BY: @_deebrady11/30/16
Philadelphia’s Hip-Hop and RnB Power99 FM radio personality and FAMU Alum, Cappuchino, shares her journey as being a woman in radio.
When you first started radio, during your time in college, you got your degree in newspaper journalism, so what is it about radio, that attracted you?
- “It was more so about entertainment… my whole idea and my mind was 'ouu' im gonna do entertainment writing! Dealing with what’s going on with the celebrities or something that was fun and upbeat as supposed to seriousness of news. So that kind of grabbed my attention, just the idea of being able to speak and infotain folks, gained my attention a little more.”
Being a woman in the industry, how did you gain respect, or did you feel like you had to prove yourself, in order to get respect?
- I think it’s a combination of both. Just being me and always being the person to get things done, or willing to learn, I think that kind of proved my worth. I don’t think I’ve ever been disrespected by any of my male counterparts. I guess just being me and being assertive and wanting to learn more kind of helped out too.
What makes your radio personality unique?
- “I guess my name alone! Most women go by a “name name” as supposed to an object, but I guess my voice too. It’s kind of hard to answer that, because when I was younger or when I first started, most women had more of a feminine, extra friendly, parental sound whereas me, my voice was more aggressive and a little deeper than most women, but now it’s almost to the point where women, their voices sound about the same, so it’s kind of hard to answer that as supposed to when I first came out in the industry. I guess even till this day, it [my voice] still kind of stands out.”
What is a myth about women in radio that you’ve heard before?
- That we’re crazy and we hold on to our emotion, we wear our emotions on our sleeves. I don’t believe that at all. In fact I had a caller and he said, “Wait I have a question for you… how do you manage to keep yourself, so hype, so energized, so friendly?” and I was like, “Well you know how some people say, don’t bring work home, leave work at work? Well, I have nothing to worry about when im at work, im in my zone, it’s just me, I don’t let too many things bother me when i'm doing a certain job.
Any advice for young women that wants to be a part of radio or the music industry?
- Definitely be assertive, don’t just want to do one thing because you're not going to be doing just one thing in the entertainment world, you're going to be doing multiple things. So learn every facet of the job that you can now.
Where is the next step for you, Cappuchino?
- Eventually I want to go for the top T. I want to become a program director somewhere, I don’t want to own a station, I still want to be in the radio industry, I want to be someone’s program director and still be on air. I don’t have a long term goal anymore, I’m comfortable and content, I just want more growth in my career.