Scott Miller asked:
When I was 19 I got my start on the radio in Creston Iowa, they didn’t have a full time opening, but I desperately wanted to work on the radio, so I was a part time salesperson and part time on air personality.
What I really wanted, was to be a sportscaster; one day I overheard two guys talking about this radio station that had broadcast high school wrestling. Sounded interesting, so I decided that our radio station should broadcast an upcoming high school wrestling tournament. I convinced my boss that this was a great idea and we sold every available commercial in less than a week. Advertisers loved the idea, I made a little money on the advertising sales and what was more important to me, I got to broadcast the event.
About 2 weeks before the tournament I called the guy that had already broadcast high school wrestling and asked him how he did it. That makes sense doesn’t it? You don’t have to know how to do everything that you want to do in life, just find somebody who has already done it, and do what they did!
When he told me what he did, I started to panic. What I didn’t know was that he didn’t really broadcast the entire two-day event! He just did a few reports, live from the tournament. Well that may have worked for him but we sold so many commercials the only way we could get them all in was to broadcast live for about 18 hours! I told the guy what I had to do, since we had sold so many ads - I asked this guy, that had been in the radio business for years what he would do and he said, - look for another job!
I was in a pickle and I knew it. If I went to the station manager and told her that I couldn’t do it, I knew I was toast, my incredible broadcasting career would end right there in Creston Iowa. So I did the only thing I could think of, I started to figure out how to do something, that to my knowledge, had never been done before. I was going to broadcast high school wrestling on the radio for 18 hours.
The funny thing is, we did it, and it was awesome. I needed help and believe me I asked for it. I didn’t know that many people in Creston, but I asked for help from everybody, I had to, if this thing didn’t happen I could lose my job.
Some people, actually ALMOST EVERYBODY that I talked to said it couldn’t be done, that I was crazy for even thinking about doing it and that nobody has ever done such a thing before. Who did I think I was?
Looking back almost 30 years later it still blows me away that when faced with what most people would consider insurmountable odds, I didn’t beg for my job, I figured out how to do my job to the best of my ability. Some would say that because of ignorance, I overheard something and didn’t really have the whole story, because of that ignorance on fire, I’m a young guy and I can do it attitude, I attempted to do something that had never been done.
What would have happened if I had all the facts? If I had talked to those guys and said who did it and how did they do it, - I wouldn’t have even tried.
When faced with those same circumstances what would you have done? What would you do if faced with those circumstances right now? What seems impossible in your life right now? Have you been told that you couldn’t do something? Did you accept what somebody else told you?
Sometimes we have too much information from too many sources and sometimes those sources don’t know what they’re talking about.
If I had gotten all the information before I went to my boss we would probably have done a few reports and nothing groundbreaking would have occurred. It really is amazing what you can do, when you don’t know, you can’t do it.
There are things that you would like to do in your life right now that you probably won’t even think about doing because somebody has already told you that it can’t be done! Why do we listen to those people?
Make it a habit to surround yourself with people who lift you up. Don’t concern yourself with what negative people have to say. Believe! Have faith. It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t know you can’t do it.
Posted by Nikhil Gupta
When I was 19 I got my start on the radio in Creston Iowa, they didn’t have a full time opening, but I desperately wanted to work on the radio, so I was a part time salesperson and part time on air personality.
What I really wanted, was to be a sportscaster; one day I overheard two guys talking about this radio station that had broadcast high school wrestling. Sounded interesting, so I decided that our radio station should broadcast an upcoming high school wrestling tournament. I convinced my boss that this was a great idea and we sold every available commercial in less than a week. Advertisers loved the idea, I made a little money on the advertising sales and what was more important to me, I got to broadcast the event.
About 2 weeks before the tournament I called the guy that had already broadcast high school wrestling and asked him how he did it. That makes sense doesn’t it? You don’t have to know how to do everything that you want to do in life, just find somebody who has already done it, and do what they did!
When he told me what he did, I started to panic. What I didn’t know was that he didn’t really broadcast the entire two-day event! He just did a few reports, live from the tournament. Well that may have worked for him but we sold so many commercials the only way we could get them all in was to broadcast live for about 18 hours! I told the guy what I had to do, since we had sold so many ads - I asked this guy, that had been in the radio business for years what he would do and he said, - look for another job!
I was in a pickle and I knew it. If I went to the station manager and told her that I couldn’t do it, I knew I was toast, my incredible broadcasting career would end right there in Creston Iowa. So I did the only thing I could think of, I started to figure out how to do something, that to my knowledge, had never been done before. I was going to broadcast high school wrestling on the radio for 18 hours.
The funny thing is, we did it, and it was awesome. I needed help and believe me I asked for it. I didn’t know that many people in Creston, but I asked for help from everybody, I had to, if this thing didn’t happen I could lose my job.
Some people, actually ALMOST EVERYBODY that I talked to said it couldn’t be done, that I was crazy for even thinking about doing it and that nobody has ever done such a thing before. Who did I think I was?
Looking back almost 30 years later it still blows me away that when faced with what most people would consider insurmountable odds, I didn’t beg for my job, I figured out how to do my job to the best of my ability. Some would say that because of ignorance, I overheard something and didn’t really have the whole story, because of that ignorance on fire, I’m a young guy and I can do it attitude, I attempted to do something that had never been done.
What would have happened if I had all the facts? If I had talked to those guys and said who did it and how did they do it, - I wouldn’t have even tried.
When faced with those same circumstances what would you have done? What would you do if faced with those circumstances right now? What seems impossible in your life right now? Have you been told that you couldn’t do something? Did you accept what somebody else told you?
Sometimes we have too much information from too many sources and sometimes those sources don’t know what they’re talking about.
If I had gotten all the information before I went to my boss we would probably have done a few reports and nothing groundbreaking would have occurred. It really is amazing what you can do, when you don’t know, you can’t do it.
There are things that you would like to do in your life right now that you probably won’t even think about doing because somebody has already told you that it can’t be done! Why do we listen to those people?
Make it a habit to surround yourself with people who lift you up. Don’t concern yourself with what negative people have to say. Believe! Have faith. It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t know you can’t do it.
Posted by Nikhil Gupta
