Signing Off

Last night was my final night to produce a show and most likely do any on-air work for 1320 KFAN. I have accepted a new job to be a reporter for the Daily Herald and working for both wouldn't have left me anytime to sleep, so something had to give.

I wasn't sure how I would handle the night. When I left 97.1 ZHT I had some tears in my eyes. Leaving KFAN was a different experience. The night went as planned. No big goodbyes or any stressful final tasks to complete. Just a normal evening. When I turned out the lights and said some goodbyes to the people there, it felt right. It felt normal. It felt like it was time to roll the credits and think of some cheesey saying about how the end of one thing only means the beginning of another.

My radio career started back in the fall of 2ooo. I wanted nothing more than to work for a sports radio station. I called the boss of 1320 KFAN back then and he said to email him my contact information and he would get back to me. I emailed him but never got a response. I drove around the city filling out applications and dropping off resumes to other stations, but my experience included working at a shoe store for two years and hosting our high school TV news broadcasts. Not really the qualifications radio bosses are looking for in new hires.

Well in my first semester in college I ended up having a class with a DJ who worked for the hip-hop radio station here in Salt Lake. He gave me the number of a guy who was looking for interns at his station and said just keep calling till he calls you back. After four weeks of calling every other day trying to get this guy to call me back, I finally got an appointment set up for an interview.

I got the job and started what was an interesting experience as I prepared to serve a mission for the LDS Church. One wouldn't think that working at a hip-hop radio station would be the best environment to be in as you are preparing to serve a mission for your church, and they are probably right, but the people I met there taught me some great lessons. They taught me about working hard and having fun while you do so. They taught me about accepting others even when you disagree with their opinions. They taught me that it was okay to stand up for myself. I'm grateful for the good people I got to know there and will never forget my experiences at U92.

After I completed my mission I was offered a job to be a promotions assistant for an alternative rock station called Channel 105.7. It wasn't an "on the air" job, but it was a foot in the door and a chance to earn some money to pay for school. This lead to an interesting friendship that actually started two days before I left on my mission.

On one of my final days at U92, one of the other radio stations in our building had hired a new DJ whose radio name was Jagger. Our first meeting went like this, "Hey Jagger this is Billy, this is his last day because he is going on a mission." Jagger misheard the word "mission" and thought they said "Michigan." He looked at me excitedly and said, "You're going to Michigan! I'm from Ohio!" I looked at him oddly and said, "No, I'm leaving to go be a missionary for my church and I'm going to California." He then was a little confused by the whole situation but was nice and wished me luck for my future.

I didn't think I would ever see Jagger again. I even forgot about that event till one day one of my old friends from U92 told me I should go over to the ZHT studios (the 105.7 studios and the ZHT studio were in the same building) and say hi to Jagger. I wandered over and introduced myself and Jagger immediately started to laugh and went, "You're back from Michigan!" We had a good laugh and then Jagger took me under is wing to teach me about how to be a radio DJ.

After a few months of training with Jagger, I got my first chance to be an on-air DJ. My first night being on the air was Valentine's evening in 2004. I don't remember much from that first night, but I do remember that I said since I don't have a Valentine, I'll send out a happy Valentine's Day message to my number one fan, my mom. My mom really was my number one fan, like most of our moms are. She would stay up till 2 in the morning to hear me on the air. And even though she didn't like that hip-hop music, she would listen just hear one of the DJ's say my name when I would be interning with them. Thank you Mom!

Well this lead to the "Billy the Kid" years at 97.1 ZHT. There are so many crazy stories I could tell from here. Ones like when I drove Rhianna around town and took my shirt off for her. Or the time I hosted a fashion show and a battle of the bands contest. And there was the night I was on the air when the Trolley Square shootings took place. We also did a lot of collecting food for the food bank, and played silly games like Spanish 101 and junk in the trunk jeopardy. And, the day a bee flew into the ZHT VW Beetle, Monroe, Boy Loco and I will probably never forget that crazy experience. I tell people I probably won't have a midlife crisis because I think I took care of all the crazy things I've wanted to do while I worked at ZHT.

After all these years of working in radio, the opportunity I had hopped for when I started this journey finally came. In the summer 0f 2007 I got a call from a friend of mine who had just accepted a job to work for 1320 KFAN. He needed help in the promotions department but he was sure he could get me into the studio doing work on-air. I felt right about this chance and was able to achieve my goal of working in sports radio.

What a blessing it has been. I have had some days that I miss the fun adventures that the FM radio stations brought me, but this was a dream come true. When I was little, I would make my friends play radio with me. We would have to sit and talk into our pretend microphones about the latest news in sports. This has been a chance to fulfill a childhood dream.

And now, it ends. But really it is the ending of one thing and the beginning of another. In college I decided that I wanted to get a journalism degree and write about the government. I didn't know how I would accomplish this. I never wrote for a school newspaper. I know some about the government but not enough that I would consider myself an expert. I then took a class taught by the political editor from the Salt Lake Tribune. I loved his class. I loved the fascinating people he brought in for us to interview and the interesting stories we got to tell. My teacher ended up offering me an internship at his paper and in a roundabout way he has lead me to this new job.

I am excited for this chance. It feels like I won the lottery. I get to do something I have dreamed about doing and hope I will do well at it. My thanks goes out to the many good friends, bosses, and teachers that I have had during this journey. I am so grateful for the lessons you have taught me and the part of your lives that you have shared with me. I am also so grateful for Melissa. She has stood by me during this journey and believed in me every step of the way. I am so lucky to have her. Here's to the new journey and thank you to radio for all the great memories. This is Billy Hesterman signing off.