The Radio Stars of Tomorrow Must Not Be Afraid to Be Themselves

This radio industry truly needs people who know they are unique and matchless.

I don’t believe that people are truly encouraging that type of spirit in our industry anymore. If we want to hear more creativity on the radio, we’ve got to encourage people to really get to know who they are, and then help them drill down into it.

Every human being created on this planet is one of a kind. There is nobody like you and there will never be anybody like you at any time in the history of the world. We only get one of you forever and ever — and people think they have to be somebody else to be liked. They think they have to sound like so-and-so to be heard. They believe the only way they’ll ever be able to have a radio job is that they have to sound like whoever the radio industry is showcasing right now.

I have never believed in doing the same features that RADIO personalities around the country feel they have to do in order to get an audience. Consultants will always tell you, “You need a benchmark. You need a prank call. You need to do everything that research says works.”

So all around the country you have people doing the same features — and that’s why you have all these syndicated shows that have replaced cookie-cutter sounding shows. It’s a business model, make no mistake about it. It saves owners a lot of money to just have syndicated programming on the air, and especially in Black Radio.

You would believe that the people who are currently on the radio are the best of the best. And that is simply not true. Are they good? Of course they are excellent broadcasters — but they are somebody’s preference in a boardroom. Do they deserve to have a syndicated radio show? Of course they do.
This is not what I’m talking about.

I’m not one of those guys that says because somebody was chosen to do a syndicated radio show, they’re not worthy of having it. I was syndicated.
I know the game.

What I’m telling you is that there are more creative shows that will never be heard because people don’t know how to teach and cultivate talent. Some of the most excellent RADIO minds are on the sidelines as we speak. There are too many to name that I know personally who know how to teach and train people with talent to shine on the radio.

The golden era of radio from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s was full of these people.

There are so many people that need help developing their real personalities, and somebody needs to hear them and tell them — or direct them — on their own personal path, and not somebody else’s. That’s how you got a Wendy Williams with coaching from Vinny Brown her PD at both Kiss and BLS in New York. I worked for Vinny in 1987 right out of college in Raleigh NC where he was PD at WQOK 97.5, and he answered all the questions I had as an inquisitive  up and coming cat in radio. My Dojo came when I met with Sam Weaver in 1989 who I credit as my career coach on the science of morning radio, and so many others I will talk about in length in future articles. Wendy did not do a show like everybody else. Her show was built off of one thing she did well — gossip. A great coach will help you lean into what you are good at. That was and is her lane. 

We don’t need another Wendy Williams.
You can’t do it better than she can. She is the originator of Entertainment news as we now know it on black radio today. she took it to another level.
But there is something you can do that she can’t do.

How many RADIO personalities do we need in this country whose persona is tearing down the reputations of other people to get ratings? There are a few people who are good at doing that, but that may not be your specialty. But you may try it because you think that’s what makes you hot. I'm not putting Wendy Williams down, I'm saying you can't be her!

What this article is about is the unique and matchless person that you are that nobody has ever heard.
That’s what Black Radio needs to hear.
We need more originality.
We need more people to believe in themselves — that they have something to offer Black audiences.

BE VULNERABLE. YOU MIGHT THINK YOU ARE CORNY SO WHAT. LET PEOPLE SEE YOU NAKED! That's what Wendy Did. She took a big risk on not being liked and she won! What is it that you can take a risk in?

If God made you different from everybody else, why do you feel it’s important to be like somebody else?
You are wasting precious time not trying to give people the essence of who you are.

That’s the only thing that counts.
That’s the only thing that will make you stand out among the rest of the stars — is that you gotta know for sure who you are and give that to the people in large doses so they will never forget you.

As you read my articles, I don’t want you to ever think that I know everything — but I do know this:

Not being yourself is what costs you success.