Women to Watch: Lori Flowers, Radio One/Reach Media

(By Charese Fruge’) Lori Flowers is Manager of Integrated Marketing and Project Management for local Radio One stations and Reach Media’s nationally syndicated shows. She’s responsible for creating marketing solutions for the corporate national sales team to pitch to national advertisers.

“When I was in college, I always knew I wanted to be in media whether it be TV or radio. I actually visualized myself being a TV news anchor, but having my first internship in radio gave me a desire to want to learn more about the industry and clearly, I must love it because I am still in it.” 

Her side hustle is teaching. “I am an adjunct professor for Southern New Hampshire University, and I teach Social Media Marketing and Communications,” she explains. “It started off as me just wanting to use my Masters Degree from Arizona State University, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication. Then, I ended up loving it because it allows me to promote and share how great our industry is with my students and also allows me to keep learning as well.”

“My career started in Phoenix, Arizona where I grew up,” says Flowers. “I was home from college for the summer and a woman at my church said that she had a friend looking for interns to work at the local radio station. I immediately reached out to her, and the next thing I knew, I was interning at KZON, the Alternative station, and KYOT the Jazz station. I worked in the promotions department doing remotes and special events.”

“Fast forward to when I graduated, I moved to Atlanta and got my first ‘real’ job in radio, WVEE V-103 where I was a Promotions Assistant. After a few years, there was an opportunity to become a Promotions Director in West Palm Beach, FL for a new Hip Hop station, WMBX, X-102.3. I did that for a year and another Promotions Director opportunity became available in Miami at WMIB 103.5 The Beat, another new Hip Hop station.”

“After another year in sunny Florida, I got a call to come back to Atlanta and become the Marketing Director for Radio One Atlanta. Well, it didn’t stop there because soon I would move to Washington, DC to become the Marketing Director for the CBS cluster. After some time there, my next stop was back in Atlanta as the Marketing Director with Radio One. I would then get one more opportunity, this time within Radio One but it was in New York. I made the move to NYC to take on my current role.  When the pandemic hit, we did not have to go into the NYC office anymore, so I moved back to Atlanta and here I am now.”

“Over the years, the most exciting thing for me has been working in as many markets as I have. From creating cool beach promotions in Florida to being part of a Presidential campaign in DC to the hustle and bustle of NYC, each city has allowed me to experience the culture and events that are specific to that city and I think that’s pretty darn exciting!!”

“My journey hasn’t come without its challenges. From limited budgets for events to short staffing to personal things such as being heard in a room where people may not look like me,” explains Flowers. “My way of handling these things is to first identify the challenge or name it for what it is and then look at ways to attack it. If it’s budget, what type of partnerships can I grow to get what we need? If it’s short staffing then perhaps we do a contest where we look for station brand ambassadors to be present at events and help us. If it’s learning to be heard in rooms, lean into my mentor, which I must add, having a mentor through any challenge is a must because they can also help you navigate and come up with helpful solutions.”

“I pride myself on being a mentor to young women in the business and do my best to be a resource and encourager to them,” says Flowers. “I suggest networking with people in our industry by following industry organizations such as MIW (Mentoring and Inspiring Women In Radio) because this is where they will meet women who are in the business and have strong connections. I also tell them not to be afraid to reach out to someone in the industry and let them know about your interest in the business.” 

“A quick story, I had a young lady reach out to me years ago via Instagram. She said she wanted to get into the industry and wondered if she could job shadow me. I responded and invited her to an event we were having. Well as luck would have it, the on-air personality was late, and we needed someone to host the stage. She came dressed and ready, and we threw her on the stage to host. Turns out my Program Director at the time loved her and next thing I knew, she was hired to do an on-air shift. The moral of the story, get yourself out there, show up, and show out!  There are opportunities out there, but we need to see that you’re serious. Also, I know it’s a cliche saying but you should stay ready so that you don’t have to get ready. There are opportunities out there!”

“The never-ending question is ‘How do we bridge the generation gap in our industry and help make it attractive to a younger demographic?’ We’ll be searching for the answer to this question until the end of time if we are going to continue to grow,” says Flowers. “I think it is important to stay connected to the colleges and when they have career days or speakers, we as radio folks, need to show up and really share our stories. Let them know that there is space for them to be creative whether it is on air, promotions, sales, or digital. They are quick to dismiss radio as ‘old’ but when you tell them the many great things we do and are responsible for, I think it allows them to give us another look.”

“The common misconception about radio is that no one listens anymore but that is far from the truth. Another one is that radio does not work for advertisers. I disagree with both myths and I am always the one sharing why those misconceptions are false, especially to the younger generation.” 

As far as AI is concerned, Flowers has tested the waters and seems to be using it to her advantage.  “Personally, I have experimented with AI in terms of cleaning up copy for radio spots and presentations because it gives an extra oomph to the original writing,” she says. “In terms of its impact to the radio industry, I am continuing to learn more and more and reading all I can about it. In my area of sales and marketing, I believe AI will help by analyzing our listeners and allow us to serve them ads that make sense for them thus improving our advertiser experience. It’s a learning process.”

As for what keeps Flowers up at night, “Whenever I have a big sales sponsorship activation, everything about it keeps me up at night because I don’t want to miss anything,” she says. “I literally dream about spreadsheets and event grids. It’s wild. Currently, I am handling the on-board sales sponsorship activations for the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage, so being on a ship for 7 days can be challenging because you’re literally in the middle of the ocean and you better hope that you have all you need to service the client.”

“I find balance in work and personal life by being intentional about it,” says Flowers. “Yes, my career is demanding and doesn’t end at 5p each day but on weekends when I don’t have anything, I take that seriously and fill it with things I love to do. Also, random date night dinners with my husband allow me to have balance. I also learned the importance of taking my days off. When I was younger in my career I would just work and work and work!  Now I plot my days off so that I can use them and allow that time to recharge. I’m so lucky, there is something so fulfilling in doing what I do and I think I continue to learn from each activation I put together.”

Follow Lori Flowers on Instagram at @loriiflowers and on LinkedIn under Lori Flowers.

Charese Fruge’ is an award-winning Content, Broadcast, and Marketing executive with over 20 years of experience in markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, San Diego, and Las Vegas. As the owner of MC Media, she works with radio brands and individual talents, especially young women, helping them grow their brands and negotiate on their own behalf. Find her at @MCMediaOnline. See more Women to Watch here.