By: Maya Perry
“Dreams do come true. But dreams are nothing without action.”
Young Gee is a multifaceted on air personality with over ten years of radio experience. In 2000, as an intern, Young Gee was given the name by actor and television personality Terrance J (then radio personality) & CEO of Journee Enterprises Fred Whitfield (then on street team member). The “Gee” was short for her name Garrick. Now that she is older and no other names stuck, she states, “I guess it’s Young Gee 4 Eva!”
Young Gee explains her start in radio was unintentional.She grew up playing basketball, and that’s all she wanted to do. Entering her freshman year at North Carolina A&T State University, she wanted to be a sports commentator, while majoring in Mass Communications. Towards the end of freshman year while playing pickup, Young Gee tore her ACL for the second time. At that moment, Young Gee knew she could no longer play basketball on a competitive level, and along with that, it crushed her dreams of being a sports commentator. She was no longer interested in anything dealing with sports.
After taking about a year and a half to figure out what her next move is, she went back to something other than sports that was constant in her life; MUSIC.
Along with basketball, she always loved music. One day she decided to visit the college radio station WNAA 90.1, and signed up to be a part of the street team. A few months later, she started sitting in on a radio show, just to learn the behind the scenes operations of radio. While working with the street team for about a year, she was connected with the promotions department at WJMH 102 Jamz. After interning in the promotions department, she wanted to learn the production side of things, including running the board, and the daily operations of on air. Her tenacity eventually put her in the position to intern on the weekend mix show for about 2 years. Going into Young Gee’s last semester of my college, she was offered the on air personality mix show position and she has been working ever since.
When asked what she believes her brand is, she states “My brand in radio has always been “the voice of the people”. I’ve always made it a point to relate to the people in the community. If every time that I’m on the radio, and I can touch just one person that’s listening, or just make one person’s day better, I’ve done my job.”
Young Gee did take a break from radio for a few years but now that she is back, her appreciation for the craft and her passion has grown. She quotes “Not to worry about getting knocked down. Instead, focus on getting back up as quickly as possible.” Catch Young Gee rocking the airwaves in the NC Triad Area.