Kim Komando

Few people have refused to take "no" for an answer ... and succeeded as much as Kim Komando. Programmers told her that no one cared about radio talk shows on technology and the Internet. Syndicators told her that only nerds and techies would listen to her show. Others believed that female radio talk hosts should confine themselves to doling out relationship advice. Komando ignored all that, hosted her own digital lifestyle program, and with her husband, built a syndication company that has gotten the Kim Komando show on over 435 stations. Here's how she accomplished all that and became "America's Digital Goddess."

When you started your first radio show at KFYI/Phoenix, there really wasn't a show like it before. How did you convince the PD and GM to give you a shot?

I told them I would help sell the show, that I'd go around and secure sponsors for it - and I'd be willing to do it for $15 a week. They figured, what the heck, they had nothing on at 11p on Saturday night anyways. How much damage could I do? And that's what I did. So I took the 11p slot. I had a board op named Adam who was my screener, and he'd always tell me, "Joe with a computer question," "Bob with a computer question" ... everyone "with a computer question." I said, "Give me a just a little bit more to run with!" Still, I started to build an audience to the point where they moved me to Saturday nights at 7p, then to Saturdays at 2p.

How long did it take before you became confident that the show was going to fly?

I didn't know it was going to fly until I was probably four years into national syndication. The first three to four years were pretty tough. I heard things like "The Net will never take off," "No one will be interested in your show," or "Only techies and nerds will listen to you." Keep in mind, I was self-syndicated; we were paying the bills and those were some very lean times. I did all the affiliate calls, sales calls, traffic, billing, marketing, accounting, web development and of course, hosting. My husband, Barry, built the studios in the evenings after hosting his own show and running KFYI. He also handled all the production of the show. We leased a few rooms in a ratty old building in Phoenix. But we were on the air!

Not everyone can sit down and just talk naturally into a mic. Did you have to work at that?

You're absolutely right about that. What's interesting is that a lot of people think it's so easy to show up and start talking off of the cuff and tell engaging and entertaining stories, but we know it's not. Just recently, I was down at a TV station, and a news guy there said he was thinking about doing a radio show. I asked why and he said, "Because I can read off a prompter; what's the difference?" I told him we'll talk later.

My whole point is when I started to do this show, I knew I had to be entertaining and make it sound like a conversation and not a lecture. I really feel I have a natural ability to communicate. I honed my talent - it's still being honed; I think you can always do something a bit better. It's certainly not as rough as it was in the beginning, but Barry was the one who taught me the art of radio, the formatics of radio, how to get in and out of breaks. I hear people ask, "How do you get out of hard breaks in one breath left?" It takes years of practice, and it's still not easy.

Early on, when you were doing computer training tapes, were you cognizant at how fast the technology was evolving, and was it ever a challenge to keep up with it?

I have a degree in computer science, not in broadcasting, and the training tapes were for an infomercial I put together. I sold a series of tapes on how to do word processing, spreadsheets, hook up a modem, etc. This was when I started the computer section on AOL in early '90s. The infomercial sold about 150,000 tapes; each set of tapes sold for $80-$120. The financial side of my business started to take off; the infomercial bankrolled what became my national show.

Anything about the computer tech's evolution surprise you?

How quickly things change. What's hot today is totally passé tomorrow. At the same time, the show evolved over the last seven to eight years from a how-to show to a digital lifestyle show. Most of the questions now are not, "How do I get something to work?" They're more along the lines of human interest: "How do I see what my husband is doing on Facebook; is he looking up old girlfriends from high school?" "How can I track where my kids are going," or "if they're driving too fast?" "How do I protect my network from the Russian hackers" or "What's the best way to stop robocalls?" On a recent show, a woman suspected her husband of having an affair, and she was trying figure how to get copies of his e-mail and texts; another asked how to make money using AirBnB, while another asked what to do when your website gets no traffic. I still get questions such as "What is Snapchat?" and "What products make for a truly smart home?" It runs the gamut.

Aren't some of those questions borderline illegal when it comes to breaking into a spouse's account?

I've always made it clear that I can't give legal advice, but it has gotten to a point where people look to their phones for every part of their lives ... and sometimes it does go down paths where a lawyer is necessary. In those cases, people will need to know, for example, how to capture all text messages with time stamps. I truly love what I do. I have been so blessed by radio.

You weren't able to get ABC or CBS to syndicate your radio show. How much of a challenge was it convincing individual stations to take a flyer on your show?

It was hard. CBS told me the Internet was like the pet rock, just a fad. The guy at ABC told me nobody would be interested in the Net because it's too specialized. I knew differently; I could see what was happening and that it wasn't just for geeks in a basement. Using computers was getting so easy, my parents started putting all their finances on one.

Back then, though, hosts didn't usually call stations personally to pitch their shows, but I knew that nobody else could sell the show the way I could sell the show. One of my first affiliates was WGAC/Augusta, GA. Things really took off when I picked up KIRO/Seattle on Saturdays -- on both AM and FM. It's so funny to remember that at the time, I was still paying all the bills myself, and I called the PD to send a cassette demo package, and usually nobody picks up the phone, but he did and said, "Yes, Fed Ex it to me." I asked him if he needs it the next morning or afternoon; sending it in the morning would cost me another $14, so if he wasn't going to look at it until the afternoon anyway, I would save money and just get it to him that afternoon. He said, "I'd like it in the morning, please," so I sent it for the next morning. He called me at 11:20 the next morning and said, "I love the show. It's innovative, funny and great - and I love it so much that I'm going to put it on both Saturday and Sunday. Do you think it's worth the Fed Ex?" That opened a lot of doors for me because after that, I got WSB, WLS. WTIC in Hartford ... these great, legendary calls ... I was so excited.

Did the fact that syndicated female radio hosts are few and far between make your challenge greater? How did you overcome the glass ceiling?

Maybe it's because of the way I was raised, but I never saw a glass ceiling. I do remember being in computer engineering classes and I was the only woman. I would always sit in the first row because that was where the smartest kids sat. Sometimes I see things written online about there being only so many females in the tech industry. Well, you should've been there 25 years ago! But I never looked at it as a pro or con; I just went in there to get the job. Over the years, I did start realizing how few women there were, and I picked an industry that was so far removed from anything else. And how few women there were in radio. It was a double whammy!

Today, though, my biggest challenge is not my gender, but weekend brokered programming. I know there's this love/hate relationship with brokered programming, but stations need to make money and it's hard to compete with that. What we have found success with is doing local spots for free, and giving our affiliates digital dashboard content to put on their websites and get some NTR. Stations have also had great success sandwiching our show between paid programming. It's still appointment listening.

Are you delving into political issues such as Net Neutrality?

Yes, I have to. I have to cover what's on mainstream America's mind, whether it's Net Neutrality or how to deal with a massive cyber attack -- and we will get one. Regarding Net Neutrality, I take a stance as a libertarian. I believe in a free marketplace and as a successful business owner, I know what's possible -- and only in this great country, it's possible to come up with an idea and turn it into a reality.

The Facebook revelations - how has that impacted your show?

That was also a big topic on show. I've never had so many people asking me how to delete their Facebook accounts in my entire life, or how to lock them down. But is this really a revelation that they're doing this spying? I think to some extent, we all knew this could happen, and maybe we didn't want to believe it. But you have to remember - and I tell my audience this - that if something is free on the Internet, you are the product. That's how they're making money, off of you.

People are willing give up their privacy because they don't want to pay for anything. Think about how many times you look at an app that does amazing things, but since it costs $2.99, you don't want it. Now some people are willing to pay for their privacy, but many people believe, "I've never had any privacy on the Net anyway, so what's the big deal?" The Generation Z's have no expectation of privacy.

My father always said. "What happens in the house stays in the house." Today, what happens when you post, snap, tweet, pin or share, it's out for the world to see. You have to think about the ramifications.

Let's say you innocently post a pic of your lunch showing off this delicious burger and fries and days later, chicken fried steak with gravy. A month later, you find yourself in the ER with heart issues and you post a prayer request. You have to know everything you post is saved forever in a database profile on you. Data brokers tie all this together and sell it to whoever wants to pay for it. In this example, don't you think life insurance companies would find this intel pretty valuable?

Are you lobbied to showcase certain computer makers' latest products?

I'm a professional journalist who has been doing two columns a week for USA Today over the last 16 years. I'm not a shill for anybody. I buy all the tech products I use as well as the products that I review. I am unbiased.

I see you do podcasts; how do you utilize them?

Our podcasts are growing like crazy. We've gone from 20,000 downloads to over 700,000 in the last couple of months. Our growth is unbelievable. I do three podcasts that are not a rehash of show, but an extension of it. The first one is Komando On Demand. I really like it in that it gives me a chance to do extended interviews with industry movers and shakers. The only guests on my radio shows are callers; the podcast gives me the chance have interview the chief litigator in the Facebook scandal, to learn what's really going. In other podcasts, I've covered how medical devices can be hacked and breakthrough cancer treatments through technology that are absolutely amazing. We are actually actively looking for podcasts to distribute now as we built out that side of the network.

Have you ever thought about done doing some sort of TV show on this?

We are negotiating with some major cable channels right now. I would expect an announcement to be made by August 1st.

You're on over 400 stations and counting. You have columns in newspapers, podcasts, and an imminent TV project. Are there any other future goals you'd like to accomplish?

I was surfing last week in Maui. As I sat on the board waiting for next wave, I thought this is my career. And the waves kept getting bigger and bigger! We've never had so many advertisers and clients; we had to install a new traffic billing system to accommodate them. Regarding everything else, there are so many opportunities being presented to me right now. I'm cautiously evaluating each and every one. We have no debt or investors, so we have a lot of flexibility.