Daily Inspiration: Meet Gerald Rodriguez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerald Rodriguez.

Hi Gerald, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I began as a radio personality back in 2004 when I was attending Adams State University. They had their own student run public radio station on campus. I decided to do it as an elective class and I really enjoyed it. After doing it for a year I decided to change my major to applied communications/journalism. I continued doing radio shows my whole time in college and when I graduated I stepped away from radio for about a year. I had known about KRZA Community Radio for the majority of my life but I had never volunteered to be a DJ there. So I took on a monthly night time Spanish music show for about a year. I then started asking about available daytime shows and eventually started doing an oldies show in the mornings. As soon as a staff position opened up I applied and was lucky enough to be hired on as the Music Director/DJ Coordinator. Over the years I kept climbing up the ladder and soon became the News Director followed by the Program Director and now I am the General Manager.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was definitely never a smooth road. It the world of a non-profit public radio station you have to learn how to run on a shoe-string budget and how to be a jack of all trades. I have had to learn engineer work to save us money and I have even hiked up San Antonio Mountain on numerous occasions to repair and replace our transmitters. If you knew how treacherous that mountain can be you would not think it is just a leisurely hike in sunny conditions. Try temperatures in the negatives and loose rocks and gravel topped with powder snow from snow drifts caused by 40 mph wind storms. Takes three hours to hike up on a normal day but in snow storm its way longer and you need to use snow shoes. Due to the snow drifts you cannot use a vehicle or even a snow mobile to get up there. Aside from technical issues you also have to worry about funding every year. This year our federal funding was completely cut. It made up half of our budget. So now we are trying to work through that.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the General Manager of KRZA Community Radio in Alamosa, CO. I specialize in programming, being a DJ, and doing local interviews. I am the most proud of our programming here at the station. Over the years I have been able to revamp it into an eclectic mix of great music of all different genres as well as local and national news. What sets us apart is the human aspect of our station. Most radio stations automate their entire program schedule but we still have real people doing the shows live. We have around 30 volunteer DJs as well as three staff people who all do shows throughout the month.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I would say having some good luck has helped as far as something great just falling in my lap. It doesn’t happen often but when it does it keeps me going.

Pricing:

• Day Sponsorships are $80 a day
• Event of the Week Spots are $300 (5 Days)
• We accept donations
• We do small business packages on Underwriting spots

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.krza.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krza_887
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KRZARadio/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@krzacommunityradio6968