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10 Questions with ... Arroe Collins
January 10, 2006
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NAME:Arroe CollinsLAST WITH:WLNK/Charlotte, 107.9 The LINKPHONE:704-846-6122
Please begin by giving us a brief career history...
Twenty six years of radio broadcasting-never a gig, always a performance. I've imaged, written and produced commercials and performed on every drive time available to these modern times and before. The attitude has always been fed by a desire to win at all costs. Inside a production room a clock never exists. The true source of winning is getting the client to call back for another round of radio advertising.
1) What do you do to maintain a positive mental attitude and stay motivated?
Every morning at 6:30 I walk into my studio and never stop searching for a place to perform. I send out every piece of material physically available to market my unique way of inviting quality to those two incredible speakers. I've teamed up with movie companies and gotten paid to sit inside large rooms with the critics, to do nothing more but get their point of view while checking out flicks sometimes four weeks in advance. Companies have contacted me to help them build their one-on-one relationships with their clients ... the first step is always communications. I study martial arts. No matter what happens on the radio front, inside the soul, I represent my Sabumnin's passion to invite a positive life to all we come in contact with.
2) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
I write everyday! I paint and create. I work one on one with up and coming broadcasters helping them to prepare for the ever changing world radio has become. My art has been displayed world wide and my writing has caught the attention of publishers. It's fair to say, there's life outside the four walls of radio creativity.
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.
It's amazing what's going on out here ... it's a world filled with incredible freedoms. You find out quickly who your true friends are. Once that's established, you build together and from that a new outlook is born. Program directors who once governed me have become very close friends. Leaders I once looked up to continue to reach higher points because deep inside, we're all broadcasters and we need to be taking care of each other. Open up your studio and let that jock get his air check done! If he wanted your job he would have swiped it before he was turned loose.
4) What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?
I'm doing it right now. October 2005 until ...
5) What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job?
To get to Charlotte I sent my air check in a Bounce box ("take the static out of your bad calls ... it's time to freshen up the sound of your station").
6) What is the next job you'd like to obtain?
The opportunity to continue building stages for air talent. I love being on the air, but there's nothing like helping a talent create their image, then watch it come to life. I love getting with sales people right at the beginning and creating a product that allows it to be delivered in what I've always called the "Arroe" way. I strongly suggest the 45 second copy rule ... that allows me 15 seconds for incredible inflection and creativity.
7) With consolidation there are definitely fewer jobs, how do you separate yourself from the pack?
By being me. I've learned to listen to the program director's vision. I study the path of the morning show while making friends with the competition. I never take my eyes off the up and coming air talent and producers because within seconds they could be my new bosses.
8) What do you miss most about music/radio? The least?
I miss my family! I miss hearing Sheri's personal jokes and being able to adlib my way through a two hour show with Pam Stone. I miss the sales department ... we built such an incredible relationship. I miss my studio ... it was never about radio inside those four walls ... once you stepped inside, it was a place of safety for any or all who needed to take five steps away from the giant beast. I miss the art of doing a break then learning how to do it better.
9) Having been through all you have dealt with in this biz, what advice would you give people trying to break in?
Learn to listen. Your program director is like your dad ... they're probably right. Enter the industry with the idea that radio is a rattlesnake. It's going to bite you once, twice and maybe more. Don't get angry ... you knew what it was when you picked it up.
10) How will this experience change you when you get back to work?
I'm a better leader. I don't want to lock my production room anymore. I want to invite the very passion I have in my soul into those who don't know how to identify it. We just know what we have to do. I think its time broadcasters get back to coaching.
Bonus Questions
My favorite new diversion is ...
I write daily. I have eleven years of journals filled with the person I was and have grown into. I want to write books for children, adults and for people who stopped believing way before they were really given a chance. From that creative outlet my art has grown ... visit the page www.visionquest-art.com and look for Arroe. Always remember, a radio man has the ability to create anything.
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