In partnership with BBC and Radiocentre, we hosted this month’s masterclass in BBC’s historic radio theatre – home to some of the most iconic broadcasts of the last 90 years. Rooted in its rich creative history, we welcomed the next generation of talent from our community in the creative industries to gain wisdom from radio broadcast professionals at the top of the game. The panellists took a deep dive into what it takes to ‘make it’ in radio, the various routes in, plus career lows and highs so far. Our chair was the famous Radio 1 DJ Melvin Odoom, he instantly set the tone for great informal discussion and humour, as he opened with: “You lot must really love radio because it’s blazing outside!”.  

Panellists included: Melvin Odoom (chair & radio DJ / presenter, BBC Radio 1), Creative Access alum Naomi Julien (social media assistant, Kiss FM), Faron McKenzie (head of station, BBC Radio 1Xtra), Shivani Sharma (producer, LBC Radio), Robbie Wojciechowski (assistant producer, BBC audio science).  

Career lessons learnt 

You don’t get into these roles or reach the heights our panellists have without learning a lot along the way. For 1Xtra exec Faron McKenzie, resilience is key: “You get confronted with things to see if you can really push through and to push through those blocks is real passion.” This sentiment was shared by Kiss FM’s Naomi Julien and LBC’s Shivani Sharma who both discussed the ways their flexibility and open-mindedness has been rewarded at work. Naomi said problem-solving and being flexible was integral to working in social media, where things can abruptly change and she has to adapt quickly.  

LBC’s Shivani told the audience that trying things outside of her first passion – journalism- led her to production and she encouraged the audience to be open to new opportunities. BBC Audio Science’s Robbie, reflected on his younger days spent in a youth club in Brixton, where he discovered a space that was incredibly creative, and emphasised being around people that enhance your passions. Melvin’s story was a lesson of perseverance, as he started at the BBC as an assistant with Rickie Haywood-Williams but wanted to be on air: “No one wanted to hear our voices”. After not giving up and winning a competition to be a radio presenter, he got signed with Kiss and the rest is history.  

Setbacks 

Careers have gone in unplanned directions, there’ve been setbacks, and there’s also a lot of ‘stuff’ that comes with being human in a fast-paced, creative industry like radio broadcasting.  

For Faron, music was the passion that brought him here, and by no means was a job like this going to fall in his lap. He described his early experiences; humble beginnings that included washing pots in a BBC building in Birmingham, listening to pirate radio, – and his innate curiosity for music, having grown up attending church with his gran and reading the inlays of CDs and records. Faron conveyed that the reality that these challenges were also experiences that contributed to his success. 

Shivani spoke about the challenges of not getting the job she wanted and being turned down for the BBC journalism trainee scheme as a graduate. She gave the comforting advice: “Don’t trust anyone who just lands their dream job straight away”. LBC wasn’t part of her plan, but it ended up being the right place for her. Naomi similarly explored various career paths, originally wanting to be an audio producer. It was in the middle of a job interview that she realised she wanted to create content. 

Being a neurodivergent radio producer 

Robbie spoke of his challenges in radio through the lens of neurodivergence, and this was really helpful insight that we want to avoid paraphrasing, so here it is: “I have autism and ADHD, and every day there’s a curveball. Learning to be confident in who you are and speaking up for yourself has taken me years and there’s been tricky moments, lots of bosses that didn’t understand me. I changed jobs ten times [Robbie was an ex-journalist at NME]. Learn where your heads at, and speak your mind and your truth. The BBC is uncomfortable to work sometimes, with the structure and the hierarchy, but peer networks and support can help along with being confident. It’s not linear.” 

One piece of advice for their younger selves 

Faron: Just keep going! Blend resilience with creativity. Don’t leave your identity at the door because being unique is how you generate amazing content.. 

Naomi: Throw yourself into it, no matter what. Get involved and speak to everyone. 

Shivani: Keep a record of everything you’re doing, any experience, any freelance work. You don’t realise you’re getting so much experience. You can then make a diary or a showreel. 

Melvin: Sometimes you’ll fly and sometimes no one cares about the short black guy from Radio 1. Manage your brand. So, change your mindset on networking. Don’t see it as a fail if you didn’t tick a box and talk to someone. You leave an impression when you are yourself. 

Robbie: Document the culture around you. Archive what you’re involved in. Having questions and working them out with your friends is best, you don’t need an expert guest! 

Getting into radio – “just do it” 

If you’re wondering how to get your foot in the door, Faron says it’s simple: “you’ve got the tool in your pocket to create content”. All the panellists agreed that with a smart phone and some friends wanting to tackle a question or a topic, you can create your own content. They advised keeping your LinkedIn fresh e.g. fill it up with recent recommendation from people you’ve worked with, build your brand on social media, and be analytical about what you like about others’ content so you can apply it to your own. Teaching yourself the technical parts (YouTube is your best friend here) and learning how to become a good listener will also set you apart. Melvin advised bringing authenticity and purpose to it: “Radio is such an intimate form, if you are faking it, they will know. You can hear people smile on the radio! My rule is it doesn’t have to be right, it just has to be funny. I’m gonna have a beginning, middle and end.” 

Best and worst days: the radio version 

The panellists were intimate and honest with this audience question. There have been many challenges for these professionals and most had met problems that they couldn’t solve from answers in a book. For Melvin, it was the day of George Floyd’s death. He is someone whose purpose is rooted in making people laugh and he said ever so sensitively: “It’s my job to talk, and I didn’t know what to say”, but he still went live. For Robbie, he talked candidly about experiencing a panic attack at work whilst with a guest on the podcast, and how he navigated that as a producer. 

Melvin summed up the best of that radio can bring when he said, “There are no normal days in this industry, I could be buying antiques with Gemma Collins one day or covered in custard at the CBBC the next.” 

It was a wonderful evening and we want to thank everyone involved. Melvin also wanted it to be said that to all the people who are the future of radio in the Creative Access: “When you’re a boss in a radio, please employ me!” 

Listen to the recording:

Posted on Sep 18, 2020

We were thrilled to partner with Radiocentre – the industry body for commercial radio – for the fifth time, but the first time in a virtual world!  The event was hosted by radio and TV legend, Margherita Taylor. She was joined by KISS FM’s AJ King, BBC Asian Network’s Pria Rai and Podcast producer and consultant Leanne Alie.

Margherita Taylor, Smooth Radio and Classic FM presenter, introduced the panel, asking them about their journeys into the audio industry. AJ King told listeners how he’d dreamt about being a radio presenter for KISS since he was 10 years old. He took every Wednesday off from his bank job to record a radio show and realised his dream after winning the KISS Chosen One competition. Leanne made her way into the audio industry by working on the Podcast Awards and approaching podcasters with her services. Pria, coming from an academic background, summed up the “beauty” of the industry by saying there is more than one way of getting into the sector.

The questions kicked off with a range of listeners asking how to get into the audio market. The panel all agreed that the journey starts with an internal feeling of confidence and self-belief. Leanne gave listeners an insight into how networking and putting herself out there really made a difference to her career; “I was going to all the different audio events, the awards, the festivals, everything!” She went on to give anyone wanting to get their foot into the audio space valuable advice to “use everything that lands on your plate. Use the tools you have to your advantage. Make your own podcast or reach out to independent podcasters to see how you can help”, recommending the audience to look at Quality Audio Pact as a resource to find people in the industry who are looking to make a difference. She highlighted the importance of finding or creating experiences to benefit your career as she urged listeners “if the space isn’t being created for you, create the space yourself”

The panel went on to cover the sensitive topic of imposter syndrome and rejection. AJ King told listeners that rejection is going to happen but you just have to “keep it moving”. He spoke about the importance of changing their thinking into a “learning mindset” and gave his own example of taking a job in Harvester in order to overcome his fear of speaking to a big group of people. He advised the audience to “be aware of what’s happening; be technologically minded and learn skills. Be inquisitive and ask questions.”

Pria told listeners to “back yourself” because the worst thing that could happen is that you learn a lesson. She gave listeners an insight into her own story, telling them that she worried she sounded too young when she started out, but she focussed on the skills that she did have rather than what she didn’t have to give herself confidence. Leanne told the audience, “do not ever doubt yourself again” describing how she used positive affirmations to give herself confidence.

The panel went on to give their best tips on how to ace an interview. Margherita told everyone that research is key, to make sure you fact-check and know who you are interviewing: “Listen to what your guests say. In that moment they may give you a scoop. If they like you that’s when they tell you things…”

AJ King added that you need to develop trust with the interviewee and make them feel comfortable. He likes to do this by chatting with the interviewees before the interview. Pria gave an insight into how she has aced very important interviews by remembering that the common denominator is to be human and always remember the audience, as they are the reason for the interview.

We hope every single one of the listeners felt inspired and learnt some valuable lessons on how to kick-start your audio career. Thank you once again to our amazing panel, our host Margherita Taylor and to our friends at the Radiocentre for yet another brilliant masterclass. We’re looking forward to the next one…!

You can watch the whole masterclass in full via this YouTube link.