THE INGENUITY OF JERRY EDLING
1. Tell us your success journey influencing the lives of many through media?
I have always loved to write. It has been my passion ever since I was in elementary school. But I never considered a career in media until I went to college and got involved with the campus radio station. I joined the news department, went to a presidential candidate’s election night headquarters and a political party’s convention and got a job at an AM radio station after graduation. I was news director of seven different radio stations over, but the pinnacle of my on-air career was probably the years I spent as an air personality on a regional FM contemporary station in Central Pennsylvania. During my time there I was the principal writer for the show and I co-hosted two prime-time television specials. Ironically, my big break, a move to Los Angeles, came about because of a job I didn’t get. I applied for a position as a producer at a television station in Tampa. They decided to promote from within, but the executive producer liked my writing so much that she recommended me to a friend of hers who was the news director at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. I have worked in television and radio in Los Angeles ever since. I have been nominated for three Emmy Awards and five Writers Guild Awards, and I am a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
2. What is your #1 advice you have for a young person who wants to follow your footsteps?
It’s a much different job environment today than when I started. Back then virtually every radio station had a news department. Today, very few do. That having been said, the easiest way to get started in broadcasting is to find a good broadcasting program at a major university, get an internship at a local station and then get your first job at a station in a small market. Then, make your mistakes, hone your craft and work your way up.
3. What do you do for your well-being?
I live to write, so I write for fun as well as a living. I think the best thing you can do for your well-being is to figure out what your gifts are and use them. I had a friend in elementary school who was fascinated with reptiles and amphibians. I discovered years later that he had become the reptile curator for the Fort Worth Zoo. In my opinion, that is a life well-lived. My passions are writing, astronomy and travel. I pursue all of them as much as I can. And I walk at least 30 minutes a day three days a week.
BIO:
