January 20, 2026 • 22 mins
My guest Mary Galligan is a shining example of how to blend strategy, career and community work.
Her secret sauce is creativity and heart. Tune in Tuesday 1/13 at 9 EST to get real tips for your success.
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Her secret sauce is creativity and heart. Tune in Tuesday 1/13 at 9 EST to get real tips for your success.
NEXT! is broadcast live Tuesdays at 9AM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). NEXT! is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
NEXT! Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/next--6825610/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
liability explicit or implied She'll be extended to W four
c Y Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions
or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank
(00:20):
you for choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Mary is got a really interesting career, which is why
I invited her to the show. She has a long
career with Johnson and Johnson and which we all know,
the big pharmaceutical company, and she had a big job
there driving corporate strategy. And after that she did some
movie sets as well, and then she got deeply rooted
(01:08):
into the community. One of the things that she did,
which I always was sort of envious on, was she
worked on a presidential campaign. We won't go into the
details of that, but she worked on a presidential campaign,
and then she was able to get her work that
brought people together, raised money for great causes, and kept
(01:29):
fun in the front and the center with live music
and big community and energy and many of these events
I participated in. And you know, when I got to
know Mary better, I realized music and these kinds of
things were always in her veins since college when she
was actually a college DJ. And now Mary is very
(01:50):
instrumental in working for Cape Fear Radio, which has become
a huge powerhouse in this local Cape Fear community. And
so throwing to have you Mary, how are you?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I'm great, good, good, Thank you so much for agreeing
to doing this.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah. Well, you know a couple of things that came
to mind when I was I was thinking about you
and thinking about guests. You know, you had this big
corporate strategy job. I think you were in New Jersey, right,
Jane Jays in jerseysy.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Excuse me, based out of New Jersey, Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Based out it. But we went all over the world
and did all sorts of stuff with medical equipment, and
then things happened some out of your control and you retired.
What was that like to retire from such a fast paced,
intense I've been in those kinds of worlds. What was
it like to retire from.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
That, so I bought all the books about retiring, and
I never read them because I was so busy working.
So I ended up in southeastern North Carolina at fifty
seven with my husband and I have two adult children
and they were not living here. So I got here
and I just had no plan whatsoever. So I came
into the community. I was used to working eighty hours
(03:07):
a week, traveling all over and here I am in
a quiet, sleepy, beautiful coastal town.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
And so I got dog.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I've read many things, and then I went back to
work because I really was bored. I had no plan,
which was the problem for my next and so I
went back to work for like two and a half
years for a small Swedish medical company.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I made sure when I agreed to do it that
I picked cities that had live music, because music has
always been a part of my life. So I covered Nashville, Memphis,
Ashville and different select cities and then I would go
work all day and then go listen to live music
at night. And it was a great mix.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I was just going to say, those cities, none of
those cities are bad choices to be fun, right, did
you meet any great people out there I did.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I met a lot of great people through the company.
It was a smaller company, so I had to adjust
to not having all the structure of a Johnson and Johnson.
But I learned a lot and it was great. And
I could go out, like to the Rhymen and see
Sheryl Crow because at night they might have, you know,
single tickets out in all these different cities. I went
to Graceland and of course that develops around music, so
(04:22):
it was a fun time. Then I retired again and
was looking for things to do.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What made you retire from there? Sounded like it was
a good gig.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
It was a good gig, but everybody else was retired
and I wasn't. Yeah, and so I was on planes
all the time out of a small coastal airport.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You know, familiar with that airport. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
I thought, well, it's time to retire again and find
some things to do. But that time, this time, I
was more prepared. I had looked around the community. I
joined a couple of boards, and I've always been about
giving back to the community and raising money, so I
did a couple music events. We had a local band
here who was brand new is a really great band.
(05:07):
So we did a fundraiser and sold six hundred tickets
for that. It was great fun. And then we brought
in a group from Nashville for a fundraiser for two
of our local nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
And now how exciting was that. That was a lot
of fun.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
It was great, and so then I started thinking more
about music. And three of my friends had just started
a radio station. They were in the preliminary stages, so
they called me and I joined them. There were six
of us to start. It's called Cape Fear Radio. It's
a streaming station here in town. And we're hyper local,
(05:42):
so we do sports, news, weather, all types of community events.
And so I became very involved with it and learned
a lot because I love to learn new things. So
I've done all the social media. I ran a capital
campaign and really got out in the community. And right
now we've grown to over sixty volunteers. We're all volunteered,
(06:05):
and we set ourselves up as a nonprofit and so
we return money back to the community. And it's been
a great learning experience and a ton of fun.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, and you know, I have to say, Mary, I
known you for quite a while, and yes, I knew
when this started out and it was, like you said,
three people, and now it's hard to go anywhere in
this Cape Fear region, which by the way, for listeners
is a relatively big region. And everybody knows about Cape
(06:36):
Fear Radio. Everybody knows about it, and it's got such
a diverse kind of canopy of things that it offers
in terms of music and news and local sports and
all that stuff. I think it's quite an accomplishment, quite
an accomplishment. What did you learn from it? What do
you love about it?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, what I love is getting out in the community
and reviewing people. So I've interviewed about forty five local
community leaders and bands, and I love to go to
live band events and you know, learn from the band
as well as interview them and play their music. I
also have two shows on the station. I have an independent, Alternative,
(07:18):
Emerging and local music show on Thursday nights. We have
specialty shows like jazz, you know, different types of things, Reggae,
we have rhythm and blues. We have all types of things.
But from seven to seven we have the Sound of
the Station, which is music that the music team puts together.
(07:38):
So I also have a morning show on Friday mornings,
that I do, that's the sound of the station show.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Well, and what is the sound of the station show?
Say more about.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Different music that's picked up by the music team. So
when I do my own show, I can put whatever
types of music I want into it. And when we
have a sound of the station show, most of the
music is picked by a large music team that we have.
So it occurs to everybody.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Oh cool, Hey do you have any k Do you
have any K Pop on there?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
No? But the funniest thing is that, yeah, they're all
different types of bands that are joining us. Music, yes, segments,
but we also do news, weather, and sports, and it's
all hyper local and we have great people doing that
and that's a new addition to the station. So that
is a lot of fun. And we've given money back
(08:30):
to the community to different organizations. We're putting together a
team to decide how that money is dispersed in which
organizations we choose as a radio station. So I'm learning
a lot there.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I love that well, So I have to just tell
this quick story. I knew Mary was doing some TV
shots and you know, backups on movies, and I was like, oh,
that's intriguing. I have to find out about that. But
I went to a St. Patrick's Day party of in
Wilmington and here is Mary with all her equipment interviewing
(09:05):
people kind of I'm seeing the thing. I'm going, Wow,
this is really cool. So how cool was that? You
do that a lot? Now you let our parade for
we have big parades in Southport, so.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
I love parades. I have to say, I love parades.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And you looked great by the way, thank you.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And so we've been for six years on this Wilmington
Saint Patrick's Stay Parade Committee up in Wilmington and there's
a small group of us that run that and it's
one of the top parades in the country for small communities,
and it has been quite the learning experience. It's a
lot of fun. We have something called a Hooly which
is typically halfway between Saint Patrick's Day and that's what
(09:45):
you were at the whole.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
That's what I went. I loved it. I loved the
holy I got right into it.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
We get about twelve to fifteen hundred people there and
we bring in Irish bands and Irish music and it's fair.
It's a great event as long as the weather's good.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
No it is.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We've had good luck with the weather and we have
food trucks and that raises money for the parade to
pay for the parade. It's right around the corner.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yes, it is right around the corner. I have to
make sure it's on my on my my calendar because
I had such a good time. And I think Saint Patrick,
who is related to you, I think there was a
big tall Saint Patrick there.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Well, Saint Patrick did get sick that day, so we
had to get a sub and so my husband Tom
was Saint Patrick.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
I was going to get you look like Tom Gallagan
to me, not Saint Patrick. Was fun. So, Mary, what
has been the biggest learning experience out of all of
this for you?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I think the biggest learning experience for me is the
technology and how we do. We have two studios now.
We just opened a second studio that we ran the
Capitol campaign for and the thing I'm learning the most
is live in the studio is a lot different than
doing it in your home studio with the equipment that
we have. So I've learned, yes, I've learned all the technology.
(11:06):
And this is going to sound really funny, but when
we started out and I did interviews, I was doing
them off my iPhone with an MP three recorder, and
now we have all types of equipment and we have
two studios to do interviews in, so that's been super helpful.
And the other big learning has been the social media.
(11:27):
So I didn't know much about social media, but I've
learned a lot. So I have tools like Canva. I
do all the scheduling, I go to the live events,
take a lot of the pictures, and post up about
the interviews and different things happening around the station because
we really want to get our exposure out there. And
we have a great website as well. So learning the
(11:49):
technology and learning the social media and the graphic design
behind it has been a lot of fun as well.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Wow, that's really terrific. I mean that's something that I
could perhaps learn, but I worked for a technology company
and they did all that stuff for me. So I'm
a lot ie. I'm a lot iite. I just use it.
I don't know how to do anything with it. So
there we go. So if you were going to think
about what made you a success in all of this,
(12:17):
because I would say, by all accounts, you're well known
in the area. You know, you're sought out the stuff
that you're doing is such a value add What would
you say contributed to your personal success.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I would think finding your passion And I think it
did take me a while. I tried the background movie thing.
I tried a couple different charitable organizations, but nothing had music.
And then when my friend started the radio station, it
was such a perfect fit. So I think you need
to find your passion. And a watch out is don't
(12:50):
get over involved because it'll take over your life.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
It'll take over your life. So how do you keep
it from taking over your life?
Speaker 3 (12:57):
I'm working.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
That's your current chow.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
It was great fun. Now that we're in the second
year and going into well we're into eighteen months, we
know a lot of the events and we know what's required,
and we have such a larger team now that we're
able to do that. So I'm able to look around
and have great people on the radio station. I've met
so many wonderful people and we all work together and
(13:22):
we're planning. Actually today we have a strategy planning meeting
from ten to five for next year, which I think
will be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, I think that will be a lot of fun.
And so, like you look around at the people that
are working with you, and you kind of assign people
to different things that are going on.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, we have people come to us with specific interests
like our sportscaster, our weatherman, our events people. They're interested
in doing those things. And then we also have twenty
three people that are on air and they're interested in
specific types of music. So it's kind of they select
what they want to do and we find a spot
(14:04):
for that.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I for anybody who's watching this, forgive me, I'm still
trying to get my camera set up right. We're early
days into my next at any rate. So, Mary, if
you were to give any advice to someone who's you know, particularly,
I look at some people and I say, you know,
they're in their fifties. They're working in a job. It's
(14:28):
a great job, they make good money, but it's not
tapping into their passion. But it's not easy for them
to walk away from those jobs. Yet. What advice do
you have for people that are in that kind of
a niche, Because, as you said, when you retired from
Jay and Jay, you were fifty seven. I mean, in
the big picture of life, that's relatively young at the time,
(14:51):
but it is well, it is as time goes by.
I mean, that's relatively young to walk away from what
I would characterize as a very probably lucrative corporate job.
So what advice did, was it scary? Were you afraid?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I was? And the second time I was not because
I was ready. So I was more deliberate. I looked
at different things that I liked, that I wanted to do,
and then I looked way in the past to what
gave me passion in the past. And when I was
in college, the first thing I did was become a
DJ on their radio station, and that was one of
my great memories. So it all fit together because it
(15:29):
fits with music, fits with community, giving back to nonprofits,
and then a passion for music throughout my life. So
I would look for something that fits your passion of
what you want to do, and then go out and
not be afraid to go out in the community and
find places to contribute.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Well, that's great. How hard was it to find places
to contribute?
Speaker 3 (15:52):
It's not hard. It's hard in the very beginning to start,
because you're in a new city in town and people
don't really know you that well, and you don't know folks,
so there are a lot of volunteer opportunities that you
can do. So if you look around your community and
see what types of volunteers and just talk to all
types and all kinds of people, because there's so many
(16:14):
people out there that need and want help, and they'll
want the skills for sure, and everybody has great skills
in some part of their life. So I wouldn't be
afraid to go out and test the waters, you know,
test a few things and see what you really like.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, because I do think I don't know if I
mentioned this too, I probably did, but you know, we're
going to live a lot longer and we're going to
be a lot healthier, and you know, thinking about really
that passion and what you can give back in this
I don't want to say last chapter, but this next chapter,
next chapter, next chapter can be daunting. And many people,
(16:53):
I think don't realize what still innate skills that they
have that they can bring to the table and off
offered to others and bring joy in life. And to
your point, which I said in the intro, the resiliency.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes, and if you try something and it happens to
fail or you don't like it, just move on to
the next right to the next thing and try that.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, I tried a few things.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
The background acting was very tiring because you had to
get up at four in the morning. You might not
get back to like two in the morning. And I
always thought, wow, I'm good on TV, but rarely are
you because background is.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Background, background, right, right? And do you get a chance
to meet any of the talent when you were in
those background things.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I was Jessica Chesstain's doctor at one point.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Oh you were who you were?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
What Jessica Chesstain's doctor one of her doctors in a scene?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Oh that's cool.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
But when you see the final movie, there's a lot
of cuts from people moving around in different things. But
it was a fun learn experience. I did about eight
of them and it was fun. But I did that
early on when I was fifty seven, fifty nine maybe, Oh,
such a babe. That such a babe. And it was
hard then because it's a lot of hours, a lot
(18:14):
of hours and a lot of sitting and standing around.
But it was fun. I did learn a lot, so
I liked it.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, And I remember when you did that. I was
thinking about it until you started telling me about the hours,
and I was like, I don't think that's good. I
think I stayed coaching.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
That's it's an hour away at four in the morning.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
It's a lot, right, it's a lot up up there.
So what's your next after this? Or haven't you thought
about it?
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Oh? I'm always thinking about it. So my next is, well,
I love the radio, so I want to continue doing
the radio. I came down here, and this is going
to sound a little funny. I love to fish, so
I came down with a fly fishing rod and I
have yet to open it down here, wow and take
it out. That's funny when to have small nexts in
addition to the radio station, the things that I thought
(19:01):
I would do that I haven't had the time to do,
like that nice. Maybe I'll keep working at golf, but
I'm not sure it's my thing.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yeah, I try to keep working at golf too. I
think that's what turned me into the next thing, because
I'm like, is ain't working out too good? I mean
it's okay, but I'll never be you know, the pro
am or whatever. So but yeah, I remember you used
to like to fish. That's fun. You got to get
that rat out.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
I will. So I think though people have to be
deliberate and planning, which is what I did not do
the first time. So I was far more successful in
finding new things and making a plan. So I guess
make a plan.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Yeah, well that's that's what I was just going to
ask you. If you at advice, it sounds me want
to do something that you're passionate about, and to make
sure you have a plan. And the third thing that
comes out is keep working at it because it's not
going to necessarily jump in your lap the first time
out of the box, right.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Or maybe the first couple of time. So yeah, looking
at it and find something you really love.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
You really love. Yeah, that's that's very important. Well, Mary,
how can people get a hold of you because you've
got a great story.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Oh, you can get a hold of me at maryg
at kpepiirradio dot com. That's my email for the radio station.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, and what are you looking for? What could what? What?
What could they aside from hearing your great story and
getting you on some of their shows.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I'll know more about that after our strategy session today.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Well that'll be very good because that'll be very interesting
and and you know, I think you'd be a wonderful
speaker places for people who are thinking about what's next
for them, and because let's face it, there's a lot
of fear in leaving a big corporate job and jumping
into more stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Definitely is and I would say plan for it. Yeah,
don't show up the first day in retirement like I didn't, go.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Ah ah oh and then get oh my paycheck is
over in the next couple of months, right after I
get my seffarence. Now what do I do? Right That
I had the same experience, it was kind of scary. Well, Mary,
thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed the show.
I sure enjoyed having you on. And my final question
(21:17):
for you, is there anything I didn't ask you that
I should have asked you that you would love to
share with the audience.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Have fun? That would be my ending message. Whatever you do,
have fun with it because fun is important at this
point of our lives.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Totally, totally keep having fun hopefully people. Thanks again, Thanks again, Mary,
and we'll talk to you soon and I know I'll
run into you and keepe for your area.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Thank you for having me on, Linda.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Okay, bye bye bye.
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
liability explicit or implied She'll be extended to W four
c Y Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions
or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank
(00:20):
you for choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Mary is got a really interesting career, which is why
I invited her to the show. She has a long
career with Johnson and Johnson and which we all know,
the big pharmaceutical company, and she had a big job
there driving corporate strategy. And after that she did some
movie sets as well, and then she got deeply rooted
(01:08):
into the community. One of the things that she did,
which I always was sort of envious on, was she
worked on a presidential campaign. We won't go into the
details of that, but she worked on a presidential campaign,
and then she was able to get her work that
brought people together, raised money for great causes, and kept
(01:29):
fun in the front and the center with live music
and big community and energy and many of these events
I participated in. And you know, when I got to
know Mary better, I realized music and these kinds of
things were always in her veins since college when she
was actually a college DJ. And now Mary is very
(01:50):
instrumental in working for Cape Fear Radio, which has become
a huge powerhouse in this local Cape Fear community. And
so throwing to have you Mary, how are you?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I'm great, good, good, Thank you so much for agreeing
to doing this.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah. Well, you know a couple of things that came
to mind when I was I was thinking about you
and thinking about guests. You know, you had this big
corporate strategy job. I think you were in New Jersey, right,
Jane Jays in jerseysy.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Excuse me, based out of New Jersey, Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Based out it. But we went all over the world
and did all sorts of stuff with medical equipment, and
then things happened some out of your control and you retired.
What was that like to retire from such a fast paced,
intense I've been in those kinds of worlds. What was
it like to retire from.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
That, so I bought all the books about retiring, and
I never read them because I was so busy working.
So I ended up in southeastern North Carolina at fifty
seven with my husband and I have two adult children
and they were not living here. So I got here
and I just had no plan whatsoever. So I came
into the community. I was used to working eighty hours
(03:07):
a week, traveling all over and here I am in
a quiet, sleepy, beautiful coastal town.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
And so I got dog.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I've read many things, and then I went back to
work because I really was bored. I had no plan,
which was the problem for my next and so I
went back to work for like two and a half
years for a small Swedish medical company.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I made sure when I agreed to do it that
I picked cities that had live music, because music has
always been a part of my life. So I covered Nashville, Memphis,
Ashville and different select cities and then I would go
work all day and then go listen to live music
at night. And it was a great mix.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I was just going to say, those cities, none of
those cities are bad choices to be fun, right, did
you meet any great people out there I did.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I met a lot of great people through the company.
It was a smaller company, so I had to adjust
to not having all the structure of a Johnson and Johnson.
But I learned a lot and it was great. And
I could go out, like to the Rhymen and see
Sheryl Crow because at night they might have, you know,
single tickets out in all these different cities. I went
to Graceland and of course that develops around music, so
(04:22):
it was a fun time. Then I retired again and
was looking for things to do.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What made you retire from there? Sounded like it was
a good gig.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
It was a good gig, but everybody else was retired
and I wasn't. Yeah, and so I was on planes
all the time out of a small coastal airport.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You know, familiar with that airport. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
I thought, well, it's time to retire again and find
some things to do. But that time, this time, I
was more prepared. I had looked around the community. I
joined a couple of boards, and I've always been about
giving back to the community and raising money, so I
did a couple music events. We had a local band
here who was brand new is a really great band.
(05:07):
So we did a fundraiser and sold six hundred tickets
for that. It was great fun. And then we brought
in a group from Nashville for a fundraiser for two
of our local nonprofits.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
And now how exciting was that. That was a lot
of fun.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
It was great, and so then I started thinking more
about music. And three of my friends had just started
a radio station. They were in the preliminary stages, so
they called me and I joined them. There were six
of us to start. It's called Cape Fear Radio. It's
a streaming station here in town. And we're hyper local,
(05:42):
so we do sports, news, weather, all types of community events.
And so I became very involved with it and learned
a lot because I love to learn new things. So
I've done all the social media. I ran a capital
campaign and really got out in the community. And right
now we've grown to over sixty volunteers. We're all volunteered,
(06:05):
and we set ourselves up as a nonprofit and so
we return money back to the community. And it's been
a great learning experience and a ton of fun.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, and you know, I have to say, Mary, I
known you for quite a while, and yes, I knew
when this started out and it was, like you said,
three people, and now it's hard to go anywhere in
this Cape Fear region, which by the way, for listeners
is a relatively big region. And everybody knows about Cape
(06:36):
Fear Radio. Everybody knows about it, and it's got such
a diverse kind of canopy of things that it offers
in terms of music and news and local sports and
all that stuff. I think it's quite an accomplishment, quite
an accomplishment. What did you learn from it? What do
you love about it?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, what I love is getting out in the community
and reviewing people. So I've interviewed about forty five local
community leaders and bands, and I love to go to
live band events and you know, learn from the band
as well as interview them and play their music. I
also have two shows on the station. I have an independent, Alternative,
(07:18):
Emerging and local music show on Thursday nights. We have
specialty shows like jazz, you know, different types of things, Reggae,
we have rhythm and blues. We have all types of things.
But from seven to seven we have the Sound of
the Station, which is music that the music team puts together.
(07:38):
So I also have a morning show on Friday mornings,
that I do, that's the sound of the station show.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Well, and what is the sound of the station show?
Say more about.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Different music that's picked up by the music team. So
when I do my own show, I can put whatever
types of music I want into it. And when we
have a sound of the station show, most of the
music is picked by a large music team that we have.
So it occurs to everybody.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Oh cool, Hey do you have any k Do you
have any K Pop on there?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
No? But the funniest thing is that, yeah, they're all
different types of bands that are joining us. Music, yes, segments,
but we also do news, weather, and sports, and it's
all hyper local and we have great people doing that
and that's a new addition to the station. So that
is a lot of fun. And we've given money back
(08:30):
to the community to different organizations. We're putting together a
team to decide how that money is dispersed in which
organizations we choose as a radio station. So I'm learning
a lot there.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I love that well, So I have to just tell
this quick story. I knew Mary was doing some TV
shots and you know, backups on movies, and I was like, oh,
that's intriguing. I have to find out about that. But
I went to a St. Patrick's Day party of in
Wilmington and here is Mary with all her equipment interviewing
(09:05):
people kind of I'm seeing the thing. I'm going, Wow,
this is really cool. So how cool was that? You
do that a lot? Now you let our parade for
we have big parades in Southport, so.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
I love parades. I have to say, I love parades.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And you looked great by the way, thank you.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And so we've been for six years on this Wilmington
Saint Patrick's Stay Parade Committee up in Wilmington and there's
a small group of us that run that and it's
one of the top parades in the country for small communities,
and it has been quite the learning experience. It's a
lot of fun. We have something called a Hooly which
is typically halfway between Saint Patrick's Day and that's what
(09:45):
you were at the whole.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
That's what I went. I loved it. I loved the
holy I got right into it.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
We get about twelve to fifteen hundred people there and
we bring in Irish bands and Irish music and it's fair.
It's a great event as long as the weather's good.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
No it is.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We've had good luck with the weather and we have
food trucks and that raises money for the parade to
pay for the parade. It's right around the corner.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yes, it is right around the corner. I have to
make sure it's on my on my my calendar because
I had such a good time. And I think Saint Patrick,
who is related to you, I think there was a
big tall Saint Patrick there.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Well, Saint Patrick did get sick that day, so we
had to get a sub and so my husband Tom
was Saint Patrick.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
I was going to get you look like Tom Gallagan
to me, not Saint Patrick. Was fun. So, Mary, what
has been the biggest learning experience out of all of
this for you?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I think the biggest learning experience for me is the
technology and how we do. We have two studios now.
We just opened a second studio that we ran the
Capitol campaign for and the thing I'm learning the most
is live in the studio is a lot different than
doing it in your home studio with the equipment that
we have. So I've learned, yes, I've learned all the technology.
(11:06):
And this is going to sound really funny, but when
we started out and I did interviews, I was doing
them off my iPhone with an MP three recorder, and
now we have all types of equipment and we have
two studios to do interviews in, so that's been super helpful.
And the other big learning has been the social media.
(11:27):
So I didn't know much about social media, but I've
learned a lot. So I have tools like Canva. I
do all the scheduling, I go to the live events,
take a lot of the pictures, and post up about
the interviews and different things happening around the station because
we really want to get our exposure out there. And
we have a great website as well. So learning the
(11:49):
technology and learning the social media and the graphic design
behind it has been a lot of fun as well.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Wow, that's really terrific. I mean that's something that I
could perhaps learn, but I worked for a technology company
and they did all that stuff for me. So I'm
a lot ie. I'm a lot iite. I just use it.
I don't know how to do anything with it. So
there we go. So if you were going to think
about what made you a success in all of this,
(12:17):
because I would say, by all accounts, you're well known
in the area. You know, you're sought out the stuff
that you're doing is such a value add What would
you say contributed to your personal success.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I would think finding your passion And I think it
did take me a while. I tried the background movie thing.
I tried a couple different charitable organizations, but nothing had music.
And then when my friend started the radio station, it
was such a perfect fit. So I think you need
to find your passion. And a watch out is don't
(12:50):
get over involved because it'll take over your life.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
It'll take over your life. So how do you keep
it from taking over your life?
Speaker 3 (12:57):
I'm working.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
That's your current chow.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
It was great fun. Now that we're in the second
year and going into well we're into eighteen months, we
know a lot of the events and we know what's required,
and we have such a larger team now that we're
able to do that. So I'm able to look around
and have great people on the radio station. I've met
so many wonderful people and we all work together and
(13:22):
we're planning. Actually today we have a strategy planning meeting
from ten to five for next year, which I think
will be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, I think that will be a lot of fun.
And so, like you look around at the people that
are working with you, and you kind of assign people
to different things that are going on.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, we have people come to us with specific interests
like our sportscaster, our weatherman, our events people. They're interested
in doing those things. And then we also have twenty
three people that are on air and they're interested in
specific types of music. So it's kind of they select
what they want to do and we find a spot
(14:04):
for that.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I for anybody who's watching this, forgive me, I'm still
trying to get my camera set up right. We're early
days into my next at any rate. So, Mary, if
you were to give any advice to someone who's you know, particularly,
I look at some people and I say, you know,
they're in their fifties. They're working in a job. It's
(14:28):
a great job, they make good money, but it's not
tapping into their passion. But it's not easy for them
to walk away from those jobs. Yet. What advice do
you have for people that are in that kind of
a niche, Because, as you said, when you retired from
Jay and Jay, you were fifty seven. I mean, in
the big picture of life, that's relatively young at the time,
(14:51):
but it is well, it is as time goes by.
I mean, that's relatively young to walk away from what
I would characterize as a very probably lucrative corporate job.
So what advice did, was it scary? Were you afraid?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I was? And the second time I was not because
I was ready. So I was more deliberate. I looked
at different things that I liked, that I wanted to do,
and then I looked way in the past to what
gave me passion in the past. And when I was
in college, the first thing I did was become a
DJ on their radio station, and that was one of
my great memories. So it all fit together because it
(15:29):
fits with music, fits with community, giving back to nonprofits,
and then a passion for music throughout my life. So
I would look for something that fits your passion of
what you want to do, and then go out and
not be afraid to go out in the community and
find places to contribute.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Well, that's great. How hard was it to find places
to contribute?
Speaker 3 (15:52):
It's not hard. It's hard in the very beginning to start,
because you're in a new city in town and people
don't really know you that well, and you don't know folks,
so there are a lot of volunteer opportunities that you
can do. So if you look around your community and
see what types of volunteers and just talk to all
types and all kinds of people, because there's so many
(16:14):
people out there that need and want help, and they'll
want the skills for sure, and everybody has great skills
in some part of their life. So I wouldn't be
afraid to go out and test the waters, you know,
test a few things and see what you really like.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, because I do think I don't know if I
mentioned this too, I probably did, but you know, we're
going to live a lot longer and we're going to
be a lot healthier, and you know, thinking about really
that passion and what you can give back in this
I don't want to say last chapter, but this next chapter,
next chapter, next chapter can be daunting. And many people,
(16:53):
I think don't realize what still innate skills that they
have that they can bring to the table and off
offered to others and bring joy in life. And to
your point, which I said in the intro, the resiliency.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes, and if you try something and it happens to
fail or you don't like it, just move on to
the next right to the next thing and try that.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, I tried a few things.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
The background acting was very tiring because you had to
get up at four in the morning. You might not
get back to like two in the morning. And I
always thought, wow, I'm good on TV, but rarely are
you because background is.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Background, background, right, right? And do you get a chance
to meet any of the talent when you were in
those background things.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I was Jessica Chesstain's doctor at one point.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Oh you were who you were?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
What Jessica Chesstain's doctor one of her doctors in a scene?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Oh that's cool.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
But when you see the final movie, there's a lot
of cuts from people moving around in different things. But
it was a fun learn experience. I did about eight
of them and it was fun. But I did that
early on when I was fifty seven, fifty nine maybe, Oh,
such a babe. That such a babe. And it was
hard then because it's a lot of hours, a lot
(18:14):
of hours and a lot of sitting and standing around.
But it was fun. I did learn a lot, so
I liked it.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, And I remember when you did that. I was
thinking about it until you started telling me about the hours,
and I was like, I don't think that's good. I
think I stayed coaching.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
That's it's an hour away at four in the morning.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
It's a lot, right, it's a lot up up there.
So what's your next after this? Or haven't you thought
about it?
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Oh? I'm always thinking about it. So my next is, well,
I love the radio, so I want to continue doing
the radio. I came down here, and this is going
to sound a little funny. I love to fish, so
I came down with a fly fishing rod and I
have yet to open it down here, wow and take
it out. That's funny when to have small nexts in
addition to the radio station, the things that I thought
(19:01):
I would do that I haven't had the time to do,
like that nice. Maybe I'll keep working at golf, but
I'm not sure it's my thing.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yeah, I try to keep working at golf too. I
think that's what turned me into the next thing, because
I'm like, is ain't working out too good? I mean
it's okay, but I'll never be you know, the pro
am or whatever. So but yeah, I remember you used
to like to fish. That's fun. You got to get
that rat out.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
I will. So I think though people have to be
deliberate and planning, which is what I did not do
the first time. So I was far more successful in
finding new things and making a plan. So I guess
make a plan.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Yeah, well that's that's what I was just going to
ask you. If you at advice, it sounds me want
to do something that you're passionate about, and to make
sure you have a plan. And the third thing that
comes out is keep working at it because it's not
going to necessarily jump in your lap the first time
out of the box, right.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Or maybe the first couple of time. So yeah, looking
at it and find something you really love.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
You really love. Yeah, that's that's very important. Well, Mary,
how can people get a hold of you because you've
got a great story.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Oh, you can get a hold of me at maryg
at kpepiirradio dot com. That's my email for the radio station.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, and what are you looking for? What could what? What?
What could they aside from hearing your great story and
getting you on some of their shows.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I'll know more about that after our strategy session today.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Well that'll be very good because that'll be very interesting
and and you know, I think you'd be a wonderful
speaker places for people who are thinking about what's next
for them, and because let's face it, there's a lot
of fear in leaving a big corporate job and jumping
into more stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Definitely is and I would say plan for it. Yeah,
don't show up the first day in retirement like I didn't, go.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Ah ah oh and then get oh my paycheck is
over in the next couple of months, right after I
get my seffarence. Now what do I do? Right That
I had the same experience, it was kind of scary. Well, Mary,
thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed the show.
I sure enjoyed having you on. And my final question
(21:17):
for you, is there anything I didn't ask you that
I should have asked you that you would love to
share with the audience.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Have fun? That would be my ending message. Whatever you do,
have fun with it because fun is important at this
point of our lives.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Totally, totally keep having fun hopefully people. Thanks again, Thanks again, Mary,
and we'll talk to you soon and I know I'll
run into you and keepe for your area.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Thank you for having me on, Linda.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Okay, bye bye bye.
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