Who Is Christina Rowsell
- My Radio Story
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| ©Christina Rowsell - Canada's Got Talent |
March 1995 I came to Calgary as a 20 year old woman (girl
really) looking to start my career in broadcasting. At the time I was convinced that I’d only be
staying for a year. Well, here we are 20
years later.
My first job was straight out of BCIT, where I was getting
my Broadcast Communications Diploma. I
got the call from my instructor saying that a radio station in Calgary was
looking to hire a traffic reporter. I
thought to myself, there’s no way I’ll get that job, I don’t even know
Calgary. I’ve only been there once when
I was a kid! Reluctantly, I applied for
the position. Next thing I knew they
offered me the job. What? How?
Okay now what? So I called my dad
for his fatherly opinion. His response,
“Calgary?! Yes! Take it!
You’d be stupid not to.” Okiee
dokie! I guess that settles it. I’m moving to Calgary.
My first thanks goes to the pilots and staff at Springbank
Airport. They welcomed me with open arms
and taught me everything I needed to know about being an airborne traffic
reporter. Including telling me what to
say! I had no idea what a “three light
delay” even meant. They helped me
navigate the city giving the best and most accurate reports. I learned a thing or two as well about flying
a Cessna. (Now note I NEVER flew the
airplane!! I am not a pilot.)
That position lasted about 2 years, then the radio station
decided to land the aircraft, forcing me to do ground traffic from the radio
station studios for 107 KiK FM and QR 770.
I knew I wanted to move on and up in this business so I put some
applications out across BC and Calgary.
I even tried to break into the “voice over” industry. But I was still pretty raw and couldn’t land
any extra work. Eventually I got a call
from a radio station in Kelowna looking for a sales rep. I had no idea on how to be a sales rep, but I
was willing to try. So I gave my notice,
packed up my apartment and was about to head back to BC. This is what I always figured I’d end up
doing anyway. BUT WAIT! Three days before I was expected to leave, my
radio station manager asked me if I signed the papers yet for this new job. In fact, I hadn’t, but was expecting them
that afternoon. I said “No, why?” Right
then and there I was asked if I would like to co-host mornings with Roger Rhodes on Rock 107, which later became Power 107.
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| ©Christina Rowsell - Power 107 |
I couldn’t say no. I
knew that in my heart I wasn’t a sales person.
It really was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Thank you James Stuart and Roger for giving
me that chance. Roger and I had a good
run from 1997 – 2000. Many mornings were
spent laughing and getting in trouble.
We drank MANY cups of coffee. This
is what you do when you’re up at 4am and need to be perky! As the cliché goes, “All Good Things Come To An
End.” It’s just one of those “things”
that happen in the “biz”. In July of
2000 I left that fun morning position to find myself in a predicament of
wondering if I should stay in radio. Not
long after leaving Power 107 I was offered a temporary position on Good Times
and Great Oldies 66CFR. I filled in for
their midday show and helped out in their promotions department. Talk about not knowing what you’re
doing. That seems to be the theme for
me. I usually get myself into something
I really know nothing about, but eventually I figure it out. 66CFR was an Oldies Station. I had limited knowledge of the music that we
played from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. I
often turned to my good friend Samantha Steven’s who would help me. The songs from the 60’s especially seemed to
be long titles. And not all the titles
fit on my music sheets. In particular I
remember seeing a song by the Hollies “He’s Not Heavy, He’s My….” And it didn’t
tell me what the last word was. And I
had no idea. For all I knew it was Dog. Or maybe Truck. So Samantha laughed at me and said it’s
“Brother”. “He’s Not Heavy, He’s My
Brother.” But today that would NEVER
happen, thanks to Google being at our finger tips!
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| ©Christina Rowsell - Christina At Night |
I’ll admit I was never really in radio for the music. It’s about the conversation. And the opportunity to have a voice. Not just a voice for me, but a voice for
those who need to get the word out.
After 66CFR I was offered another opportunity that I
couldn’t say no to. Evening announcer at
Country 105. But, once again, I was
getting into something I really knew nothing about. Country Music. It’s a genre I’ve never worked in or even
grew up listening to. Growing up, my mom
listened to Connie Francis and German Polka Music. With a little bit of Elvis Presley. I think the only country song I grew up
listening to was my dad’s favorite, Eddie Rabbit “I Love a Rainy Night.”
But I said YES to this job, not knowing if I’d be good at it
or not. I quickly learned that Country
Music isn’t just about the music. It’s
the lives and stories that surround the music that make it so great. It wasn’t long before I was not only in love
with the music, but with the people who listened to it. Country Music Fans are dedicated fans, but
they they’re also family. They work
hard, love what they do and live their lives day by day. Country music is about the story of your
life. I made a quick connection with the
Country Music listeners. And that was
just the beginning. After realizing that
this genre was my “niche”, it got even better.
Country 105 decided that I would host a syndicated show across
Canada. I remember Phil Kallsen, PD of
Country 105, asking me, “How would you like to host your show in 4 markets
across Canada?” Again, here I was in a
position of thinking, “Sure! Now how the
hell do I do that?” I’ll figure it
out. And I did. Christina At Night was launched in Calgary,
Red Deer, Edmonton and Hamilton in 2003.
I said “what kind of a show do you want me to do?” They told me to just be me and connect with
the listeners like I know how. Hmmm I thought. Okay.
I’ll figure it out. So away we
went.
Christina At Night was a show about YOU. About your life. It was billed as the “Soundtrack To Your
Life”. And I made it just that. It was about the music, but it was about the
stories that made up the music. People
from across the country called me. Some
to just simply request a song. Some to
say “Hi.” But then something
happened. Callers sensed that I really
cared about them. Christina At Night was
a show that connected with you and validated you. Sometimes the callers phoned to get my
opinion. While others reached out to just
talk. What you didn’t hear on the show
were the 20 to 30 minute conversations I was having with people. Some with life issues and others who were
lonely. Some needed guidance while
others just needed an ear. All the while
I was pushing the buttons to play the tunes and commercials. I loved Christina At Night. I loved the interviews with music superstars
like: The Dixie Chicks, Brooks & Dunn, Paul Brandt, Carolyn
Dawn Johnson, Jimmy Rankin etc. But what
I really loved was introducing you to new artists like Dirks Bentley and Gord Banford. (Gord, I always said you were
the next George Straight.
Congratulations on your success.)
I had to make the VERY hard decision to end that run with
Christina At Night. It was tough
emotionally for me to run the show, produce the show and be the ear that
everyone wanted. I decided to take an
offer to report on traffic again. Again,
one of the toughest decisions I ever made.
Getting back into traffic brought me back to Rogers. The station that hired me to help out with
66CFR. I was the ground traffic reporter
for a brand new news station 660 NEWS. A
position I took to find some calm in my life.
A regular shift doing what I knew, reporting traffic for Calgary. Deep down inside though, I knew I wanted to get
back on the air to do a regular show again.
Traffic was a great “vehicle” to keep me in the business, but I always
knew that having a “voice” on my own show was where I needed to be. But until that opportunity came up again I
was content reporting on traffic. Which
is a crucial part of everyone’s day!
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| © Christina Rowsell |
As life had it, I too was growing in my life. I was now married, 34 and about to have my
first child. In July 2007 we welcomed
our first son. I took maternity leave,
thinking I’d be back in a year. So much
for that idea. When my son was 6 months
old I was once again given an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. My colleague and friend Charlee Morgan was
leaving her midday position at Lite 96 to move on with her career. This was the perfect show for being a mom and
keeping my hand in radio. February 2008
I stepped in as your midday host on Calgary’s At Work Radio Station. Rogers was good to me. Always making feel like I was an important
team member. When I was pregnant with my
second child they made it clear that they would wait for me to return a year
later. In October 2009 we welcomed our
second son into the world. Lots of life
changes for me and still an opportunity to have a voice and connect with people
through the magic of radio. I couldn’t have
been happier.
Lite 96 was a heritage station with strong talent! Don, Joanne & The Coach and Bruce Ritchie
made me feel welcome. But again, all
good things come to an end. Don and
Joanne moved on and I was given the chance to “fill in” on the morning show
until they found a new morning team. I
had the opportunity to work with the talented Terry Reid who flew in from
Vancouver for 2 months. I was back in
the morning time slot. It had been many,
many, many years since I had to get up at 4am.
This time it was tough as I had two small children and I was much
older! I was thrilled when they hired
their new team Mookie & Billie Jo. Best
of all, I’ve found a new lifelong friend.
Billie Jo has been an amazing support for me. I only hope I do the same for her. Bruce Ritchie too moved on. But I’m in constant contact with him and hope
to see much more of him in the near future.
Maz, Kris Mazurak, stepped into the afternoon time slot. Maz was someone I met back in my Power 107
days. It has been a huge honor working
with him again. Seeing the changes he’s
also gone through in this business and in his life.
And just last year Lite 96 also grew up, changing to KiSS95.9. Still Calgary’s At Work Radio Station, playing great music to get you through your workday.
Although I have been enjoying my time at
KiSS, I just knew inside that I needed to grow.
I’m not one to sit still. For me,
my outlook on life changed in August 2007.
That’s when I lost my big brother.
It wasn’t long after he passed that I had a dream about him. In this dream he told me to do a magazine or
have a place for people to find Good News, Great Ideas and learn about Amazing
People. I remember asking my brother once,
“Why don’t you get life? Why can’t you
just see The Brighter Side?” He looked
me right in the eye and in most honest voice he said, “I don’t know how.” And after having the dream about doing the
magazine I knew I had to start something.
Not knowing how to do a magazine, I started a blog. The Brighter Side – Good News, Great Ideas
& Amazing People. It’s a place to
find all of those things. The response has been bigger than I anticipated. I will
continue to write for The Brighter Side as long as I keep finding stories that
lift people’s spirits.
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| © Christina Rowsell KiSS 95.9 |
But this blog is what lead me to a company I co-founded with
my business partner Sheri Bruneau. Sheri
has a company called Get It Together Inc.
She helps you with your move before, during and after. I blogged about her on The BrighterSide. I usually like to meet the people
I blog about, so this was no exception.
Sheri and I hit it off right away and started talking about businesses
and how there’s a need for some good quality information to help business
owners move forward. I was finding,
through my blog, that there ARE great businesses out there, but some don’t know
how to move forward. And any little
nugget of information can be helpful for them to move forward! So that’s when Sheri and I decided to start
Brighter Business Empower Inc. On our
napkin at the coffee shop we wrote “To Empower Individuals To Succeed In
Business”. That is still our motto
today. We’ve now become a community of
business owners who want to grow their business. Brighter Business Empower is the place
business owners learn BIG ideas.
Along the way we were presented with the idea to do a
magazine. At first I thought, this is my
chance to learn how to do that magazine my brother told me about in my
dream. After finding out HOW to do a
magazine I decided that it would be a perfect fit for Brighter Business Empower
and not my blog The Brighter Side. We
are now into our second year with the BBE Magazine. It’s a FREE online magazine that is filled
with articles from industry experts and entrepreneurs giving nuggets of
information to help you move your company forward. We talk to our experts on the BBE Blog TalkRadio show. 
Now, keep in mind all the while I’m still working at KiSS
95.9 and the mother to two small children.
I’m learning so much about myself with this company. There is so much more I can do and
learn. I’m still doing what I love,
helping people. I always said that my
radio show will be to help people smile, laugh and have a good day. BBE has given me the opportunity to not only
help small business owners, but we’ve given them a sense of direction and
empowered them to succeed. And published
a magazine! What? How? I
once again put myself in the path of “I don’t really know what I’m doing here, but
I’m going to do it anyways.” What I’ve
learned is what I always said to myself, “It’s your life and you’re the only
one who has to live it. So live it the
way you were meant to live.” Life
purpose. When something just comes to
you naturally you need to give it a try.
So here I am, after 20 years of being on the air in Calgary,
hanging up my headphones. Sort of. I’ll still be doing my regular Blog TalkRadio show for Brighter Business Empower online. I’ll be the publisher and editor of the BBE
Magazine. And who knows, perhaps a voice
over or two. Remember to always stay
true to who you are and who you will become.
Be true and authentic no matter what.
~ Christina Rowsell www.christinarowsell.com
