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Mike The Intern - Director of Content and Programming/On-Air Talent/Podcaster for 104.7 "The Cave"
61 Plays1 year ago
If you live in or have traveled to Springfield Missouri, you've most likely heard "Mike The Intern" on 104.7 "The Cave". Mike has been in the radio/media game for almost 20 years and he has done it all! He started as an Intern and learned all aspects of the radio business and now he runs the show, quite literally. His love for music and his desire to connect with people of all walks of life allows him to enjoy every minute of what he does. If you think you want to pursue a career in music/radio/TV or some other form of media, this is the interview for you. We talk education options, skills for being successful, a healthy work life balance and much more.
If you enjoyed this interview and would like to support the show, you can do so HERE. Thanks!
Music by: SnoozyBeats - Song Title - "Keep It Calm". Please check out SnoozyBeats on PixaBay for a ton of awesome content! -LINK
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Mike and His Journey
00:00:21
The Jobs Podcast
Hey folks, this is Tim. You're listening to the jobs podcast. If you listen to classic rock, well you should cause it's classic and it rocks like the old saying goes, but we have got a guest today that is an expert in all things classic rock. He's an expert in chiefs football. He's got a podcast. He's got a web show. He is the director and, uh, of content and programming for one Oh 4.7, the cave in Springfield, Missouri. The man's got a lot of irons in the fire and I'm glad to have him here. Mike, how you doing?
00:00:49
Mike The Intern
Doing wonderful, man. Thanks for your inviting me on your podcast, sir.
00:00:52
The Jobs Podcast
You bet. This is exciting. I listen to your show pretty regularly. As far as classic country, the only thing I listen to is classic rock. So I'm very familiar with 104.7 the cave.
00:01:03
Mike The Intern
Thank you very much. I appreciate that very much, right.
00:01:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. So let's get back to the very beginning of Mike and tell us your childhood story, where you were born, siblings, family, all that good stuff.
00:01:14
Mike The Intern
Oh man. Okay. Uh, so I was born in Joplin, Missouri. My dad, I can't remember who he was working for at the time, but I know he was in sales. He quickly then got a job offer for IBM.
00:01:28
Mike The Intern
And we lived in Las Vegas from like 83 to 86, 87.
00:01:34
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:01:34
Mike The Intern
Then moved back to the area. I lived in Columbia for a little bit. And then I grew up in Cape Girardeau from about, I lived here in Springfield, part of my royal kindergarten and part of my first grade year.
00:01:45
Mike The Intern
Then moved to Cape. Then they're from first grade through my freshman year of high school. I moved back here my sophomore year and finished out high school at Kickapoo. Um, then I enrolled in OTC and did the OTC. Um, was SMS then changed MSU. I was there and graduated from Missouri state. pretty typical American family. Uh, both, you know, my parents worked, my dad coached everything we ever did, basketball, football, of course, baseball, um, sports through high school. And then about sophomore year, when I moved here, I kind of had to make a choice between do I.
00:02:18
Mike The Intern
dive into music or keep doing sports. And I was you know already pretty deep in drums and then guitar at that point. So I i lean more to music. I marked drumline in high school as well.
00:02:29
Mike The Intern
I was in jazz band orchestra. I actually went to state twice for jazz band and guitar drums.
00:02:35
The Jobs Podcast
Hm.
00:02:36
Mike The Intern
And then after I graduated, obviously I was in bands and stuff. And then when I went to enroll, I originally was going to be a, I wanted to be a teacher.
00:02:48
Mike The Intern
And then when I went to school or went to enroll, they told me that if I wanted to go to the music ed program that I had to march another two years in college. I was like, I'm not doing that. There's no way. So I walked out and went into the media production building and found out about the i yeah I think my my major was audio production, which was a comprehensive major, so I didn't necessarily need a minor.
00:03:11
Mike The Intern
I wish, had I known more, then I would have probably done the non-comp and got a marketing minor, but I've spent you know almost 20 years in this business now, so I've pretty much got a pretty good education on how to market by now.
00:03:24
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:03:25
Mike The Intern
But originally, I was going
Career Path and Leadership Philosophy
00:03:28
Mike The Intern
to graduate. I wanted to go do internships in Austin and Nashville in music studios. What I wanted to do was be a producer. I think like as a musician, I love playing in bands, but I think producers are probably one of the best jobs in the world because get your band comes in, you get to hear them, you get to say, okay, this is what I would do. This is how I'd mold that. And some of my favorite bands have some of the best producers of all time. We could get into that. But then my senior year found out I was going to be a father. So things changed. I kind of pivoted. I got a job with KSPR, which had just been bought by KY3, worked in TV with them for a little bit. And then I needed an internship.
00:04:11
Mike The Intern
to graduate college, even though I was working for a TV company, they said I still needed an internship somewhere.
00:04:15
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:04:17
Mike The Intern
So I said, OK, that's great. So I ended up getting an internship with John Kimmons here at 104.7 McCabe. The summer of, what was it, 05 or 06, worked that summer.
00:04:32
Mike The Intern
Then when it was over, he hired me to do Imaging and any kind of board off the one stuff for on-air I'm started doing that kind of did both TV and radio for a while and then Kind of had to make a choice eventually the morning show guy quit And then I had a, there was a director opportunity for TV. So I kind of decide, and I felt after being with both, this would be the probably the best place for me just because I knew I could be in a little bit more control over my destiny. And then also TV, at least in that company, it wasn't really a great environment. Um, it was, there was a lot of turnover and where I could see Midwest family was they kind of believe in their people. They let them be who they were and like develop them.
00:05:17
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:05:18
Mike The Intern
So I had the hindsight to stay and, uh, yeah, that was it. So, um, here now, what, uh, 17 years later, 16, 17 years. Oh no, God, it's almost 19 years. Oh my God. 19 years later.
00:05:32
Mike The Intern
I'm now the director of content and programming for the entire group. So I'm over all four or five properties that we have, which includes a digital imprint around the Ozarks. So I essentially now started as the intern and now I'm the boss of all things programming and content related for this company.
00:05:49
The Jobs Podcast
It's kind of unique how your mic, the intern name has stuck. And that's what everybody knows you buy, ah ah even like an intern for what, 1890s?
00:05:54
Mike The Intern
Yeah.
00:05:56
Mike The Intern
and but That's the thing about branding, man. and I'm never going to change it. Like it'll be, even if I am, am if they ever for, for whatever God help them, if they do make me a general manager, I'll still go by that name. And again, like I don't, as far as my managing beliefs, like, you know, I'm not a micromanager. I, I, I give a little bit.
00:06:18
Mike The Intern
of grace to people so that they can learn because that was what was given to me.
00:06:22
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:06:22
Mike The Intern
I mean, from the front, I've done everything that this company can do. So nothing is below me if that includes setting up a tent, taking it down, going to things for free, you know, walking the room, meeting people, all that stuff.
00:06:36
Mike The Intern
nothing is below me. like i'm at that's I started that way and that's the way I continue to do business. So anyone that works for me and understands that, that if it's not below me, it's not below you.
00:06:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:06:49
Mike The Intern
And and again, there's a ah level of complacency I think that happens when you get higher and higher and delegate and delegate, but you start to lose sight of the way things are.
00:07:00
Mike The Intern
And so that's also a part of why I feel like i've been able to do what i've been able to do is because i stay in the thick of it it's hard to do sometimes especially like right now we're in middle of season got postseason it's crazy but like i try to keep my hand in everything just so i can kind of have an eye you know what i mean
00:07:08
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, I heard a phrase a long time ago, and I can't give credit to whoever came up with it. But it was if serving others is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you. And that's
00:07:26
Mike The Intern
Yeah, yeah, that's great. That's great. winner in And most of the time, most leaders don't don't really want it's not it was never a like I was very clear with everyone this as I moved up, like, if I had my choice, I would just continue to run one station and be the morning show host of it.
00:07:28
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:07:42
Mike The Intern
And that's it. My life would be so much less complicated. I wouldn't, you know what I mean? Like,
00:07:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:47
Mike The Intern
If that was all that I did, I would be happy with it and I would have no problem with it. like that's That's awesome. Let's just keep rolling and do it. but so Most leaders, they don't it's just because of circumstance that they have to step up and do it.
00:07:54
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:08:00
Mike The Intern
and Those are usually the best ones at least.
00:08:03
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
Passion for Music and Vinyl Collection
00:08:04
The Jobs Podcast
Your love of music. You were talking earlier about how you were in band and you played a couple of different instruments. And that's obviously been something that's been a part of your life since the very early days.
00:08:14
Mike The Intern
oh yeah
00:08:14
The Jobs Podcast
You you still play guitar and drums pretty regularly or is that taking a max the year?
00:08:18
Mike The Intern
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. I'm in a hip hop Beastie Boys tribute called the Grasshopper Unit, which is kind of a fun deal with you.
00:08:25
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:08:27
Mike The Intern
it's I also DJ for that. But then I'm also in a band called Brock with a bunch of guys. own as ah ah It was in a band called Muzzle with, and that's all original.
00:08:37
Mike The Intern
And we basically meet once a week. we have We've only played a handful of shows just because I was pretty clear in the beginning that I wasn't looking to go out and play a bunch of shows with this. I just wanted to play with my friends.
00:08:49
Mike The Intern
But yeah, I play all the time.
00:08:49
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:08:51
Mike The Intern
Yeah, i can't I can't go without listening to or creating music. Like, it's it's my outlet. So I have to do it in some shape or form.
00:09:02
The Jobs Podcast
So you're on a station that plays classic rock, but you, as you just stated, you're into hip hop. You pretty much sounds like you like every kind of music. Is that accurate?
00:09:10
Mike The Intern
Yeah, I mean, if you were to ask me, like, what's my desert island genre, I would tell you with hesitation, it would be soul music.
00:09:15
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:09:18
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:09:19
Mike The Intern
My favorite artist of all time is Stevie Wonder.
00:09:22
The Jobs Podcast
I'll write on.
00:09:22
Mike The Intern
I think think if if you believe in God or whatever faith that you do believe in, if there is a higher power, I believe that there are certain individuals that God speaks through.
00:09:33
Mike The Intern
Stevie Wonder is one of them. I mean, there there is no way that a blind kid from
00:09:34
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:09:39
Mike The Intern
from Michigan that literally has like no chance at all is discovered in his teens was able to start making records at 13. And then literally in the 70s every year he put an album out that he pretty much played everything on and wrote everything for and saying everything on.
00:09:57
Mike The Intern
Was a Grammy winner and so I again like soul music encompasses so much like you can say Stevie Wonder you can say Al Green you can say Sam Cooke you can say James Brown you could I mean so in itself it's a large spectrum.
00:09:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:10:14
Mike The Intern
But yeah, soul soul is definitely my favorite. I'm a big fan of jazz. Obviously, I was in jazz band. I'm more I wouldn't say that I lean into the there's certain bops that I do like.
00:10:27
Mike The Intern
But I mean, if like my favorite composer, probably jazz related would either be it'd probably be way shorter, probably favorite sax player too. I always lean to Coltrane, not a big Coltrane fan.
00:10:38
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:10:38
Mike The Intern
Bill Evans, I mean you can kind of get lost in the weeds. I also, the way my music tastes kind of go, kind of go with the seasons too.
00:10:48
Mike The Intern
Like obviously I have a Spotify account so I have like massive playlists on there, ones for each season.
00:10:52
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:10:54
Mike The Intern
So like you know As you said in the beginning, I know a little bit about a lot.
00:10:56
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:10:59
Mike The Intern
Not a lot about a little. so i ah i just I'm obsessed with it. I'm constantly consuming it wherever I can find it. New music, old music, bands I'd never heard of. know once Once you get to that point where you understand the language of music and how it's created, then you really start to kind of dig into where these guys got their inspiration from, who was that guy? You know, like with jazz music, you can say, oh, who's this, what's this album? And then you look at the credits and you're like, oh, okay, you know, McCoy Tyner played piano on this. Oh, man, they got Elvin Jaynes on this too. You know, there's so many different times where, especially in the jazz world where other players play with each other and a lot in the soul world too, depending on where the album was made. So that's, that's kind of in my mid to late teens where I really started to dig into
00:11:51
Mike The Intern
some of the bands that I was like, oh, you're just a version of this and this is, you know, way better and whatever.
00:11:55
The Jobs Podcast
Right. You know, i I like I'm like you and that I like a ah lot of different kinds of music. And I do find that if I'm going to listen to jazz, it's almost always going to be slow, smooth, chill jazz, and it's going to be in the fall in the wintertime.
00:12:09
The Jobs Podcast
It seems like whenever my wood stove is going, I want to listen to some slow jazz or some smooth stuff. I can't explain why that is, but they seem to marry together pretty well.
00:12:17
Mike The Intern
but Yeah. 110%. And again, you know, it, it, uh, it is that way, you know, obviously in the hallway, just got done with the holidays.
00:12:29
Mike The Intern
So like the jazz is synonymous with Christmas and stuff like that.
00:12:30
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:12:34
Mike The Intern
but you know, it just depends. I, I, you know, I, I feel like I've been in this season of like soul jazz for a little bit longer. Cause back in the day I would hit like these, this, this area where I just kind of crave something heavy.
00:12:48
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:12:48
Mike The Intern
Like I need something real big. Um, so I listened to just big, heavy stuff. I listened to sleep and home and all these bands and I love and Sabbath or whatever. And then, you know, you get kind of, okay, I don't need so much heavy anymore.
00:13:00
Mike The Intern
I need this.
00:13:01
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:13:01
Mike The Intern
They just, I almost equate it to when you walk into a record store and you have no idea what you're looking for and you see a record and you're like, Oh, cool. And then you look at that and then that leads you to another one.
00:13:13
Mike The Intern
And then that leads you to another one. And you kind of just fall down that rabbit hole.
00:13:15
The Jobs Podcast
sure You just mentioned something there. And I'm curious what your take is on this records when, you know, I'm 50 years old. So when I was growing up, we moved through to CDs and then we got to, everything was on an iPod and your iPhone, you know, and and Spotify and everything is digital now, but records have made a comeback in recent years. What, if you had to guess, what's the reason why records are becoming so popular again?
00:13:43
Mike The Intern
uh, well, I started collecting when I was about, I want to say it was my 12th birthday. It was when my uncle Bob gave me like the last remaining version of his record collection, which had, uh, moon dance by Ben Morrison, uh, absolutely live by the doors, Crosby stills, Nash and young so far.
00:14:04
The Jobs Podcast
Nice.
00:14:05
Mike The Intern
There's a few others in there too. Harvest by Neil Young. So like some really good records straight out of the gate. And at the same time, my grandfather had an old Bose system, like the touch ones, you know, that lit up. And I rocked that thing for years until it finally quit on me. But yeah, I got in really early and nobody was collecting records at all. I could go into a thrift store and usually find like five to 10 albums I didn't have at a great price.
00:14:33
Mike The Intern
And then that's where I started building my collection. Obviously now through what I do, some people, you know, I trade and I buy, but I'm at about 3000 in my collection now.
00:14:43
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:14:45
Mike The Intern
And that includes everything, everything you can think of from rock to jazz, soul, 45s, LPs, all that stuff. and so I got lucky because I got in it before everyone else started doing it. And now it's awesome to see it. Like I love, I, one of my favorite things to do is to go down to like, stick it in your ear on record store day and just hang out with those guys behind the counter and just watch what people pick up. I think.
00:15:11
Mike The Intern
It's such a cool thing and it sparks conversation. It sparks connection. So that's part of it. think kids are discovering that it's better to own something than as opposed to just you know having a digital version of whatever it is, wherever it is. I mean, that there' there's validity in that and it's a lot more convenient to have that.
00:15:33
Mike The Intern
But there's something to be said about the art of going into your room, picking a record out, opening it up, putting it on the turntable, hearing it.
00:15:34
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:15:42
Mike The Intern
you know i don't I want to be like, it's it's got to be the sonic quality. The kids, they don't understand. I don't think that's it. Because you you know you're seeing all these, cris and that not to knock a Crosby suitcase record player, but you see a lot of kids with those to start out with.
00:15:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:15:58
Mike The Intern
And they're, they're garbage. It's like, you're not going to get any kind of Sonic benefit out of listening to it on those speakers. But if you spend, you know, seven to a thousand dollars on a pretty good system and speakers, then you can really hear the Sonic quality and the openness of what vinyl could bring. But I don't think like, as far as the majority kit of kids that are buying records, I don't think that's why they're doing it. I think it's just the tangibility of it.
00:16:24
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, tangibility. That's the right word. It's got that vintage vibe to it. that
00:16:28
Mike The Intern
got in your hand Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, it's, you hold on to it and and I'm glad I love it because had it not been for the resurgence of this ah ah vinyl, there are so many records that, um, I got to a point, you know, you got your dark side, you got your leads up on fours and all that stuff. You start going after your white Wells and you know, presses the on one time presses and stuff. And I mean, there are records.
00:16:52
Mike The Intern
that I have in my collection alone that are almost, but oh, I've got a signed dark side of the moon. that's I don't even know what the value of it is just because you can't find it, but and I'll never sell it but like you know just it.
00:17:06
Mike The Intern
It really blows my mind that you can go on to a record thing like Discogs, and you know you'll see just records that go for it.
00:17:18
Mike The Intern
an exuberant amount of money that are just like insane on how much they're worth.
00:17:22
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:24
Mike The Intern
I've got, for example, a jazz record by a Japanese trumpet player that came out in 2014 and two thousand and fourteen they only did one pressing of it.
00:17:33
Mike The Intern
It sold for $900.
00:17:35
The Jobs Podcast
Good grief man.
00:17:36
Mike The Intern
That's a double album that I paid $40 for. That has sold for $900. And it's just, it boths my again, it's crazy. Um, had a buddy that picked up a Japanese, uh, OG press of dark side of the moon.
00:17:50
Mike The Intern
When he was there, he just happened to come across it. That's a $700 record.
00:17:54
The Jobs Podcast
Wow.
00:17:55
Mike The Intern
I mean, so,
Advice for Media Industry Newcomers
00:17:56
Mike The Intern
but again, I would never bet. It's like whenever you're a kid and you're, you're collecting, you know, cards and stuff and you're like, Oh my God, I got a king group. Oh, this is great. You know?
00:18:05
Mike The Intern
And then, you know, my dad goes, well, yeah, it's great. They say that's what it worth, but it's not worth that until you get someone to pay for it.
00:18:11
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:18:11
Mike The Intern
So. it it It's nice, again, that I can look at the value, i didn't but I didn't get into collecting records because of what I could sell them for. I got it because I wanted them and I want to listen to them and I do.
00:18:24
The Jobs Podcast
Right. So let's go back to your education, your. your career training, if someone came up to you and said, hey, I would like to follow in your footsteps, I want to be on air talent, or I want to, you know, get into mixing, or I want to, what kind of advice would you give someone? Is it better to go get formal training at a university or a college? Or is it better to try and get an internship somewhere? Or is it tre better to, you know, with YouTube and stuff nowadays, you can learn so much just from your recliner at home on an iPad or on a laptop.
00:18:58
The Jobs Podcast
But what would you advise someone if they were wanting to follow in your footsteps?
00:19:02
Mike The Intern
mean, so it's kind of a double edged sword. I mean, on the one hand, you just said it. anyone can do this, right? You can, uh, you can grab, you can buy a mic for 200 bucks, plug it into your computer and boom, you can start a podcast.
00:19:16
Mike The Intern
You can start a blog.
00:19:16
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:19:17
Mike The Intern
You can start a web series. Like technology has made it so easy for anyone and everyone to be involved in this in any fast that they want to be. Which is great. It's oversaturated and I think eventually we're goingnna the world is gonna hit a wall, especially with the introduction of AI.
00:19:33
Mike The Intern
And now you're like looking at your social being going, is that even real? Is that chick real?
00:19:37
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:19:38
Mike The Intern
Is that video real?
00:19:38
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:19:39
Mike The Intern
does that mean You know what I mean? So there's like this, which is also gonna play into our favor, especially being very local direct is how we operate these stations and what we do.
00:19:40
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:19:48
Mike The Intern
we were We're like ah ah your hometown brewery. That's what we want. When you're gone, we want you to remember It's like when you're in Kansas City, you always are like, oh, I'm in one of the Fox, or you're in St.
00:19:58
Mike The Intern
Louis, in case you're 95, right?
00:19:59
The Jobs Podcast
here
00:20:00
Mike The Intern
That's what we want when you come here. We want that to be synonymous with this area. So you kill the...
00:20:09
Mike The Intern
it's I don't know. it So anyway, anyone can do it. So my first thing is start doing it. Doesn't matter, I started recording four tracks in my bedroom when I was 14 on a task camp to set reporters.
00:20:15
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:20:21
Mike The Intern
So that's where I started be well before I was involved in university, learning Pro Tools, learning how to run a board, mixing, all that stuff. just started doing it. So that's a big thing.
00:20:33
Mike The Intern
And you can literally, there are kids that do stuff all the time that get huge just because it just picks up and that's just the way it is.
00:20:39
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:20:40
Mike The Intern
As far as education, I mean, the one thing I will say that, you know, college is what it is. I think it's way too expensive.
00:20:49
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:20:49
Mike The Intern
Um, I'm, you know, I feel horrible for the kids that are actually trying to like pay for college and trying to get into this right now. Like you're talking about five, six finger debt.
00:21:01
Mike The Intern
As soon as you graduate, that's just horrific at 24, 25 years old.
00:21:04
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:21:06
Mike The Intern
Um, I will say that the connections that you make in school are invaluable because, for example, you are, um you know, trying to get in with, if it we can't technically bring in an intern unless it's for school. So like, for example, if you're like, hey, I want to be an intern with you, it'd have to be for college credit or worst high school or whatever, legally.
00:21:32
Mike The Intern
So that would be your only step in, at least in our company, would to be going to college or high school and they say, Hey, can you intern here for the summer or for the fall or whatever? And we do it all good.
00:21:43
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:21:43
Mike The Intern
But, so that in itself is a big deal, I think, um, connections that you can get. But again, it's, it's kind of one of those things where, you know, you should just start doing it.
00:21:57
Mike The Intern
I think you can find out, you can learn stuff.
00:21:57
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:22:00
Mike The Intern
You can pay to go and have access to studios and learn mixing stuff, but there's just so much online now that you can literally figure it out on your own. And most kids are willing to do that. So why not?
00:22:11
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Your advice about just do it is one of the things that got me motivated to do this podcast is I i have an hour commute to work. And so I listened to a podcast or I listened to a YouTube video. And as I was looking into the podcasting thing, there was a constant theme of all these internet gurus that would you know try and give you advice on equipment and all that kind of stuff.
00:22:33
The Jobs Podcast
They would say, you just have to start. You have to understand you're not going to be able to get better and get a catalog and learn how to interview, learn all the fine tuning stuff until you start doing it.
00:22:44
The Jobs Podcast
You have to understand your first few episodes probably aren't going to be very good. And you just got to go. And I thought, well, all right, I'm just going to do it. So I did. But yeah.
00:22:54
Mike The Intern
And it's awesome. And again, that's kind of one of the things that it got me this job is I just started doing it. I'd never, never had any drive to be a DJ. Never thought I'd be, you know, running a ridges. I just started doing it and then got better as I went. obviously I had a skill set that got me in the door, but there were other parts of the things that I do every day that I had no clue about that I'm do every day now. So.
00:23:20
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:23:21
Mike The Intern
you know, school and education is great. I'm not really sure. I know that when I was in school, their idea of broadcast media, more specifically radio was heavily nonprofit driven. So like their idea of what radio actually was, was very in line with an NPR station or whatever.
00:23:38
Mike The Intern
And that's just not reality. That's kind of my biggest hang up with the college education system is you get a bunch of these people that have been involved in media and then either for whatever reason didn't continue or took a teaching job and they're completely out of it for years.
00:23:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:23:56
Mike The Intern
They have no idea what it's like right now in the real real world. Does that make sense?
00:24:01
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:24:02
Mike The Intern
like you don't And I would be in class learning from a teacher you know that was working for NPR while I'm already working for a station to shake my head going, you absolutely have no clue.
00:24:03
The Jobs Podcast
Oh yeah.
00:24:14
Mike The Intern
You know what I mean?
00:24:15
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:24:15
Mike The Intern
So it's just one of those things where I it i don't know. i don't want it I don't want to just say, hey, It's a waste of money, but at the same time you kind of got to look and see see what it is for what it is.
00:24:31
Mike The Intern
Does that
00:24:31
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
Media Evolution and Human Connection
00:24:31
Mike The Intern
mean?
00:24:32
Mike The Intern
Yes.
00:24:32
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, yeah. What I don't think I told you this before we when we were talking. But when I first started college, I thought I wanted to get into communications in some form or another.
00:24:44
The Jobs Podcast
And I did campus radio for like a year and a half. And I realized I really wasn't very good at it. You know, but back then you were so I was splicing tape for commercials and putting carts in in, you know, and I can imagine now that that seems just archaic compared to what you do in your studio now. You've been in this line of work for a long time. What technologically have you seen that's been the big changes over your career?
00:25:11
Mike The Intern
I mean, you know, I never got, when I came in, we still had, you know, CD deck actually at my first probably a year or two of error checks are on cassette.
00:25:21
Mike The Intern
That's how we recorded them. Um, but now everything's digital art board that we run in our studio.
00:25:23
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:25:27
Mike The Intern
The one I'm talking on right now is all digital. Every channel has its own, not dedicated IP address. So you could literally dial up any audio source from any part of the entire building and, and.
00:25:33
The Jobs Podcast
oh
00:25:38
Mike The Intern
set it up in your board, which is pretty cool. and again, you, it's just continuing on learning that skillset. Um, know, obviously when I got in, we didn't have Facebook page on anything.
00:25:48
The Jobs Podcast
Oh,
00:25:50
Mike The Intern
Facebook really, I mean, it kind of existed, but not like it did not like it does now.
00:25:54
The Jobs Podcast
right.
00:25:55
Mike The Intern
and I was one of the first to say, Hey, we should probably set this up. And so, and you know, the social media. And so now we're more than, a radio company or a media company. So, you know, we can do audio production, podcasting, commercial stuff like that, but we can also do video production. We can do video commercials. We can do Any kind of video editing that you need, full episodes, whatever, we have the capability.
00:26:20
Mike The Intern
So that's part of what continuing on with that skill set and in your learning, I guess, is that you just continuing adding to the things that you can do. You know what I mean?
00:26:30
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:26:30
Mike The Intern
We don't stop it. We do nothing but audio. It's it's literally everything and anything that you can think of. We can cut you a TV commercial that'll play on the streaming service if you want to. We do SEO, we do website development, we do all of it
00:26:43
The Jobs Podcast
Man, you know, the social media stuff when I was younger, that was just on the fringes and it was kind of there, but it wasn't really a thing. But now, I mean, people major in marketing social media. That's all that they do. It's such a huge part of business anymore. So.
00:26:58
Mike The Intern
it It is. And again, it's it's you you don't you can't lose sight of what you are, which again is a radio station, but then you always want your net to cast out as far as you can to bring everyone back to what it is you do.
00:27:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:27:12
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:27:12
Mike The Intern
So if you're a big Chiefs fan and you're a female in your early twenties, you might not care about ACDC, but you love the Chiefs. So we bring you in that way, right? Or if you are a huge Raiders fan, but you love Led Zeppelin, we'll pull you in that way.
00:27:21
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:27:26
Mike The Intern
Or if you're a big supporter of the veterans, we do a lot of stuff with veterans. you know we pull So it's it's just trying to find other ways to bring people into what we do.
00:27:35
The Jobs Podcast
Your veteran comment right there you do. Is it lunch with a hero? Is that what it's called?
00:27:39
Mike The Intern
hunt
00:27:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, I think that's awesome. Can you tell the listeners just if they're not familiar with that what that is?
00:27:46
Mike The Intern
Yeah. I would say about seven, eight years ago, I was in a board meeting and we were really heavy into, uh, we did veteran stuff, but we were, we leaned a lot more to a motorcycle stuff and, kind of we looking at it and going, well, what else can we do? My best friend currently serves with the United States Navy as a pilot in Hawaii.
00:28:07
Mike The Intern
My stepfather retired from the army after his eight-year Marine and then 16 and the army still works for a Department of Defense as a civilian. My mother retired at Fort Carson.
00:28:17
Mike The Intern
My my grandfather fought in Korea. My aunt and uncle both served in Vietnam. So I have i'd never served myself, but it's obvious because I knew exactly what I wanted to do from a very early age.
00:28:29
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:28:30
Mike The Intern
So i didn't I was in a position where I didn't have to and I knew I i knew i could do what I needed to do. but uh, so I veterans have always been a big part of my life. And so There are a lot of really good veteran organizations across the country. I mean so many that do incredible things to me to the name and so it wasn't about what what I believed wasn't about like trying to raise money or help anyone it was more about just raising awareness for the fact that you know, these guys are your
00:29:03
Mike The Intern
you know, your mechanic or maybe your doctor or maybe the guy who picks up your mail every day or whatever.
00:29:09
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:29:09
Mike The Intern
They're in all walks of life. And it's not just about Veterans Day. We should be thanking these guys and gals for their service 365. It's not about politics. It's not about anything else other than the fact that these young men and women signed their name on a dotted line willing to give their life for their country, regardless of what the world looked like at that time.
00:29:27
Mike The Intern
And so I, after all these years had figured out that You know, one of the biggest parts in the things that I loved about this job was the human connection that I, that I can make with people. And so that in itself is a big reason why I do it because every other week I take a veteran out to lunch. He or she tells me their life story. You know, it's not a, I'm not Geraldo. I'm not trying to, you know, it's just tell me what you did. What do you do? And that's invaluable to me. The the relationships I've created and the, and the people that have let me in on their life. That's a huge big, it's a big part of what I do.
00:30:00
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, I think that's great. i've I've got nothing. I work with a lot of guys that are still in the military or that, you know, former military of all the branches before they got in the fire service. And I've got nothing but respect for anybody who does time in the military like that.
00:30:15
The Jobs Podcast
It's I mean, they're the reason why we have a country if you want to get, you know, specific about it.
00:30:18
Mike The Intern
Yeah.
00:30:20
The Jobs Podcast
but What if what do you like most about your job? If somebody just came out and asked you that real simple straightforward question, what would be the top one or two things that you would list?
00:30:32
Mike The Intern
one, obviously, what I just mentioned, the human connection.
00:30:35
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:37
Mike The Intern
That is the biggest part of what I do to me. And like I've been very clear with my superior that You know, if I, if you guys get to a point where you feel like I can't do a managing job and continue to do this show and do what I love to do, I'll walk away and just do what I do.
00:30:53
Mike The Intern
Cause I'm not, that's what is important to me.
00:30:56
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:57
Mike The Intern
the, but I'd say the second thing, um, probably. the work-life balance that it allows me to have the freedom.
00:31:06
Mike The Intern
I'm responsible for this thing being on air. So if it's Sunday night at six o'clock when everyone's chilling and I get a call that we're off or something's wrong, I got to deal with it. You know what I mean?
00:31:17
Mike The Intern
And that's 365 and it's been that way for my entire time here.
00:31:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:31:21
Mike The Intern
so but with that, it also allows me to have more freedom. You know, if I want to go to my kids, you know, uh, cookies are saying that I can get out of here and go do that.
00:31:31
Mike The Intern
You know what I mean?
00:31:31
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:31:31
Mike The Intern
If I want to go see my kid, uh, perform in a speech and debate tournament, I can go do that. I don't have to worry about, they're really good with that stuff. And so that's, that's a huge part to me because again, your job, no matter what it is, even with a cool job, like I have your, your time on this planet is limited.
00:31:49
Mike The Intern
The amount of money you can make is not. So that trade off for your time for money is something that you really have to consider when you are, you know, doing or figuring out what it is you love.
00:32:00
Mike The Intern
Cause there are guys that are making, you know, 500 K a year that are hate their life and hate their job, but they got money and what's important.
00:32:06
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, right.
00:32:08
Mike The Intern
You know what I mean? At the end of the day. My bills are paid. Am I going to have a brand new 2025 truck? No, but I got a truck that runs.
00:32:14
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:32:16
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:32:16
Mike The Intern
It's a 93 board ranger and paid off and it works.
00:32:20
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:32:20
Mike The Intern
You know what I mean? And I'm happy. So I'm lucky that I found that, I found that out too. Um, lesson. I learned that lesson early enough. The third one, um, being involved in
00:32:30
Mike The Intern
was the biggest thing that I was looking for after I graduated was the ability to continue to be involved in music, whatever that was. And I am. So yeah, I guess those are the three.
00:32:40
The Jobs Podcast
Right on. Did you have any mentors early in your career that when you were getting started that kind of took you under your their wing and and said, hey, you know I see something in Mike.
00:32:49
Mike The Intern
You know, yeah, I was really lucky.
00:32:49
The Jobs Podcast
I'm going to kind of guide him and and see if we can make some success out of you.
00:32:55
Mike The Intern
Obviously, my old boss, John Kimmons, was really good at helping me understand certain facets of this and what in his drive and dedication to the product was something that I will never forget.
00:33:05
Mike The Intern
on the The woman that ah trained me on my first day, she goes by Laura Jacobs. She's a dear, dear friend of mine. Taught me a lot. I also learned a lot from early on we all as a company hired a guy named Tommy Kramer who's at a Shreveport and he very much like a, he is very much like a,
00:33:31
Mike The Intern
Vocal coach talent coach he looks like George Carlin and acts like him too and within like a month everyone here We're like, oh my god. He's so mean they's so so mean And I mean there his air techs were horrific You were going there knowing that he was just gonna rip you apart and he did but he also taught me how to talk he taught me how to conversate
00:33:43
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:33:53
Mike The Intern
He taught me how there's so many things that I learned from him that are invaluable. And again, the on the job training is huge. I used to PA for the Springfield Cardinals, did that for like eight seasons.
00:34:04
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:04
Mike The Intern
And that was really on the job training because you literally get a sheet of copy in front of you. The first time you see it, see it, you know, it's four or five pages long and you've got to read it.
00:34:14
Mike The Intern
No mistakes in front of thousands of people. And you're the only thing out there. And when you're reading some of those names from lineups and other stuff, things like you got to get it right.
00:34:23
Mike The Intern
You know what I mean?
00:34:23
The Jobs Podcast
Oh,
00:34:24
Mike The Intern
so it's just like one of those things where ah you, you get, uh, you've got to take what's given and try to make the best of it and learn from it.
00:34:37
Mike The Intern
And so yeah, we'll say John, Laura, and Tommy are big.
00:34:37
The Jobs Podcast
bri right on.
00:34:40
Mike The Intern
And then you know i every chance I could get an opportunity to learn something else, whether that be the way we engineer stuff or sales, I took it.
00:34:51
The Jobs Podcast
That right there parlays pretty well.
00:34:52
Mike The Intern
know pretty well
00:34:54
The Jobs Podcast
What soft skills do you think would benefit the type of person that would be successful in your line of work or in media? What what are they? You talked about the ability to kind of think on your feet and adapt when you're given something, then you can't make any mistakes.
00:35:09
The Jobs Podcast
ah ah Accepting criticism that sometimes can come across as kind of harsh. you know what What are the other things, the intangibles that you see people that come in and they go, I think they've got something?
00:35:20
Mike The Intern
Can you say bad words on your podcast?
00:35:23
The Jobs Podcast
I try not to. Some some kids are listening, but.
00:35:26
Mike The Intern
Okay, so the biggest thing is care. I would say GAF if I could say it, but care about what you're doing.
00:35:34
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:35:37
Mike The Intern
I think that huge thing that you see
00:35:37
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:35:41
Mike The Intern
this complacency in the kids that are coming up where there's just like, you know, you used to be able to be like, Oh, this guy's not going to do anything because he's afraid he can't pay his rent, but then inevitably they just don't care.
00:35:54
Mike The Intern
so that, that in itself is a big deal. having the, the wherewithal to go figure out the answer yourself before you come to me, that's one of my biggest pet peeves is like,
00:36:06
Mike The Intern
Do you not know there's a Google that exists? And like there there are certain so many times where you're like, wait a minute, did you actually exhaust all of the things that you know to do before you came to me?
00:36:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:36:17
Mike The Intern
And if the question is yes, no
00:36:18
Mike The Intern
dude, that's crazy. Yeah, I've never seen that before. Oh yeah, that happened to me once. Yeah, this is the way, or what this is how I handled it. This might be different, but whatever. But like, if it's, you know, you see these guys that post on Reddit, it's like, what's this guitar?
00:36:31
Mike The Intern
And it's a Les Paul. And you know, it's like, did you not know that there's a search engine out there called Google that literally can answer any and every question that you have. It might not be the right answer, but at least it points you in the right direction.
00:36:42
Mike The Intern
You know what I mean?
00:36:43
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:36:44
Mike The Intern
I, it just, it blows my mind that, that's the biggest thing is people that have the drive to show up and care and also to try and solve the problem solving, whatever that looks like on their own.
00:36:57
Mike The Intern
That's a huge, huge deal for me. Anything else can be taught.
00:36:59
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:37:00
Mike The Intern
Everything can be taught, but the drive and that, yeah, the, the willingness to show up that cannot be taught that's either in you or not.
00:37:01
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:37:08
The Jobs Podcast
I
Family, Happiness, and Work-Life Balance
00:37:08
The Jobs Podcast
had a captain in the fire service pretty early on that told me one of the best pieces of of advice I can give you is do your best to bring me solutions to the problem that you're bringing me. And it's kind of like, well, I may not be able to find all the answers. And I may go and Google or look or ask and try and figure it out. Sometimes I have to come to somebody and say, I've looked around and I just can't figure out what the answer is. I think you're going to have a more receptive audience when you approach it from that from that place.
00:37:35
Mike The Intern
who and Sorry, go ahead.
00:37:38
The Jobs Podcast
Now go ahead.
00:37:40
Mike The Intern
No, it's just like I said, i I've had ah ah plenty of interns in my life that have worked for me that you know I can usually tell within a day or two what kind of person I have.
00:37:51
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:37:52
Mike The Intern
you know i mean and And then I'm usually right. Some people will get better, but most of the time I can usually tell like, this is going to work or this isn't going to work.
00:38:00
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. What's your best advice for someone that when they make a mistake? Because we're all human. We all make mistakes. It's bound to happen. You want to limit it as much as possible.
00:38:11
The Jobs Podcast
But when you do make a mistake, how can they best handle it?
00:38:16
Mike The Intern
Own it obviously don't pass the buck know don't make excuses like i've I don't know many times like I've had to say this to my staff, which is Like I made I probably made three mistakes so far today, right?
00:38:18
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:38:30
Mike The Intern
I've been on the air since five. I'm gonna work for four hours I've at least made at least one mistake and I'm the ball So if that if that's the way it is, everyone's gonna do it
00:38:34
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:38:39
Mike The Intern
So it's not about blame. It's how we fix it and go forward. Now, if you continue to make the same mistake over and over again, then we have a problem. But everyone's going to make a mistake.
00:38:46
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:38:48
Mike The Intern
We're human beings. We're not computers. We're and we're not infallible.
00:38:51
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:38:52
Mike The Intern
So you have to be able to, A, make if you make a mistake, learn from it, own it, correct it and move on. So many times people get involved in the blame and it's never about blame because again, what am I going to do?
00:39:04
Mike The Intern
Like, am I going to scream at you like I'm your dad? No, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to sit you down. I'm going to say, this is where we went wrong and this is what we need to do. Blaine doesn't do anything. Excuses don't do anything. It's just you move on.
00:39:14
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:39:15
Mike The Intern
So yeah, that's a big, the ownership and accountability is a big thing for me too.
00:39:20
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. If you weren't in your current career, if you could go back, and I know we can't live in the past, of course, but if you went back and you had it to do all over again, is there another career on the side? And I think I already kind of know the answer to this, but is there another career that you thought, I really wish I could have, I could have done that.
00:39:39
Mike The Intern
no, uh, honestly, my man, like I said, the only thing that I would change that I would have got a minor in in marketing, but that didn't really change anything cause I didn't know getting it.
00:39:49
Mike The Intern
So I just don't have the degree to prove it, but I have definitely at the time now I'm exactly where I want to be.
00:39:51
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:39:54
The Jobs Podcast
Right on.
00:39:55
Mike The Intern
my personal and professional life, I've, you know, obviously it hasn't been easy. There have been mountains to climb. There've been roadblocks. There've been all kinds of stuff that life brings you, but.
00:40:05
Mike The Intern
at the end of the day, I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.
00:40:05
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:40:08
The Jobs Podcast
Right on. Man, if you're happy, that's worth a lot of money.
00:40:11
Mike The Intern
Oh, yeah, I told you, man.
00:40:12
The Jobs Podcast
So
00:40:13
Mike The Intern
i feel Like I said, I figured out early on that the the the balance between life and in your work and all that stuff and your family is valuable, very valuable.
00:40:23
Mike The Intern
And if you can figure that out and make it work, you'll be a very happy person.
00:40:27
The Jobs Podcast
One final question, what is something that you've accomplished either in your personal life or your professional life that you, it always pops up to the top when someone says, what are you most proud of in your life?
00:40:38
Mike The Intern
My kids, I mean, I got one that's going to start college in the fall.
00:40:39
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:40:42
Mike The Intern
I got one that's going to start school, the real school in the fall. So one in, one out at the same time.
00:40:47
The Jobs Podcast
Right on.
00:40:48
Mike The Intern
I'm above the moon, proud of both of
Closing Remarks and Online Presence
00:40:50
Mike The Intern
them. I mean, I couldn't have asked for better kids. Like those, those dudes are just awesome. They're very cool kids. And, and I hope the best that's, that's my biggest accomplishment.
00:41:01
The Jobs Podcast
Are they following in dad's footsteps going into media in some form?
00:41:04
Mike The Intern
I don't know. Well, the youngest one may. He's he's already a ham, just like I was. The oldest one is a little bit more inner interviewed and in kind of looking on and looking inside.
00:41:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:18
Mike The Intern
It's it's one of those things where I he's saying he's looking to be a teacher when he goes in there. We'll see, but I will mean as long as he figures out what it is he wants to do in life, I'll support it no matter what.
00:41:33
The Jobs Podcast
Right on. Where can they find you? If people want to know anything about Mike, the intern, obviously 104.7, the caves, Springfield, Missouri. Where else can they find you?
00:41:42
Mike The Intern
Yeah. Uh, one oh four seven K dot com is our website. Um, can, we've got a jock pages on there. I've got all the social media handles. I'm on YouTube. You just might be intern pretty much any social page you follow. If you type in Mike, the intern, you'll find me.
00:41:57
The Jobs Podcast
Right on. Mike, thanks for your time today, buddy. It was awesome talking with you. I really appreciate it.
00:42:02
Mike The Intern
Thank you for having me on your podcast woman.
00:42:05
The Jobs Podcast
You bet. Take care.
00:42:06
Mike The Intern
You too.