I’m the Operations Manager for Radio One Atlanta/ and Inspiration Format Director for WAMJ /WUMJ/WPZE /WHAT. I started as the Morning Show Producer for WVEE / V-103 in Atlanta. I moved to Macon as the Operation Manager/Program Director at RCI Communications for 4 years and then returned to Atlanta as the Assistant Program Director for WAMJ. In 2005, I was named Program Director for WPZE and WAMJ and took over the Inspiration Format in 2018.
The person who inspired me in radio was Mike Roberts, who at that time was the Morning Drive Personality for WVEE in Atlanta. I produced his show from 1994 till 1998. He moved into station ownership and gave me my first opportunity to host my own morning show and my first Operations Manager position in 1998. Mike was the last of the giants…someone who could program the #1 station in a top ten market AND host the #1 morning show! His work ethic was amazing!!
Mike taught me how important morning radio and morning radio personalities are to listeners. I was fresh out of college, working my first live broadcast with him and his co-host Carol Blackmon. There was a line around the building just to meet them and get an autograph. There was no recording artist, actor, etc. …Just them!! I said to Mike perplexed “Why do they want YOUR autograph?!” He responded “For the average person, we may be the closest they ever get to a Halle or a Denzel.” That stuck with me thru-out my radio career and influenced how I appreciated and treated listeners. He also made me look at Morning Radio (and all radio) as television. Everyone on a show has a role. If everyone masters their role and plays it correctly… the show wins.
My proudest moment came last August when the city of Atlanta presented me with a Proclamation for my work in the market.
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