I Can't Live Without My Radio...Or Can I?

As the era of new media continues to reshape the landscape, Brandweek reports on a medium that has been hit especially hard: radio.

How bad? According to this article, the radio industry suffered its worst quarter in history. As a whole, the industry fell a whopping 24%.

This story hit home with me on a personal level. I spent two years of my life training for a career in radio broadcasting and almost four years working in the radio industry. I have a lot of great memories of working in the business, much of which are trade secrets that I'll take to the grave. However, I ultimately got to a point where I wanted to try on some new hats.

Even back then, I knew that the medium I was pursuing a career in was heading towards some tough times due to the advent of the Internet and the iPod. I'm not sure if this recent news is a sign of the beginning of the end or just a rough quarter, but I know I'd be sad should the day come if/when traditional radio is no more.


Sources: Brandweek and thehometeam

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LEADERS OF THE NEW: Keely Powell

Leaders of the New is an ongoing series at jettlandicho.com that will focus on the future talents of advertising. Click here to check the archives.

Name: Keely Powell

Career Path: Radio writing and production

Education: Seneca College

Advertising Experience: Volunteer at ihaveanidea.org portfolio night 6, adweek NYC ‘08, Planet In Focus and Burt’s Bees winners of Seneca College student campaign competition.

One Thing About You: At one point in my life I had 9 body piercings at the same time.

Contact: keelypowell@gmail.com

Full interview after the break!

When did you know that advertising was for you?

I don’t know when I knew that advertising was for me. I still don’t even really know if I’m for advertising. I fell hard for it when I began at Seneca. And then, as these things tend to happen to people my age, I hit a pivotal moment in my life and where I was going and I had to make a lot of realizations about myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as strongly about advertising after that but I persevered and I decided to find a path for myself to proud of, to back up the education I’ve received, and to revive the strong feelings of love and admiration I used to feel for advertising. Which is a good segway into the next question:


You’ve told me that you want to specialize in radio advertising. Why?

Radio advertising just happened to be the niche I discovered for myself. It is the area of advertising into which I feel I fit best. It just makes sense to me. Now not many people know this but before I decided to come to Seneca College’s Creative Advertising program, I juggled my post-secondary education options between graphic design and radio broadcast and before that point in my life I also had a strong passion for literature and writing.

So since I have always been interested in broadcast and I’ve always loved writing, the Seneca College Creative Advertising program brought that all of my interests together and taught me that I love writing scripts for radio commercials. Specializing in radio advertising and radio production seemed like an incredibly lucky opportunity for me to stumble upon, but really it was the choices I made for myself that led me to where I can be happy and enjoy working for the rest of my life.


Radio, unlike other forms of media, doesn’t have the luxury of visuals to convey the message. What do you do to compensate for that?

Sounds. Effects. Ideas. It’s the clever mixing of internal thoughts and external noise into a perfect form that makes radio interesting and intelligent to write and create. It’s no disadvantage to have to work without visual aids; it is a challenge, an accomplishment.


Describe your creative process. How do you brainstorm? How do you keep track of ideas? How do you know when one of your ideas is good? What do you do when you're creatively stumped?

I brainstorm on the bus and the subway. I brainstorm when I’m not stressed or busy with other things, when I can focus my energy on brainstorming. I keep track of ideas by writing them down with a pen on paper. I can’t work on a computer until I’m through with the heavy thinking and planning process. Some people I know go through their whole creative process on a computer and come up with great work. But I can’t do that. To me, computers are necessary only for research, typing stuff up, editing and revising good work. And I never know when an idea is good. I just work and I think and I write until I’ve come up with something I like and something that works. Then I take it to a friend and I ask for their opinion and go from there.

Every idea is a good idea. Some ideas just need to be cleaned off and fixed up first. And if, after the idea’s been cleaned off and fixed up, it doesn’t work for what I need it for, then oh well. Lastly, if I am creatively stumped, usually I go for a walk or a bike ride.


Do you want to just be a radio copywriter, or venture into the production side?

Well Jett,I don’t want to “just” be anything, but I know that’s not what you meant, so I’ll say: I don’t think I can be 100% happy with the radio I write until I am also producing the spots myself. Think of it this way: A chef can’t create a 5 star meal without knowing what’s in the kitchen first. Plus I am the kind of person who likes to have the reins in my hands when it comes to my own work. Unfortunately right now I have little to no experience or knowledge when it comes to radio recording and production equipment. But! I am currently working on scheduling a day to go in to Think Music to observe the recording and post-production of a radio spot, in order learn the basics and ask some questions.


Outside of advertising, do you express yourself creativity in any other ways?

Yes, I write poetry and short stories. I’ve got one short story in the planning and organizing phase right now and an outline for another idea I want to write about. I bake delicious cakes and cookies (and crepes) from scratch recipes I’ve mostly made up. I like to decorate and design space. And I’m not much for drawing, but I enjoy creating other kinds of art.


What is your biggest accomplishment so far in life? What do you hope to achieve someday?

My biggest accomplishment so far in life, eh? Never flunking out of school regardless of how tempting it seemed at times. In high school I was a big slacker and didn’t really care for much other than partying. But now, on the other hand, I’ve got high hopes; I want to write and be known for writing novels, and also, I want to bring back the old time radio show. (ie. Cloak and Dagger)


What do you do for fun?

Bike! I love my bike. And read. I love to read. And I’m writing short stories in my free time, so that’s pretty fun too.


E-Elevator Pitch: Sell yourself in 140 characters or less.

Script+sound+sales=radioKeely

If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email at jettlandicho@gmail.com

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When Opportunity Knocks

When I first went to college for radio, I came in with a mindset similar to the one I brought with me from high school. Getting good grades was my top priority. And I got those good grades, as I always have. But did they help me get my first job in the radio industry? In a way, yes. But with years of hindsight to draw from, I got my internship and job for the following reasons:

1) I had a good relationship with my professor.
2) My professor was close friends with a program director.
3) I was willing to drive an hour every day to work in this piece of junk 1991 Ford Tempo.
4) My demo tape wasn't complete crap.

R.I.P. Jakemobile. Still miss you, buddy.

The letter grades on my report card didn't decide my fate. It was ultimately that opportunity to prove my worth to my teacher and that program director that got me in. As I've learned through my successes and failures in my radio career, regardless of my talent or competency, making things happen revolves around opportunities and positioning yourself in a way that you're ready to make or capitalize on them.

So when I went back to school for advertising, the mindset was much more opportunity-driven. Instead of approaching homework as a way to get my marks up, it was an opportunity to learn, improve my skill-set and in some cases, network. It was an opportunity to prove to my professors that I deserved to be in their classes. And most importantly to me, an opportunity to prove to them that I'm worth referring to potential employers. When I networked, I used it as an opportunity to show my potential worth to them.

Has that mentality worked for me? I think it has. While it took longer than I had hoped to land an internship, it wasn't for a lack of opportunity and definitely wasn't because of a lack of trying on my part. My journey to land an internship included me sending out resumes and portfolios to multiple agencies, making phone calls, attending job interviews and even pitching a client.

It's a bit too early to say what the next big move is for me, and this may not be the venue to announce it, should I announce it at all in any public forum. But it's a really big jump from the classroom. If the standard advertising agency internship was the equivalent of learning how to crawl, then the position I'm in now is the equivalent of me being picked out of the cradle, placed on the ground and expected to dance like a member of the Jabbawockeez. As daunting as it may sound, a lot of great things could happen if I could in fact, dance like a Jabbawockee.

image from Kabillion

Even this blog is an attempt at making opportunities. I have the know-how to create one; why make something of it? I seem to be making some noise with it so far. Let's take this as far as it can go.

To wrap this whole ramble about opportunity up, three assorted pointers from yours truly that may or may not be helpful to you someday, as well as a bonus expression I learned from Anthony Kalamut that's as powerful as any :

1) Opportunities don't fall out of the sky. You make them.
2) Opportunities don't always follow your watch.
3) Whenever there's a good opportunity in front of you, make the most of it.

"If it is to be, it is up to me."

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