Written by: Maya Perry

I always wanted to use a fun name, like JoJo McFly or Anita Martini, but my bosses early on reminded me that I had enough to worry about without also trying to remember what name to say. Lara Scott is my real name, and it is the name that I’ve always used in radio.”

​While living in a small town in Oregon, 17 year old Lara got her start in radio.  “The local Top 40 station had a new morning jock that one of my friends thought sounded cute. We were at a party one night, and she dared ME to get a job at the station so SHE could meet him. I called the station right then and there and spoke with the night jock, who told me that they were in fact hiring and that I should call the business office the next day. The morning guy was also the program director (and it turned out that he had a girlfriend, so my friend never got to meet him), and he told me that they were desperate for people to keep the station on the air at night and on the weekend. I was hired to be on the air with no experience, and did my first shift THAT WEEKEND.  I actually learned a few things from young Lara. I can really appreciate how fearless and determined I was, and how I jumped right into something new with radio without worrying about if I would fail. And even though I was TERRIBLE, I kept showing up, asking for help, and trying to get better. I ran college basketball and local baseball games on our AM station, worked overnights six nights a week on the FM side, and hauled station equipment around in my tiny car to do free live broadcasts from the side of a highway at a feed store. I went to college during the day, and when my small town started to feel too small, I moved to Portland in search of new opportunity. The boss that told me I’d never work in radio again when I left the small town? I used his cruelty to fire me up through even more overnight shifts, vowing that I would not stop until I reached Los Angeles.”

​ Similar to her personality, Lara’s brand is fun, positive, and inclusive. “Everyone is welcome to be a part of my show, whether they are helping me give contest details, giving a shout out to a friend, or telling me about their weekend. I started putting callers on the air as soon as I started in radio; it was the one time I sounded natural when I started out, and I also didn’t know what to talk about so I would ask people a million questions. But I actually really liked having other voices on and letting the callers shine, so I just kept doing it. My brand ties in with my purpose in radio, which I really got serious about a few years ago. I felt like there was so much negativity online and all around me, so I decided that the things I had control over—my shift and my online presence—would be dedicated to positivity.”

​Lara can be heard on K-EARTH 101 weekdays 10a-3p, and weekly on the Searching SoCal podcast. When we concluded our interview, Lara left some great advice for aspiring women on air. “If you want to be on the air and are in high school or college, work at your school station. If you are out of school and in a small market, call local stations and ask if they are hiring. The smaller the market, the less experience they’ll require for an on-air position and the more willing they’ll be to train you. Be enthusiastic, tell them you would love to get into radio and why you’d like to work for them, and let them know you are ready to learn and work extremely hard. If you’re in a larger market, apply for a position with the station street team or promotions department to get your foot in the door; from there, it’s often easy to train as a board-op, practice in a production room, and possibly get a shot at a weekend or overnight shift. And look at driving to a nearby smaller market to do on-air shifts. If you’re looking to move up to a bigger market, start by doing an excellent job where you currently are. Go to conventions and talk to everyone, and reach out to people and start conversations online. And don’t forget about podcasting, which is a wonderful way to get comfortable in front of a mic, practice interviewing, get your name out there and build your brand.”