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10 Questions with ... Kimberly Owens
February 26, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. I've always been a super-positive person, and it's important to keep a positive mindset about everything life throws at me. I think it's easy for me to stay motivated because I can't see myself doing anything else that doesn't revolve around Country music and radio. I've always completely loved and agreed with the quote, "Don't follow your dreams, chase them." I think once you find your passion that your motivation is fueled by that passion to chase that dream. Then you don't give up, even after you've landed that job you continue to work towards more goals, you don't just stop at one or two
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I began in radio in college as an intern for WMIL/Milwaukee, WI for Karen, Scott, Radar in the Mornings. After graduating college I worked for World's Largest Music Festival, Summerfest in Milwaukee, doing Marketing/Promotions as a Street Team member. In between these amazing journeys, I worked as a concert and album reviewer for a few Country music blogs. Shortly after that I landed a job at WKTI (94.5 KTI) Country as an on-air personality doing weekends.
1. What do you do to maintain a positive mental attitude and to stay motivated?
For me, I've always been one to keep a positive attitude through all of life's ups and downs. It's important to have your faith to keep you motivated, and to always believe things will work out for the absolute best. It's an amazing thought to know, believe, and have faith in God and the dreams he put in my heart and the fact that he is ultimately in control and has our backs. I can rest easy knowing he has my best interests in mind, and a plan bigger than I could ever dream of. Prayer is also key to keeping my positive mental attitude, as well as reading books, quotes and bible verses to encourage me. I've always been a super-positive person, and it's important to keep a positive mindset about everything life throws at me. I think it's easy for me to stay motivated because I can't see myself doing anything else that doesn't revolve around Country music and radio. I've always completely loved and agreed with the quote, "Don't follow your dreams, chase them." I think once you find your passion that your motivation is fueled by that passion to chase that dream. Then you don't give up, even after you've landed that job you continue to work towards more goals, you don't just stop at one or two. That in itself is motivation for me ... oh yeah, and lots of iced coffee; that always keeps me motivated.
2. How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
Kind of an interesting twist to my radio career is that the whole time I've been doing radio I've had an extra job for almost 20 years selling makeup for the Estee Lauder Companies. It's helped me gain a lot of leadership skills, customer service skills and sales skills, which also helps with my radio career. I had to make some money while chasing my radio dream so that when that full-time job comes, I'm ready to jump at the opportunity. All because it's time to dive head first and submerse myself in radio. Since WKTI switched formats to Sports radio ESPN, I've decided to follow my dreams of being full-time in Country radio so my time is spent trying to find as many jobs to apply for as possible. I've been updating my resume and reformatting, I've been using my planner more often and becoming more organized in the process. I'm also in the process of getting a blog together, and possibly a YouTube channel to go along with my new Facebook page. Networking is also something I'm trying to get better at in this time away from radio. I'm trying to get all of my pages in sync with one another so that they all have the same screen names, and link them together so it's easier to connect and engage with others and potentially gain more followers so I can post more content. So far so good ... you can find me at KimberlyOnAir.
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.
I'd be lying if I told you I never got discouraged by following my Country music radio career dreams. The business itself is based a lot on who you know and how big your network is. It can get discouraging applying for a job and getting overlooked because someone else has that one or two skill sets that are higher than yours. Yeah sure, it's discouraging but then you continue to work on your skill sets in between jobs. I've applied for maybe 30-ish jobs over the course of a few months to a year; some you hear back from and you land an interview with one or two but you still don't get hired. Yeah, sure it's discouraging to not get hired, but you know what's even more discouraging? Not continuing to chase your dream just because you weren't picked for a job. You cannot live with the regret of not continuing to chase your dream, so here I am still chasing my dreams with an incredible determination and passion that I know deep within my heart will help me land a job. I was once told by a former PD and it stuck with me and still inspires me to this day, "We can train someone on how to use the equipment, but we can't train someone to have the kind of passion you have for Country music." It's important to not lose that passion, and what he said will always stick with me and when I win your radio station an award; maybe I'll say it on the awards show. I've been listening to not only my regular radio stations, but lots of SiriusXM to find inspiration on how I can grow in my career. The success of others in radio has really enlightened me and broadened my perspective on how to work my butt off to get further in my career. I'm also in the process of doing a little bit of Internet radio to gain a little more perspective and insight on radio as a whole, the fan base, the listener base, etc. I'm always trying to continuously learn something new about radio and I'm eager to learn!
4. Do you plan on sticking with radio?
Yes, there is no other job in the entire universe that I want more than working in radio and/or just being completely immersed in the Country music community. I love radio, Country music is my absolute favorite. I've blogged about Country music, artists and concerts, so I've got that as a good background to help my radio career as drawing listeners and keeping them engaged with content is extremely important in radio. I've got a little experience in photographing events, too. That also helps with social media, if you can snap a great photo at one of the concerts your radio station is at and post it to your socials you're going to keep that engagement with the fans and avid listeners of your radio station. I enjoy meeting people, meeting listeners, being at the events, and promoting the radio station, and having fun working in radio for a living. Hopefully, through everything I've written you can see my passion for Country music and you'll know for a fact that Yes, I'm 100% positive I plan on sticking with radio.
5. What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?
This is the first time I've been on the beach in radio. I finally land my dream job (minus it not being full-time) and two years into it the radio station switches hands and boom -- I'm on the beach. But not for long, I'm 100 % positive I have a bright future ahead and something is bound to come my way. As far as real beaches, my favorite stretch of beach I went to last year was Pier 60 in Clearwater, FL. Gorgeous! (I write this as an ice storm is overtaking my hometown in Wisconsin ... can winter be over now?)
6. What's the best way to get your foot in the door?
For me, the best way to get my foot in the door was land an internship at a radio station. It's important to either take an internship or if you're not in school, it's important to take any and every job you possibly can even if it's doing administrative work with the radio station. It's super-important to network whether it's in person or on LinkedIn or at a conference. Social media is super-powerful when used for the good and it can for sure help get your foot in the door.
7. What has been your best resource for finding out about job openings?
As crazy as this sounds I probably check All Access about five to six times a day on the job openings. I also have a search on Indeed that notifies me when a new job in the category I'm looking for comes up. LinkedIn is also great to job search o I even go on individual radio station sites and find the career section and that's where they list all of the career opportunities.
8. What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job?
With my last job I contacted the radio station on social media. I contacted them and asked if they had any job openings. I guess my passion shined through my determination to contact them because it scored me a job interview! Woohoo!
9. What is the next job you'd like to obtain?
I'd literally take anything that comes my way radio station-wise. I'd love to gain more experience doing anything and everything for a radio station that gives me a chance to let my passion for this industry shine. I would love to be on air at a radio station. But, since I've been involved in promotions, not only with the radio station jobs I've had, but street teaming for The World's Largest Music Festival, Summerfest I'd also love to be involved in that aspect, too. I love to be out at events, concerts; I love taking photographs at the shows. I love being able to post about the shows on social media and meeting people in general. I would love to obtain a job that allows me to find my strength and also allows me to find my weaknesses. If it allows me to find my weaknesses; it also is going to allow me to make those weaknesses become my strength, meaning I'm going to be able to step out of my comfort zone and improve on the things that I need to in order to become better at the job I am doing not only for my sake, but most importantly for the radio station, company, and staff as a whole. I want to grow in my next job, learn as much as possible, and let it take not only myself, but also the radio station to new heights!
10. Are you finding salaries/benefits lower than you ever thought, about the same, or have you seen some pleasant surprises?
The salaries have been what I've been expecting, the benefits are a little lower on some than I thought but it's important to note if you want something bad enough, like I want this career, you're going to make a list of pros and cons about salaries and benefits and then either go for it or don't. As long as I love what I do, I think everything will fall into place.
Bonus Questions
Care to contribute a recipe for our "On The Beach" Cookbook?
Mom's Casserole
- 1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef
- 1 lb. macaroni noodles
- 1-2 cans condensed tomato soup (2 makes it more enjoyable for leftovers!) ??
- 1 can of corn
Cook ground turkey or ground beef thoroughly. Boil macaroni noodles then drain. Combine cooked ground turkey or ground beef in a large bowl with cooked macaroni noodles. Add 1-2 cans of condensed tomato soup (no need for water!) and can of corn. Stir all ingredients together. Enjoy!
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