You know you've made it as a radio DJ when listeners offer to bring you lunch!

One of my favorite parts of being a radio DJ -- the reason my job has any meaning at all, really -- is the relationships I get to build with listeners. Every time the studio phone rings, someone who's let me into their life is on the other end; and when I answer the phone, I get to let them into my life. I love that.

When spent some time working for a station in Oklahoma, where there was one listener who went by the name "Tiny" because she hated her real name (it sounded like a stripper's name, she told me once). She would called me her "Yankee Baby" as I came from up north in Chicago. There was another listener -- a sweet high school-aged girl named Becca -- who would listen and call in regularly with song requests.

Since I've been with Townsquare Media and 96.7 The River, I've had the pleasure of getting to know listeners like Julie, who loves playing Name that Decade and Name that Song in the afternoons; Steve, who's a teacher, lives on the Mississippi and has a dog named River; and Wayne, who builds tombstones for a living, loves Val's in St. Cloud and has one of the best laughs in the world;

I recently got this call from Wayne, officially securing our friendship as he offered to bring me lunch from Val's sometime.

All that to say, thanks for letting me be part of your afternoon and drive home every weekday between 2pm and 7pm. And feel free to give me a call anytime -- 320-258-3738!