10 Questions with ... Darla Jaye

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

My Career in a Nutshell: Started in Minneapolis at KMGK as an intern; later hired as a board op and female voice for commercials. Second job was at WKJM in Lafayette, IN. as morning co-host, and later as PD and morning host.
1989-WKLQ/Grand Rapids, co-host of the Q Morning Zoo.
1995-WGRD/Geand Rapids, Rick, Darla & Scott show.
1997-WMMS/Cleveland, Morning Show
1999-K101/San Francisco, Morning Show
2000-WLLC/Detroit, Morning Show
2002-2005 WVNN/Huntsville, Talk Host
2005-current KMBZ/Kansas City, Talk Host
Have won numerous awards in Talk Radio and have been named one of the Top 250 Talk Hosts in the Country, 4 years in a row!

1. You've been at KMBZ for five years now, and you've established yourself as a strong local personality in Kansas City both on the radio and in politics. How did you approach that? How did you get yourself up to speed on local issues and personalities, and then become a part of the community?

Getting up to speed on local politics and issues here in the Kansas City Metro wasn't easy. We are basically located on the state line, so you need to know BOTH Missouri and Kansas issues! It took me quite awhile to figure out who and what was important. I really got more involved in politics in 2008. The Presidential election was huge, as you know, and the election of PrezBo has really been an issue ever since. He is the gift that keeps on giving!

I also seriously thought about running for Congress in Kansas late last year and early this year. I decided I wasn't ready to give up radio... yet!

2. You've flirted with running for office, or at least there have been "Draft Darla" campaigns. Do you foresee a day when you might run? What attracts, and repels, you about the idea of running for, say, Congress?

I really gave running for Congress for Rep. Dennis Moore's seat a lot of consideration. It started last summer when I went to give a speech at an annual picnic and Straw Poll in Kansas. I saw a lot of people with Draft Darla stickers on, and thought "That's cool. There's a woman named Darla running for Congress." I actually asked someone to introduce me to her! D'OH! A large group of local politicos tried to convince me to do it, and we had a super secret meeting to try to figure out what it would take for me to do it. I was very, very interested, but in the end, decided there was too much for me to give up, with no guarentee that the Kansas political machine would totally back me. I WILL run in the future, and see that as my transition from Radio, which I found was very hard to give up!

3. You grew up in Minnesota. How much "Minnesota Nice" is left in you, on the air and off? Does that ever make you think -- even for a second -- about holding back when you get on a particularly contentious roll on the air?

Aah... the Minnesota Nice issue! When I started in Huntsville, Alabama in 2002, PD Peter Thiele and GM and Owner Bill Dunnavant both told me I had too much Minnesota Nice left in me to be a talk host, and that I worried too much about being nice.

I am happy to say, in the nicest way possible... ain't no shred of Minnesota Nice left in me on the air! LOL Off the air, I still have my good manners and upbringing from my years in Minnesota, beaten into me by my parents.

4. What's your process -- how do you prepare for your show every day?

I still work long and hard, but not smart. My third day in Talk Radio at WVNN, I ran out of material with a half hour left and panicked! I babbled for the next 30 minutes about who knows what, got a stern talking to after that show, and have overprepped ever since! I get up at 9 and start with the Kansas City Star, then I get online and go through several sites, including Drudge (of course), Politico, National Review Online, Hot Air, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and many others until it's time to shower and go. When I get to work, I print all the stories I've sent myself, and whittle them down to the top 3, the 2nd tier stuff and the 3rd tier stuff. When I get on the air at 6p, like any other host, I change on the fly! LOL

5. Now that you've lived there for five years, what's your favorite thing about the Kansas City area? What would surprise people who have never been there about the city?

In 5 years, Kansas City has become HOME. I haven't been able to say that for a long time. The city gets a bad rap as a Cowtown, but that isn't true anymore. We have a lot to offer here, including fairly decent weather, great downtown, a new performing arts center, lots of music and theater, great BBQ!, and very decent prices that make this a wonderful, affordable place to live. I love it here!

6. How about you -- what would surprise people about you?

What would surprise people about me, is that I'm not as wild as I sound on the air! I don't hang out in bars, or party every night. I love my down time, and hang with people that could care less who I am and what I do. I don't have a lot of free time, so it is very precious to me.

7. Going back to the beginning of your radio career, when you were starting out on music stations, is there anything you would have changed had you known what you know now?

What I would change about my music career at mostly Rock stations across the country, with several different partners, is that I would have gotten into Talk Radio YEARS earlier then I did!! I was offered a morning show on WISN/Milwaukee in 1998, where I would have been the lead. I turned it down, because I believed all those so-called brilliant PDs who said I was just second banana material and couldn't work alone. I have always regretted saying no to that job, because I was too chicken. Now I know what I can do and have been very successful, so hope those "brilliant" PDs and GMs read this.

8. Of what are you most proud right now?

I am most proud of my perserverance in this business. That when I got knocked down repeatedly, I kept getting up and trying again. That two wonderful people gave me a chance to do talk radio (Peter Thiele and Bill Dunnavant), and that my boss now, Neil Larrimore, fought to get me hired at KMBZ, and has given me the room to let me grow and become the host I am now. I'm also very proud that I am the first female host in Kansas City!

9. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about America, in the near term and for the more distant future?

I hate to say this, but I am pessimistic about America's future in the near term. We are in huge debt, with virtually no way out in the near term. No one is doing anything to create jobs in this country, that aren't more Government jobs; politicians are not listening to their constituents; and Obama is President (the most inept President we have ever had) until 2012. As for the future, I am hopeful we can turn our country around, and become the powerhouse, full of exceptionalism, that we once were. It will take hard work, entreprenuers who create new stuff, and someone at the top who actually will unleash the power of the private sector.

10. What's the most valuable lesson you've learned in your radio career?

The best advice I got in the very beginning, when I was an intern at KMGK in Minneapolis, was "Never Burn a Bridge". I actually have never left a job in anger, or did something stupid on my way out, no matter how mad I was in the many times I got screwed! I believe that has helped me build and keep a great reputation. Never give up. Don't believe the "brilliant" people in this business who tell you that you will never amount to anything. Find something deep in yourself, to keep you going when times get tough. Living well and doing well is truly the best revenge.