Matt Blanchard: Is your current position where you imagine you’d be? If so, can you explain how you’ve accomplished this?
Jenn Jarecki: [I am] not at all where I envisioned myself, and I’m pumped. I love what I’m doing, but it took me 40 years to get here. I got to a point where I was like, I can’t work for an organization where I don’t believe in their values. That’s how I found myself dog-walking and selling vintage clothing. Then I saw that there was an opening at Vermont Public, and it was one of two things I would’ve done. I knew it wasn’t quite the right “seat on the bus,” but I wanted to be in the building. It took me four years of being here before I could figure that out, thanks to a lot of conversations with people.
I also had to say ‘no’ to some things. I was asked to apply for what would’ve been a promotion in development, but I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do, even though I didn’t know what it was I did want to do. It was scary to say “no, thank you” to that, and hope to get asked for other opportunities. Thankfully, I did.
Sachi Christine Kobayashi: I definitely didn’t think I’d end up in this role. Pretty sure I’ve told people along the way that I would never work for NPR because I’m such a hardcore local station person, but I’m also open to the fact that people can change.
I do believe your career is a jungle gym, not a ladder. I’ve also made a couple sideways moves now, and I do feel like I’m getting towards the end of my ability to make sideways moves. I need to make a move up if I want to get where I’m going, because I want to run a station one day. But I have been offered several stations at this point, and have turned them down. The right station at the right time – one that needs my skillset to get them to the next step – has not come my way yet.
Gavin Dahl: I’ve primarily been a writer, interviewer, producer and DJ. The idea of having a bunch of Fidelity IRA forms on my desk and making calls to lapsed donors was not what motivated me to get involved in public broadcasting. What happened to get me into management was that I was the news director at a station, my boss was fired, and it dawned on me that if I didn’t apply for the job, it was possible that someone less qualified than me would be my boss. I really believed in the organization and the newsroom, so I decided to apply, hoping that I would not even get an interview because there’d be such qualified candidates. And that didn’t really work out.
I ended up really liking being a GM, but also finding that there were a lot of problems and institutional issues. Depending on the type of organization, the makeup of your board of directors can deeply impact your ability to succeed and your quality of life. [I had] a young child and we couldn’t buy a house in an expensive housing market. So [despite having] success as a GM, I moved back into a newsroom, took a dramatic pay cut, and yet was able to buy a home with a smaller income in a better housing market.
You have to make different decisions as you go. If you would’ve asked me at any point in my life, “Would you ever live in Utah?” I would’ve laughed and said no. But upon arriving in Salt Lake City I realized my biases about Utah were only partially accurate, if at all. Salt Lake City’s amazing. Utah’s a very challenging place to be. I’m not sure that we’ll stay here forever with our daughter, but there’s also a ton of opportunity. Any challenging environment will put you and your station in a position to grow your own experience and grow your service to the community.