10 Questions with fomer WCFS/WILV/WJMK DJ Lisa Greene

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: 10 Questions with ... Lisa Greene : Oct 13, 2009 - All Access : BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS: : * 1992-1994: News anchor/DJ/Production Director, WIUS/Bloomington, IN : * 1992-1994: News anchor, PT jock, WLUW/Chicago : * Aug 93-Dec 93: Continuity assistant, WFIU (NPR/Bloomington, IN) : * Oct 94-Dec 94: Music research, Q101/Chicago : * Jan 95-Dec 96: Traffic/News reporter, Metro Traffic Chicago : * Jan 96-Aug 96: PT personality, WXLC/Waukegan, IL : * Aug 96-Dec 96: PT personality, WMYX/Milwaukee : * Jan 97-Jun 97: Evening personality, WQLH/Green Bay : * Jul 97-Dec 98: Evenings/Music Coordinator, WPNT/Milwaukee : * Dec 98-Sep 99: APD/MD/Middays, WMXB/Richmond : * Sep 99-Jan 00: PT personality, WWZZ/Washington, DC : * Jun 00-Jan 01: PT feature host; Larry Lujack prod. asst, WUBT/Chicago : * Jan 01-Jun 06: News & traffic anchor/co-host, Shadow Broadcast Services : * Apr 01-Mar 08: Feature host (Oldies); Producer (Jack-FM), WJMK/Chicago : * Jun 06-Feb 08: PT personality, WILV/Chicago : * Feb 08-Dec 08: Middays, WCFS/Chicago : : 1) What do you do to maintain a positive mental attitude and stay motivated? : A friend once told me, early on, that "Radio is like a drug. It makes those of us who have that job and lifestyle ... happy." When we can't share our creativity, love for music, and our chance to communicate and connect with an audience, it bums us out. It gets tough sometimes, but having been through it a few times in nearly 20 years, it gets easier to recognize and move past. I get inspired from reading, talking to people, yoga practice, things I'll pick up in a magazine or a movie, or just in daily life. It must be due to cultivating the skill of being a "life observer," originally for show-prep. Plus, being single, self-supporting and not being independently wealthy are pretty big motivators, too. : : 2) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job? : Getting a job is the priority, so I'm mostly online and keeping in touch with old contacts, and making new ones. There have been some interviews, occasional voiceovers and auditions ... all of which can be time-consuming but good in the long run. I'm also a Certified Makeup Artist, so I've been trying to build that freelance business, too, which requires constant networking to find solid production teams to work with on recent or future projects. That's still very part-time, but it's great fun to stay in the entertainment world and still be creative in an additional way. Also ... lots of Bikram yoga! Great for the bod as well as the mind! I've caught up on a lot of reading; I do some volunteering, seeing friends, the usual social stuff. : : 3) Do you plan on sticking with the music/radio industry? : I hope so! Full-time or part-time, there will always be a way. : : 4) What's the best way to get your foot in the door? : Keep knocking on it. : : 5) What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job? : Well, this was actually unintentional, but it's a story I'm fond of: I was in college and attending the Loyola Radio Conference, since I spent a couple of summers home from IU, training at WLUW. B96 had just exploded with major success, and Dave Shakes was my new idol. (WLUW was loosely modeled after it, so all the budding radio kids there idolized it, really). He needed an escort down the elevator to his panel, and a friend who was running things gave me a flower to pin on his lapel, as they did for all panel guests. I was outwardly composed, but inwardly, totally freaking out! I didn't want to give off anxious chatter when I was really meeting him for the first time. I tried to pin his flower on, but the pin kept slipping, I felt like such a geek, and just didn't want to delay him! It finally pinned on. Later in the year, I applied for an internship for the following summer. On the phone, when I re-introduced myself by saying we had met at the conference, he asked, "Which one were you?" I sheepishly said, "I'm the one who couldn't pin your flower on in the elevator." "Oh, I remember you!" (Eek.) At least he did remember me, found my resume, was gracious as ever, helped kick off my career with that internship, and he's been one of the mentors most dear to me, to this day. : : 6) What is the next job you'd like to obtain? : Last year, I finally landed my dream job of doing middays in my home town, but was laid off along with 20-some other people from my cluster in the fourth quarter. Before the industry completely changes itself around, I'd like to do another prime-time shift in middays or afternoons, but this time, for hopefully more than a year! Otherwise, I would probably like to try Internet radio or talk. I love playing off co-hosts and callers, so a partner/ team show would be a blast. : : 7) Are you finding salaries/benefits lower than you ever thought, about the same, or have you seen some pleasant surprises? : Ironically for me, the best salary I ever had resulted in it getting cut from the budget. But based on seeing some friends who had to experience "re-interviewing" for their existing positions in some restructurings, wages are, sadly, definitely going down. : : 8) What has been your biggest career accomplishment? : Ha ha. Some friends from college say I'm the only person they know who has stayed in the career I studied back then. So I guess, especially in recent years, staying in is a win! It was a kick to get nominated for a Billboard MD of the Year award, win, and get nominated for a couple of A.I.R. Awards, but mostly to receive e-mails from colleagues and listeners who are supportive and miss hearing me. It's validating to see that our work means something to people. : : 9) What do you miss most about music/radio? : I miss being able to entertain and connect, make someone's day more enjoyable, and being surrounded by music every day! : : 10) If you were offered a similar position to what you were doing for considerably less money, would you seriously consider taking the job just to stay in the biz? : Probably! Depends on the situation. : Bonus Questions : My favorite new diversion is ... : I cannot tell a lie ..."True Blood" on HBO!! It now has become a new mini-career goal to do makeup on that show at some point. So anyone who knows someone in production at Time-Warner ... please call me!

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