It’s no secret, as radio has consolidated over the years, the number of jobs available has dwindled. Managers are tasked with more work, more stations and more people to lead. That makes it a lot tougher to break into the business. However, if you love the radio industry, have a burning desire to make it your career, and you’re willing to work harder than anyone else in your building, you can become one of radio’s next great managers. Here’s how…
In addition to out-working everyone and passion for the business, there’s one more thing you should be doing to set yourself apart: searching for mentors. And, finding a very successful person in this business willing to help you may not be as intimidating as you think. Many successful managers in radio started out making very little money, performing duties nobody else wanted to do. And many successful managers are willing to lend a hand to others, realizing how important it is to grow young talent. It may be as simple as picking a name out of Radio Ink Magazine – maybe even a cover story subject – and calling that person directly to introduce yourself.
A great example of that scenario playing out is iHeart Media executive Darren Davis. Davis is a classic example of someone who had an early desire in life to make it big in the radio industry. He knew at an early age he wanted to be in radio and was willing to put in the hours and do the work.
Davis is on the cover of the November issue Radio Ink magazine. In our cover story we detail Davis’ rapid rise through the ranks of radio management — one that includes determination, desire, and hard work. And, as he explains in our interview, he had great mentors, something he never forgets, and now is always trying to find ways to pay it back. Here’s an excerpt from that interview where we specifically ask Davis about the importance of mentoring.
RI: Who have been some of your mentors along the way?
Davis: Since I grew up through the programming ranks, I always think about a handful of programmers in particular that helped me over the years. Guy Zapoleon was my first consultant when I was at WASH. Guy’s seen more research and worked with more radio brands than anyone I can think of. So much knowledge. And genuinely one of the sweetest people.
There were several PDs at WASH during the first years I was there, and Steve Streit was the third PD I worked for at WASH. He really shaped the station into a different kind of AC station — lots of fun, big contests, CHR-style imaging. I learned a lot from Steve.
As the lead AC programmer for Clear Channel, Jim Ryan was always very supportive and involved me in a lot of fun projects all over the country and taught me a lot.
Steve Rivers was amazing — I got to work closely with Steve both in DC and in Houston. He was obviously one of the very best ever at crafting a creative product that could reach out and grab listeners.
And of course, having a world-class programmer like Tom Poleman right down the hall every day is always a good thing. I’m always picking Tom’s brain. I’ve known Tom for 20 years now, and he’s great.
Darren is unique, the rare individual who can blend passion and intellect. I’ve known Darren
since his first programming job and our business is MUCH better with Darren in it.
Jim Ryan
SVP/Programming CBS Radio
RI: You are always trying to mentor others as they come through the business?
Davis: Totally. Even though I’m not that old, I sort of feel like a dad or the elder statesman around here. I like people to have as much fun as I’m having. It hurts my feelings if I ever hear about people not enjoying working at iHeart or not having a good experience in radio. So I’m always trying to coach people and help people get to where they want to be.
RI: What is the key to mentoring an on-air talent to greatness?
Davis: I would tell air talent and programmers the same thing: Don’t let PPM scare the creativity out of you. Don’t over-sanitize your products. We can’t win a battle by trying to be a music jukebox.
Digital music products will always have fewer (or no) interruptions. So we need our stations to be unique and interesting and quirky. That’s what makes people entertaining, and that’s what makes a radio station entertaining.
RI: Radio can be a business that changes a lot. How do you make sure you stay on somebody else’s radar when there’s constant change at the top of a company?
Davis: Be curious. Talk to everyone. Ask about all parts of the business. Talk to competitors. And don’t just reach out to people when you need something — that’s not a good way to be successful in business, and it’s frankly not the way to be a very nice person. Be kind to all people, all the time.
And when it comes to your career growth, let people know what you want. They can’t and generally won’t guess. Bosses can’t intuit what your career goals are. So you’ve got to let them know what you
want to do in the future. I told John Hogan in 2007 that my dream was to become one of his SVPPs. I told him I wanted to be at the top of his list next time he had an opening. And I told him if I wasn’t already at the top of that list, I wanted to hear what I needed to fix. And that gave us the opportunity to talk about what I was great at and what areas needed work, so by 2008 I got that call to become an SVPP for Clear Channel.
Read our full interview with Darren Davis HERE
Reach out to Davis at [email protected]
From the sales side of it, Dave “Giff” Gifford was the very best. He was always available, and never failed to return a phone call and readily offered insight and real-world working solutions. I learned so much from this great sales trainer, and our group owner greatly profited from Giff.