Guests

Jeni Wren Stottrup is a creative. That comes with a lot of things ranging from being exquisitely detailed to sometimes scattered; thriving off a full inbox with tasks perpetually nearing completion. Jeni is the coach behind The Podcasters Forum and host of Gritty Birds on podcast and YouTube. She helps podcasters find their voice as a coach, through content marketing, speaker training, tech training and mindset coaching. She brings skills from over 20 years in the music industry as a singer, festival producer, journalist, in media sponsorship and as a content creator.

Ben McCully has one of the most interesting portfolios I, and probably you, have ever seen: Radio host, car salesman, pro wrestler, brewery tour manager. If that combo of careers doesn't have you hooked on this episode already, I don't know what will.

Jim Lang is a renowned broadcaster who's worked all over Canada, often covering sports. You probably know him best from either Sportsnet Fan Radio 590, or his Toronto Argos coverage on AM 640. In this episode, we work our way through his broadcast history, from his humble beginnings as a radio intern all the way to his coverage of events like the Superbowl.

BJ Shea is the morning show host at the legendary KISW in Seattle. The BJ and Migs show has anchored the station since 2005; if you aren't familiar with KISW, it's the famous underground and later grunge station that's been home to great DJ personalities such as Bob Rivers, Howard Stern, Gary Crow, Mike West, and more.

The last few weeks, I've been doing a lot of podcast housekeeping- pitching sponsors, and reviewing the stats, and thinking about what's next for the Sound Off Podcast. As it turns out, it's going to be more of the same, which is a good thing. One of the biggest questions I get asked is: "Why is my show doing better?" Here are some of the conclusions that often come up.

In this episode, we talk Amanda's journey through the industry (including receiving military training before working as a journalist in Afghanistan), as well as her thoughts on how Canadian broadcasting could evolve.

Will Nash is the afternoon drive host for Fresh 93.1 in Barrie, Ontario, as well as the midday host on Energy 95.3 in Hamilton and Toronto. He's a radio veteran who's been all over Ontario, and has dozens of celebrity interviews under his belt- but his career didn't exactly start out that way.

Imperfectly Kind is the name of Julie Adam's first book. The President of Rogers Sports & Media had a unique pandemic experience that she shared with us and led her to write this book. In this episode, Julie and I catch up after nearly 4 years between recording podcast episodes. We spoke about baseball in the last episode and it came up again this time in a couple of places. While I normally would love to ask a zillion questions about the future of radio, I wanted to stay close to the theme of h...

Charese Frugé has 20+ years in the radio business with a proven track record in multiple formats as both an on air personality and an award winning programmer. She's been successful in markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Las Vegas and Denver. She's been recognized as one of Radio's Most Influential Women by Radio Ink on multiple occasions and has several awards for Excellence in Management from both CBS Radio, and the Alliance for Women in Radio. She owns her own Radio and Talent Consulting business and is also a Voice Actor and Voice over talent. She is one of few female talent consultants in the business and is ready to help you bring a fresh new approach and strategy to your talent or brand.

Sam East is the afternoon host on 99.9 Virgin Radio, and host of weeknights on Virgin Radio across Canada. That means you can hear her on selected stations Winnipeg, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Sam has also recently launched the podcast Lessons to My Younger Self, where she chats with notables like Jully Black, The Social’s Jess Allen, sexologist Dr. Jess O’Reilly, and more.

Chris St. Clair started at the Weather Network back in 1994. However, before that he had a worked in radio; in later years as the program director at 990 Hits in Montreal. After 26 years at the Weather Network, Chris has retired.

Last summer when we had Vinny Barucco on the show, I mentioned that we would be having his co-host on in due time. Time is due. Shannon King's radio journey is different in that she didn't grow up idolizes radio personalities from the past. It was just kind of suggested to her. She cut her teeth by cutting hair and learned she was a people person.

In this episode, you will hear how the Tilbury, Ontario native got her start in radio, listened to Dave and Chuck the Freak in Windsor and later WRIF across the river. Also how she wound up falling in love with Ottawa where she worked on Country radio at Rogers and Bell. We will also discuss what lies ahead in the world of voiceover and why she is doubling down on audio.

Every year, Terry Dimonte and I get together for some Christmas cheer. This year we wound up talking a little more about podcasting as he and Ted Bird have recently launched their new show. Terry has recently moved to British Columbia with his wife Jessica and Terry recounts his first few weeks in the area battling torrential rains. As tradition has it, if there is a weather event, Terry will find it.

Last April. Gillian Foote returned to her home province of Nova Scotia after spending the better part of two decades in Edmonton at 100.3 The Bear. Along with her co-hosts Paul Brown an Yukon Jack, they were authors of some pretty amazing radio over the course of 13 years. Gillian has now relocated to Q104 in Halifax where she is writing the next stanza with BJ Wilson and Bobby Mac.

Tom Bedell is the afternoon drive host at Q104 in Halifax. His career started in the late 80's in Saint John, N.B at the legendary CFBC, and has been driving Metro Halifax home since 1998. In this episode, Tom recalls those early days in New Brunswick and his early stints in Woodstock, NB, Halifax and later on up in Kentville, Nova Scotia working at Annapolis Valley Radio. We recall fondly how the area and the station and the people at those stations shaped both our radio careers, We also get into the history of Q104 and its durability as one of North America's premiere rock stations.

We loved having James Crildland on our show back in 2018 when we fussed about podcast discovery when there were a half million podcasts in the universe. There are now 2.5 million and we have so many more questions to ask.

We had Matty Staudt back on the show in September of 2019 and he was heading up Jam Street Media after leaving iHeart as the head of podcasting.

Around Montreal, mention the words "Queen of Rock" and that title goes to Sharon Hyland, longtime on air host at CHOM-FM. Last month she eclipsed 25 years of broadcasting at the legendary radio station. And while her name might not get lumped in with the CHOM Alumni who came before her, (just yet) her knowledge of rock and the station's more recent history is second to none.

The copy just screams off the page: She was a blogger and social media maven. He, a former morning radio host. Together they struck out on their own and created The Upside. Callie and Jeff Dauler started their podcast when Jeff's radio career abruptly changed in 2019 from Star 94.1 in Atlanta. Their success could be considering "overnight" by podcast standards.

Ryan Jespersen is one of the great broadcast to podcast success stories. After being relieved from the coveted 9 to noon position at the venerable 630 CHED in Edmonton last year, Ryan hatched a plan to move his audience from terrestrial to digital, and at the same time fill a need for real talk in the digital space.

Mike Goral is someone I have only met once, haven't seen in 7 years but we have a long track record of working together. Long before the pandemic taught us to work apart, Mike and I, along with Jamie Watson and Evan Surminski would all collaborate to make audio magic in radio. Since then, all four of us have continued on creative paths that involve voiceover. Albeit, Evan produces still, and Matt started a podcast company. Mike's career in entertainment began at as a part-time assistant at Energy 108 under the guidance of Scot Turner. After several years as a full-time commercial producer and getting to work with amazing voiceover talent like the late Bumper Morgan and Dude Walker, Mike became a voice actor himself.

Montana Getty has multiple passions for sports, media and politics flowing through her blood. Her grandfather is the late Don Getty, premiere of Alberta from 1985 to 1992, and quarterback of the Edmonton (then) Eskimos starting in 1955. Rarely does your family play into the context of a podcast episode, but given that the Getty name has so much to do with sport, politics, Alberta, oil, and now media.

There's about a dozen people I know where if I sit down for a long conversation with them, I am going to come away infinitely smarter and with lots to think about. Rob Braide has always been on that hit list. Whether we were having a drink or eating some of his wonderful cooking, or listening to his latest musical find, I was going to come away with more.