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10 Questions with ... Mary Diaz
August 3, 2006
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NAME:Mary DiazPOSITION:Mid-Days On Air PersonalitySTATION:KHTN - HOT 104.7MARKET:Modesto And Merced, CACOMPANY:Buckley RadioBORN:Hayward, CaliforniaRAISED:Union City, California
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I applied for an internship at WILD 107.7 (now known as WILD 94.9) in 1997 as part of the music research department. After countless hours doing all the fun intern stuff and phone-op'ing, I moved up to board op, and then started doing fill ins/weekend shifts on-air a year later. After that, an overnight slot opened up and I did that for a year and a half. Then I was lucky enough to try my hand at other Clear Channel stations in the building while still holding down weekends/fill ins at Wild 94.9. In 2002, I was part of mornings for 98.1 KISS FM (KISQ) on the syndicated TOM JOYNER RADIO SHOW doing news/traffic reports and then got moved a few months later to afternoons with MORRIS KNIGHT. In 2004, I picked up a weekend (tracked) shift at STAR 101.3 (KIOI) and did that until I finally got Middays full time at WILD 94.9 (KYLD) in August 2005.
1. What was your last non-Industry job?
I worked at WAL-MART in UNION CITY right out of high school, it was my first job!
2. What got you interested in Radio?
Besides getting tired of WAL-MART customers...I took radio classes in college as part of a dare and ended up loving it! I did have one professor tell me "people like you don't do good in radio". After he said that to me, I was on a mission to prove his ass wrong!
3. If you weren't in Radio, what do you think you'd be doing with your life?
I think of that sometimes, if I wasn't working for DISNEYLAND on a float or something, I think I'd be a music teacher or working with kids in one way or another.
4. What's the highlight of your radio career to date?
It's got to be my WILD 94.9/FOR WOMEN ONLY party I finally had this past February 16th. It was a party that since my intern days, I've always worked on behind the scenes. This time it was my time to be on stage gettin' crazy with over 1700 of my closest female listeners, handing out alcohol, having fun with sex toys/games, strippers and BABY BASH and MARCOS HERNANDEZ! It was a huge success and ladies still ask me when the next one is!
5. What do you do in your spare time?
My family and I have annual passes to DISNEYLAND, so we go often and spend our weekends there. The characters know my daughter by name.
6. Where do you see yourself in five years?
I'd love to be in front of a mic killin' it with the top show for whichever market I'm in!
7. Who do you consider to be your mentor(s)?
RENEE TAYLOR (she's the bomb!), JAZZY JIM, MICHAEL MARTIN, TRAVIS LOUGHRAN, CK (FROM THE BAD BOY BROADCAST), XAVIER THE XMAN, SYLVIA CHACON and LISA ST. REGIS.
8. You're trapped on a deserted island for two years with an actor, a singer and an professional athlete. Who would they be?
Everyone who knows me, knows i'm obsessed with PRINCE-- so that'd be the only person....I say he falls into all 3 categories--actor/ singer/ athlete....hey it takes athletic ability to do the moves he does on stage! But if it couldn't be just him, it'd be ORLANDO BLOOM, PRINCE and JOSE CANSECO.
9. You always hear stories about DJ's hooking up with listeners. But it is always male DJs. Can you destroy the "myth"?
Why you trying to get me in trouble? I sure in hell can't say...I'm married now! Out of respect for all my fellow female DJs, my lips are sealed! We've got a sisterhood to protect.
10. When you unplug your headphones at the end of a shift, what tells you that you've had a good show?
I usually know because I feel tired after a show. I put so much energy into what goes on the air and even what doesn't, like when I'm talking to listeners off the air getting request/shouts. You still have to be on your game whether the audience hears it or not.
Bonus Questions
A freak gravitational shift has added three hours to everyday. What would you do with those extra three hours?
Spend it with family, learn how to fix my myspace page and then try and get some sleep!
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