds the positions on many issues that are important to Christians, and Hillary appears to have the deepest personal spiritual life. I want to know all those things. The more I know about a candidate, including his/her faith life, the better decision I can make as a citizen.

6. Who are your radio influences -- who, directly or indirectly, have shaped your radio career and on-air style?

My life has overflowed with many wonderful people. My preaching professor, Fred Craddock, taught me the power of good story-telling and the sheer magnetism of the spoken word format. Rush Limbaugh inspired me early on with the unique platform of talk radio. Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey have both been extremely generous to my team as we have begun to grow the show.

Most of all, however, my career and on-air style have been shaped and influenced by Greg Moceri and Phil Tower. Those two guys have beautiful ears! They really know how to shape language and topics in ways that make for compelling radio.

7. You were born in L.A. but raised in North Carolina and Florida, which are areas where the church is more of a pervasive influence in everyday life. How much, if at all, does environment -- where you happen to be, and what surrounds you -- factor into how much faith plays a part in your life? It's possible to be devout in, say, New York or Los Angeles, and many people are, but is it easier and more likely in a place where it's not seen as out of the mainstream?

Now this is a question that deserves a dissertation answer! I love it.

Actually, in my experience, the most faith-full people are found in New York or Los Angeles rather than in Birmingham or Nashville. Why? Because faith is not normal or expected in NYC or LA. It requires a choice, a life decision. In the South, we often give a lot of lip service to faith, but the depth can frequently end there - at the lips. In the Northeast and the West, faith requires something different from you. Your neighbors will not expect you to go to church or be a person of faith. Faith requires effort and choices. And that is where real life and faith come together - in effort and choices not in lip service.

At the same time, to wax philosophical for a moment, all people operate out of value systems whether they see those value systems as springing from faith or not. All people ask questions like: How do I view marriage? What should my role as a father be? Does my work define who I am or does something else? Where do I find meaning and value in this world and in my life? Why am I here?

Some people answer those questions through their faith. Others find alternate ways. But we all ask the same questions. That is why the show is so fun.

8. What do you do for fun? (And are you still a Dodger fan or have the Braves taken over your loyalties by now?)

I gave up baseball for Lent years ago and never picked it back up! Now, auto racing is fun. Hiking is divine. Spending time with my daughters (16 and 18) a rich treasure. And did I mention that I actually love working out now? That is weird. But true.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ________________.

...Grace.

10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?

Best: The last words my grandfather spoke to me - "Always remember who you are."

Worst: "You should consider a major in computer science."