Help Save A Life
Every year for the last 17 years, I’ve shaved my head to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. What many people don’t know is that St. Baldrick’s was a big part of the Stem Cell research breakthrough. Through there funding of multiple research facilities, this breakthrough was one of the biggest in the last decade. If you get a minute, check out St. Baldrick’s to see all that they do to fight cancer. Like many, I have been affected in several ways. I lost my Mom when I was 4 years old to Ovarian Cancer. My sister in 2011 to Pancreatic cancer and one of my wife’s best friends who they were pregnant together and our sons were to be born about six weeks apart. Our son Robbie, was healthy. Our friend Aimee’s son, Jackson, was diagnosed with cancer within 2 months of birth. He lived 2 years before he died. If you have a dollar or two to spare, please consider donating to the cause. Here is the link: https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/CatThomas2026 Also below is a gallery of photos from past events.
Five Things Everyone Should Learn On The Beach
Sometimes a break is what we need to gain perspective about the world around. Work, family, friends, and even perceptions. Sometimes we get so deep into what we do, especially in our work lives that we miss the obvious things. It’s seeing the forest through the trees. So I’ve compiled a quick list of five items that I learned on my vacation from the working world!
1) Take a Breath. Everyone loses a job, gets downsized, or gets replaced. For years if your ratings sagged, you got replaced. If you want to see insecurity, check out the coaching profession! You can win a championship, get a new contract and 18 months later, you are out. If you bring value to your mission, there is someone out there that will recognize it!
2) Be Self Aware. Too many people lament about being out of work. Most lack self-awareness. It is the “what I want”, vs “where is my true value.” I had a mentor once tell me the best exercise is to look yourself in the mirror and be honest. I loved being on the air, but there came a point where I looked myself in the mirror and realized that I could hire people more talented. So I decided to move in places where my strengths elevated my game. Success is always about putting the right butts in the right seats. I remember wanting to be a professional athlete when I was young. At some point I realized that was never going to happen. Life didn’t end, I just looked for something that fit my skill set. You don’t have to give up on your dreams, but you need to be self-aware enough to recognize what you do will and grow your capabilities.
3) Understand The Moment. Realize you are where you need to be at this point of your journey. When I was in my 20’s, I thought that I knew more than others with more experience. As I became more seasoned and my knowledge base grew, I realized I was not as smart as I thought I was. It reminds me of Guy Zapoleon’s “Cycle of Music”. As I got further in my career, I saw things repeat themselves. There are always variations, but the similarities and outcomes were a part of an already pre-determined cycle. For the young people today, Bell Bottoms are a horrible idea. You don’t think so today, but just wait and in 10 years, you will know I was right! The point is, don’t compare yourself to someone who has a more experience and gets paid for that knowledge. Instead, ask questions, learn and embrace where you are today. As my Dad used to tell me. When you are in your 20’s, your time is your biggest asset. Give it freely, treat everything as education and understand your opinion is not as valued as you believe it is. When you are in your 30’s, you will become more balanced. Your knowledge will start to become as valuable as your time. If you have done it right, from your 40’s and beyond, your knowledge will drive your livelihood. Never stop learning but now you are also a teacher to those coming up. Knowledge is power and power is a part of success. Use it to elevate not eliminate. By the way, my Dad became much smarter the older I got! Weird how that happens.
4) Never Fear Success. This has always been a tough one for me. Many times I have wanted to be entrepreneurial, but never in the fields of my expertise (or should I say, perceived expertise!). I have always felt more comfortable with a “stable” job. Maybe it was due to my family and wanting to make sure they had security. Maybe it was comfortable. Anyway, I was able to create a successful career for many years. I have built a network and have made great friendships along the way. To be honest, I’ve been very fortunate and I know that I had a lot of help along the way. However, the value placed on hard work and results are not rewarded as they have been in the past. If I could do one thing, it would have been to take more calculated risks and push out of my comfort zone. The one good thing…it’s never too late to start. Failure is scary, complacency is fatal.
5) Be Thankful. To me this has become the most important thing that I’ve learned…and like many lessons, I’ve learned it the hard way at times. I was like many others, when things go well, its all me. When things got a little sideways, well, someone other than me had to be to blame. The sooner I realized that almost no one becomes successful on their own, the easier it is to appreciate the help people gave me along the way. As I look back, I’m thankful for everyone who gave me guidance, who gave me opportunities, who gave me the finger (motivation works in mysterious ways!), and honestly, anyone who has given me time, effort, and friendship. Being thankful allows you to appreciate others and grow your network. Being thankful, being kind, and trying to do the right thing even when it’s hard costs little and usually pays off. Being a dick, usually doesn’t.
To AI or Not To AI?
There is so much controversy about AI these days. In the news, on social media, and now in our daily lives. AI has become a great tool, and many of us ask Alexa or Google Home to turn on the lights or play a song! It is also annoying when you try to call a company to get anything accomplished. I’m betting everyone here has at one point told an AI operator, “REPRESENTATIVE” multiple times in a very loud voice. As AI moves from a tool to a source of information, content creation, and production, it is interesting to get everyone’s take on how it affects their lives. In my hood, we have a big Oktoberfest party every year. With a live band, beer tent, food, etc. I love it because all the neighbors pitch in to bring food, coolers, chairs, tables, and to help set up & tear down. (Special shout out to Garrett & Melissa, who do the heavy lifting in case they read this!) The best part is getting to know neighbors and having conversations with everyone. Being in the media business, it was like having my own focus group of 70-80 people. They spoke about everything in their lives. Sparking my interest was the discussion and perception of AI. How people are seeing it more and more, in memes, social media, and even the concern that it is affecting what they can trust online, on TV, and on the radio. So I asked, who do they trust? What I found out clicked in my weird branding brain…They trust people and sources with whom they have a relationship. One named a broadcaster that they knew personally. They trusted the personal conversations and information they shared. So, it seems that the best asset any brand has is its people. In an era where media outlets are trying to cut the human cost of operating, what they are actually cutting is their credibility and trust from their communities. In many cases, these cuts only lead to less success…and ultimately more cuts. AI is a great tool, but will AI ever be able to create the trust and credibility that is desired with a personal touch? Can AI be used by humans to create content and also create relationships? Is the best way for a brand to win by investing in people while using AI as a tool? I have my own opinions, but more importantly, what do you think?
I’m A Realist…Who Is Also An Optimist
I saw a great post comparing the corporate radio world to local radio and all the wonderful things that could be if we were able to adopt the philosophies before consolidation. Local radio in my mind would be the goal. However, local rarely beats scale. I used to frequent the original Buffalo Wild Wings on campus at Ohio State. I used to bring back sauces and make wings for my staff at KLUC back in the day. Then B-Dubs franchised. One opened in Vegas, then seven. It became the spot for what we referred to as our “Friday Night Meetings”. Several staff members would meet there and brainstorm ideas for the station. The point is, B-Dubs went from being a spot on campus at Ohio State to one of the most successfull restaurants in America. Why? Scale.
Unfortunately, I'm a realist. I sat and broke down how the broadcast industry can recover the fun and excitement that drove the medium I grew up with and loved. There is only one way, and it would put major corporations out of business, but the only way to get there would be to re-regulate the industry. So, if I could wave a wand, here is how it would go...
1) There would be no foreign ownership of a licensed broadcast property.
2) No single company can own more than 80 signals nationally, and no more than 4 in a market. This would open up more individual ownership and diversity of programming.
3) You would need to change the Public Service rule to mandate at least three broadcast events per year that benefit the local community without profit to retain your license. You are allowed to cover expenses for those events, but beyond that, all profits must go to a community charity or betterment project. You can do more than 3 community events to derive profit, but there must be at least 3 that are pure community service.
4) These community service events would take the place of the PSA shows that get shoved into early Sunday morning, so those could be eliminated.
5) Next, you would need to limit the number of signals per market. Set up signal amounts based on market population. Basically, limiting one signal per 60,000 people in a market. The lowest limit cap being no less than 5 per market, and a cap of no more than 60 stations for the major markets.
By doing this for 10 years, we would prove to the market whether local radio can or cannot compete in a global world with streaming and other forms of digital media. It would be an interesting experiment.
Now...to be a realist, this will never happen in my lifetime. So it will take someone younger than me to press Congress to change the ownership rules, but from my lens, that is very far down the line, and that is if they (younger people) even care about preserving local radio at all. As I have told people, humans are the most adaptable species on the planet. Because if we weren't, we would all still be amoeba.
So the bottom line...that is a wish list. If we are going to be successful in 2026, we need to understand the landscape we are living in, and we all need to adapt and grow our skill sets beyond our comfort zone that we have lived in for most of our broadcast careers; otherwise, we are doomed to ride off into the sunset of irrelevancy. As I said, I'm a realist.
#change #leadership #growth #career #broadcasting
