10 Questions with ... Shay Moore

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I began my radio career at Power 98 & V101.9 in Charlotte, NC. Middays and eventually Nights at WBLK, Buffalo, NY, Afternoons and APD at Hot 107.9 Jamz Wichita, KS. Middays and eventually PD for KRNB 105.7, Dallas, TX. I also worked for K104-FM, Dallas as Promotions and Marketing Director. On-air personality/Programming Assistant at V103-FM, Atlanta. Voice tracked shows on WYLD & Q93, New Orleans and now Morning Show co-host, KPRS/Kansas City.

1. What makes you smile?

I am most proud of still being in this business over 20 years later. I recognize that there are folks that may be better than me behind the mic, folks that have done this longer than I have, but yet God has continued to open up opportunities for me and for that I am eternally grateful.

2. Do you feel a sense of pride working for Carter Broadcast Group?

There are so many things that I could name that makes KPRS special, but I’ll just tell you about two. Our station is the oldest black-owned and operated radio station in this country! The Carter family signed on in 1950, when this county was deeply segregated and when I think of what that must have been like for this family to even dream up the idea of starting a radio station and then making it a reality is almost inconceivable to me. The second thing is our radio station truly serves the community in a way that I have never experienced at any other station that I have worked for. I was trained under folks like Nate Quick who slept on a rooftop to raise money for the homeless and Sheila Stewart who did events to help young people, so I’m no stranger to work in the community. But this station is truly responsive to the community’s needs. I started working at KPRS in 2015 and I was taken aback by the number of people that were constantly in and out of the radio station. For 70 years the people of Kansas City know that of they have a Fish Fry or a Back-to-School drive they can get on the radio and talk about it and that’s something I had never experienced.

3. Outside of radio, what are some of the other things you’ve been doing?

I have a business that I have been growing for years called Huddle on the Sea, LLC we plan a yearly Super Bowl cruise that has grown to over 400 attendees. However for 2022, I’ve been engaging my cruise community and planning an event to replace the cruise in light of Covid-19.

I have a T-shirt line that is being carried exclusively at Auvee’s Boutique in The Landing Mall here in Kansas City.

I’m rebranding and relaunching my podcast “People, Places & Things.” It can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, and all podcast platforms.

I'm on the Marketing & Growth committee for The American Jazz Museum here in Kansas City.

And I’m still doing voiceover work too.

4. Any funny radio moments that you’ll never forget?

There have been so many funny moments that have happened on the air over my career, more now that I am doing a morning show with someone who has become like a little brother to me. I can truly say that I genuinely laugh out loud at last once per show with my partner Brian B. Shynin’. Ooh, I forgot about this, I once got fired from a radio station over the phone on my day off. It was a Sunday at that, I thought I was being punked, but it really happened! The movie, “Friday” ain’t got nothing on me!

5. While growing up who did you listen to?

I grew up in New York City and the personalities on the radio had a God-like quality that was indescribable. I listened to greats like Frankie Crocker, Ken “Spider” Webb, Chuck Chill Out, Mr. Magic and Yvonne Mobley. My family moved to Atlanta, in high school I listened to vets like Mike Roberts and Carol Blackmon in the morning, Ryan Cameron and Joyce Littel. I’m so proud that I actually had an opportunity to work with both Ryan Cameron and Joyce Littel at V-103, which was an awesome full circle moment for me!

6. What led you to go into radio?

I was a Junior at Johnson C. Smith University when a local radio personality, Sheila Stewart came to talk to us in one of my Communications classes. I’m dating myself, but at the end of her talk she gave all of us in the class her pager number. She said I was the only one that used it. She asked me to meet her at the radio station at 4 a.m., which at the time was in Concord, NC about 35 minutes outside of Charlotte. When she arrived at 3:30 a.m. I was waiting for her in the parking lot. She was impressed and took me on as an intern. When I finished the internship, she went to the PD at the time, Andre Carson, and convinced him to hire me part-time for Power 98 and eventually someone quit unexpectedly on sister station V101.9 and I began working on-air on the weekends there as well.

7. Who have been some of your influencers and mentors?

There have been so many awesome folks that have given me knowledge, encouragement and used their political capital to help me throughout my career. I give all honor to the late Sheila Stewart; who I credit as the reason I am in this business. If you knew Sheila, she was the definition of a go-getter. She encouraged me to grow past my natural shyness and go after want I want. At the time, I didn’t quite understand it, but now 20 years in, her example is what has kept me in this business. Derrick “DC” Corbett has coached me since the first day he met me. He called me every Sunday afternoon when I was on the air on V101.9 and told me when a break sounded good and when I could improve. He also introduced me to Skip Dillard who gave me my first full-time job in radio. Skip is one of the smartest and one of the nicest people that I have ever worked for, he has always taken my calls all of these years later when I know he’s busy as Operations Manager at WBLS. BJ Murphy has been a long-time mentor and friend, there have been many times I was going to make a stupid decision in my career, and he talked me off the ledge. And lastly, Sam Weaver, you worked with me on word economy and encouraged me to laugh out loud on-air, you said I had the best laugh. Because of that advice, it’s something that listeners comment on to this day. There isn’t a person that I have encountered in this business that I haven’t learned something from, so in lieu of naming each and every person I will say THANK YOU to you all!

8. What do you think lies ahead for the future of radio?

I believe that as an industry we have to get better at reacting in a faster way to the technology that is present and the way that people consume media now. I believe that radio is still a viable source of entertainment to the average American, but we have an obligation as personalities to deliver compelling, relevant information consistently which requires more work. I think we need to return to producing local radio shows that think, breathe, and perform locally. Since we all have access to the same news outlets and gossip sites, presenting information that your listeners in many cases has already read or watched is not effective. We have to connect in more meaningful ways including through our social media engagement and digital offerings (podcasts, interviews, unique local content)

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _______?

Prayer

10. And the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Always be a good steward over your job, do your best even if you feel like you should be doing something else, somewhere else, and God can’t bless you, if you are ungrateful for where you are now.