8 Questions with...Samantha Scott!

Samantha is a graduate of the Radio Program at IWCC.  She was an excellent student and has become an even more excellent radio professional.  Check out 8 questions with Sam!

Brief Career synopsis: 

I have been at iHeartMedia/ ClearChannel since 2010 when I scored a part-time board-op position right at about the time I was graduating from IWCC. Since then, we switched KISO-FM from The Brew to KISS in 2012 and ever since then I have been an on-air personality for the station. I started off voice-tracking weekends and in 2013 they hired me on full-time as a sales assistant. Sales wasn’t REALLY where I wanted to be, but it was a full time job in radio, so I jumped on it. I learned a lot about sales and was in the position for three years, then got hired on to be the Digital Content Director and as an added bonus, they made me the mid-day chick on 96.1 KISS FM.
 Current title: 

Digital Content Director for Omaha and Minot, ND/ On-Air Mid-Days

 
 1) What made you want to do this for a living? 

My love of music really pointed me in the direction of broadcasting. Originally I wanted to do sound engineering, but then I realized that there was a lot of math involved, and since math and I don’t get along, I decided that radio broadcasting might be more up my alley.

 2) As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

I think when I was a little kid I wanted to be a Vet and then as I got older I remember wanting to be a hair stylist.
 

3) What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?

 Radio isn’t just RADIO anymore. There are so many elements like production, voice work, sales, promotions and digital. You can’t just be a one-trick pony in radio anymore. You HAVE to wear multiple hats. I always tell students trying to crack into the industry to NEVER SAY NO. The more reliable you can make yourself appear, the more people will ask you to do and the more you can absorb and learn.
 

4)  5 WORDS OR LESS - What is the most brutal part of your job?

Last minute digital creative requests.

 5) 5 WORDS OR LESS - What is the best part of your job? 

Generating new ideas!

 6) What is the biggest misconception about your job? 

That I just sit in a studio for 4 hours a day and then go home.
Half the time I’m in between the studio and my office and communicating with other markets about digital stuff. There is never a dull day at the office!
 

7) Fill in the blank ...“The problem with newbies is they don’t know how....

much work really goes into doing your job well.

Most get into radio to listen to music and meet celebrities (which is a REALLY cool part about the job, don’t get me wrong) but that only happens every once in a while. What you really have to worry about is doing your job WELL. Always give your bosses a reason to see you as irreplaceable, because the second you start slacking off and not doing your job well, you could be replaced. Always be on your A-Game!

 8) What industry related skill/software do you wish you knew more about?
I wish I knew more about scheduling music. I know there’s a science and a method to the madness on why music is scheduled the way it is. But I want to know more about it and learn how to do it!