Enter your email to receive blog updates →

Flashback: A look back at the Beginning

by Ryan Shell on April 22, 2010

My previous radio career ended on a high note, but I can’t stress to you how bad I was in the beginning. And it just so happens that I can now give you a peek at the early days.

During my teenage years my friend Matt and I were constantly together; he’s actually the person that dared me to go into WTQR (first FM station I worked at – previously worked for a small AM station playing church sermons… loads of fun) and fill out an application.

Somehow or another I actually got the job, and after about two hours of training was let loose to do weekend overnight shifts. And did I mention that I was terrible?

Matt was fond of videotaping random moments when we were younger and it just so happens that he captured me on-air in the WTQR studios (I was 18). Better yet, he’s now shared it with the world on YouTube. Nice of him huh?

The clip is so bad that it’s almost funny (or painful)… and of course I can’t keep something like that from you. Take a moment and watch it below – pay attention to the accent!

Told you it was bad.

What’s hard to believe is that during the two years after that video was shot, I managed to ditch the accent, get a ton of experience (worked at three other stations) and eventually land my full-time radio job at WKZL. Click here to listen to the difference a little experience can make or here to watch a video interview I did with 50 Cent.

Sometimes I can’t help but think I missed out on a lot during my later teen years and early 20’s because of how dedicated I was to being successful, but watching this clip made me realize that I’m really happy with how things turned out and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Enjoy that post? Sign up to receive updates automatically:

About the Author

Marketing & PR pro. Social media user, cyclist, inline speed skater, volunteer, blogger, public speaker. Founded Fashables. Work at Ketchum. And I’m goofy.

  • Jo

    That is hilarious! You are adorable!!

  • http://davidhorne.me David Horne

    Nice. thanks for sharing a laugh at your own expense. I am sure you learned a lot though. Who were the coolest artists you met?

Previous post:

Next post: