This September will mark my third year as host of Up In Your Business on KABF radio. Though the show began as a mentoring program for entrepreneurs, it has become much more than that. It is the human-interest stories of my guests that listeners have found interesting and inspiring. To hear that Mr. Steve Landers, a very successful automotive dealer, didn’t finish high school; or that Bob Robbins, an award winning DJ of country-western fame, was orphaned at nine years old; or that General Wesley Clark, a once candidate for President of the United States, was shot multiple times in Vietnam and survived, are all encouraging words for our human existence.
Theologian Holmes Rolston says, “One cannot enjoy a world in which one cannot suffer, any more than one can succeed in a world in which one cannot fail. The world is not a paradise of hedonistic ease. Rather, life is learned and earned by hard labor and there is something divine about the power to suffer through.”
The Teacher Becomes the Student
At the onset of my new radio show, I thought myself to be the expert but, in truth, I became the student. In my research for each show, I learned about Arkansas’ diamond and rock quarry’s, musicians of all genres, business patents, integrative functional medicine, early American settlers and pioneers, estate planning, couple’s therapy, different spiritual practices, gardening, the history of our newspaper, the sport of boxing, and many business histories and personal bios. From the business side of producing a radio show, I learned about music copyrights, editing software, audio equipment, voice control, the logistics of podcasting, and live streaming.
The Business of It
As with many startups, it is more complicated and expensive than first anticipated. What I naively thought would take about an hour or two of my work-week turned into days. And my original crew of audiophile volunteers has since moved on, leaving me to hire a technician.
Though I have enjoyed this new venture very much, I am a business woman and eventually had to ask myself, “Does it make good business sense to continue? Could it be time to end the show?”
I asked the Universe for a sign.
Two weeks later, it came. The owner of KABF sent me an email explaining why he was going to increase my monthly billing. I thought, “Here is my sign to quit.”
But NO! A week later, another radio station called and offered me a spot on their station for much less. Last Friday, I had my screen test – so to speak – when I commandeered the guest seat on the Dave Elswick Show, a talk show broadcasted on 101.1 FM The Answer.
My show, like me, is non-political. These two radio stations couldn’t be more different; so my audience will be different. KABF is about as left wing as you can get and The Answer swings far to the right.
If you want to weigh in on the radio station’s pros and cons that I am mulling over, here they are:
| KABF 88.3 FM (Left-Leaning) | The Answer 101.1 FM (Right-Leaning) |
| Pro | Con | Pro | Con |
| 100,000 watt broadcasting range – big listening radius | more expensive | less expensive professional technician excellent equipment better podcast quality national syndication | 1,000 watt broadcasting range – small listening radius |
No matter how you cut the cake, I am a big believer in following where life leads you. I rarely say “no” to anything. Is the Universe leading me towards a new home for my radio show? What do you think?
Stay tuned.
