I start with the premise that in the course of my job, I talk with a lot of radio people. When unaided, a name keeps coming up as a young talent to keep an ear on, it gets my attention.
Such was the case with Paisley Dunn-Banks. Banks is the morning host at Seven Mountains Media’s Country Froggy 101.7 and 104.9 in Frankfort, Kentucky. She also serves as cluster Promotion Director and tracks for the company in Johnstown, PA.
Banks’ path to radio led through TV and came with a healthy dose of encouragement from her family.
“I have been in radio; I was trying to do the math the other day, and I can’t tell if it’s nine or ten years because I fell into radio, if that sounds crazy enough. I was a TV news reporter for a year, and I had aspirations to do sports, but got pushed into news just because I was talented, and they needed someone to fill the news spot. And after covering a ton of sad stories and stuff, I just decided TV wasn’t for me.”
“I’m not the whole, let’s get up and get ready, makeup, hair, all the things, and so I moved back to my parents’ house and worked for the family business for a couple of months, and my mom said, ‘You’re just too good at this. I always thought you would be a radio host, like, why don’t you send some of your funny TV clips to a radio station?”‘
“A small station in Iowa was hiring, so I randomly sent the program director a resume full of TV work. He called me up within an hour of getting my stuff, and I fell into radio.”
Working solo mornings with her “pawducer” and four-legged friend named Waylon, Banks thrives on the idea that she can change someone’s day and be involved in the community.
“I love the fact that knowing we can change somebody’s day. I sit here in the mornings and think I’m having a bad day, but somebody is having a worse day than me, and I could be that one little spark that changes that and puts a smile on their face and impacts their day.
“I love how radio is so involved in the community and I love being in small market right now because when I go to the grocery store I get to talk to the five-year-old that listens to me on his way to school and I get to talk to the parent that is driving to work every day and I just love that I can make people’s day and make a difference in their lives even if it’s just a little advice that my mom gave me that I can share with them. It just warms my heart knowing that I can make a small difference in my community.”
And what about the four legged “pawducer?”
“He comes to work with me every day. I adopted him two years ago yesterday from a local rescue that I got connected to through work. I volunteered for them a couple of times, and then they had this cute, adorable English Setter come in. I was looking for a hunting dog, and our stars aligned.”
Banks sees radio in transition and evolving.
“I think a lot of companies are saying that there needs to be a shift in radio, so I don’t think radio is going to go away, but I think we’re going to evolve with the times. I hope this is the movement, and I hope I can be a part of it because we are the most trusted medium there, and we impact our communities and make a difference.”
“We need people in seats doing the work because we can’t keep burning people out of it. People like me are super passionate about it, and it’s our lives. The last thing we want to do is burn out because we have a billion jobs. I’ve had to learn the hard way in my small, short career that I have had so far. You have to have that work-life balance and know your limits because you will burn out.”
So with mornings, other duties, and a side job as a fitness instructor, how does Banks find that work-life balance?
“My pawducer and I will wake up and roll into work about five-ish. I try to do show prep the night before, and most of my show is about personal stories that happen in my life. Or taking something I get and trying to relate it to what’s happening in our community. We’ll be live from six to nine, and then I will voice-track the last hour of my show because I’m also the midday host for our sister station in Pennsylvania.”
“Then I get off of air and I’m our promotions director. I’m working on promotion stuff for three stations, and that’s a lot. We have a huge mac and cheese festival in two weeks, so that’s consuming my life right now. I manage our Facebook pages and our websites.”
Banks has a strong social media presence and believes the best posts are authentic.
“There was something the other day about people feeling like they have to be perfect on social media. I’ve never had that. I want to be as authentic and real as possible, so what you see is what you get on my Facebook, and I try to relate it to things going on in my life, silly trending videos, or how my dog consumes my life.”
“He’s a huge part of our show and we talk about him a lot, so yes, Waylon is highlighted all the time because people can relate to him a lot. A lot of people in our area are dog people. So when I talk about Waylon figuring out how to open the trash can, they’ve been there, done that, got that t-shirt.”
Banks is bullish on the future of Country radio.
“I’m excited for the future and like I said it’s going to grow and evolve and change and I’m excited to be a part of that movement and I’m hoping that the younger generations don’t get discouraged by what is going on because there is a place for them and there is a future.”
“I was reading that the CDC is worried about the workforce because of birth rates. I hope that doesn’t discourage people from getting into radio, because it is a fun industry, we get to do cool things, and yeah, we may not make a lot of money, but we get some pretty cool perks that a lot of people don’t get. Who gets to say they get paid to go to concerts like that’s pretty awesome.”
And how about long-term goals?
“I would love to be in the Country Radio Hall of Fame for making a difference and an impact on radio even if that’s in the smallest way. I’ve always thought I wanted to have a syndicated show, and if the opportunity presented itself to be the next Bobby Bones, that was my dream when I first got into radio, I would definitely jump on it.”
“But if that doesn’t happen, that’s okay. My goal in radio is just to impact my community, be happy, and be able to lay my head down every night knowing that I’m doing the best that I possibly can. If I can check those boxes, I feel like I’ve made it.”
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