It was 2009, I was working for a big bank and hating my job more and more each day.... Finally I decided I was going to pursue the industry that had interested me since I was a child. Radio Broadcast. As a young child I used to sit in our shed and record radio shows on my Fisher Price recorder. Funny how what we do as children often bring the same joy as adults.
It was a bold move for me (a girl who prefers things predictable) to leave a steady and decent paying industry and job but something in me knew that if I didn't try a new route now, I would regret it later. So I got myself a credit line, I applied for school and off I went.
I attended Columbia Academy for 10 months, 5 nights a week. I would work during the day and then head to school for a few more hours. I sunk my teeth in and absorbed everything I could. I was determined to succeed in this highly competitive sector.
As school was wrapping up I began applying or jobs. My hope was to stay in Vancouver but I wasn't gaining any traction so I applied for a random job in "Western Canada"... Thankfully that ended up being Kamloops. I left everything behind (might have cried a lil in the process of moving) and dove right it. I worked, ALL THE TIME. I worked split shifts and weekends. Took any extra shift they would offer and even managed to get them to put me on TV with our sister station. The plan was always to move back home to Vancouver but I never expected to enjoy my time so much while I was there.
Just shy of 2 years later I was offered an incredible opportunity to move back to Vancouver and work full time at Virgin Radio. I took over a maternity leave contract thinking perhaps I could convince them to keep me after it expired. Unfortunately, just a few weeks after starting it was announced that we were being sold. My contract expired without renewal and I had to scramble to find new work. I sure as hell wasn't going back to banking...
It was back to the basics of networking. Send out demos to every program director I could reach out to in Vancouver. Some of those emails stuck and I was able to meet with a few people. One of those being my current boss. It couldn't have worked out any better. My contract expired and the very next day I started my new job. I was originally hired as fill in, which quickly changed to weekend afternoons.
I've transitioned a lot during my 3 years with JRFM. My first year I worked my butt off. I took any shift I could get and kept really busy, loving every minute. Then SURPRISE!!!! I got pregnant. I took a year off and came back with a whole new set of priorities.
The past year has been a rollercoaster ride. I struggled early on with my return to work. There were a lot of times I felt I no longer fit in. Moments when I wondered if what I was doing was worth it. Being away from home, driving 45 minutes each way. But when it came right down to it, every time I turned on that microphone I still loved it. And that right there is what makes today so tough.
Today I had to face my boss and tell him I am choosing to resign. I am choosing to leave the industry that I love, that brings me pure joy, that I am still determined to succeed in. The job that I take pride in and love to tell people I do. My job is fun, creative, exciting, fast paced and rare. And it is extremely emotional to leave it all behind. At least for now.
Your life is a very long book with many many chapters. At this moment in time radio just isn't the right fit for me and my family. It's entirely possible I will never come back to radio and that I will open that mic for the very last time on April 17th and it crushes me to think that. And maybe it's that visceral reaction that will end up bringing me back. Tears stream down my face as I write this because it is one thing to leave a job you hate but a whole other to leave one you love, especially when it is full of people you love. Radio peeps are a different breed. We are all a little weird and we all fit together so well. And it's that connection that is so hard to part with.
I'm choosing to call this a hiatus, feeling that deep in my heart I will find my way back to radio later on.
In the meantime, I will be working on my mortgage broker business and I've started a new job as a SEO Project Manager working for a website design company close to home. My social media feeds related to Niki Saunders will be on pause as I settle back in to being just Natalie (and Mama).
So radio world... it's been a slice. I will miss you dearly but I know you are never too far away. It's not goodbye, its see you later.
