10 Questions with ... Radio Maverick

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

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I have been a geeky radio DJ since I was a little fella! I was once L.A.'s youngest DJ while attending Torrance High, working at 93.5 KFOX. And I've worked as an air personality and PD in Phoenix, Tucson, Denver, Sacramento, Stockton, Vegas, Monterey, Reno, Ventura/Santa Barbara, Eugene, blah blah blah.

1) What do you do to maintain a positive mental attitude and to stay motivated?

I still network with great brand managers and air personalities, as well as market managers and VP/Programming throughout the country. Just because I'm not sitting in front of a desk or a control board doesn't mean I'm not still in radio.

And I work just as hard looking for a job, coming up with creative ideas to get noticed. Making "You Need to Hire Mav3rick Tour" T-shirts (and driving around the country giving out these T-shirts to radio stations), producing videos, consulting and coaching air personalities, and analyzing markets.

2) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?

One of the things I've been doing for years is helping radio people with their resumes, airchecks, and creative ideas for them to get noticed as well. When I was hiring, I saw a lot of sloppy resumes and poorly produced mp3s. And often, they were not showing off their off air talents (videos, social media, etc...)

Plus I'm asked do station/market analysis, consult, and coach. "Yes, I'm listening to you and your station." As well as work on logos for morning shows, etc., I also write articles about radio, and recently been doing YouTube videos about radio.

And of course, since I am back home in LA, I hang out at Disneyland with friends.

3) Some people get discouraged or enlightened with the business when they actually step out of it for a while. Tell us your observations from the outside.

For the most part, I'm encouraged with what I hear and see with regards to personalities. Often I hear people in radio complain that the DJs are not as good as they used to be. But thanks to apps like TuneIn, you can listen and discover great radio anywhere in the country with personalities in smaller cities that are often more fun to listen to than some the major-market jocks. Yes, there are quite a few who still do nothing but celebrity news or stations with out-of-market shows. But again, with apps on iPhones, connected car radios, TVs (via AppleTV, Roku, etc...) and now smart speakers, if our local radio stations suck, we can be anywhere in the country and say, "Hey Google/Siri/Alexa, listen to, Z90" or "1077 The Beat."

Now I'm super-surprised by the lack of variety on many Top 40 stations. It's ironic. I hear a greater variety on country and alternative.

4) Do you plan on sticking with radio?

Oh yes! I see a great future for radio. And I'm going to be a major player. As I mentioned before, tuning into radio stations, both local and out-of-market. And the way we connect with listeners. We're just seeing the beginning stages of this. We're going to have to learn how to sell differently. Uniquely market/brand our stations differently.

5) What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?

This has been the longest. I took some time off to return to L.A. to take care of my 96-year-old grandfather. Sadly he just recently passed away, so I'm back out on my "You Need to Hire Mav3rick" tour.

6) What's the best way to get your foot in the door?

I've been blessed in the past to get calls from either my former stations, companies and competitors. But the #1 thing to do is network, network, network. Even when you're employed. And go beyond sending an mp3 and resume. Show off your creative off-air talent that will help market yourself and the station.

7) What has been your best resource for finding out about job openings?

Well, All Access ... of course. But also get calls friends who know what's going on saying, "Hey, we have something that we believe is perfect for you." This goes back to what I said earlier. Network, network, network.

8) What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job?

I don't know if anything I've done is considered crazy, per se, but stopping by radio stations on my "You Need to Hire Mav3rick Tour" and actually having tour T-shirts with my logo on the front, and my resume on the back.

9) What is the next job you'd like to obtain?

Well, Brand Manager/PD/afternoons, of course. And since I want to move up to OM, over the years, I've been studying and working different formats, with my specialties being Top 40, Country and Alternative. I eventually would like to be a VP/Programming for a company. I want to do what I can to do great radio, encourage great radio, and get others I work with to spread the gospel of great radio.

10) Any books you can recommend to people who need something inspirational to read?

I love reading about individuals that have made a difference in or put their mark on their industry like the biography of Walt Disney by Bob Thomas. I want to be one of those people. I also love any book about old-school radio personalities like Don Sherwood, Jim Ladd, Jack Benny, etc, And of course, the Bible always make good inspirational read.