The End of My Radio Era.

     On April 19th. I unexpectedly lost my job working on-air in morning radio. I took a few weeks to process the shock and grieve privately before I could start writing about this. Blogging has been a constant in my life for over a decade, and it's wild to realize that I have documented the entirety of my radio career on here. As difficult as this post is to write, it felt like a fitting and necessary written conclusion to years worth of career updates on my blog. Let's talk about the end of my radio era.

Radio 101: Music Row Live During CMA Week in Nashville - 2021 Recap

      Earlier this month, I had the work opportunity of a lifetime. My co-host, my boss and I traveled to the home of country music, Nashville Tennesee, to broadcast live from Sharla McCoy's Music Row Live event during CMA Awards Week. I documented the trip in real-time on my Instagram Stories, but I've been wanting to share a more in-depth recap of everything here on the blog.  I've been working full-time in radio for four and a half years now, but this was the first work trip that I've ever had the chance to go on. And what a first trip it was! 

Inspiring Woman Interview: Meet Shelby SOS from POWER 96.1

     Time for another Inspiring Woman interview! As always, I'm very excited about this awesome guest. I've been trying to alternate guests between women who inspire me in radio (my day job) and blogging/influencing (my side hustle). Today we are back to radio! 

     I've been following Shelby and her career for a few years now. We are around the same age, so it's especially interesting for me to keep up with her since we both have gone from being radio interns just a few years ago, to working full-time in the industry. I already knew Shelby was talented, but I learned so much more about her from her answers to these questions! If you live in Atlanta or the DC/Baltimore (DMV) areas especially, you'll definitely want to know Shelby. 

Inspiring Woman Interview: Meet Carla Marie of The Carla Marie and Anthony Show

 I am so excited about this month's Inspiring Woman interview guest- I've followed and looked up to her since I became a morning show host in 2018, and she became an even bigger inspiration to me in 2020 when I saw how well she and her co-host Anthony pivoted their content and kept hustling after losing their radio jobs. 

     After they lost their morning show jobs last summer, Carla Marie and Anthony embarked on a cross-country road trip! They held socially distanced outdoor meet-ups for fans of their podcast in many cities across the country. When I found out they were going to be in Richmond one weekend, I knew I had to be there. I went down for the meet-up, and it was a blast!! In addition to meeting Carla Marie and Anthony, I met a new friend! Cara lives just an hour away from me in Harrisonburg, works in radio, and also has a blog! We had so much in common! We stayed in touch after that day and have since done a few fun winery days together. So I thank Carla Marie and Anthony for also introducing me to an awesome new friend! 

    If you're new to my Inspiring Woman interviews, this is a new blog post series that I started at the beginning of 2021. Every two months I'll be sharing an interview on the blog with a woman who inspires me and that I think you should know about! I'll be alternating between women in radio and bloggers/content creators, although in the future I might share women in other industries as well.

    Anyways, without further ado - time to meet the amazing Carla Marie!

Inspiring Woman Interview: Meet Marie of The Radio Fam

     I'm thrilled to kick off a brand new blog post series on SBIT today! Welcome to my first ever Inspiring Woman interview. I've always enjoyed reading interviews on other blogs- I've found many people to follow that way. It dawned on me near the end of last year that I've been so lucky in recent years to connect with so many women who inspire me: both those in radio and in the blogging and influencer space- my two passions!

 

      In 2021, I'm hoping to bring you an interview every other month with a woman who inspires me. If these are a success, I'm hoping to do this every month in 2022! I'll be alternating between women in radio and in blogging, and maybe down the road I'll feature women in other industries as well (I'd love to highlight some small business owners!).

     My first Inspiring Woman interview guest is Marie of The Radio Fam. She's the creator and owner of one of the most successful radio industry community accounts on Instagram, @theradiofam. She balances a day job and multiple side hustles, and is a personal branding whiz. Whether you're in radio or not, Marie and her Instagram accounts are definitely worth a follow, and many of the things she's done with Radio Fam could be applied to other industries as well. Meet Marie!

Radio 101: Why I Work in Radio Instead of TV.

     Every now and then, I like to answer questions that I'm commonly asked in the form of blog posts. The two most common questions that I'm asked when people find out what I do for work are 1) how do I wake up so early and 2) what my morning routine is. The third most popular question I'm asked? Why I work in radio and not TV. Seriously! For years now (even before I got my first radio job and was still just an intern) I've been getting asked this. So- I figured it's about time to properly answer, as there's a few reasons to why I was more drawn to a career in radio vs. TV. 

 

Radio 101: Radio "Dictionary" for National Radio Day

     Today (August 20th) is National Radio Day! This day always manages to creep up on me for the past few years, and I've never managed to celebrate this properly on the blog before. That's changing today! I'm sharing a radio "dictionary" of sorts- I thought it would be fun to share common, everyday words that have a different meaning for those of us who work in radio.

Radio 101: One Year as a Morning Show Host Q&A!

     One year ago today was a day that I will never forget and a highlight of my career: my first day as a morning show host! It was the best belated Christmas gift ever last year, and a dream come true. I finished undergrad in 2016 and broadcasting school in 2017- I never would have thought that just a year and a half after starting my first full-time radio job I'd get to have my dream time slot of doing mornings!

     A couple years ago, I used to love sharing fairly frequent blog posts about working radio, in a blog series that I call Radio 101. However, I think today's post might be my first and only directly about my job in 2019! I really wanted this year to be a time to settle in to my new job and focus first and foremost of getting used to my new schedule, and being the best morning show host I could be.  Being so immersed each day at work meant that I didn't really feel like diving into work related topics on the blog in my free time! But now that the first year is behind me, I'm ready to get back into it on Southern Belle in Training in 2020. I consider it a great honor to get to share my career with y'all!

      I thought the best way to celebrate our show's birthday today and to get back into my Radio 101 posts was to do a morning radio themed Q&A! Y'all sent me great questions via Instagram- I'm answering them all today.

Life Update: I'M A MORNING RADIO CO-HOST!!!!

     Join me today in celebrating some very incredible and unexpected career news! 😊I'm so excited to finally be able to share this big news on my blog!

Photography by Kate Greer

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Pajamas // Bedding // Pink blanket //

     Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to begin!! So much excitement to share with y'all today. Let's just get big news out of the way first: December 26th, the day after Christmas, will be the first day that I am an official morning radio co-host for a brand new morning show in Charlottesville! Finally getting to type that out on the blog and share my news with all family and friends feels UNREAL! I'm also switching radio stations, and I'll now be working for a station with a much bigger signal and presence in the area, so this is a big move! (By move, I mean only a move across the hall! My company owns six Charlottesville radio stations, all housed in the same building.) Now here comes the longer version of the story, and a bit about why this promotion is such an unexpected dream come true!


     Working in radio was my dream since I was just seven years old, but my dream of morning radio began a little more recently. I actually wanted to be a syndicated night show host when I was growing up! I wanted to be just like popular radio host Delilah, whose show is played on AC and light rock station across the country. I loved Delilah so much that I named my cat after her! Anyways, almost two years ago in January 2017, I began a morning radio internship that I needed to graduate from broadcasting school. I interned from January-March 2017 for The MRL Show in Charlotte. Getting to be around morning radio firsthand and watch all of the creative components come together to make a great show was amazing to me. That experience actually changed my mind about my career goal- and my new dream was to be a morning radio co-host! I didn't mind the crazy early mornings... in my mind it seemed worth it to me to be apart of people's morning and wake them up with a smile on their face.

     While I worked in Vermont last year, I had a few opportunities to be a fill-in on the Star 92.9 morning show when one of the co-hosts took vacation (I usually worked for Star on the weekends, and I worked for a different station weekdays). Star was a Hot AC station, AC standing for Adult Contemporary. AC which means that they played a nice variety of pop music, from the 90s, 2000s, and some current pop hits (the fact they did play a lot of current music is why they were called a Hot AC station and not just AC!). Anyways, I loved getting to fill-in a few times on the Star morning show. This was my favorite opportunity that I had while working in Vermont! It just solidified my dream of morning radio even more.

     Being on a morning show is the most competitive job to get in radio. Since I was still pretty fresh out of undergrad and broadcasting school when I was in Vermont, I set a goal for myself to be working on mornings 10 years after I finished broadcasting school, which would be 2027! Ideally, I wanted it to happen before I turned 30, but that was still years away. That's why after being in Virginia for less than a year, and still being less than two years into working full-time in radio, I am in absolute shock that this DREAM HAS COME TRUE!!

    As I wrote above, I will be moving stations for my new job. It's common for companies to own several radio stations in a city, so I'm literally moving across the hall from 92.7 C-Ville Country to Z 95.1! 95.1 is a heritage station, which means that it's a radio station that has been on-air for decades. The two stations that I've previously worked for (both in Vermont and Virginia) were much newer stations, so to move to a heritage radio station is even more exciting with this big news! Z 95.1 is an AC station, similar to Star 92.9 was. I am just thrilled to be working for a station that plays a fair amount of 80s and 90s pop, as y'all know that I adore my throwback music! The best part of all is that I have a wonderful co-host to help share the show responsibilities and make being on-air more fun! My new co-host Marc was already one of my favorite coworkers, and now we get to work very closely together which is just fantastic. I love the whole Z 95.1 team- my new boss and coworkers are just amazing and hardworking people.

    I will also still do one short prerecorded midday show on 92.7, which is the country station I have been working for since I moved here! 92.7 has a new station manager (radio term for manager is Program Director, or PD!) who is great, so I'm happy that I can still be an active force in the radio station that originally brought me to Virginia.


    I shared on the blog in October that at the end of this summer, I thought that work was going to transfer me to other stations that our parent company owns in a more rural part of Virginia. The couple months where that was going on was one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with. Radio is my dream, but I had just started feeling very settled and at-home in Charlottesville, and I couldn't abandon that feeling to potentially move yet again. It was scary, as I didn't know what would happen with my job! Amazingly, everything worked out better than I could have ever imagined. God is so good! I know this new career opportunity is directly from Him.


     If you would like to listen to the new morning show, you can from anywhere that you live thanks to modern technology!! Marc and I will be on-air M-F from 5 am to 10 am EST. Here are a few ways you can listen if you don't live in Charlottesville:

1. Directly on the Z website: There is a streaming player right on our website- perfect to listen to from your desktop!
2. Mobile apps: The TuneIn app allows you to stream live radio from anywhere! Just search Z 95.1. 
3. Amazon Alexa: Ask Alexa to play WQMZ Z 95.1, and she will play the station for you. 

     I can't wait for December 26th, this wonderful news is a better Christmas gift than I could have ever asked for! Thank you for sharing the happiness with me in today's blog post. With the new job and new year approaching, I finally want to start doing more Radio 101 posts again! I'll definitely have lots to write about. 😊(ALSO- I did a pajama themed photoshoot for this announcement since I'll literally be waking people up for my job from now on!! I love the picture that Delilah is in- her little facial expressions crack me up!)

      God Bless,

       xoxo Annaliese

Radio 101: Working in Country Radio vs. Top 40 Radio.

     Whew- it's been awhile since I've written one of these posts! But I'm excited to bring back Radio 101 to the blog today after an extended break. This is the series where I talk about all things related to my day job and career in radio broadcasting! Everything from sharing my personal experiences in radio, to answering some of your questions about radio stations (such as why you hear the same songs over and over on certain types of radio stations). The last time that I wrote a Radio 101 blog post was in November 2017, which is when I was still working at my former stations in Vermont, and also around the time that I began to strongly realize I'd be pursuing other employment opportunities in early 2018. Since I was at a place late last fall where I knew I'd be leaving former radio job, it felt weird to keep writing these posts on my blog at that time.

     Thankfully- a lot can happen in a few months, and now it's actually been three months since I moved to Virginia and started working in country radio! I'm still absolutely loving my new job, and also loving being on-air in Charlottesville. I am excited to be bringing back Radio 101 blog posts this summer! I love being able to integrate a bit about my career into the blog, and it's fun for me to hopefully share with people some things about radio that they didn't know! I love working in an industry that's literally apart of everyone's lives in some way or another. 

     I thought a fun way to reintroduce Radio 101 on the blog would be to share some thoughts about working in Country radio versus CHR radio (Contemporary Hit Radio - Top 40)! Obviously I'm still very new in the radio industry, and I only did work in CHR for just under a year. But I still have some observations that I've made between the two types of radio from both of my jobs, as well as some internships and job shadowing experiences that I had back in school! 

      Working in Country radio vs. CHR radio

      *Music:

• CHR: The whole point of Top 40 radio is to play the top songs on the radio airplay and Billboard Hot 100 charts... over and over and over! Which can be great if you're a consumer of radio and enjoy listening to what's popular and new now.... but if you work in radio on the other hand, this is absolute torture. The most popular songs of all are played as often as twice an hour, and this gets real old real fast. Songs that are very successful on the charts and have a long run on Top 40 radio are played frequently for 10+ weeks... and if you're hearing these songs multiple times a day (for work) for that long, it gets old. I'm saying that as someone who genuinely does like pop music, too! 
• Country: I've been working in country radio for three months now, and still have yet to really get "sick" of the music! (PRAISE!) Sure- there are some songs and artists that I definitely like more than others. But there is a lot more variety in what you can play in the type of country station I work for, as we aren't just playing only the same 10-20 new country songs. We heavily play 90s, and early and late 2000s country, as well as the new stuff. Other country stations do play more new music and less gold tracks (older songs are often called "golds"), but even with that, I still feel there's a little more variety in the country format than Top 40. No songs on the station I work for now play as often as once or twice an hour! The most I'll hear the same song is maybe twice during my workday (for one of the new songs that's high on the country charts). 

      *Listeners: 

• CHR: Top 40 radio is something that most people are very familiar with, but I think it's hard for a lot of millennials especially to stay really passionate about it. A lot of people do have a favorite CHR morning show (morning shows often thrive in this radio format), but other then that, I've found in people my age that I've talked to about radio that there isn't a ton of loyalty. Yes, people do call of course if there is a contest and sometimes request songs, but minus the morning shows, this type of radio doesn't seem to be something that a lot of people get truly "excited" about anymore if that makes sense, especially in smaller cities.
• Country: My experience with country so far has been so different! The local listeners are SO passionate not only about the music we play, but about our station specifically! The phones absolutely blow up for all of our contests, whether we're giving away a huge prize, or something very small. My radio Facebook page for my new job has tons of friend requests most days, and a lot of the listeners like to talk to me on Facebook and send me the nicest messages! When our station has a local event, most times tons of listeners will come out to see my boss and I. It's the most amazing thing! Charlottesville is near a lot of smaller counties that are more rural / more fit the country lifestyle, so I think that also works to the advantage for doing this radio format in this area. 

     *Events:

• CHR: In both radio formats, types of events will vary station to station and city to city! Both formats are also subject to the regular car dealership live broadcast event (something I've actually not had to do yet- haha!). But as a generality, it's not uncommon for CHR stations to do events associated with bars or nightclubs, as that's where a lot of their listening audience spends time on the weekends! I had a lot of work events last year at a waterfront bar in Burlington for example. In my personal life, I do very much enjoy going out on the weekends, however I don't feel like bars and nightclubs are the best environment to be working in, if that makes sense! 
• Country: Lots more family friendly events!! Live broadcasts at local fairs, community events, etc. Just about every live broadcast that my boss or I do out in the Charlottesville community is marketed as something to "bring the family" to. We of course do broadcasts at places like restaurants, stores, or specific businesses as well, but my experience so far has been it's places that the whole family can enjoy coming out to, not businesses so much targeted specifically at millennials or college students. Both country and CHR radio stations also do a number of charitable events per year. My former station had a few charity partners in the local community, and my new station does as well. We actually have a charity event today! 

    

      Of course, I know I am only just a few months into my country radio career. I know I have so much to learn as this first year continues, and hopefully have many more years ahead of me! I have been having so much fun and learning so much at my new job so far. I'm really excited to be bringing back Radio 101 posts! For the next one: I'm thinking of writing a blog post walking y'all through the process of how radio commercials are produced. Would this be an interesting topic to you?



      God Bless,



      xoxo Annaliese 

Radio 101: Pros and Cons to Working in Radio.

     Welcome to this month's Radio 101 blog post! This is my monthly series where I talk about all thing related to my day job, in the wild, wonderful, and sometimes even wacky world of radio broadcasting! For this month's post, I decided to keep it short and sweet. So many people are often so curious about my day job and the things that I like and dislike about being in this industry. I'm always down for a good ol' fashioned pros and cons list, so I figured why not make one to share with y'all the things that I like and dislike about being in radio? (Note: these things are about working in radio broadcasting in general; none are directed specifically at my employer, radio stations, and the Vermont radio markets. 😊)

Pros to working in radio:


     1. It's a FUN industry: I get to be apart of the industry that promotes new music and supports artists, creates exciting contests for listeners, is active on social media and with new technologies, and is a big participant in the local community and media. Four WONDERFUL things! And of course, the majority of my job centers around the music. I mean really... does a career get better then that?!


     2. My job helps make people smile: One of the main reasons that I wanted to work in radio is because of the personal connection that I have to it. I struggled with a lot of anxiety growing up, and even some depression during one year in high school. Listening to the radio was always one thing that gave me so much joy during those hard times. It was the little things, like hearing my favorite song, or having the DJ say something interesting or funny that could change my whole perspective on a rough day. Now I get to be that bright spot in a hard day for other people! I love playing listeners' song requests, and one of my favorite parts of my job is when our station gets to award a prize in a big contest to an excited listener. There's just nothing better!


     3. Being ahead of the music trends: In the age of instant gratification, who doesn't love being the first to be in the know about what's new? Working in radio, I always get to hear new music first, which is so cool, and a privilege that I don't take for granted! I'm a total radio nerd as well, and it always fascinates me to no end which songs make it to the top of the charts, and which ones fizzle out before getting a lot of airplay. I love trying to predict what will happen with a song the first time I hear it- sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong!


     4. The independence and creativity: I get to use my creative skills to brainstorm and research show content to talk about on the radio everyday! Of course, there are certain things that a DJ has to talk about in every show (like local weather, current promotions or contests being run by the station or company, etc), but generally speaking, this is a creative job, and you get to determine the tone and a lot of the content of your radio show! Since I do all of my shows solo right now, I also have a lot of independence at work. I spend a lot of my work days by myself in the radio studio, which is a peaceful and relaxing work environment for me!


      5. The mobility (pro): It's no secret that I would have never moved to Vermont, or probably even back to New England at all, if it wasn't for this career path! Radio (and television news similarly), are different from a lot of other career paths for new grads in that about 95% of the time, you have to move somewhere for a job to get into the industry. I would have loved to stay in Charlotte a bit longer, but that just wasn't an option with the way these jobs are. While Vermont wasn't my top choice as a state to move to, it's still very exciting to think that it's my career brought me all the way here to Northern New England! I am completely serious when I tell people I have no clue where I'll end up next, and that does excite me. There's something really cool about being in an industry that allows you a year or a few years of experiencing life in a new part of of the country, and then moving onto somewhere else. It doesn't mean that it will all be easy, but it's an amazing experience to have, especially in your 20s!
   


 
Cons to working in radio:


      1. The salary range: NO ONE goes into radio for the money.... lol. People pick this profession because of their passion for the industry and the music, not to make big bucks. There is potential to have a decent salary if you're able to get a morning show job, or eventually make it into a large market. But let's just say that your first job in radio in a small market (or even in a larger market if it's your first job!).... a very, very, very low salary. A lot of people starting out in radio are very lucky if they can just be full-time with benefits! I am so thankful that my blog has been able to provide me with more opportunities for sponsored content this year to supplement my income. A lot of people my age starting out in radio or TV also work second jobs!


      2. The mobility (con): I listed this as both a pro and a con. Although I do think it's very exciting to be in a field where you have the chance to live in different cities and parts of the country as you begin your career, there are also negatives to that as well. Your initial job offers might not being in places that you want to move to, or connect with well once you end up moving there. As I did, you could end up very far away from friends, family, and other loved ones. This was the case for some of my broadcasting school classmates who are beginning their careers as well! I try and view the mobility aspect more from the positive "pro" side, but in honesty there are some cons as well.


     3. Limited PTO and working holidays: When you work in broadcasting, it is so crucial when you're new in a market to establish consistency with your listeners (or viewers if you're in TV). This can mean really limited access to time off for the first six months to a year, depending on your company's policies. Working on holidays is also commonplace in anything related to broadcasting, as the media doesn't stop on certain days of the year!


      4. Ratings stress: Radio stations and TV stations use audience measurement ratings tactics to determine how many people in their markets are actively seeking out the media that they're producing. (Nielsen Ratings, operated by Nielsen Media Research, are the most common type of ratings used nationally.) It is a competitive business, you always want to do better than your competition in the ratings, because higher ratings means more advertising dollars for your company and more opportunities for you as a radio personality and for your station in general. Too many years of bad ratings can be detrimental to a person's career- and bad ratings might not have anything to do with the quality of a DJ themselves (it can be the result of a lot of things). Overall so far I've honestly enjoyed working in a business that's ratings based, I think it adds a healthy nature of competition and pressure to my daily work. But obviously my thoughts on that could definitely change, and I've heard scary ratings stories from other friends in the radio industry.


       5. Hard to snack during a radio show: This is such a minor con to list about a job that I really do love, but I had to put it down anyways!! I've always been such a snacker over being a three big meals a day person. I literally snacked my way through high school and college. Anyways, a radio board and the rest of the equipment in the studio is super expensive, and not anything that food should be eaten around. Occasionally on days that I'm starving I'll bring in something non-messy and non-smelly like fruit snacks, but generally speaking I don't eat during the hours that I'm doing my show. The snack lover in me hates this- haha!



   
      So as you can see, just like any job, radio has its pros and its cons. The pros definitely outweight the cons for me though, and I love being in this industry and can't wait to see where my career will take me (quite literally- with the mobility factor)!


      I'd love to know more about your career- do you find pros and cons with it as well? And as always, please send me topic requests for next month's Radio 101 post!




      God Bless,



      xoxo Annaliese

Radio 101: Best Experiences in My First 6 Months.

      Happy six month anniversary... to me and radio!! Six months ago today, I began my job here in Vermont, working as a full-time on-air radio personality in Market #146, Burlington/Plattsburgh. (Talking about media market sizes and ranks is a Radio 101 post for another day! 😉) In some ways, it feels like I was truly born to do this job, and like I've been doing it forever. In other ways, I'm consistently reminded how new I am in the industry, and I feel like I learn new things about radio, sales, and techniques for my voice every single day! So you can say that the first six months of working full time have been quite the journey... both figuratively, and literally since of course I moved to Vermont! 

      I'm hoping for November or December's Radio 101 post to do a "Day in the Life" type post, where I'll walk you through one of my average work days at the studio. That is what the majority of my work days look like- I come into the studio, prep for my show at my desk for a couple hours, eat a snack and check blog emails/social media during my "lunch" break, and then head to the studio to do my main work- doing my radio show from 2-7! However, one of the reasons that I wanted to work in radio is because it's a fun type of career field, and brings work experiences that happen outside of the office/studio. Live on-sight broadcasts, endorsement projects, remotes (radio term for events), concerts... these are just a few of the things that I've gotten my feet wet in during my first six months of work! Of course- like with any job, some off-site event opportunities haven't been fun. There are some that truly are just work, and a couple that have been pretty terrible experiences. But hey- I suppose that happens to everyone in this industry at some point or another! The good news is that there have been plenty more fun and exciting work events that I've gotten to be apart of, things that I'll definitely treasure memories from as my career advances someday! I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back at a few of the more fun work opportunities that I've had since starting my job:

    Fun out-of-studio experiences really began for me during Memorial Day Weekend. I was given last minute concert tickets in Montreal to Chance the Rapper, and my friend Mercedes came up from Washington D.C. to attend the show with me. Jokes on us- although I'm a big rap fan, both of us were actually pretty unfamiliar with Chance's music, but we still had a great time in the big city for the evening! The same weekend, I also had my first parade experience for work! Working in a smaller radio market means that we participate in a ton of local events, like walking in town holiday parades. 

   July was my busiest month of work yet, but also had the most fun events. The month started off strong with Burlington's annual July 3rd festival! In Burlington, they celebrate the 4th of July on July 3rd, and all the stations at my company broadcast live from the Burlington waterfront all day long! This was my first company-wide live broadcast and it was quite an event! 

    I also had my first digital endorsement in July! I worked with our local Edible Arrangements franchise to promote their new menu items. A digital endorsement for a radio personality is super similar to a sponsored blog campaign- I took photos of the products, and then promoted them on our station's social media and website! 

      Lastly, I spent a day tagging along with Mary (who does mornings on Star 92.9), on an adventure to Canada to visit Parc Safari, an animal adventure park! Mary had a digital endorsement with them, and I did her Facebook lives and photography. It was so fun to say I got to go to another country for work for the day, and I loved meeting the animals! 

      August was even busier than July! I spent two weeks in a row filling in on Star 92.9, which is 96.7's sister station, and where I work on Saturdays each week. I spent a week filling in on Mike and Mary in the Morning, which I LOVED!! Morning radio is something that I would eventually like to do. This was an incredible learning experience (although it was painful to wake up at 3:30 again everyday for a week!). And the following week, I filled in for Chantal, who has the 3-7 Afternoon Drive shift on Star. This was great preparation for me as we were just a couple weeks out from me switching to the Drive shift on 96.7 I learned a lot from both of these experiences- although I will say I was very tired because in addition to doing these shows, I still had to do my own show and normal work each day on 96.7, so it was like doing two jobs for two weeks! 

      Events-wise, I also had two really fun digital endorsements! The first was with a local boutique in Burlington. It ended up being such a fun afternoon- I first had my makeup done at a local makeup artistry studio, and then spent the afternoon modeling clothes for the boutique. This was the first fashion project I've ever done that was completely separate from Southern Belle in Training, so it was a really unique experience! My other endorsement was test driving a BMW for a local car dealer. My dad was visiting Vermont when that happened, so we went driving for an afternoon- I think he was jealous I got to drive and not him! 😉

      Lastly and most importantly, 96.7 rebranded and relaunched on August 15th! We went from being a Top 40, Planet 967, to be a Rhythmic Leaning Top 40, The New Hot 96.7! (The main difference between Top 40 and Rhythmic leaning is that Top 40 stations really just focus on the "top hits," and rhythmic leaning stations play the top hits, a few of the top urban hits, and also some urban golds. I explain more about this in this Radio 101 blog post!) The launch date selected was also the first day that my company began live broadcasts from The Champlain Valley Fair, which is this region of Vermont's largest annual fair. The fair was a great place to launch the new station- so many people were excited about it! And that night, the celebration continued when I received concert tickets to attend that night's show at the fair, the I Love The 90s: The Party Continues tour, which ended up being really great! The headliners, my favorite 90s girl band TLC, were absolutely fantastic!!

      September held my biggest event yet! I got to RAPPEL off one of the tallest buildings in Vermont!! This is a local charity event that happens annually in Burlington to benefit the Flynn Center for the Arts, which is a local performing arts facility. The Flynn reached out to our station about having a radio personality participate, and one of our sales people thought I would be the perfect fit! I was delighted to get the chance to do something as cool as rappelling- truly a once in a lifetime experience! My mom was also in town visiting that weekend so she got to see it happen.

      Coming into October- I haven't had any fun events yet this month, but I do have one coming up this weekend, and another during Halloween weekend which should be cool! 

     And there you have it: first six months down! Like I said earlier, sometimes the really awesome events can easily be forgotten about with the day to day stuff that goes on at the radio station, as well as the normal stress of work. But honestly, how cool is some of this stuff?! I never want to take for granted this industry that I get to be apart of. I hope even better events and opportunities are in my career's future! 

      I try not to give too much shameless self promotion for my radio shows here on the blog, but I know some of you are curious about it, and the hours of my shows have changed since the last time I updated. Anyone can listen to both radio stations that I work for!! Both stream online from computers, and have free iPhone apps as well. All times are in EST.

      *The New Hot 96.7 (Top 40/Hip Hop): M-F: 2-7 pm, Sat: 9-2 pm, Sun: 2-7 pm

      *Star 92.9 (90s to Now): Sat: Midnight-6 AM, other shifts fill-in

     Thanks so much for reading!! Feel free as always to send your questions about radio for future Radio 101 posts!

      God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese 

Radio 101: Why Do I Hear The Same Songs Over and Over On The Radio?

      Since beginning my career in radio, there is one question that I've been asked far more than others. "Why does the radio play the same 5/10/15/20 songs OVER and OVER and OVER?" And then that question is usually followed up with ones like "Don't they know there's other good music? Don't the radio personalities get sick of the same songs? Are you the one picking the same songs?" For this month's Radio 101 blog post, I'm going to be breaking down the mystery surrounding airplay, especially in the Top 40 (technical term being Contemporary Hit Radio, or "CHR") format. I work mainly in CHR radio, so my perspective is best on this format, but some of the things that I'll be explaining in today's post could definitely be applied to other formats of "current" radio, like Contemporary Christian or Country Hits radio.

      I think there is a huge misconception in radio that DJs like myself pick all the songs that play! That couldn't be further from the truth. (Just like you probably were... I was also quite tired this summer of hearing Despacito and I'm The One every 30 mins!) Just about all radio stations these days use computer software that communicates with the broadcasting equipment, and then plays the songs in the day's playlist over the air. To start at the beginning, I'll explain a bit about how music is played on the radio these days. My company uses a music software called NextGen, which is a popular one. This is the same software that I learned how to use in broadcasting school in their studios, so I found this convenient when I began my job! Anyways, NextGen is the program on our station computers that our commercials, songs, and talk breaks are loaded into. It then produces a visual log, and a countdown clock, so that I when I'm live at work I can see the songs and commercials that are up next, what time my talk breaks are at, and how long I have to talk (sometimes it's just a few seconds!).



      Now you're probably wondering how the music gets into our NextGen program! That's the job of the station's Program Director, which is the radio term for a manager/supervisor/boss. (In larger radio stations or markets, there will also be an Assistant Program Director, or a Music Director, for each station who might be more in charge of music scheduling. But in smaller markets like where I am in Vermont, the Program Director wears a lot of hats!) The PD's job is to schedule each week's music into NextGen or whichever type of software the station uses, and to do so according to industry standards for the type of station that it is. This probably varies from radio station to radio station, but music gets loaded anywhere from a few days to over a week in advance. That means when I come into the studio for work each day, I can have access to seeing the whole log (playlist) for that day, or even upcoming days in advance, as in when which songs will play at what times!


     DJs can override NextGen's prescheduling to some extent. When I get listener requests, I can move songs around or delete songs so that listeners can hear their requests within the hour. Generally speaking, we aren't supposed to mess with the log of songs that much though.... because of what I'm about to talk about next!



     So now that you know how music plays at the radio station, let's talk about the actual music! So often in CHR radio (or other formats with their top songs), it seems like only the same 10 songs play over and over and over, with little variety. Radio playlists are made up primarily by what songs are charting high nationally on the song charts in the genre of the radio station, but how do those songs make up the charts and gain popularity in the first place? The charts and brand new music are both influenced directly be record labels, and their reps. Each major artist today that is getting a lot of radio airplay is represented by a huge record label. You might recognize some of the names of the top record labels: Columbia, Def Jam, Interscope, RCA... the list goes on! These record companies (and many more smaller ones) represent the top musicians in the country right now. Selling music and selling an artist is a type of sales job, so the record labels employ reps that work as traveling salespeople, and visit with radio station Program Directors around the country, trying to get them to pick up new songs from their artists that fit the genre of the radio station.



       The Program Directors for both stations that I work for are visited frequently by reps of the record labels. Considering that I work in a small market all the way in Northern Vermont... I can only imagine that Program Directors in large city markets get visited even more frequently, and that there's even more pressure to play the songs that the labels are pushing! If an artist with the immense popularity of someone like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber or Rihanna releases new music, you can almost guarantee it will get Top 40 airplay immediately, as artists like these have an enormous presence in the industry and a huge fan base. Songs by established artists like these often don't take long to shoot to the top of the charts. However, it's with newer and up and coming artists where radio airplay can vary regionally. A record label might focus a lot on getting a new artist into certain markets where they think that person would appeal first. For example, Aaron Carter had a comeback album that came out this winter. My boss played the first hit single from the album for a good few months on the main station that I work for, as did a few other CHR stations across the country. However, this song didn't quite chart nationally (although it was a very good song!). There were also a few up and coming artists who you would hear on Charlotte's radio stations- often people who would be brought in to do concerts or meet and greets since that's a larger market. But those artists have since faded and I've never heard them played once in Vermont. It probably means that their record label was heavily targeting Charlotte.



       Now as far as how often songs are played on the radio- that varies as you can expect by what's big on the charts! The Program Director will schedule music for that day and week by putting what's at the top of the charts in heavy rotation. The top songs in the country (on the radio charts- different from the Spotify/streaming charts) you will be hearing in heavy rotation in CHR radio, usually once an hour with the top five songs. Throughout the day, older, formally popular songs will also play to mix things up, which are either "Recurrents" or "Golds" - depending on their age. A recurrent is a song that was at the top of the charts in the last 1-2 years, so it's something that people are still recently very familiar with. Two recurrents on my station right now are from early 2017- "Let Me Love You" by Justin Bieber and "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit. A "Gold" is a song that's a few years old or even older, a "classic" if you will that everyone knows when it comes on, and that was at the top in its heyday. A few popular Golds in CHR radio are "Yeah!" by Usher, "Toxic" by Britney Spears and "Umbrella" by Rihanna.


 
      How often Recurrents and Golds play each day depends on the Program Director and radio company, and the flavor of the station. Before my station relaunched in August, we were playing a lot of brand new music and more recurents, but less golds. Now with our rhythmic hip hop lean, we play two golds an hour! I don't remember the station that I interned for in Charlotte playing that many golds at all, but they were a large market.



     Sorry if this post is a bit wordy- but I hope that it helped you to understand a bit about the mysteries of why some songs play more than others in certain genres of radio! Even though I went to broadcasting school last year and had radio internships, a lot of the record label politics and such were things I didn't learn about until starting my job this spring. I hope most of all what comes across through these monthly Radio 101 posts is how much I love the field of radio and love sharing what I know  and work with everyday with others!




      Feel free to send any radio related questions for next month's Radio 101 post! Have a wonderful weekend!




      God Bless,




      xoxo Annaliese (aka Charlotte XO on-air!)

   

Broadcasting School: What Is It, Who Should Attend, And Why I'm Glad I Went!

     Today is a very special Friday- it's Graduation Day for me! My class at broadcasting school graduates from our program today. In the weeks leading up to today, I started realizing that although I've frequently mentioned being in broadcasting school over the past year, and I talked about my goals for enrolling in the program last year while I was still a senior in college (in this blog post), but I never actually talked that much about what broadcasting school was while I was doing it! It was a lot of brief mentions, usually in my Midweek Ramblings posts, usually along the lines of "Oh this week in school we're starting video editing classes and I'm so busy with projects and my internship and my job and blogging and life, etc etc." Which probably wasn't that interesting for y'all to read! 

    So today, in honor of my graduation, I'm sharing LOTS on info about broadcasting school! I know that a lot of you aren't in the broadcasting field but I hope that you might still find this interesting.  I know that I do enjoy learning about other career paths outstide my field. A lot of you have been DMing me and emailing asking questions about my new radio job, so this post seemed like an appropriate kick-off to the radio career blog post series that I'm hoping to launch next month. And for anyone who might be considering or pursuing a career in broadcasting or communications, then this post is definitely for you! 

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

      Wearing in photo: Lilly Pulitzer Elsa Top {old print, similar here}

ONE: WHAT IS IT

Let's get down to it- what IS broadcasting school? - Broadcasting school is a type of specialized technical school, designed for those that are pursing a career in broadcast media. The early days of broadcasting schools prepared students solely for careers in radio, but as time went on and the field of broadcasting evolved, these programs are now tailored to all sorts of jobs within the field. My school specifically focused on three things: radio, video editing and production, and television news. Our campus had a radio studio, television studio, and another audio studio dedicated to podcasting all on campus, as well as a computer lab classroom for editing. Other broadcasting school programs might also have heavy emphasis in entertainment television, digital work for broadcasting companies, and sales/promotions.

      Broadcasting school is not a traditional university or college. Since it's a technical school, it's more similar to community college than a four year school. A major difference education-wise between this and undergrad is that broadcasting school is all about hands-on learning which prepares you for this field. All of your homework and assessments are done in the form of media projects and time in the studios practicing what you learn in class. The only paper/exam/anything written that I ever did was the final exam! Another difference between this and college is there are no dorms, or student organizations. Students themselves are all ages, ethnicities, and of all economic backgrounds, so while small, it's a more diverse group of people than a lot of undergrad programs. I entered broadcasting school directly after completing my undergraduate degree in journalism, and while most of the students in my class specifically also had prior college experience or degrees, my school did not require an undergraduate degree to attend. There were a couple people in my class who applied and attended directly after high school as well. 

How did you learn about broadcasting school? - I couldn't miss learning about it - literally! No really... if it wasn't for a GIANT billboard off one of the interstates in Charlotte advertising my school I never would have known about it and toured it in my senior year of college! 😉 The billboard was positioned in a spot where I would pass it a few times a year when I would leave the city to visit friends at my former university... and it always left me thinking after I'd drive past it. Senior year I finally mentioned it to my parents, and they encouraged me to set up a tour, since I was pretty serious about wanting to get into radio broadcasting and had a radio internship for much of undergrad!

Which school did you attend and why that one? - I attended the Charlotte location of The Connecticut School of Broadcasting (CSB). There are currently 12 CSB campuses across the country- so if you're interested in this career path there might be a campus by you! The length of the program actually varies at each CSB campus. I think Charlotte has the longest program out of all the schools, with 8 months of classes, and graduation at the 10 month mark. 

Charlotte is actually home to another well known broadcasting school as well. I looked into that one and CSB and felt a better connection with CSB, and really fell in love with the school during my tour. During my application process and enrollment meeting it just felt right. Similar process to applying for college! You want the broadcasting school that's right for you.


Is broadcasting school affordable? - As compared to a four year university- extremely! But looking at it alone... it definitely is an investment. As I mentioned, there are two broadcasting schools in Charlotte, and I researched both of them and ended up selecting The Connecticut School of Broadcasting for a few reasons, but I will note that it was slightly cheaper than its competitor.
My parents helped me pay for college (for which I am very grateful for!), so while they supported me in attending broadcasting school, it was an investment that I had to make completely on my own. Unlike traditional universities, CSB doesn't take federal aid, so my options to finance my tuition were to take out a high-interest private loan, or to work hard and pay for it myself and make on-time payments loan-free. I opted for option number two, and so far so good! As many of you know, I worked in retail last year during broadcasting school, and also continued to babysit for some families that I worked for in college. My monthly tuition payments are pretty large and they will continue through next spring. But after that I will be DEBT FREE from broadcasting school, and can say I paid for it myself loan free! So if I can do that in less than two years... it isn't that bad in the scheme of things.


How often are classes, and what are semesters like? - This totally depends on the broadcasting school that you choose! Even within the CSB family of schools, each campus runs differently. My school had twice weekly classes for the first half of the program (each class being four hours long), and then classes went down to once a week after the halfway mark. In addition to class time, students need to come to school and practice on the equipment for lab hours. And you need to complete an internship in your field of choice before graduation.
My campus of CSB didn't follow traditional semesters. Classes began three different times during the year, and the process from orientation to graduation is always 10 months. I was apart of the July 2016 class, so I'm graduating right now (May)!

TWO: WHO SHOULD ATTEND

What careers does broadcasting school prepare you for? The two obvious ones are anything on-air radio and television related, which is the field I got into! But there's a lot of other media careers that you might not think of that broadcasting school can also train you for. Video editing is a HUGE field right now, especially with videography being something necessary in so many industries right now. Podcasting is also taking off right now as not only a hobby but also a career- one of my radio instructors actually used to work full-time on-air but left that side of the business to pursue podcasting! A lot of grads from my campus  also end up in the wedding entertainment business- either working as emcees, DJs or wedding videographers (all skills you learn in broadcasting school!)

Is broadcasting school necessary to work in media if you have an undergraduate degree? It might not be "necessary", but I am SO glad that I did it. Even though I was a journalism major in a communications program in college and also had a good radio internship in college, I wasn't exposed nearly enough to the actual mechanics of a radio station, since my university didn't have one on campus. As I wrote above, the whole format of classes at CSB at least was based around studio time, and getting to work on projects that related to radio, TV and video editing. These skills are all crucial to learn before applying to jobs in the business! If you attended a university that had a TV station and radio station on campus and you want to pursue broadcasting, then you might be all set to head right into the field. But more often then not people are in situations like I was, and in that case I would highly recommend looking into broadcasting school! It certainly paid off for me, and my radio classes REALLY prepared me for my day job (and as for my undergrad classes... most did not! Haha).

What is the social scene like at broadcasting school? It's different from undergrad as it's a day school, and students really are of all ages. I had classmates years younger than me, and also ones that were old enough to be my parents! My class specifically happened to be very tight knit (we were a small group of just eight), and I became very good friends with a few students, and was generally friendly with everyone in class. I also made some good friends in other classes, since I wanted to get to know the people in the school and make new friends in Charlotte, besides just the people I went to undergrad with! I still talk regularly with a lot of people from school now that I'm in Vermont. Socially broadcasting school really is what you make it. Some people went to CSB just to learn tricks of the trade, and others like me went not only to learn but also to make connections and friendships in the industry. 

A few broadcasting school classmates (and instructors!) at the Christmas party my roommate and I had.

My wonderful class on my last day! I had to miss the last week of classes with my trip to Italy/move preparations.

THREE: WHY I'M GLAD I WENT

What is your favorite memory from broadcasting school? I have two! One came very early in the program. I was in radio class way back last summer with my favorite instructor, and he was teaching on the ins and outs of how songs gain popularity and why some reach the top of the charts and others don't. I was so deep in his lecture and loving every minute... and suddenly had this moment like "WOW! This is the most interesting lecture of my life and someday soon this will be my career." Truly a surreal moment and sure enough less than a year later- I work in radio!

My other favorite memory was telling everyone from school about getting hired in Vermont! I kept very quiet about my job interview process, so gathering my classmates, instructors, and our school directors together to share the good news after my interview trip was a moment I'll never forget.

So... are you glad you went? ABSOLUTELY! Of course CSB, like any school, isn't perfect. The school has its issues, just like any other educational institution. I also have to say that it was hard for me to keep my motivation during the TV news unit! At this point I was already into my radio internship and so certain that was the career path I'd be taking, but hey, I persevered and actually made good friends with one of the TV instructors! Anyways, I learned so much at CSB, met some great friends and instructors (As well as some not so great people too- but hey! You get that anywhere.) and ultimately it served its purpose, it prepared me well for my career, and was the icing on the cake to my college education. 

     So congrats to the July class at CSB Charlotte- we did it!!!


      If you're considering a career in radio or TV and are more curious about my broadcasting school experience, don't hesitate to email me or reach out! Next month I am planning to start a radio based career blog post series here on the blog- stay tuned for more on that.

   

     Thanks for reading!



      xoxo Annaliese (or Charlotte XO on the radio!)