I’m sitting here at the homestead…alone…it’s quiet… no kids…no music…no TV…no nothing. Crazy. The doors and windows are open and I’m listening to the birds chirp and the sound of nature… OK, the trash truck is rolling by, but we’ll ignore that.
I think people, not out of a mean place in their heart, but just out of constantly moving forward, forget to occasionally glance backwards and remember how they got to the place they currently occupy and who got them there.
I have so many people in my life going back to elementary school friends who have influenced me and make a huge mark in my life. I’m lucky to have been, and still be, surrounded by the most amazing, real, wonderful people both in my personal life and my professional life.
For sake of space… I’ll stick to my radio folk.
I was taught by instructors who paid their bills doing what the were teaching; Dionne Petitpas, Tina Anderson, Terry (Dude Terry) Wedel, & Pat Matthews. What they taught was exactly what I saw when I interned and got hired at Playlist 92.7. Between Justin Schuvie, Rick Shaw & Matt Rodriguez in the management leads of sales, programming, marketing, promotions… it was “real life” school. Those three, along with the rest of the team at Playlist, showed me what a really great group of people can accomplish and they are all fun, real people. Also while at Playlist, I was lucky enough to meet Slade Smiley from Housewives of OC and be believed in enough by Rick Shaw to pull off a radio show on an FM station. That ended up with me on TV and Slade and I are still having fun doing our show. During my life at Playlist, I also met other amazing people in radio, who have since helped me move forward after Playlist was sold; Nick Pagliochini, Becca Campbell and Dianna Olea at ClearChannel/Total Traffic for my new “paid gig!” (Not to mention working with “Dude Terry’s” wife there too!) Of course, you know three more amazing people that share a very special place in my heart; DJ Ear, Brad-O and Brother Dave Carr, who not only are a part of my family, but have showed me how to be a better person over the past three years. My contact with each of these people and others have helped me move forward and have opportunities that I maybe wouldn’t have had. It’s been a fun, crazy, scary, frustrating, amazing ride so far and I don’t plan to slow down now.
However, there are a few more amazing person. First, my mom…JoAnn (Momma FirePlant). She has been the biggest and best supporter of everything I’ve done in my life. Even if she didn’t agree with what I was doing, she never stood in my way and because of that, I’ve learned from my failures, successes and have never been afraid to try something that goes again the norm. She even likes my Mohawk. My family is in that “most amazing” supporter category too. It’s difficult to put up with someone who’s running constantly, needs to go out to promote, works overnights and sleeps in the day, but they do it and still love me.
To everyone I know and have known; You may not know it, but you’ve single-handedly made me who I am and I thank you and love you from the bottom of my heart.